More Info Than You Wanted to Know About What Drummers Bring to Shows

There are some advantages to being a drummer. Mostly that we don’t have to memorize chords.

But when it comes to gear, it often falls towards the disadvantage side of things, because we always have a ton to bring.

In fact, I think the only person who has it as bad as the drummer is possibly the one who brings the PA.

I generally handle it without complaint. “It’s the path I chose,” I’ll say. “I could have been a flutist.”

Imagine that? Imagine showing up with one, small instrument? Instead of a whole collection of big, heavy pieces of equipment?

I admit, not all gigs are the same and not every show is a “bring everything” situation. Sometimes there’s house gear to be used, and we only have to bring certain items like sticks and cymbals.

Still, I always seem to be bringing a significant amount of stuff. It’s rarely a super-quick set up.

I thought it might be interesting to take this photo of my drum kit at a recent show and point out all the crap that I bring along that needs to be packed up, put into the car, set up and fine-tuned, broken down, and loaded back into the car.

For people who are familiar with drumming, they’ll enjoy nodding their heads in agreement, having lugged this kind of stuff many times themselves.

For people who aren’t, it might be educational. (Or possibly a horrendously boring read. I hope you read it anyway.) There’s a lot involved.

Before I get into the itemized list, I have to offer a couple disclaimers:

I might not bring all of this stuff every time. (See above.) Different gigs have different needs. Sometimes I don’t play a full kit. Sometimes I play more percussion stuff. Sometimes there is house equipment. Still, this represents a pretty typical set up for shows where a full band plays and the band provides its own backline (PA, drums, amps).
Not all drummers may bring all the same stuff I do. For example, ones who don’t sing won’t need all the stuff related to vocal mics and possibly in-ear monitoring.
Sometimes I bring more than what you see here. And some drummers regularly bring more than I do.

The funny thing about it is, no matter how I try to strip down, it’s always a bunch of stuff. Consider that this particular drum kit—and that refers to the shells… hi-end and mid-range drum kits often don’t come with stands and hardware—is called a “DW Frequent Flyer” and is designed as a “travel” kit with small sizes and a small number of pieces. And yet I counted 25 things here I still brought along.

Enjoy. The numbers correspond to the icons on the photo.

