Drumset

Definition:

A set of drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments, used with drumsticks in jazz and popular music. The most basic components are a foot-operated bass drum, a snare drum, a suspended cymbal, and one or more tom-toms.

Parts of the drumset:

• Hi-Hat

  A hi-hat is a combination of a matching pair of two small to medium-sized cymbals that are mounted on a stand, with a pedal, with the two cymbals facing each other. It's played by closing them together with the pedal, which creates a "chck" sound or by striking them with a stick, which may be done with them open or closed.





• Snare

  The snare drum produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set.Snare drums are usually played with drum sticks, but other beaters such as the brush or the rute can be used to achieve different tones.




• Bass drum

  The kick drum, a term for a bass drum associated with a drum kit, is struck with a beater attached to a pedal. Most of the time, the bass drum is used to mark or keep time. The bass drum makes a low, boom sound when the mallet hits the drumhead.




• Toms

  A tom drum (also known as a tom-tom) is a cylindrical drum with no snares. There are usually multiple toms on a drumset that have differences in pitch. There are 3 main ones: The high-tom, mid-tom, and floor tom. They are used to give the drums a more melodic feel.




• Crash Cymbals

  A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to a ride cymbal. It is mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick. Some drumsets have mutiple different crash cymbals because they come in a variety of sizes that each produce a different sound and tone.




• Ride Cymbal

  Ride cymbals look similar to crash cymbals. However, they are slightly bigger and thicker which gives them a completely different sound. Although it looks more like a crash cymbal, it's function is actually very similar to that of the hi-hats. It can fill in any function or rhythm the hi-hat cymbal does, with the exception of an open and closed sound. It's job is to maintain a steady beat.




• Auxiliary elements

  Auxiliary elements are small auxiliary percussion instruments that you can add on and mount to the drumset. Such as, cowbells, tambourines, shakers, bongos, wind chimes, etc. They help add more percussive elements to the drumset. Most of these instruments can be played with drumsticks.

  
  

Musical groups and Ensembles that can have drumset players:

• Jazz Bands

  A jazz band is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a horn section. The standard rhythm section is piano, bass, and drumset.





• Symphony Orchestras

  A symphony orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines different instrument families, including percussion. These orchestras mostly use concert percussion instruments such as timpani, concert snare and bass, triangle, tambourine, gongs, and mallet instruments. Which would require a lot of percussionists. Occasionally though, drumset players replace them.





• Marching Band(Front Ensembles)

  In a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or indoor percussion ensemble, the front ensemble or pit is the stationary percussion ensemble. This ensemble is typically placed in front of the football field. The main emphasis of the front ensemble are the mallet instruments: marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, chimes, crotales, and xylophone. However, a lot of front ensembles also have drumset players.





• Percussion Ensembles

  A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily classical music. Since this group is made up of only percussion and because drumset is a very common percussion instrument, a lot of percussion ensembles have drumset players.





• Concert Bands

  A concert band is a stationary performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments. Concert band music generally includes original wind compositions, concert marches, transcriptions of orchestral arrangements, light music, and popular music. The percussion section of this ensemble is similar to symphony orchestras. They normally play with more concert percussion instruments, but can occasionally be replaced by drumset.





• Rock and Pop Bands

  A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. There are typically two guitarists (a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist, with one of them singing lead vocals), a bassist, and a drummer. Most, if not all, rock and pop bands have drumset players.





• Pit Orchestras

  A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in musicals, operas, ballets, and other shows involving music. Typically, pit orchestras play in a lowered area in front of the stage called an orchestra pit, rather than being on the stage as for a concert. Depending on what kind of show they are performing, they sometimes use concert percussion, but most of the time, especially for musicals, it's just drumset because it takes up less space.