Drum Equipment

Drummers love drums and cymbals and all the extra drum related things many drummers use. A great, high quality drum or cymbal is a thing of beauty. Most drummers have their favorite drum and cymbal brands and models and are fiercely loyal to them. There's noting wrong with that. You get what you pay for and the investment in a great instrument will usually pay off. But I think many drummers today can be too focused on equipment. There are a number of videos I've seen where there's a young drummer who built a drum kit out of cans, sticks, trash can lids and anything else that was available, and he sounds great! I've seen some of my favorite drummers play a concert and was able to talk to them afterwards. There have been a few times the drums they were using were not great drums and sometimes had beat up drum heads. And they sounded great on those beat up drums! A few years ago I was playing in 3 bands in different parts of the state. I needed to find drums that I could leave at each rehearsal space, so I didn't need to drag my drums around all the time. I bought some drums on craigslist for around $50 - $75. They were not name-brand drums, but after cleaning them, tightening all the hardware and changing the heads, they sounded pretty good.

The point I would like to make is this: we should all work on making the instrument we have sound great. When we find ourselves having to play drums that are not great, instead of complaining and making excuses about them, just play your best. Forget about the drums and concentrate on the music. And when you are able to have your "dream kit", enjoy it, but remember, it's HOW you play more than WHAT you play.

Brad Hill is a drum/percussion instructor in Berks County, PA ( Shillington, PA ). Go to Drums1On1.com (Drums 1 on 1) and submit the Contact form for your free consultation to determine the best lesson plan for you. I offer drum lessons and percussion lessons. In person and online lessons available.