How to Build a Drum Kit

Serious musicians know that a drummer is only as good as the size of his drum kit. Although the average setup contains only around six pieces, famous musicians have put together kits with much more than that. Neil Peart from the band "Rush" is famous for his kit that extends 360 degrees around him. What many don't realize is that with a little patience, money and ingenuity, you can put together something just as impressive as anything Peart could come up with. Use these tips as a basis for getting started on your quest of becoming a legendary drum god.

Things You'll Need

• Money Access to a music equipment retailer

Instructions

1. Purchase a crash cymbal. This is used to accent certain drum cues during songs with a loud, banging "crash" noise. In a kit, this will go to the left side of the drum kit for right-handed drummers and vice versa for left-handed drummers.

2. Purchase a floor tom. The floor tom serves the same purpose as a small bass drum in reference to everything else in a drum kit. This will go to the right side of the drum kit.

3. Purchase a tom-tom drum. tom-toms are two large, deep-sounding drums that go above the main snare drum in a drum kit.

4. Purchase a bass drum. This will be a large drum that produces low-sounding notes when struck. You can also purchase a pedal to turn your base drum into a "kick drum," which allows you to control the bass with your foot. The bass drum generally goes in front of the drummer in the kit.

5. Purchase a hi-hat. This is two cymbals mounted together on a stand and connected to a pedal. When engaged, the pedal triggers the cymbals. These generally go to the left of the drummer in a kit.

6. Purchase a snare drum. The main ingredient of any drum kit, the snare will go front and center and be the main piece of equipment the drummer uses at any given time.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice makes perfect. Just because you have an amazing kit doesn't mean you can play well. Practice a few hours a day, every day in order to develop your skills.