Before you can ask, “What kind of kit should I buy?” you have to ask yourself, “What kind of kit do I need?” Will you be playing rock or metal, or something lighter like jazz or latin? What your answer is determines what size of a kit you’ll need. Standard ‘rock kits’ usually come with a 14 inch snare, 22 inch bass drum, and toms at 12, 13, and 16 inch. Fusion kits are smaller, usually consisting of a 14 inch snare, 20 inch bass, and toms of 10, 12, and 14. As you might expect, the bigger the drum, both in diameter and and depth, the deeper pitch you can get out of the drum, and the smaller the drum, the higher the pitch. Also, the shallower the drum is, the faster attack it has. If you like your toms to be tuned mid-to-low, a rock kit would be for you, but if you want a higher pitch, you’d have a hard time tuning them higher while keeping a good tone.

Now that you know what size you need, it’s time to consider what type of wood you want. What type of wood a drum shell is made of is most likely the single most important variable about a drum. Oak, maple, and birch are the more high quality and three most popular types of wood on the market. Maple is the most versatile type of wood whether you’re looking for a high or low tuned set-up, and it can pack a lot of resonance. Birch is easier to tune, it’s also highly prized for recording the studio. Birch isn’t cheap, but of the ‘big three’ it’s the cheapest. Oak is the loudest of all types, it has a ‘boomy’ sound with lots of sustain. All three produce a nice sound in their own right, if you ask me, you really can’t go wrong with any of them. If you’re shopping on a budget and looking at cheaper kits, you may come across drums using woods such as popular and basswood. It bears repeating, before deciding on a wood type, test out different kinds of sets, if possible, before deciding.

Speaking of shells, you’re going to need to pick the ply number, the thickness of the shell, you want. The ’standard’ plys are 8-10 for wood snares, 10 for the bass, and 7-8 for toms. With thicker shell plys, the drum will be louder with more projection and tend to stay in tune longer than thinner shells. Thinner shells are quieter and have more of a wider tuning range. When deciding your desired thickness, the key is to find the right balance for your drumming needs. You could also consider steam-bent shells, they’re more expensive because of the more rigorous construction process, but you get your money’s worth as they have a truly great tuning range and sound tremendous.

You should also consider how you like/want your kit to be set-up. Usually drummers will have 2 toms mounted on the bass drum and 1 and a stand or legs, 2up 1down for short, or one of the bass drum and 2 on legs, 1up 2down. If you decide to have toms mounted on the bass drum, holes are going to drilled in the shell to accommodate the posts the toms will be mounted on, and extra holes in shells are never a good thing, they can choke out the sound you get from a drum. That said, it won’t completely kill the sound. While shopping around, you may have heard the term ‘virgin bass’, this a bass drum that does not have holes drilled or a mount on it for the posts. Something else to consider: if you do have posts sticking down into the bass drum, they could potentially get in the way and be a hassle if you decide to muffle with a pillow or blanket. If you want to avoid toms on the bass drum, you can get extra snare stands for them, or use clamps to attach them to a cymbal stand. As far as when you’re exactly playing on a kit, how and where you prefer to mount the toms depend on personal preference, once again, try before you buy.

The next thing to think about is the hoops, aka rims. Now, hoops don’t play as an important role on the overall sound, but they are some options you can pick from. There are three main types of hoops, flanged, die-cast, and wood. Flanged is by far the most popular, any drum set you buy will most likely come with flanged hoops, and you really get a good tuning range from them. Die-cast hoops are stronger, you can tune them very tightly without having to worry about them bending and flexing. Some drummers I know prefer them because of how they look, and they find that they tend to stay in tune longer. Wood hoops are also revered for their look, performance wise they tend to help achieve a duller attack, and on overall warmer sound. Another type of hoop is a reinforcement hoops, these are actually inside the drum shell near the bearing edge. Their main purpose is to stabilize the shell, preserving overall roundness. As drum-making technology becomes more and more advanced, the need for these hoops are minimal, but some drum makers, such as DW, still include them in some models. Drums with reinforcement hoops tend to have a higher pitch, they’re not needed, but you may want your kit to have them.