Snare Drum – the center piece of any drum kit. This one is a Tama SLP. This particular drum kit (a DW frequent flyer) came with its own snare and it’s a pretty good one I use at other gigs, but the snare drum is kind of like the main voice on a kit and it’s not uncommon for drummers to custom pick a different snare to match the gig.
Rack Tom – I most often only bring one, like I have here. Some drummers commonly bring 2 or 3. And then some bring 4 or 5 or more. Sky’s the limit. I stick with just one 90% of the time.
That’s a Floor Tom. It’s like the rack tom, but it’s deeper, boomier, and sits on the floor. Depending on the gig, I bring either one or two. This photo was just one.
Bass Drum – that’s a 20 inch bass drum. I’ll bring one that ranges in size from 16 to 22. Some kits these days go as low 14 and as high as 24. Rare exceptions go to 26. I always bring one bass drum. Some people bring two.
Hi-hat cymbals – which are comprised of two cymbals. A top and a bottom.
Crash cymbals – I have two here. I, personally, never set up more more than two crash cymbals, and often only set up one. Some drummers do three, four, or five or more. And some do other speciality cymbals like Chinas, splashes, etc. Cymbals can get out of hand. I keep it simple with one or two crashes.
Ride cymbal – it’s a cymbal meant for keeping time (“riding on”) as opposed to “crashing on” like the appropriately named cymbals in # 6.
Cymbal Stands – These are pieces of hardware that hold up your cymbals. Specifically, the three “8s” from left to right are a hi-hat stand (which is its own animal with a pedal, spring, and clutch), a boom cymbal stand (with the arm that goes horizontally as well as vertically), and a straight cymbal stand (with only the vertical pole). And each of these contain things like wing nuts and felts, which I also carry an assortment of with me to every gig. Of note, these particular stands are all in the category of “light weight” hardware. They’re skinnier and have flat bases and are single braced. Hardware is the heaviest part of the gear. My heavy duty hardware takes “3 men and a boy” to lift, as the saying goes. Not literally, of course, but it’s crazy heavy. So I often bring this light stuff.
See that little blue goo on the floor tom skin? That’s a piece of muffling/dampening gel, called Moon Gel. You can see it on the rack tom, too. This and other things like “o” ring on the snare drum (hard to see) help to muffle the drums to get the right sound.
The three instances of number 10 represent drum stand hardware. The snare drum is cradled in a stand. The rack tom (in this instance) has an arm that mounts to the bass drum. (Sometimes it is put in a “basket” similar to the snare drum, or hung in other ways.) The floor tom here has a trio of legs that hold it up.
That’s a bass drum pedal. You’ll need one for each bass drum you bring. Some people use what’s called a “double pedal” which allows you to play both your left and right foot on the same bass drum. I have one but haven’t brought it out to a gig in over 25 years. Maybe I will again some day.
That’s a throne. It’s a lofty name, but that’s what it’s called. Lay-folk call it a stool. But it is, indeed, a drum throne. The word “Gibraltar” that adorns it is the brand, and they specialize in great hardware.
Rug – it’s an old rug remnant, so hardly hi-tech equipment. But something you might not know… you can’t put a drum set on a hard floor or stage. With each kick, your bass drum will slide an inch or two across the smooth surface until you can reach it anymore. Which will take about 20 seconds. Thus… the old rug.
My stick bag – it carries all manner of sticks. Depending on the gig or the room, you need options. Wooden sticks are most commonly used, but I have an assortment of brushes and rods and specialty strikers for low volume gigs or sounds that require different textures. It also holds a bunch of Moon Gel, some tools, drum keys, and other stuff. It’s kind of like a woman’s pocket book, but for a drummer. It hangs on the floor tom in case I drop or break* a stick during a song, I just reach down for another. (*As an aside, I’m just thinking that I can’t recall having broken a stick during a gig in many, many, many years. I don’t play music as heavy as I used to in my formative years, and I also can afford these days to replace my sticks pro-actively before they were on the verge of splitting—which wasn’t always the case.)
That’s my Rolls. It’s an in-ear monitoring station. I get my own vocal mic feed going in there, as well as a mix from the board, and optionally another input that I could use for an ambient mic or line-level instrument. Then, I can control the volume individually on each of them. I’ll typically use this if I have a good amount of time to set up and breakdown. I have more compact solutions with fewer options on gigs where I have to get in and out much quicker, or wireless options for when the board is too far away to take a lead from.
Those tiny white things hanging off the rolls are my in-ear monitors. They’re kind of like an ear-plug (to protect your hearing from the loud sounds of the snare and cymbals) with a feed of music (a monitor) coming through them like ear phones. Folks who don’t use these—most of the people on the local scene don’t—will often rely on a wedge monitor or something similar provided by the house or sound man… or they’ll take their chances that they’ll be able to hear through the house speakers.
That’s my mic stand. Because drumming and singing present challenges with respect to the microphone stand getting in the way, I rely on having a boom mic stand, with the horizontal arm. Sometimes the house or sound person brings the mic stand, but more and more I am bringing my own. This one is a big, heavy duty one made by a drum company (Tama). My mid-level stands were getting a little to flimsy on me, so I invested in this one, which has a big weight at the end to help balance out the boom so the whole thing doesn’t tip over. At the bottom, I have an additional weight (that big cylindrical thing) that helps further make this a rock.
And that’s my mic. I’ve always had cheap mics so I would rely on the PA person to supply a better one, but a year or two back a fellow musician came out to a show and, unhappy with the choices of mics and the sound my voice was getting, told me, “I really think you should get your own mic.” So I invested in this Telefunkin. It’s got a short base and it screws on instead of being held in a clip and is therefore ideal for the task of singing while drumming. I have to say, I’m loving it. House mics can get kind of smelly and scary from overuse by musicians that might not have the best oral hygiene. (Ive also started carrying disinfectant for when I do use house equipment because I was catching too many colds last winter.)
My iPad (and iPad clip & stand). I try not to use it at original gigs like this one was, but there was some new material here where I still needed a crutch on certain lyrics. For the cover gigs and situations where I’m sitting in on short notice, it’s a must for notes, arrangements, lyrics, etc.
These are overhead condenser mics for picking up drum sounds for either projection or (as was in this case) recording. There was another mic in front of the bass drum. Sometimes there are no mics, other times there are mics on every drum… although that’s not typical for most smaller places, where the drums don’t require more amplification.
Of course, the mic stands to hold the overheads.
And then none of this mic and electronic stuff would work without wires, like XLR or quarter-inch wires, and….
…electricity supplied through extension chords.
That’s my set list from this gig. Forgetting to print it before you leave will result in not know what’s coming next—or being reliant on pulling out your phone after every song. Frequently, we go off script, but it’s a general guide.
And finally, H20. Hydration!
BONUS! Cowbell! There isn’t a picture of one in this particular shot, but whenever I’m on a gig that allows me the opportunity to smack a cowbell for that incredibly satisfying “drink,” I am very happy about that. I couldn’t well talk about “stuff I bring” and leave that out.