How to Make Your Own Drum Kit

Make your own drums out of readily available household items.

A professionally manufactured drum kit can turn into an expensive investment that not everybody can afford. Even for those of us who can afford a one, these kits don't always sound exactly how we would them to. Fortunately, you have an alternative: making your own kit out of readily available household supplies. Follow a few simple instructions to begin marching to your own beat.

Things You'll Need

• Metal bins
• Plastic bins
• Glass bottles
• Bottle caps
• Trash cans
• Wooden boxes
• Drumsticks

Instructions

1. 

   Get creative; grab your pen and paper and start thinking about what type of drum kit you would like to make. Draw up a sketch of your ideal kit, or just write down what it will include. Consider how many drums or pieces you want, whether your kit will have cymbals, what style of music you would like to play and how you will transport your drum kit.

2. 

   Locate your resources. Search around your house for percussive materials, such as metal and plastic bins, glass bottles, bottle caps, trash cans and wooden boxes. Some other valuable places to search for materials include dumpsters, construction sites, yard sales and, depending on how much money you are willing to spend, your local hardware store.

3. 

   Compare the drum's sound with its size to get the sound you want.

   Test out the sound. Most drum kits can make a variety of sounds: The cymbals and snare supply the high end, the toms hold down the middle and the bass drum fills out the low end. Metal trash cans and trash can lids are ideal for replicating the sound of a cymbal. Other options for the high end include glass bottles and sheets of metal, which you can manipulate to create a variety of sounds. For the middle range, try out some medium-size plastic bins; for the lower end, use even larger plastic bins for a deeper tone. While you're searching for the right bins, remember that the width and depth of the bins and trash cans will affect their sound. If you're having trouble getting the sound you want, try matching the size of what you're using for a bass drum with the size of a bass drum you could buy.

4. 

   Put it all together. Since you are making this drum kit, you will need to determine how to put it together and take it down. This will include finding out how to make all your pieces stand up and how you will transport everything if you intend on taking your drum kit anywhere. If you are using plastic bins, find some that get progressively smaller in size so you can stack them together when you need to move them.

5. 

   Grab your drumsticks and rock out. Now that you have made your own drum kit, find some people to play with; most importantly, have fun.