So now you’ve got a pretty idea of what kind of kit you want, now you’re thinking “Should I buy new or used?” If you are just starting at drums, it wouldn’t hurt to go used. If you start playing and then a couple months later you decide drumming isn’t for you, hopefully that won’t happen, but if it does, at least you saved a couple hundred dollars. Even if you’re not a new player, you can still find good deals on craigslist. You could also check out local music shops to see if they have used kits. If you’re not worried about your budget, buying new usually gives you a warranty if something is wrong with your set, and best of all you get that new drum smell. Just consider your budget when looking for a kit.

Let’s say you’ve decided to buy used, and you’ve found a kit you’re interested in. Obviously you’ll want to look it over before you decide to buy it, but what things should you look for to make sure it’s in good condition? First there’s the eye test, how does it look? Scratches and scuff marks on the outside of the shell(on the finish or wrap) won’t really effect the sound, just the appearance. Check out the lugs, hoops, and other hardware to make sure there’s no denting or rust. Use a drum key to turn all the tension rods to make sure they turn smoothly and aren’t bent. Ask the seller if you can take the heads off to check the inside of the shells for cracks and other damage, then put the hoops back on to make they slip right back on, if they don’t, either the hoops or the shells may be bent, either one will be a costly repair. Some of the *really* picky things to look at are the lugs. Lugs shouldn’t be in the middle of the drum, as that can hinder resonance. Snare lugs can be in the middle, because the tension rods pull off of each other to allow the snare to tuned as tightly as it usually is. Floor tom leg mounts also shouldn’t be in the middle. Bass drum spurs should be flexible to allow the drum to absorb the impact of the beater striking the head, but these two things won’t make or break a drum set.

Hopefully I’ve been able to simplify the drum-buying process for you. Just try to experiment on different types on sets to find the sound you like. Once you get your set, remember to check out FreeDrumLessons.com!

Note: This article was written by a member of the FreeDrumLessons.com drumming community. The overview was inspired by Jared & Dave’s drum show titled “Free Drum Lessons Live!“

Follow the link to the Drum Lessons section of the website to view them all. They all are marked with “New!” right beside them in red text.

What do you think of these?

Should you get maple or birch? Die-cast hoops or triple flanged? Six ply drums or 7 ply drums?

All these are questions that drummers NEED answered.

Well I am happy to say we had the extreme privilege of doing a live drum lesson with Jason Kliewer of Casey Custom Drums. Jason is not only a great guy, but SUPER knowledgeable about drums.

As a custom drum builder he tells you exactly what to look for when buying a kit. Whether you want to go used or new, maple or birch, all these questions are answered.

It’s great as Jason obviously wants to sell his drums, but he doesn’t come across that way. He is just excited to chat with drummers and drums and all things drumming – regardless of the brand of kit they play. That’s definitely refreshing.

However, since Jason’s not going to do it I will PLEASE, go and check out Casey Drums and support this guy. He makes great drums and you should definitely consider them when making your purchase.

Anyways, enough jabber. Below is the video from the hour long session talking drums with Jason.

Drum-Set Buying Tips

Lionel was one of my favourite all-time teachers, not just drum teachers. He is an amazing communicator and genuinely always cared about my progression as a drummer. I highly recommend any drummer to get lessons from Lionel if you can.

Lionel taught 12 simple exercises that most beginner drummers would know. The trick is to play them using the motions as he discusses in the video.

I recommend ALL drummers learn these techniques that he is teaching. Once you have gotten a handle on this lesson you can purchase his Drum Rudiment System. The Drum Rudiment System not only offers a complete overview of all 40 drum rudiments, but he teaches all the motions and how to apply them in different beats and fills.

The Basic Drumming Motions

Please leave your comments or questions below. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

The lesson opens up with Dave playing to a song from his band Yuca. The song is called “It’s About Something.”

Next we go into the lesson and discuss 10 different beats and fills that all use the single paradiddle. This lesson is best suited for beginner to intermediate drummers.

The single paradiddle is my favorite drum rudiment to play around the kit. You can play it at all different tempos and note values, which makes it applicable in ANY musical setting.

