Drum Kit Fundamentals

108 flashcards by MentisLibrary

Grip and stroke technique, the standard rudiments, reading drum notation, rock, jazz, funk and Latin grooves, limb independence, tuning and gear, and practice habits, for the first two years behind a drum kit.

What makes up a standard five-piece drum kit?
A bass (kick) drum, a snare, two rack toms and a floor tom; the hi-hat, ride and crash cymbals are added on top, since the piece count names only the drums.
What are the typical dimensions of a snare drum?
14 inches in diameter and 5 to 6.5 inches deep is standard; a piccolo snare is 3 to 4 inches deep and a deep snare 7 to 8 inches.
What does the snare strainer (throw-off) do?
It is the lever on the side of the snare that presses the snare wires against the bottom head or releases them; with the wires off the drum sounds like a high tom.
Batter head vs resonant head
The batter head is the top head you strike; the resonant (bottom) head vibrates in sympathy and shapes the drum's sustain and pitch.
Single-ply vs double-ply drum heads
Single-ply heads (Remo Ambassador, Evans G1) are open and resonant; double-ply heads (Remo Emperor, Evans G2) are more durable, with a fatter attack and less sustain.
Coated vs clear heads
Coated heads carry a textured spray that warms the tone and lets brushes make their sweeping sound; clear heads are brighter with more attack.
What are the main cymbal types?
Crash (14 to 18 inches) for explosive accents; ride (20 to 22 inches) for sustained patterns with a defined ping; hi-hat (a 13 to 15-inch pair on a pedal stand); splash (6 to 12 inches) for quick accents; china (an upturned edge) for a trashy crash.
What is the bell of a cymbal?
The raised dome at the centre; on a ride it gives a bright, clear ping used for accents and for driving Latin and rock patterns.
What are the parts of a bass drum pedal?
The footboard, the beater, the spring, the cam with its chain or direct-drive link, and the hoop clamp; spring tension sets the rebound and the beater angle sets the throw.
What is a double pedal?
A second footboard connected by a drive shaft to a second beater on the same bass drum, so both feet can play fast patterns as if there were two bass drums.
How high should the drum throne be?
So the thighs slope slightly downward from hip to knee, with the feet flat on the pedals and the back straight.
What do drumstick size codes such as 5A, 7A and 2B mean?
The number gives thickness (a lower number is thicker, so 2B is thicker than 5B and 7A is thin) and the letter came from use: A for orchestra, B for band.
Wood tip vs nylon tip sticks
Wood tips give a warmer, darker sound on cymbals; nylon tips are brighter, more articulate and do not chip.
What are brushes, rods and mallets?
Brushes (fans of wire or nylon) give quiet, sweeping sounds for jazz and ballads; rods (bundles of thin dowels) give low-volume playing with more attack than brushes; mallets (felt heads) suit rolls on cymbals and toms.
What is a dampening ring or gel pad?
An adhesive gel pad (such as Moongel) or a thin plastic ring laid on a head to reduce overtones and shorten the ring.
What is a drum key?
The small wrench with a square socket that fits every tension rod on the kit.
How do you seat a new drum head?
Place the head and hoop, finger-tighten every rod, then bring them up in a star pattern, pressing the centre of the head with your palm to seat the collar, and finally match the pitch at every lug.
Why tune in a star pattern?
Alternating between opposite lugs keeps the head evenly tensioned so it does not wrinkle, and the pitch stays uniform around the rim.
How do you check that a head is in tune with itself?
Tap lightly about an inch inside each lug while touching the centre of the head with a finger to mute it, and adjust until every lug gives the same pitch.
How should the two snare heads be tuned?
The thin snare-side (bottom) head is tuned tight, usually higher than the batter, so the wires respond crisply; the batter is tuned to taste, medium-high for a crack.
How are the toms usually tuned relative to each other?
In descending pitch from the smallest to the largest, often around a third or a fourth apart, so a fill down the toms sounds melodic.
What is the port hole in a bass drum front head?
A cut hole, often 4 to 6 inches and offset from the centre, that lets air escape for a punchier, drier sound and lets a microphone be placed inside.
How do you get a punchy, dry bass drum sound?
A ported front head, a pillow or folded blanket lightly touching both heads, and the batter tuned just above the point where it wrinkles.
What is matched grip?
Both hands hold the stick the same way, between the thumb and the first joint of the index finger with the other fingers wrapped loosely, so each hand works identically.
What is traditional grip?
The left hand holds the stick palm up, cradled in the web of the thumb and resting between the middle and ring fingers, a legacy of the marching snare that hung at an angle; the right hand uses matched grip.
German, French and American grip
Three angles of matched grip: German holds the palms down and drives with the wrist; French turns the thumbs up and drives with the fingers; American sits halfway between and is the common default.
What is the fulcrum?
The pivot point between the thumb and the index or middle finger, near the balance point of the stick, around which the stick rocks and rebounds.
What is the rebound stroke?
Letting the stick bounce back up after it strikes, instead of lifting it, so the drum's rebound does the work; it is the foundation of speed and endurance.
What are the four basic strokes?
Full stroke (starts high, ends high), down stroke (high to low), tap (low to low) and up stroke (low to high); combining them controls accents and dynamics.
What is the Moeller technique?
A whipping motion from the arm and wrist that produces an accented stroke followed by rebound taps in one movement, credited to Sanford Moeller and spread by Jim Chapin.