Editor’s Note: This post was Written by Tim Kane.

I played a recent outdoor gig where the sound engineer placed the drum riser behind a pop-up shade tent and positioned all the amps and monitors out in front of my kit. I also had the distinct honor of playing without any floor or in-ear monitors.

What resulted from this poor stage sound arrangement was audio quality I can only describe as mush, and an inability for me to relate musically to any other musician.

I usually set-up before any other band mate and leave plenty of room on stage for other amplifiers. Unfortunately, a muffled stage sound is more the norm for me than the exception. Let us assume for a moment that you are like most drummers reading this blog: you are the weekend warrior-type musician playing live gigs at smaller indoor and outdoor venues with low pay and free beer (maybe). These types of gigs are not always conducive to running direct feed or line-in with all instruments going through a PA system. You often neither have the time, money, personnel, nor equipment for that integrated of a stage sound investment.

If I am lucky, the sound engineer will mic my kick drum and perhaps the snare at gigs. Because most venues I play at are space limited, guitar and keyboard amps are rarely sent direct through the portable sound system, and thus do not create a nice balanced on-stage sound by using EQ’d monitors in the overall mix. More often than not, I do not even have a monitor of my own. And even if I did, the most I can hear through it is vocals as I don’t need my own drums in the monitor. I need bass and guitar, which is only possible to achieve with a direct line-in amplifier send through the PA system.

So I have decided to take stage sound control into my own hands and ears. There are some simple strategies you can advocate for as a drummer to ensure you enjoy listening to the music you help produce as much as the fellow musicians in front of you.

What I advise is for drummers to encourage your bandmates to not stack their amps directly in front of your kick drum, snare, or floor toms. Be courteous to them as well. Arrive early and do not arrange your drum set in a way where there is no room beside your kit for amps and guitar stands to be comfortably placed. Talk to the sound person before he or she sets-up.

Moreover, try to have the “gig set-up” discussion at your next rehearsal. Express your inner feelings. In fact, use your next practice session as a true dress rehearsal. Set up exactly how you would live with an audience out front. Know how large your upcoming gig’s stage playing area will be. Garages work fine for this test, minus your car and lawnmower, of course – and a very forgiving spouse or roommate.
Another “back wall” stage set-up involves bassists and guitarists tilting their amps up towards the sky or roof and pivoting amps at a 45-degree angle toward center stage and you. That way, you catch some of their playing volume, but not all of it.

Running all instruments through the PA system and mixed into monitors is obviously the best option. With the overall stage volume down, the sound engineer can give you what you want to hear without killing the audience’s ears.

My own experimental solution at the next “monitor-less” gig will involve separately sending all amps and vocals through my laptop’s 8-channel audio interface device and wearing ear buds. That way, I can record the music and hear everyone at the same time.
The key is to take the necessary time before a gig to strategize stage set-up, run a few tunes as sound check, and be willing to readjust the position of certain speakers.

- Tim Kane, a professional writer, editor and drummer for more than 20 years, writes weekly blogs for Dixon Drums.

Photo by Niels Heidenreich

This blog posting is intended for drummers who have tried not to cross their hands while playing high-hat and snare drum patterns, and for those who aspire to experiment with the technique.

First, I am not ambidextrous and do not play open stick position all the time versus crossed. If right-hand dominant drummers have ever tried to set up their drums in a left-handed drumming position (right to left like Phil Collins), then they understand how the brain finally works – it’s great practice, but also very humbling.

Tour drummers such as Carter Beauford and Billy Cobham come to mind as musicians who are darn close to the freedom and agility of using both hands without a weaker side. That’s pretty impressive stuff to watch. But their expertise does not mean non-ambidextrous drummers can’t experiment with the new found freedoms open playing position provides.

Check out the audio tab attached here

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to this blog of a spur-of-moment raw drum pattern I recently played to warm-up before a band rehearsal. The majority of my snare strikes were with the right hand while I carried most high-hat, crash and higher tom accents pretty much with the weaker left hand.

What I have found is that by playing open position at times during a song or solo, it provides me with a whole new world of off-beat accents and patterns to explore – some actually in reverse of how one would normally play that phrasing in a traditional crossed stick position. Open playing also gives me more “mobile” right-hand expressions on the right side of the drum kit – usually reserved for floor toms and rides.

Instead of playing snare on the normal 2 and 4 beats, open playing stresses the 1 and 3 a lot more in one measure, simply because your right hand is more attuned to accenting 1 and 3 heavy while playing crossed stick position in a standard 4/4 time signature.

By mixing and reserving stick and hand dominance more during songs, new styles and sequences suddenly begin to appear. If you set up a ride or crash ride on your left side, open playing also works great in situations where you desire a steady ride or bell pattern, but want more control and strength in accenting on the toms.

I also have set-up a tom-tom to the left of my snare and high-hat for years and found it has helped my left-side weakness improve.

Please take a listen to the attached track and share your own open playing experiences.

Tim Kane is a professionally-trained drummer with about 30 years performance experience.

Written by Tim Kane

Today, he feels lucky to have a diverse range of experiences to draw from as a working professional drummer.

