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Drum kit too big?

#41
Made our drummer buy a quality smaller gig for the small stages and supper clubs (which admittedly doesn't necessarily match your goals). Big stages he goes full out

Only took me knockin his cymbals in his lap twice for takin up my space
 
#44
As far as presentation goes...

Double-kick, mega-tom kit with full guitar stacks and SVT Fridge on a suitably sized stage -- pretty cool.

Double-kick, mega-tom kit with everyone else running small combos or direct (cuz the kit took all the stage footprint) -- cheezy and weird.

Being able to scale down (or up) to match the demands of various venues / bands -- and not having the quality of play be affected in any way -- is one of the marks of a pro, the way I see it.
 
#45
dustinfennessey said:
my rule of thumb is to let the other musicians use whatever they want...since its their gear. i just wouldnt be a fan if someone gave me unasked advice on what i need to bring/use as it would make me feel like they dont think i know what im doing. leave the drumming up to him imho
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+1

Unless stage space is limited, and there isn't room for the band plus the large drum kit, I'd let the drummer learn from experience and make his own choices.
 
#46
Drummer in my band only uses kick, snare, hi hats, ride, and crash. That's right, no toms. The inverse proportional talent thing must be true because he is amazing and you don't even notice the lack of toms. We've tried telling him to use his floor tom and the answer is "I suppose I could use a table to hold my beer and setlist" His philosophy on it is great too: "Kick is meat, snare is potatoes, the rest is gravy. If you put too much gravy on it it's not as good."
 
#47
Say it's worst case, for you, and he decides to use his whole kit. Just let him know that it might be an issue and figure out a way to get him to trim some of the stuff down and whatnot.

The drummer in my band uses a 5 piece kit (snare, kick, one rack and two floor toms) but he has a good bit of cymbals (hats, two crashes, ride, china, and a few splashes/bells/etc). To keep from cutting into our set time, he usually sets his kit up before our set. Maybe not necessarily puts it together, but he gets all the stands put up, cymbals on them, and roughly puts everything at the right height. If it gets to be an issue, suggest that to him. Don't let it cut into your set time though.


But with the "less is more" camp, I definitely agree. One of the BEST drummers I've seen in a while played with hats, kick, snare, and a ride. That's it.
 
#50
There are very few guys who can get away with playing the huge kits and we all know them by name and 90% of them we consider hero's of ours. The rest of them are just wanting to be like their hero's.

Less is more is such a hard concept for a lot of people and I don't exclude myself though I clearly see the benefit both musically and physically. I've found my happy place with my bass and rig, it's not huge but it could be a little simpler. It suits the music I play and people tell me that my playing is good and other musicians tell me my tone is great. I'm good with it but it took me time to "get it".

I vote you give the guy some time to "get it" if he is the guy you want to play with.
 
#53
jaywa said:
Definitely. Absent the P.A. and IEM in my situation, I wouldn't have been able to be nearly as accomodating to my band's request. For other bassists in other band situations, a much bigger rig is required and I've got no problems with that at all.
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Sorry if I misinterpreted your response. From reading the posts on Talkbass I just see that "compromise" usually consists of the bass player making all the adjustments. If you are happy and your band is happy, it's no one else's business.
 
#55
Already been said but I'll say it again. If it does not impact the logistics of the gig it does not matter.

-Is there enough room on stage.
-Can he get it set up, miced and checked, etc.etc.. without everyone else in the band waiting. (sound guy may only have the stuff to mic up a 4/5 piece, do NOT bring your own mics and ask to add more channels to the board for the sake of the drums and make it the sound guys problem unless you are the headliner and sound check before everyone else before the club opens)

I will tell you from experience as a drummer that used to bring a large kit everywhere that as soon as you walk in the door with it you get looks from everyone like a bass player bringing an SVT fridge to a cocktail lounge gig. This is because the PITA involved in setting up and transporting a large kit inevitably becomes a PITA for everyone and not just the drummer. If you want to be welcomed into any scene do not let this thing become a liability. Give him the benefit of the doubt but the first time it becomes a problem, put you foot down. Believe it or not it will affect your success. It could be the difference between being invited to open for someone more successful than you. I know because I've made this call before. The fun part is that most people will never tell you but will talk **** behind your back.

Besides the whole thing sounds stylistically useless which means it's just some ego ********. If you didn't need and 8*10 stack for a gig and could get bye with a 40lbs rig that sounds just as good is there any reason to bring the 8*10 other than the visual impact. does the visual impact fit the gig to begin with?

Godd luck and don't let him screw this up for you.
 
#56
For me, its about 2 things...floor space and set up/tear down time. In my last band, the drummer had a huge kit with double bass setup and took up 90% of the floor space in the small bars/clubs we always played. I guilt tripped him into simplifying a little but it was mostly about floor space with him. He also moved most of his stuff himself so that was good.

In my current band, the drummer plays an electronic set with a fair amount of pieces, and it takes longer to set up and break down than a traditional set. His set also goes into the band trailer first to balance the weight, and it usually is the last thing torn down. Ughh! The last 3 gigs, the tear down averages 2.5 hours, which is ridiculous (especially when my stuff is packed and ready to go in 15 minutes tops)
 
#57
I let the drummer worry about how large or small of a kit he needs. He'll know what he needs and doesn't need. I worry about my own rig, not his. Most good competent drummers can smoke with small or large kits.

Most drummers I've seen at multi band gigs set their drums up off to the side before their band comes up, so they have no problem being ready.

I wouldn't want a drummer telling me what I need to use, so I'm not going to tell him what to use either.
 
#58
We are constantly doing battle with our drummer and his huge kit he insists on bringing to gigs. we have all spoken with him abiout it, and he insists that it's as small as it can get, but he uses 3 rack toms (on a Gilbralter rack system). we play a lot of small stages and everyone in the band seems to have to make space concessions but it...very irritating.
 
#60
gigslut said:
I've found, at least on the local scene, that talent and size of drum kit are often inversely proportional.
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In general, this is my experience too. But the OP says the guy is good, so if he can play, he can play. I'd just say it's his job to haul that whole rig. If he complains, someone can politely point out that it was HIS decision to use all those drums.
 

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