Hello,
First post. Been visiting for a couple of weeks now. I am supposed to have my new cocktail drum in about three weeks. It is going to be a 14 X 24, so how tall will it be on legs with the pedal functioning? Also, am going to use three Pearl fiberglass concert toms (single head), 6", 8", and 10" mounted on a stand, and a 13" seperate snare on a stand. Will this be ok or am I going totally against the whole cocktail drum idea? I know it is up to me, but when I post pics, I don't want everyone to look at it as if it were another conventional drum kit.
Thanks
It's your kit, so you should do whatever you want and have fun. That said, I think there are basically two approaches to a cocktail set. One is you use it as a more portable substitute for a conventional drumset. I think those players tend to use more than one tom, more than a closed hi hat and one cymbal, they tend to prefer a separate snare and use the top cocktail head as a floor tom, they explore ways to open the hi hat, and sometimes even work out double bass. They sit or stand, depending on the rig. The end result is totally cool.
The other approach is the purist approach, which views a cocktail set not so much as a smaller substitute for a traditional drumset, but as its own instrument. What a drumset player would see as shortcomings, the purist views as the traditional tones of a different instrument. So these players tend not only to use the top head as a snare, but also to accept the decreases in volume and the increase in snare rattle that come from the bottom head. Many don't even baffle their drums. They tend to avoid adding more than one tom or a set of bongos to the set, usually use closed hi hats if any, use one cymbal that they can get good ride and crash tones out of, and almost always play standing up. They also sometimes use the more old-fashioned drumset accessories, like cowbells, woodblocks, or triangles. They also tend to be fanatical about mounting everything on the main drum, unless doing so involves ruining a vintage shell (LP claws and Rhythm Tech Sidemen help there). The end result is totally cool.
I've always noticed that certain things I do work well on some traditional kits and not on others--each drumset seems to have a way it wants to be played. The same is true with cocktails. I'm probably in the second category of cocktail players mainly because my particular drum doesn't play well with other drums--one 10x8" is all it likes. I play my cocktail set busier than I play my 4-piece and work at pulling a wide degree of sounds from fewer sources. Part of that, too, comes from using the cocktail drum as a snare instead of a tom. Cocktail snares produce some very weird sounds. On a normal snare, I can get a lot of different sounds, but they all sound like they come from a singlle drum. My cocktail top head has several sounds that don't sound related to each other at all, and they almost force me to join the second group of cocktail drummers, because they would sound ugly to me if I didn't accept the drum as its own instrument, not a drumset substitute. The closed hi-hat, the weird snare, the rattly, condensed bass drum thump, and the small ride cymbal, and the volume constraints all demand different techniques, approaches, and ears than a traditional set. But that's my drum...other people make their cocktail sets sound like traditional sets and I'm in awe.
As for drum height with legs, I was surprised by how much difference in height I could get away with on my drum. I thought the bass pedal would only work right with one height, but I bet I have five inches of give either way.
I think Will says it all and says it well. His comments made me realize that my brand of cocktail drum (a Peace Manhattan), is sort of a 'half-way house' between the two approaches he outlines. It is made to be played standing up, has only one small tom, has a vertical kick with limited volume, and has high hats that are closed. However, it has room for a little splash, as well as a single crash/ride, and it has a regular snare drum mounted over the kick drum, so it gives a more "traditional" sound for both the snare and the kick, than a 'one-drum' cocktail drum.
As much as I enjoy having a more traditional sounding set, however, I do miss the strange and wonderful sounds I used to get with my old Yamaha Club Jordan. (I used the top head for my snare, with all the variety and surprise associated with that arrangement.) I'm still fantasizing about building a single-drum cocktail drum, a la Kyle Bronsdon's 'Loungecaster.' (See his incredible posts under 'Your Coctail Kit' heading in this forum.)
Thanks for the input, Will and Bruce. Since reading Will's reply, I called the guy building my drum and added a snare and tom mounted to the main drum, more of the traditonal setup as opposed to the extra stands I was planning on using in the first place. After reading this, I can't wait until I get it. I've also changed the color of it from black w/gold and silver flecks in it to Bermuda sand.
Sounds like a cool drum! Bermuda sand is a great color. I still can't figure out what color to make mine. My Slingerland 4-piece is WMP, so I might match that, but something more wild would be fun, too. Plus, I might trade my Kustom bass cab for a set of maple Slingerlands with a 20" bass, and those are BDP. Who knows...maybe they will stay ugly and unfinished forever--that's a nice alternative to the hundred bucks I'd spend on plastic! The tom tom looks nice as it is since it's an unfinished Keller maple shell, but the cocktail drum itself is made from two stripped Ludwig marching drums, so there is a seam of glue and wood filler and a lot of filled holes, not to mention a not very attractive mahogany outer veneer around the maple. But it looks kind of Frankensteiny, so that's cool.
Gee, it's about damn time I post some pictures, isn't it? I've only been working on it for a year. I keep telling myself that I'll borrow a friend's camera once I buy the finishing material, then take a before picture while it's all disassembled, then an after when it looks nice. The thing is, I still haven't gotten it to sound the way I want it to--I always compromise the bass to get the snare or vice versa. Also, I've been more geeked about playing it than finishing it, so I've just been playing it in its gross form rather than picking out the right plastic for it. It's too ugly to leave unfinished permanently, though. Then the last issue is that my wife and I decided to redo our kitchen this summer, and that's been taking up all of my time and money. I don't feel right about shelling out the $120 I need to finish the drum right now when I'm spending money and energy left and right trying to get the kitchen done before school starts (I'm a teacher). So who knows if the drum will ever get done. In a sense, I don't want it done. It's a nice oasis during the school year to stop thinking about grading for a bit to go down into the basement and work on the drum.
Next time my bandleader comes over, though, I'll have him shoot a few pics so you can see the drum in progress. The Frankenstein metaphor works well...it's been in the lab of my basement forever, I tried to created it in my own image, and it came "alive" looking scary. I'm trying to be a better father to it than Frankenstein was to his monster, which is why I'm on this page all the time trying to get ideas. I can't thank you all enough for the ideas you've given me and the solutions I've used. I've gigged on my drum twice and people seem to dig it.
