single rack tom vs. multiple rack toms

[captain54]

this debate has been going on for a long time, but I find myself going back and forth with this a lot...what are the pros and cons of single rack toms? Pro and cons of multiple rack toms?

 

single rack users:

 

Max Weinberg

Buddy Rich

Dave Grohl

Gene Krupa

Shawn Pelton

John Bonham

Charlie Watts

 

multiple rack users:

 

Steve Smith

Dave Weckl

Steve Gadd

Keith Moon

Carter Beauford

Anton Fig

Neil Peart

[bleen]

I'm not sure there are really pros & cons to this. What kind of patterns/fills do you want to play? Do they require multiple tones? I play a 7-piece kit, but sometimes it can be liberating to play with the "limitations" presented by a 4-piece (kick, snare, rack, floor).

 

Also, just because you have a bunch of drums in front of you doesn't mean you have to hit all of them all of the time. I like how my kit feels with all the drums set up, but I may only use two toms in a particular tune. Play to the song.

[captain54]

Originally posted by bleen:

I'm not sure there are really pros & cons to this.

For me there are pros and cons to each setup...

 

PRO...single rack

 

can move ride cymbal more out in front, lower and closer to you

 

one less drum to deal with in a recording situation

 

CON...single rack

 

limited as far as different sounds and fills

 

PRO...multiple toms

 

wider variety of sounds

 

CON..multiple toms

 

more difficult in a recording environment

 

tends to be crowded

[Rod Gervais]

I currently play a 7 or 8 piece kit - '

 

And for me that's a small one - 7 drums less than a year ago.

 

For me it's all pro's.......

 

I enjoy the versitility a larger kit gives me,

 

I don't use every cymbal - or drum in every song.

 

But i love having the sounds i want when i want them.

 

I play a very tight kit - so reach isn't an issue for me.

 

By the way - i have never found it crowded in a recording situation. In fact - as i mentioned before - i only use what i need for a particular song. So I will record everything i want with my standard kit - and then pull down the toms and set up latin (which i used to have set up together before) if i wanted to record with them - but i never used them all at the same time.

 

Rod

[Dwarf]

I use anything from a 4 piece kit (one rack, one floor) to a six piece kit (2 racks, 2 floors). I love playing with one rack tom but it really depends on the music I'm playing. It's hard to play RUSH tunes on a 4 piece and it's silly to play Stones tunes on a 12 piece.

 

One thing I really like about a 4 piece kit is how much less stuff there is to carry. You know you're getting old when...

 

--

Rob

[freelance]

I mostly play a 4 piece, but I use various percusion (mini timbale, cowbell, jam blocks, chimes, etc) to get more colors.

 

A smaller kit helps keep my focus and the pocket - and then I use the other sounds for color. I do like to have 6-7 cymbals (ride, crashes, splashes and a china).

 

While I, like many drummers have owned large kits (11 piece, 9 piece a couple of 7 piece) I find the older I get the less I want to haul - and candidly, my playing is less "busy" than it was in my youth.

 

The advantage of a 4-piece, you can focus more on groove and must be more creative with less. The down side, the "big fills" around the drums can't be done.

 

The advantage of a big kit - you can play more sounds, but the down side is, you tend to play too busy.

[Tedly Nightshade]

I've been enjoying life with no rack tom at all, just a single 18" calfskin floor tom. Tones from ping to thunder can be had by playing from the rim towards the middle. This one has big wooden hoops, so you can do rim shot kinda stuff too. And yes the woodblock and cowbell provide some useful voices too.

[astrozombie]

as a FOH engineer... the fewer toms you show up with, the more I like you!

[adam b_dup1]

i use either 2 rack 2 floor or 1 rack and 2 floor, but whenever i play smaller kits i noticed i am more concetrated because when on a large kit i get the feeling to use more drums at once which is not good.

[sputnik 5]

I like one rack tom, here's why. I like to have my ride cymbal fairly close to the height of my snare. With one rack tom, I'm able to tuck my ride where the other tom would be. Also, its MUCH easier to go from playing on a four piece to playing on an 8 piece than the other way around. The more limitations you put on yourself in terms of the number of cymbals and drums you have, the more you have to focus on chops and dynamics to make things sound better. When you then play on the 8 piece, its just a matter of moving the stuff you do around more drums if you want. But if you're used to doing a big fill thats just 16's around the set, then on a four piece you're screwed. Finally, I like the four piece because of its simplicity and compactness. I know preferences change from person to person, but many pros admit that the fewer drums you have, the more creative you must be to be able to lay down some nice grooves.

[ss]

I love the clasic 1up and 1down 4pc kit! I have two kits and my new one is the Ludwig Fab 4, wmp. I like the 4pc because I play with the toms really close to each other for speed purposes. As for the fewer drums, I really like to be disiplined and keep a really tight groove with the bass player. I know you can do that with a larger kit but knowing myself I would probably tend to get out of the pocket.