Drum kit
A drum kit, acoustic drum kit or drum set is a musical instrument consisting of a collection of percussion instruments arranged to be played by a single musician. It typically includes drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments, such as a tambourine or a cowbell. The drummer usually plays while seated on a drum throne, using drumsticks or special wire or nylon brushes to strike the drums and cymbals, as well as pedals to operate the bass drum and hi-hat, allowing them to adapt the sound to their desired effect.
The drum set is not standardized, but usually consists of:
- A snare drum, mounted on a stand
- A bass drum, played with a beater moved by one or more foot-operated pedals
- Two or more tom-toms, including rack toms or floor toms
- One or more cymbals, including a ride cymbal and crash cymbal
- Hi-hat cymbals, a pair of cymbals that can be played with a foot-operated pedal as well as the hands
It is a uniquely American instrument which originally evolved in the United States.
File:Yoshiki's drum riser, XJapan MSG 10112014 .jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Japanese Visual Kei drummer Yoshiki's drum riser at Madison Square Garden
History
Early development
Before the development of the classic drum kit, drums and cymbals used in military and orchestral music settings were played separately by different percussionists. In the 1840s, percussionists began to experiment with foot pedals as a way to enable them to play more than one instrument, but these devices would not be mass-produced for another 75 years. By the 1860s, percussionists started combining multiple drums into a kit. The bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, and other percussion instruments were all struck with hand-held drumsticks. Drummers in musical theater appeared in stage shows, where the budget for pit orchestras was often limited due to an insufficient amount of money able to employ a full percussionist team. This contributed to the creation of the drum kit by developing techniques and devices that would enable one person to replace multiple percussionists.Double-drumming was developed to enable one person to play both bass and snare drums with sticks, while the cymbals could be played by tapping the foot on a "low-boy". With this approach, the bass drum was usually played on beats one and three. While the music was first designed to accompany marching soldiers, this simple and straightforward drumming approach led to the birth of ragtime music, when the simple marching beats became more syncopated. This resulted in a greater swing and dance feel. The drum kit was initially referred to as a "trap set", and from the late 1800s to the 1930s, drummers were referred to as "trap drummers". By the 1870s, drummers were using an overhang pedal. Most drummers in the 1870s preferred to do double-drumming without any pedal to play multiple drums, rather than use an overhang pedal. Companies patented their pedal systems, such as that of drummer Edward "Dee Dee" Chandler of New Orleans in 1904 or 1905. This led to the bass drum being played by percussionists standing and using their feet, hence the term "kick drum".
William F. Ludwig Sr. and his brother Theobald founded Ludwig & Ludwig Co. in 1909 and patented the first commercially successful bass drum pedal system.
In 1912, drummers replaced sticks with wire brushes and, later, metal fly swatters as the louder sounds made by using drumsticks could overpower other instruments.
20th century
By World War I, drum kits were often marching-band-style bass drums with many percussion items around them and suspended from them. Drum kits became a central part of jazz, especially Dixieland. The modern drum kit was developed in the vaudeville era, during the 1920s, in New Orleans.Drummers such as Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, and Ray Bauduc took the idea of marching rhythms and combined the bass drum, snare drum, and "traps"a term used to refer to the percussion instruments associated with immigrant groups, which included miniature cymbals, tom toms, cowbells, and woodblocks. They started incorporating these elements into ragtime, which had been popular for a few decades, creating an approach that evolved into a jazz drumming style.
Budget constraints and space considerations in musical theater pit orchestras led bandleaders to pressure percussionists to cover more percussion parts. Metal consoles were developed to hold Chinese tom-toms, with swing-out stands for snare drums and cymbals. On top of the console was a "contraption" tray, used to hold items like whistles, klaxons, and cowbells. These kits were dubbed "trap kits". Hi-hat stands became available around 1926.
In 1918, Baby Dodds, playing on Mississippi River riverboats with Louis Armstrong, modified the military marching setup, experimenting with playing the drum rims instead of woodblocks, hitting cymbals with sticks, and adding a side cymbal above the bass drum, which became known as the ride cymbal. William Ludwig developed the "sock" or early low-mounted hi-hat after observing Dodds' drumming. Dodds asked Ludwig to raise the newly produced low-hat cymbal nine inches to make them easier to play, thus creating the modern hi-hat cymbal. Dodds was one of the first drummers to play the broken-triplet beat that became the standard rhythm of modern ride cymbal playing. He also popularized the use of Chinese cymbals. Recording technology was crude, which meant loud sounds could distort the recording. To get around this, Dodds used woodblocks and drum rims as quieter alternatives to cymbals and drum skins.
In the 1920s, freelance drummers were hired to play at shows, concerts, theaters, and clubs to support dancers and musicians of various genres. Orchestras were hired to accompany silent films, and the drummer was responsible for providing the sound effects. Sheet music from the 1920s shows that the drummer's sets were starting to evolve in size to support the various acts. However, by 1930, films with audio were more popular, and many were accompanied by pre-recorded soundtracks. This technological breakthrough put thousands of drummers who served as sound effects specialists out of work, with some drummers obtaining work as Foley artists for those motion-picture sound tracks.
Playing
Grooves
Kit drumming, whether accompanying voices and other instruments or performing a drum solo, consists of two elements:- A groove that sets the basic time-feel and provides a rhythmic framework for the song. Grooves can set the mood of the song.
- Drum fills and other ornaments and variations that provide variety and add interest to the drum sound. Fills could include a sting at the end of a musical section or act as a drum showpiece.
Fills
Drum solos
A drum solo is an instrumental section without any accompanying instruments that highlights the drums. While other instrument solos are typically accompanied by the other rhythm section instruments, for most drum solos, the band members stop playing so that all focus will be on the drummer. In some drum solos, the other rhythm section instrumentalists may play "punches" at certain pointssudden, loud chords of short duration. Drum solos are common in jazz but are also used in several rock genres, such as heavy metal and progressive rock. During drum solos, drummers have a degree of creative freedom, allowing them to use complex polyrhythms that would otherwise be unsuitable with an ensemble. In live concerts, drummers may be given extended drum solos, even in genres where drum solos are rare on recordings.Grip
Most drummers hold the drumsticks in one of two types of grip:- The traditional grip, or classic grip, originally developed for playing side drum in marching ensembles where the sticks are most commonly held with an overhand grip for the right hand and an underhand grip for the left
- The matched grip, in which both sticks are held the same way, with the palms facing down. Matched grip is considerably more popular among modern drummers.
Components