Drum/Cymbal Advice

OriginalCrash · 11-13-2002, 10:33 PM

Hey, guys, I'm the bass player in our youth group's praise band (well, that and I also head up the sound team so I'm in charge of all the equipment, teaching people how to run the sound board, etc.) Anyway, I had a few questions regarding drums. Our drumset is an older Pearl Export series 5 pc. It's not bad (well, it won't be once we replace the horrible drum heads). As far as upgrading it in the future goes...

What are the advantages to having a double bass set? Or a double bass drum pedal? Just wondering if that's really something to maybe look into one day.

I know I'd love to have more toms eventually, but any advice as to what size toms might go well or is that pretty much just personal preference?

Lastly, about cymbals, we have a hi hat, ride, and crash. What do the splash and china cymbals sound like? Also, I've heard of some people having more than one crash cymbal or the like; what sorts of cymbals would be good to look into getting eventually?

Thanks for your answers, and if there's any other advice you have, it would be appreciated (though probably even more by me than our drummer just because of my illicit love affair with sound equipment of all kinds

).

K-Max · 11-14-2002, 03:05 PM

Quote:

What are the advantages to having a double bass set? Or a double bass drum pedal? Just wondering if that's really something to maybe look into one day.

Praise band wise.. I find no benefit, whatsoever. It's nice to have it, just to say you can play double bass, but not worth the $200-250 for the pedal when it's mostly used for showing off..

Quote:

I know I'd love to have more toms eventually, but any advice as to what size toms might go well or is that pretty much just personal preference?

My preference (if I had enough money) would be to have a 10", 12", 13", 15", and 16".

Quote:

Lastly, about cymbals, we have a hi hat, ride, and crash. What do the splash and china cymbals sound like? Also, I've heard of some people having more than one crash cymbal or the like; what sorts of cymbals would be good to look into getting eventually?

Umm.. I've only been able to use my chinese crash on about 2 songs so far, and most of the time it was still a little awkward. A chinese splash, however, does go very nice. Also an 18" crash, and a 16" thin crash go very nicely together. My setup is 14" hi hats, 16" thin crash, 12" splash, 18" crash, 16" chinese, and 22" ride. I find that that gives me the best variation.

Good luck,
K-Max

Insane Drummer · 11-14-2002, 04:58 PM

yeah what he said..lol...

well for P&W a splash cymbal is very good.. they arn't much money and they fit great in P&W.. i love chinas but if they are over used it can ruin a song.. but if used right it sounds great.
um 2 crashes is good to have like an 18 and a 16 or a 16 and 14 works good.. double bass is for like rock and metal or drum solos.. they are good to have but only buy one after you got all the cymbals and stuff ya want..

lwcroslow · 11-15-2002, 11:16 AM

I'm looking to upgrade my cymbals, too...

I have my eye on the Sabain HHX 10" Splash, but it only comes in traditional... what do you think of it? Is brilliant better for a splash?

Pretty much everything I play is P&W...

P.S. 10" or 12"?

Insane Drummer · 11-15-2002, 11:47 AM

10 or 12 is best... which one you choose is mainly personal preference. ooooh HHX splashs are awesome... those things ROCK!! brillent is good for splashs... but for the HHX it doesn't matter too much

Jay Tea · 11-15-2002, 01:56 PM

Dbl bass...depends on the style you play. It's generally used to play fast metal beats. Our drummer had one for a while, but didn't use it very much. You can also use it do grace notes or such, which is neat sometimes, but you can get the same effect with other stuff. As a priority, I'd put it below heads, toms, and cymbals. However...if your drummer has a lot of style, he could get different sized drums, or tuned differently. If I could set it up, I'd like to have two bass drums, one smaller and tighter for modern songs, and one very loose and boomy for when I'm playing with the pipe organ.

If I had my druthers, I'd go tom sizes of 6/8/10/12/14/16/18. If I had a little less money, I'd go 10/12/14/16. If I had to drop one of those, I don't know which one I'd use. I like even diameter drums...sticking odd ones in always seems like their too close together.

As far as cymbals...I think Sabians web site has samples of what their cymbals sound like, but I can try to describe china's and splashes. Both are very short sounding. The china tends to have an aggressive, almost nasty noise. "Grr, here I am!" The splash tends to have a much brighter, prettier sound. If I were to describe a crash as a "tshhhh" sound, I might say the splash has a "pshh" sound and the china has a "K shh". You can also get a neat gong effect with a china if you use felt mallets. I would probably get a splash first. After that it would be a tie between a china and another crash. Personally, I like lots of cymbals...

HeavenOnAStick · 11-16-2002, 09:10 PM

get lower sounding (hence bigger) toms, they sound a lot better for worship music. Wether you are doing celtic beats, or stuff like Days of Elijah, it sounds better with lower toms.

Insane Drummer · 11-17-2002, 09:04 AM

DON'T EVEN MENTION THE SONG DAYS OF ELIJAH... THAT SONG IS EVIL... MY YOUTH PASTOR LIKE DOES IT ALOT WHEN HE IS PLAYS GUITAR AND I HATE THAT SONG!! ITS TERRIBLE SOUNDING!! AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!:kmad: :kmad: :kmad: :kmad: :kmad: :kmad: :kmad: :kmad: :kmad:

HeavenOnAStick · 11-17-2002, 04:36 PM

if it is done well, and not too often, it is a great song.

Insane Drummer · 11-18-2002, 12:42 PM

i geuss so... but our youth pastor has a very bad sense of tempo.. he changes tempo alot.. so its very weird..lol

Jay Tea · 11-18-2002, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HeavenOnAStick
get lower sounding (hence bigger) toms, they sound a lot better for worship music. Wether you are doing celtic beats, or stuff like Days of Elijah, it sounds better with lower toms.

Says you...

Insane Drummer · 11-19-2002, 09:03 AM

i just like normal sized toms.. tuned kinda low.. and a pillow in the bass drum..

HeavenOnAStick · 11-19-2002, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jay Tea
Says you...

yes, says I. It is just my opinion. But I haven't been able to get hi-pitched toms to sound good, because it is hard to do something simple and have it mix well. If you are doing a solo or something, it may sound better with hi-pitched toms, but now with simple stuff... methinks.

Insane Drummer · 11-23-2002, 11:34 AM

ah.. interesting.. i tune my about every week.. sometimes very low sometimes very high.. to me it sounds better somewaht high.. but thats just me..