Take a stroll through the  drums section of today’s modern music superstore, and as you peruse the variety of cymbals you will no doubt conclude “These are not my grandfather’s cymbals.”  The striking variations in the shapes, sizes, and colors of available cymbals is truly profound!

Of course the most popular seem to be the more traditional round perimeter, brass, sloping, with the hemispherical bell, type of cymbal.  These include the typical, heavy, 22″ Ride Cymbals formed from a heavier gauge piece of brass.   But this general description can also be used describe crash and hi-hat cymbals.

These are usually left unfinished with a very shiny brass look just like they did after being ‘turned’ on the lathe.  Some manufacturers finish theirs with a protective ‘clear coat’, preventing (or at least delaying) the need for actual cymbal polishing, a chore few drummers relish the thought of.

In recent years some manufacturers have created a colorful variation of the clear coat; a protective color coating.

They even come in beautiful black finishes.

I love the look of this black beauty!

Some have left areas of the cymbal dull and unfinished, and other areas shiny, creating a look with striking contrasts.

Then there are ones with a pattern of large holes that vary in hole size, placement, and quantity.

Some are hammered and contain holes.  (Not sure that’s proper English.   Can “holes” actually be “contained”?)

Others have been stamped out into strange shapes, some with holes, even slots too!

Some consist of two or more layers of brass stacked on top of each other, making for a unique, metalic ‘clack’ with a quick decay.

Some have been made flat and have attached “jingles” or “zils” similar to a tamborine.

Then there is the matter of flatness:  Whereas most are sloped to some degree, others are intentionally made completely flat, no bell intended.

Then there is the “china” variety, with its distinctive curled outer edge.

Some “Chinas” also have a unique conically shaped bell.

And of course, I would be remiss if I left out the “Gong” family of brass bangables!

And just when you thought there could not possibly be a further variation in the family of ‘suspended pieces of metal to hit’, here comes the . . .  whatchamacallits!

Yes, there continue to be no rules even when it comes to cymbals.  (After seeing some of those last ones, I don’t think a couple of rules would be too restrictive.  Do you?)

Timbales

Timbales also make a nice addition to the conventional drum set, enabling the drummer to throw in the occasional, more metallic sounding, ‘Latin flavored’ fill.

Typically Timbales  are found in the arsenal of a percussionist, along with Congas, Bongos, Cowbells, Tamborines, Woodblocks, Claves, Windchimes, etc.   They are almost always found in pairs, but again, there are “No Rules”, remember?

Timbales are available in a variety of sizes and depths too.

No Rules for Drum Sets means you’re free to build your Percussive Playground however you want.  The designer of this drum kit (shown below) has utilized Octabons, Timbales, Rototoms, Windchimes, a Tamborine, and no doubt other percussion instruments into his kit:

The flexibility in customization of the modern drum kit is only limited by your imagination, (and your budget of course).

Rush’s Neil Peart (on one of his smaller drum sets)

A kit more typical of what Neil Peart uses (Below)

And so far we have only discussed the acoustic percussive building blocks that can be used!

No Rules means you’re free to create your own hybrid drum set, a mixture of acoustic and electronic drum sounds, as Neil Peart has done with this Hybrid drum kit (Below).

No Rules = No Limits

Additionally, electronic drums can be played by hitting the drum ‘pads’, or alternatively they can be played, or ‘triggered’, by installing small piezoelectric triggers to your acoustic drums!  And since the electronic drums can be programmed to playback virtually any recorded sound, where does it all end?

That’s the point to all of this:  It Doesn’t End.

NO RULES means NO LIMITS!

Even though the modern day electronic musical keyboard is arguably the most flexible and versatile instrument ever created, and although it would probably not be considered a restriction, I have never seen one with anything except the standard octave key spacing format.  Likewise when it comes to ordering woodwinds, the saxophone player is not asked how he wants his new baritone sax ‘keyed’, or what geometric shape he prefers.   Likewise, professional basketball players have little worry that the courts they will be playing on will be consistent in their dimensions.

Drum and Percussion Sets are Kind of Like Golf Courses

On the other hand, no two golf courses are identical.  Despite being made up of certain general elements that they all have  in common, each one is different, but can be uniquely designed and laid out according to the needs of the players, (golfers & drummers).   Drums as a musical instrument are comprised of many individual things that make different sounds when struck.  There seem to be no cardinal rules, (or even city ordinances for that matter), that are broken when it comes to customizing drum sets to the need and preference of the modern drummer.

Back in the Day

Traditionally a ‘trap set’ consisted of a Bass Drum with a Tom mounted to it, a Floor Tom, a Snare Drum, Hi-Hat Cymbals, and typically a Ride Cymbal, and possibly a Crash Cymbal.  As simplistic as that might sound, it is incredible just how much sound a good drummer could derive from it.

But today it is not uncommon to find sets with multiple Bass Drums, multiple Floor Toms, multiple Snare Drums, and a virtual constellation of Mounted Toms in varying styles and sizes.

Octabons

Groupings of small diameter single-headed drums of varying depths (notably Tama “Octabons”) are often included in some of the larger drum kits. 

Drummer Stuart Copeland (of “The Police”) made extensive use of them in his performances.

Rototoms

Remo “Rototoms” continue to make an interesting addition to many drum kits.  Besides taking up precious little ‘percussion playground’ space because of their having no actual shell, they are unique in that they are tuned simply by hand rotation.  Drummer Danny Seraphine (of “Chicago” fame) was known to have an onstage assistant turn his Rototoms during his solos that featured them. Some drummers use Rototoms almost exclusively for their drum kit.  (You can’t ask for a much easier way to tune them!)

I also ran across this variation:  Rototom mounted (acoustically open) on top of same sized drum shell.

The most unusual use of the Rototom I’ve seen is by Drummer Terry Bozzio, who uses two of the Rototom frames without the drum heads:  He has them attached to a Hi-Hat stand in place of the cymbals! (No Rules, remember?)

(Continued on No Rules for Drum Sets – Pt-2)

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