Anyone own/used/been around "cocktail" drums?

[Stinsok]

I have been researching them as a possibility for an acoustic trio, but noone around here has them. Any input?

[jive1]

Yeah, I own a Slingerland cocktail kit. It's nice because it's probably the only drum kit that will fit in my tiny rehearsal room. The kick will not have the boom of a typical bass drum because of it's size and the heads. The same goes for the Floor Tom. Since the Floor tom and Kick are the same drum, you can't really tune them to make them sound "typical"

Anyway, it sound cool. It definitely works well for practice, and surprisingly well recorded. It will definitely work well for an acoustic trio.

[Stinsok]

I wouldn't expect a big bass drum sound, but if I could manage a tight useable sound with the kick portion that would be cool. I have seen the Slingerland kits (musicyo.com,) but was thinking along the lines of the kits that just have the snare wires directly under the top head of the drum. I would probably just use brushes and hotrods for the "snare."

[thump326]

I own yamaha's cocktail set and love it. I never use the snares on floor tom/ kick drum. I don't like how it voices when using the kick drum. The pop corn snare on the side is lovely sounding; like a cross between a coffee can and a shot gun (very unique). I've used it live before and had nothing but positive feed back. It's uncomfortable at first as a lot of weight is centered on your left foot, but you will get used to it. They are great for gigging in small places, and easy to move as they are one piece. Very attention grabbing visually too!

[thump326]

Also, for a deeper bass tone, use an oil filled/ self muting head for the kick drum. Foam muting doesn't hurt either. With proper mic-ing you can get any sound you want from your drums. All this drum talk makes me sad...all my drums are back home (I'm away at college).

[bassteban]

Not my usual zombie-prodding; my super-awesome recently approved of the purchase of a small drum set to keep at the house for impromptu rehearsals, jams, etc. What's new in the way of these kits? I've seen cheapos on CL- anyone have any experience?

Edit: Here's a remarkably affordable one: http://www.vintagedrum.com/category/...tail-Drum-Sets

[emor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEqZb...om=PL&index=17

[bassteban]

That's cool- I know what they look & sound like, though(my drummer cobbled one together from old stuff he had lying about). My question is does anyone here know if these sub-$300 deals are worth it? Not for full-on gigs, just house jams & practice.

[JTE]

I gigged for a while with a guy who played a cocktail set (as well as djembe, congas, bongos, and various other hand percussion). It worked really well for that band, as we were going for a pretty quiet set up.

John

[Stinsok]

Since I made this post in 2004, I built a mini drum kit using a 16'' floor tom. I use a 13'' brass piccolo snare and a traditional hihat stand. Just a couple of trips to the car for setup. Mic'd up it sounds pretty cool.

[Jimmy Bones]

They look hard to play.

[Munjibunga]

The first time I ever saw one was at Disneyland over by Pirates of the Caribbean. Not surprisingly, a Pirate was playing them. They sounded pretty good.

[WalterBush]

I did a short run of a musical called, "Once on This Island." The drummer played a cocktail kit, and he worked the crap out of it. Between sticks, hands, and a couple of doohickies holding congas, he was a complete Carribean rhythm section all by himself.

Neat looking kit, too, and took up all of 5' x 5' onstage, drummer included.

[Pacman]

The only time I've seen them played, it was Peter Erskine playing them. They sounded awesome, although it could have been cardboard boxes and he woulda rocked em.