Read Tim’s full bio

Check out this impressive bit of drumming by Derek Roddy, formerly of metal band Hate Eternal:

Besides the incredible speed and technique, notice anything different? Derek swaps his second and third tom, so that from left to right, the rack toms are: Highest, Lowest, Middle.
Whether you’re a beginning or an experienced drummer, there’s little doubt that one of your favorite things to do is hang out with other drummers and talk about drums. Listening famous drummers, playing your favorite fills for each other, talking about the latest gear… sound familiar?
It’s common, too, for drummers to talk about their setups. When other drummers play your kit, they may comment that your cymbals are too far away, or your toms aren’t in the right place, etc. You’ll be tempted, especially if they’re more experienced than you, to change your setup and angles based on their recommendations.
The trouble is, when it comes to setups and angles, everyone’s different. By all means, try out what’s recommended to you, but keep in mind that what works for someone 5’3” won’t work for someone who’s 6’3”, and vice versa. Similarly, there’s a lot of value in having a unique setup, especially if it works for you. Your more experienced colleague may not have the need for an extra hi-hat, or for the floor tom to be angled towards the snare.

Any teacher worth his or her salt will help you find a setup that works well for you and your body type. If you’re playing a 5-piece, the ‘typical’ setup is a good starting point, but when it comes to angles, and specific placement of the drums, the goal is to feel comfortable behind your kit, be able to move around freely, and to play with good technique.
Once you have a good feel for your kit and your setup, start experimenting. Change the order of your toms, add extra drums and cymbals, put your snare drum to your right…get creative! Over time, you’ll naturally come to a setup that allows you to best express yourself musically.

The point is: do what works for you. It’s not important that your setup look like the next guys’. In fact, it probably shouldn’t. After all: you’re you.

Footnote – This setup might be going too far:

How do you set up your kit? Are typical 5-piece setups the most common because they’re the BEST way? Any tips on coming up with the perfect setup for you?

Written by: Scott Honsberger

Scott is a drumming and music junkie, originally from Toronto and now living in Halifax, NS, Canada. He loves funk, jazz, jam bands, drum corps, rock climbing, and his iPhone.

Many drummers probably don’t know that the double bass drum, or double kick, was actually the brainchild of a 15-year-old high school boy who needed a project for his art class. From the 1940’s up until his death in 2009, Louie Bellson was considered one of the world’s greatest drummers and one of the “Big Three” alongside Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich.

Bellson pioneered the use of the double kick drum which is so prevalent in rock music today, especially with the heavy metal crowd.

Go to any heavy metal or hard rock concert and you’ll see drummers from Alex Van Halen to Jason Bittner with elaborate double-kick drum sets and the chops to play them. Early Van Halen music is rife with great double- and even triple-kick drum technique.

But many great drummers still prefer the single kick, if for no other reason than convenience. Or maybe just to show off their drumming prowess.

One of the techniques that made Led Zeppelin drummer, the late John Bonham, so influential was his ability to play quads (a four-note linear hand/foot combination), using only a single kick drum pedal. Check out the song “Moby Dick” sometime from the film “The Song Remains the Same” to see Bonham in action. It’s inspirational.

The type of wood used for kick drums varies almost as much as the drummers themselves. Birch, maple and mahogany are probably the most popular, but there is also poplar, ash, basswood, and rosewood, along with fiberglass. While maple provides a warmer sound, it also sounds good across a wide spectrum of frequencies and is probably the most popular wood.

Kick drums come in many sizes, ranging mostly in the 20- to 26-inch by 18-to 20-inch range. The bigger drums have a bigger, boomier sound and are mainly used for rock while the smaller drums tend to be used for jazz.

Whether or not to use two kick drums or a double kick drum pedal (two single pedals connected by an extension rod) with a single kick drum is a matter of personal preference. Many drummers like the convenience of only having to pack, carry and set up one drum instead of two.

The types of drum heads to use are also a matter of personal preference. I don’t like having huge pillows or blankets stuffed inside my drum (like I did in high school) because it tends to interfere with the natural sound of the drum. Instead, I use drum heads with built-in muffling. If you’re using two kick drums, most drum experts advise using the same heads on both kick drums and tuning them the same to get an even sound.

One method of tuning is to have the batter side of the head tuned one or two notes higher than the resonant side, which will be tuned as low as possible in order to get a punchier sound.

I prefer a hole in my resonant or front head, no bigger than seven inches, to create a punchier sound and also allow a close-up microphone technique. For jazz, many drummers prefer not to have a hole and mic the head from either the front or the back near the kick drum pedal.

As far as beaters go (the part of the drum pedal that hits the drum head) many come with a combination of wood, felt and rubber that can be switched to fit your sound preference. Wood is going to be heavy on the slap while the felt side will be punchier.

There really is no right or wrong set-up. Whether you go with the double or single kick drum, or even four kick drums, the only limit is your own imagination.

Written by Toby Tate

Toby Tate is a performing musician, songwriter and studio engineer from northeastern North Carolina. Currently a freelance writer, Toby was a reporter and graphic designer for The Daily Advance newspaper for five years and has had stories and articles published in regional and national magazines and on the Internet. His first novel, DIABLERO, a supernatural thriller, will be released worldwide in October by Nightbird Publishing.