Let’s Talk Size, Kick Drum Size

Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz Natural Maple finish
Remo Ebony Series Weather King Bass Resonant
Evans EMAD II batter head

There once was a time in drum kit history when drummers worldwide had but two serious options in kick drum size- 20’’ or 22’’. There were no funk or indie bands backed by a drummer eclipsed behind a 28’’ kick. Nor did you see traveling folk musicians kicking away at an 18’’x 14’’ shell. There was no variety and nobody seemed to care.

That’s not to say that prior to year 2000 smaller/larger kick set-ups didn’t exist, just look at many jazz players of the 1950’s and 60’s. I would argue that back then one could determine the style/genre of a band without hearing a chord, by simply taking a look at the drum set-up. Today that may not be so easy because of how the landscape and culture of drumming has changed.

Whether you know it or not, as a drummer you are part of a huge community of people that share a common passion. With the help of online communities such as drumforum.org or drummerworld.com, new techniques and styles are being exchanged amongst drummers from every corner of the world every minute of every day. This mass exchange of ideas has certainly had an effect on the average size of a modern kick drum.

Because Six Mile Station tends to play across the Americana, bluegrass, and folk genres, I have opted to exchange my large 22’’x 20’’ Pearl Vision series kick drum for a much smaller 18’’x 14’’ Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz shell. The switch took a ton of adjusting on mine and the drums part. Because the size of this drum is so much smaller, it takes a little more oomph to get that low booming sound you would easily be able to coax out of a larger shell. That is until I swapped the thin Gretsch single ply head with an Evans EMAD II. With the addition of the EMAD pre-muffled batter head, a 2.5 inch port on the resonant head, and a few old blankets thrown inside, this little 18’’ drum kicks like a mule acoustic and mic’d up properly.

The biggest perk to downsizing your kick drum is of course the space saving aspect. In the practice space, in the van, in the venue, on the stage, and on the sidewalk this drum SAVES SPACE. Get it?

Youtube user sydneypollak – an experienced gigging drumming out of Sydney Australia, did a fine job demonstrating many of the different tones and personalities one could get from the space saving 18’’ kick drum depending on the head combination. Be sure to subscribe to his channel if you like what you see!

[Video] 18″ Bass Drum Drumhead Comparison

Drumheads used in this video (in order of appearance):

18″ REMO Weather King POWERSTROKE 3 BASS (uncoated)

18″ REMO Weather King PIN STRIPE (uncoated)

18″ REMO Weather King C.S. (uncoated)

18″ REMO Weather King POWERSTROKE 3 BASS (coated) with large REMO FALAM SLAM patch

18″ Gretsch (coated) – this is the drumhead originally fitted on the new drum when purchased.

Each drumhead is played in 3 various (increasing) volumes 4 times:

1. Lower tuning without padding

2. Lower tuning with padding

3. Higher tuning without padding

4. Higher tuning with padding

Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz Natural Maple finish Remo Ebony Series Weather King Bass Resonant Evans EMAD II batter head

Engineer’s Guide To Tuning and Damping Drums

Check out this great guide to drum tuning by Matt Seymour.  

Engineer’s Guide To Tuning and Damping Drums.

After getting a few tips and tricks from Seymour’s article, I couldn’t resist replacing the heads on my own kit.  It’s amazing how much better things sound when the drums are in tune. Sound on Sound is a great resource for drummers, it’s filled with informative articles.

Jeff tunes snare drum. Resonant head.

Double Stroke Roll

This video is the second in the Back-Stick Beat video tutorial series.

The Double Stroke Roll is featured heavily in many rudiments and rhythms on the drums making it a great place to start when learning how to play.

This roll can used to accomplish 5, 7, 9, 13, 15, and 17 stoke rolls and beyond. You can gain the knowledge of essentially six different rudiments by learning to use the Double Stroke roll effectively.

Juggle Roll

Week of September 30

Here is the first weekly video tutorial brought to you by Back-Stick Beat. This weeks topic is The Juggle Roll.

I chose this roll as the first of this series because it has a nice left handed Back-Stick beat right in the middle of it.

Used mostly in marching this trick roll can be adapted to the kit and other aspects of your playing.  It is best to get a feel for the movement of this roll by starting off at a slow tempo. However, it is my experience that once you pick up the pace, the momentum of this roll helps you maintain the juggle.  Practice Practice Practice.

The sticking is (R)RR(L)RRLL…. (R) is the right hand grab stroke (L) is the left hand Back-Stick beat.