Right & Wrong? Kit positioning questions

[wombar]

Hello everyone,

 

I met up with one of my old friends from school today who I haven't seen for a while and as soon as he sat down at my kit he starts preaching about how this is setup wrong and this should be just so.

 

Now I dont claim to be an expert in these matters so I want some advice from you guys.

 

1. What height should your snare drum be at?

 

I personally like it quite low so I dont have to hold my arms up. However this guy basically said that it should be a few inches above waist height so I have my hands about six to eight inches from my legs. Now I usually play with my hands no more than two inches from my legs. What do you think? He reckons that it was on the Dave Weckl "Back to Basics" video which I haven't seen so cant really make any comments.

 

2. Does it matter if you have a loose(ish) snare skin?

 

I wouldn't have thought so, but this guy said "Just let me tune it for you and it'll sound cool", so i say why not, he's been playing & teaching drums for the past five years while I've been getting an education so I figure he knows what he's doing. To my absolute amazement he picks up my snare and proceeds to tighten each lug on it pretty much as tight as it'll go. Now I thought when tuning a drum you were meant to try and get it to the same pitch at each lug.

 

So he plonks my snare back on its stand and it sounds like a damn picollo, to me it sounds like utter cack. I like a nice boomy sound from my snare and this is about as far as you can go from my ideal sound. He then starts going on about how having a tight snare will help improve my playing. Opinions on this topic please!

 

I've since loosened all the lugs on my snare drum because I cant stand that really sharp sound that comes from a really tight skin.

 

The thing is I sat down at this electronic kit and I can see why he doesn't like my kit in the slightest, to me it seemed so ridiculously low that I might as well have been sitting on the floor. His skins are really bouncy(i.e. rock hard) which I personally dont like which explains the snare situation.

 

Anyway I'd like your opinions on this please, I would have thought that as long as I'm comfortable, height and tension of various bits of my kit are purely down to personal preference. Am I right thinking that there are no "Right or wrong ways" to set up my kit.

[titanone31]

i dont think there is a right way to layout or setup a drum set

i think its all a matter of personal prefrence.

now i have a friend who also plays drums and dont like the way i

angle my toms , he likes his toms almost straight up in the air

which i like mine more tilted toward the player

now for drum tuning thats also personal prefrence

i like my snare & toms tuned high & my 2 floor toms tuned as low as i can tune them

which most people i know prefer low tuned toms

[burque]

There is no wrong way to set up a kit; whatever works for you and feels comfortable and sounds the way you want it is right. This guy sounds like a real dick.

[stapes2260]

sounds to me like the guy knows what he's talking about.

[wombar]

How come stapes2260?

[jokerjkny]

he's only making it the way he likes to hear it, and not necessarily the way you like it. tuning is a very personal thing. so what works for one guy or room for that matter, might not work for you.

 

also, playing your snare should be comfortable for you. a good rule of thumb is to place the height where your arms feel comfortable hitting it squarely. most guys agree that when your forearm is 90 degrees to your bicep is where you hands should rest for a good solid hit, and for a good height your snare should be.

 

if its too low, you run the risk of tiring your arms out too much. if its too high, you might feel too constricted.

 

he's only trying to help, but tell him you're still trying to find what's right for you.

[relva]

i like my snare skin on my secondary snare especially loose, without the wires it almost sounds like a tom!

as far as positioning-can there be a right or wrong way? its not about what somebody else does that makes a setup right, but how comfortable and how much the settings you have make your playing better that matters.

besides, i'd never let a guy used to electronic drums change the way my set is-i want my set to feel acoustic, with wood shavings, grease, blood on the skins, and that strange smell from the 3-day old salsa jar.