Drum Kits
Originally, the drums and cymbals were played by different people in military bands and orchestrates. However, as it became more popular for bands to play inside theatres and therefore space became an important consideration, drum kits were developed. At the beginning of the 1900s, William Ludwig made the first foot pedal that could be used to play a bass drum, freeing the drummer to play other snare drums and cymbals.
The World War I saw drum kits that had a large bass drum with percussion instruments attached to it. The first hi-hat stand were developed in the 1920s and items were designed to hold tom-toms, snare drums and cymbals. These items were also able to hold other items such as cowbells and whistles.
During the 1930s, drum kits with a bass, snare, tom-tom and floor tom started to become popular. Two bass drum kits were pioneered in the 1940s. As the 1960s saw the dawn of rock and roll, drums became increasingly popular and so did the drum solo.
Drum kits continued to become larger at the end of 1960s and well into the 1970s. By the time the 1980s came, the drum kits contained numerous drums and cymbals. And it was also around this time that electronic drums started to be used. Other innovations included the double bass pedals which removed the need for two bass drums.
Modern drum kits are characterised by electronics including sound modules, activate loops, sequences, tempo meters and electric amplifiers.
The components of a drum kit depends on the personal preferences, style and budget of the drummer. Most drum kits contain a cymbal, hit-hat, tom-tom, drummer thrones and bass drum. A mass produced drum kit typically has five piece configuration. Beginners and those on a budget tend to have less complicated setups and usually opt to buy used drum sets to save money. The big names in drum manufacturers are Ludwig, Pearl, Yamaha and Pacific drum sets. A bass drum is typically 22", a snare 14", 12" and 13" for toms and 16" for a floor tom.
Drum hardware refers to the things that mount the drums. A typical hardware pack includes hi-hat stand, snare drum stand, cymbal stands and a bass drum pedal. You can usually buy a complete kit with hardware included or shell packs which only include the drums. Cymbals are more often than not sold separately and it is usually left up to the drummer to find the best cymbals for them.
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That's a good short roundup of how drums evolved in our time. I've sat thru too many pedantic diatribes that spend too much time saluting cavemen and native discoveries starting with beating their chests. Then they found hollow logs made more noise plus didn't cause them to cough. In my time behind a 'SET' of drums, which changed into the more Euro "KIT" during the
Rock Era, I lived thru only small improvements. One was the change from calfskin drumheads to plastic. In my playing days in Denver, the dry air could RE-tune your drums without your permission. My snare drum would get a brittle, snappy, fast-response which made drum rolls smoother and easier to bounce. Yet the bass drum upped its voice to baritone, then tenor! Between tunes I'd feverishly twist the tension handles on it trying to get a lower, deeper thump -- more like that caveman's chest. Plastic heads kept pinholes from forming on the snare, made by using wire brushes on
softer, slower tunes. The spurs which held the bass drum in place were not built into the shell like nowadays. As you can imagine, the forward push of the pedal on the bass drum could knock off one of the two spurs.
How many bandleader cried as the audience laughed to see the bass drum and everything attached to it do an ugly, clanking rollover!
There were many other improvements which made the drummers' lives both
easier, AND harder due to the increased cost of better tom-tom mounts and
hardware. Avedis Zildlian cymbals were the absolute ONLY cymbals a pro drummer would use during the long period from Swing, to Bop and into the Modern Jazz era. In recent years I've seen several other cymbal brands that were surprisingly decent sounding. And I could finally relax playing in dry climates due to plastic heads all around. But I still think that,
compared to carefully-tuned calfskin, the plastics still sound like RIPE 'PUNKINS!' Hey, I'm old-fashioned, and when I quit I sold my whole
"Set" or "Kit" to the paper boy. Poor kid wanted to give up the newspaper biz to live the glamorous life of carrying drums up long flights of
stairs and hotel freight elevators! ###
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