One Tom on bass drum

Andy B · #1 (**permalink**) 03-03-2011, 07:46 AM

Why do all Young drummers just put one Tom on the bass drum.....is it because it looks cool or is it because they can't afford to change the heads on two drums. its always the larger of the two...perhaps because they want the there new ride cymbal or china to be seen from off stage or so they can be seen.....the idea of having a tom mount is to balance the kit out...

I have also seen on my gigs a bass drum and all the toms on snaire stands really low what's that all about the cymbals were all about waiste ,chest height......I cant get my head around some of the set ups..the lower the sitting position the moor pressure on the spine....any comments please welcome

YouTube - Drum Kit Collapse

Gus · #2 (**permalink**) 03-03-2011, 09:36 AM

The second set up fit my kits description, though I sit up close to the top of my thrown. I find I can play double bass easier sitting up that high, and I also have the ability to go play my toms faster since I don't go to a different level. Make since?

Andy B · #3 (**permalink**) 03-03-2011, 10:55 AM

That makes sense Gus...I thought it may have been to do with height or something. I am 6ft3" and I have freaky long arms 32" from shoulder to longest finger and I have long legs so I must be a freak! or something... like animal OF THE Muppet show dude.. all arms and legs .I also thought it may have been a trend or something.....thanks GUS!

Andy B · #4 (**permalink**) 03-07-2011, 03:52 PM

Eureka! They take the one tom off because they either :
a) can't play ride cymbal unless its where the second tom should be...
b) its so that they can wave at there mum in the audience...

Gus · #5 (**permalink**) 03-07-2011, 04:06 PM

You caught me, I like to wave.

Andy B · #6 (**permalink**) 03-07-2011, 04:29 PM

lol Gus you made me laugh man I have just spat my tea over the laptop dude.....

I might try my Genister with the 10 12 14 on the left and then a gap over on the secound mount on the bass drum and i'm looking at getting a floor tom to match because they have just brought out the Genista range again i would like a pair but 16 will do....gonna join the club.....

Gus · #7 (**permalink**) 03-07-2011, 09:48 PM

You could make the leap to 18".
I have heard and helped break down a kit that was a 10 14 18 tom kit.

Andy B · #8 (**permalink**) 03-08-2011, 04:16 AM

You may be right Gus ....i love my Genista man it feels easy to play and part of me its responsive..its bright but mellow and rich. it gets better as it gets older and matures..Have had loads of positive comments/feedback on it from live sound engineers at venues to studio engineers. they just find it easy to get a good sound out of it. and its a balance sound.It still looks great too...

.big design flaw on the rim supports tho....that i found out to my horror...the tom holder bracket has two 5mm wide threaded screws mild steel that go into the tom bracket...these are normally bolted to the drum shell...because of the thickness of the back plate you end up with half the thread going through the bracket back plate support....mine came loose about five weeks after i had it and one tom the 12" came loose and fell off onto the bass drum. fortunatly it did not cause much damage...so i had to take all three drums off for security and use lock-tight thread stop on the threads and they have held on since 1995 so thats cool...but it scared the hell out of me........

tamajama · #9 (**permalink**) 03-26-2011, 09:11 PM

Tre' Cool does pretty well w. just one rack tom. But - he could be saving up for a 2nd one.
And Dave Grohl, he did OK on a 4-note kit w. some band named Nirvana.
OK, those are just trios. How about that E-Street Band that plays w. Springsteen - you'd think they'd want a huge kit behind them, but look - a 4-note kit!
If you think having 2 rack toms makes you a better drummer, by all means. I rotate between 4-note and 5-note kit personally. Sometimes it's because of cramped quarters, other times I just want to change things up for the band sound.

But here's a question: how does the mass of a typical 2-tom setup mounted on the bass drum shell affect the sound of the drum? I hang my rack toms off of cymbal stands, so there is no extra mass there to affect the resonance of the drum shell. I think it sounds better, but does anyone else have similar thoughts?
Using cymbal stands for mounts also gives me more freedom for positioning the toms.

tamajama

Andy B · #10 (**permalink**) 03-28-2011, 07:24 AM

Yes dude occasionally i do mount floor tom 14"and single toms 10" 12" deep custom shells its space saving... however i have seen cymbal stands knocked over by vocalists and guitarists and it looks **** and you end up with a great lump missing out you bass drum as it falls over...its balanced with two tom on the bass drum that how they were designed. i have seen legs come lose on single tom drums and fall over because of the unbalanced weight of the tom that was funny.....i think at the end of the day its what your comfortable with....