When it comes to drums, nothing hits quite like an acoustic kit. This 20th-century game-changer was a bop and rock staple long before Buddy, Bonham, or Barker took the throne and made it the backbone of the stage and studio. By combining a bass drum, snare, toms, and cymbals, early trap set pioneers like Chandler and Krupa were able to perform the work of an entire percussion section by themselves.
Are you ready to take your seat at one of modern music’s most exciting and dynamic instruments? Whether you’re building a double-kick metal rig for festival season or pricing cocktail kits for lounge gigs, Sweetwater has the shells for you. Choose from the powerful punch of maple, the warm snap of birch, the bark of aluminum, and countless other combinations to find your groove.
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A drum set (or drum kit) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments designed to be played by a single drummer. Before the drum kit, drums and cymbals were played independently by an ensemble of percussionists. One drummer would play the snare, another would play the bass drum, and so on. However, the rise of jazz clubs and riverboat music in the 20th century prompted drummers to develop methods that allowed a single player to do the job of multiple percussionists.
Around 1894, Edward “Dee Dee” Chandler developed a pedal that allowed him to sit and play the bass drum with his foot while playing the snare drum with his sticks. This technique became known as “double-drumming.” Drummers also began to use their other feet to keep time with a “low-boy” or “sock cymbal.” These drum sets were called “trap sets,” a shortened version of the word “contraption.” Warren “Baby” Dodds became another of the era’s prominent trap-set drummers.
Throughout the 1900s, drummers continued to experiment with pedals. One early pedal was called an “overhang pedal,” which was widely used by ragtime and Dixieland bands. In 1909, the Ludwig & Ludwig Co. patented the first workable bass drum pedal system, which gave rise to the evolution of the modern drum kit. By the 1930s, jazz drummers were playing streamlined kits, typically four-piece drum sets with a bass drum, snare drum, tom-tom, and floor tom, along with hi-hats, a crash cymbal, and sometimes a separate ride cymbal. By the 1960s, the advent of rock music sparked a trend toward larger drum sets.
Though many players are credited with inventing the acoustic drum set as we know it, it’s hard to pinpoint the time and place this cultural landmark truly emerged. High-profile players like Edward “Dee Dee” Chandler at the turn of the 20th century and Gene Krupa in the 1930s certainly helped conceptualize it. Then there are the monoliths like Ringo Starr, Buddy Rich, Keith Moon, and John Bonham, who, decades later, would make the drum set a household name. We also know that the Ludwig Brothers held a patent for the first commercially successful bass drum pedal at the dawn of Dixieland jazz, without which the single-player drum kit would have never caught on as it did.
Acoustic drum sets contain three basic types of drums: a bass drum (sometimes called a kick), a snare, and toms. These accompany a smattering of cymbals used for timekeeping and accenting music.
The bass drum is the lowest-pitched drum in the set, played by a pedal operated by the drummer’s foot, and is used to provide the basic pulse. The snare drum, which can be tuned tightly for a high crack or loosely for more of a thump, is mounted on a stand between the drummer’s knees. It delivers a counterpoint to the bass drum and can also be used to create stylistic accents. Tom-toms (toms for short) are melodic drums tuned to different pitches for fills, solos, and adding tonal color. Drum kits can contain any number of toms.
A drum set wouldn’t be complete without cymbals. A basic setup includes ride, crash, and hi-hat.
The ride cymbal is used most often for keeping a constant rhythmic pattern — such as the “spang-a-lang” characteristic of jazz music or the straight-8ths patterns popularized by groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
The hi-hats, which sit atop a stand and are controlled by a footpedal, serve a similar function to the ride cymbal. Changing between the two is frequently used to mark a change in musical passages (from verse to chorus, for example).
Modern crash cymbals have evolved from clash and suspended cymbals of yore. When struck, they create an explosive sound to create bold accents and mark downbeats. Other cymbals, such as splash and China cymbals, are used to create effects and accents.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief history of the drum set. If you’re seeking guidance for your next acoustic drum kit purchase, we hope you’ll give our knowledgeable Sales Engineers a call. We’re here to help you land the drum set of a lifetime.
For more information, have a look at the following drum set buying guides:
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