Roto Tom mounting?

[ckcondon]

Hey gang,

 

I dug my old roto toms out of the attic last week and thought it would be cool to incorporate them back into my kit. I'm looking at alternatives to the standard "over the hi-hat" positioning.

Anyone using them these days? Where are they?

 

The stock mounting bar is a little limiting... I'd like to figure out a rack mount option. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

 

Chris C

[mraia]

I've got mine mounted on a Pearl Icon rack, using a standard clamp over the HiHat. Its generic, and Im not thrilled with it either because its either too close to the hat or too close to the 12" tom.

Im still messing around with positioning it, but I do use it, and find it comes in handy for those Rush, Tool covers.

[coyote-1]

I'm using them - and sure enough, they are over the hi-hat!

 

I guess you could put them elsewhere, perhaps in place of mounted toms - but if you have a relatively full set, over the HH is the most practical place. I find that loction very accessible and natural.

 

What's interesting is that they don't always come with a stand tall enough to do the job. Fortunately, I had a tall stand base available.

 

Originally posted by ckcondon Hey gang, I dug my old roto toms out of the attic last week and thought it would be cool to incorporate them back into my kit. I'm looking at alternatives to the standard "over the hi-hat" positioning. Anyone using them these days? Where are they? The stock mounting bar is a little limiting... I'd like to figure out a rack mount option. Any suggestions? Thanks! Chris C

 

[ckcondon]

Funny you mentioned it... I was thinking of replacing my 12" rack tom with the rotos. My problem is that the single post that holds the rail places the toms too high.

I'm trying to figure a way to mount the rail lower to the rack crossbar.

Another thought is to mount a single roto somewhere on the rack for accents...

 

CC

[Old Steve]

I've got my old 6" and 8" mounted to the left of my hats. I don't gig with them, just something to goof around with when the kit's set up at home. The smaller sizes are pretty limited, IMHO...can't be heard without mics, etc.

 

As for mounting, at times I've taken them off the rack and threaded the long "screw" post that they sit on (the thing in the center that the drum rotates around) through the hole in a cybmal boom stand. So take out the cymbal boom, put the roto-tom post through it (you have to take the drum part off) and then re-thread the drum onto it.

 

If you get a multi-clamp with a cymbal boom holder, you can then multi-clamp the tom onto practically anything.

[coyote-1]

Really?

 

Originally posted by Old Steve The smaller sizes are pretty limited, IMHO...can't be heard without mics, etc.

 

Mine cut through everything; they are the (apparently) loudest drums I have aside from the snare drum. It likely depends on which heads you use and how you have them tuned. A low-tuned roto will definitely not be heard well, especially if you have two-ply heads on it.

[Old Steve]

 

Originally posted by coyote-1 Really? Mine cut through everything; they are the (apparently) loudest drums I have aside from the snare drum. It likely depends on which heads you use and how you have them tuned. A low-tuned roto will definitely not be heard well, especially if you have two-ply heads on it.

 

 

Mine came with ebony pinstripes on them, but I've since put black dot remos on 'em (single ply with a dot). The higher pitch, does help a little bit, but they just don't move enought air, IMHO. Maybe I've gotta have the rest of the band turn down.

 

One of these days when I get some kind of electronic drum brain, I'll probably put mesh heads on them and use them as triggers.