Enjoy the lesson, and please leave your comments below.

Single Paradiddle Applied Around The Drum-Set

Note: For more information on drum rudiments I highly recommend you check out Lionel Duperron’s Drum Rudiment System. It comes complete with over 13 hours of rudiment training!

Up to this point, all the lessons are sent through my automated server. So on the day you sign up, you get lesson #1, then 7 days later you get your next lesson etc.

Although this is great as it’s less work for me, it doesn’t always apply to everything else that’s going on, nor does it have the personal touch that I like so much.

So rather then sending all of my lessons through the automated server, I want to personally hit send on every email and item of communication that comes from me. This will give me more control over the exact lessons you receive, making the Secret Lessons experience even better.

I know this is going to be more work for me, and there may be a few more hiccups along the way, but overall I believe this makes more sense.

I will try to send a new lesson to you every 7 days, however, that may not always be the case. You may get some lessons closer together, and some farther apart.

Also, while this change is taking place you may receive the same lesson twice, please accept my apologies if this happens.

Just remember, it is me who’s emailing you on the other end from now on…Not some automated server. If you need anything, just hit reply to the email and I’d be happy to respond.

Note: If you haven’t yet signed up for my FREE Secret Drum Lessons I encourage you to do so. Click here to sign up now.

The biggest thing to remember when learning how to tune your drums is that tuning is a personal preference.  There is no right or wrong, just different. For example, I tuned my snare drum a little bit looser then Dave tunes his. Nothing wrong with that, just different.

You will also want to take into account the style of music you are playing when figuring out how to tune your drums. If you like jazz, then you will probably tune to a higher pitch and use one ply drumheads.

One last thing, the prizes in this lesson were supplied by Evans Drumheads. Not only do they make the best drumheads in my opinion, but they are great people to work with.  I highly recommend Evans Drumheads for any drum-set application.

How To Tune Your Drums – Part #1

How To Tune Your Drums – Part #2

Note: For more information on how to tune your drums check out Mike Michalkow’s Drum Tuning System – It comes complete with over 4.5 hours of drum tuning tips and tricks.

Have you ever thought this way?

I answer up to 150 emails per day, most of them being questions that require no more work then a simple Google search to find the answer to. Don’t get me wrong, I love chatting with drummers, and helping them in any way I can, but I can’t help but notice the over-whelming amount of laziness.

If you want to become proficient in anything you have to be willing to put the time in. Since I’m Canadian I’ll parallel it to an NHL hockey player eh . Do you think any NHL hockey player easily made it into the NHL without working hard? Of course not!

They’re not all going to be Wayne Gretzky or Sydney Crosby, but they are still all amazing hockey players who have achieved something huge in their lives, just by making it into the NHL.

Same goes for us drummers, we’re not all going to be a Buddy Rich, Neil Peart, Thomas Lang, or Jojo Mayer, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t do something great with our drumming.

My plan wasn’t to write this post to come down on anyone, or cause any controversy, but I just want to find a way to help motivate drummers to do what it takes to achieve success; however they define it.

With that said, I am going to get my ass in gear and practice. If you want to get better at drumming you should do the same, as that is the ‘one big thing’.

Note: Do you need help setting up a drumming practice routine? Check out Mike Michalkow’s Drum Practice Routine Generator – It’s what I use and it works great!

I talked about the different hand to feet combinations using a single bass drum pedal, and Dave discussed how to play hand to feet combos using a double bass drum pedal.

The sheet music for this lesson is free and can be download in our forums. Just click here to download this sheet music. It is posted right below the video lesson on that page.

Hand To Feet Combinations Around The Drum-Set

In this live drum lesson, me and Dave talked about how to develop your single stroke roll speed around the kit. We gave seven exercises that you can take to your kit immediately to help build speed.

One thing I mentioned in the video is that there is no quick or overnight trick to have you blazing around the kit. What it really comes down to is hard work and practice practice practice.  If you are willing to put the time in, you will see results.

To download the free sheet music for the lesson click here. (must be a forum member to download)

Want to learn more? Check out the Drumming System, the world’s largest and most complete drum lessons training package! Go here: http://www.DrummingSystem.com