How to Buy a Drum Set

Series Summary

The drummer in any band is tasked with keeping the time of the song. Keeping time is not the only thing a drummer does, though it is the essential function. A drummer also employs various drumming techniques, such as the drum roll, cymbal catches and quads to accent the music. Quads and cymbal catches are particularly popular in heavy metal drumming. These drumming techniques are key components of a drummer's repertoire. In this free series of video music lessons, an experienced drummer demonstrates the basics of drumming. Get tips on purchasing a drum set from a music store or from a pawn shop, and find out how to tune it properly. Get drum practice advice, and find out how to practice without making too much noise. To get started with a new instrument, consult these basic drumming instructions.

Video Transcript

"Alright, so how to buy a drum set. Well there's a lot of places you can go, nationwide chains like Guitar Center, I think Ted Brown may be a nationwide chain. But you can also go to a local music stores, you could even go to used music store or a pawn shops. Get yourself a used kit that would be fine. A lot of times a good vintage gear sound is really, really great. So but once you decide where you want to go to get your drum kit, then what are you looking for. You can get yourself a basic kit and build on from there. That's probably best plan to go with. You don't need to get too much at once especially if you're just learning. Your basic drum kit is going to be a Kick Drum, or Bass Drum. A Snare Drum. Hi Hat. That, you could just do that for a drum kit, if you were looking to go really, really basic. But most people also prefer to include in their basic drum kit a Rack Tom, Floor Tom, Crash Cymbal, and Ride Cymbal. So once you have those pieces your Kick, Snare, Hi Hat, Rack Tom, Floor Tom, Crash and Ride, that's a basic drum kit right there. You can build from there. So think about what you're looking to do, what you're looking to play. If you're just looking to play basic rock or jazz, a basic kit will do, those are your pieces right there. If you need to play a lot of metal stuff, with extra Toms and Kick Drums, maybe you can find a Double Kick Drum kit, or at least a Double Kick Drum Pedal. You can find a kit with a lot of Rack Toms. You can add a Floor Tom on to your kick. Some people like to do the Double Floor Tom thing. Maybe a sixteen inch and an eighteen inch. It's just that, it just depends on what you're trying to do. But a basic kit, like I said those pieces that I mentioned, would be great to start out with."