Attaching a 14" snare drum to 14" TOM for big drum

[MetalHead]

I have an old pearl forum metal snare from my first drum kit. I have a 14" floor tom I bought to experiment with cheap. I'm going to make them into a cocktail drum. Does anyone know a good way to go about doing this, cheaply?

I was thinking I could use tom legs to attach them and also allow the snare to be raised/lowered. This would help a lot since I'm probably going to sit down and play it. I like the fact that I get to sit down and play I want to be able to just grab the drum and sticks and go to practice or work on songs also, so I want to be able to stand and play it.

[multiperc]

here's a simple starting idea:

I think you're looking to do an astoria style kit - though with a smaller floor tom, right?

ie; http://www.cocktaildrum.com/gallery/sho ... e=Ast1.jpg

2 or 3 floor tom mounts, 1 or 2 cymbal S-arms. Mount a tom bracket on the side of the tom and another on the side of the snare. Use an S-shaped cymbal arm (Gibralter, I think) to attach the snare to the tom. You could swing the snare around almost directly over the bigdrum (though you'd lose the top head of the tom and would have to deal with sympathetic vibrations) or swing it off to the side for a '3-pice' kit. Physical balance is going to be an issue with a standard size snare and the 14x14, but mounting another cymbal arm on the opposing side of the bigdrum could help. If you are sitting, perhaps easier and most stable is to simply use a snare stand - but I think you're already doing that.

You could do this without drilling either drum using RIMS mounts on both but the cost would be different and you'd have to find a way to better balance the whole mess.

Have you considered making the 14x14 into a mini-cocktail drum with an internal snare on top and possibly some baffling?

[multiperc]

Had another thought for a vertical style kit...
Using 6 tom brackets and short rods (sawed from tom legs) mount the snare on the tom with some space inbetween. This would give you some height adjustment for the snare and space to minimize sympathetic vibrations. John Mettam posted some ideas here on stack-mounting 2 concert toms using some flexible material and that would be less expensive but you'd need to consider whether it'd be strong enough for your playing style and whether it would give you the height adjustment you needed.
Plan to experiment with different heads all around as well as some adventerous tuning to make the similar diameter drums contrast suitably. Perhaps consider removing the top tom head and installing a baffle in it's place.
I think we're still talking relatively cheep!

[MetalHead]

Thanks for the ideas Multiperc, very interesting. Last night i took the bottom hoops off the snare and top hoops off the floor tom. I simply gaff taped the two together so I could see what it would be like attached. I used an internal dampener with a cut snare wire attached up against the bottom of the top head and I LOVE the sound I get from the snare, very nice. I had already tried using the 14" floor tom alone with baffling but the drum was too small and i got a really small boxy sound that I didn't like, I think i'll keep these two stacked together and buy a 10" marching snare for $99AU hanging off the left. I'll post some pics soon

-Michael

[multiperc]

Nice go! Good to hear you got some good results with the snare at least.

Now that you've gone this far with the 14x14 and determined it sounds small, perhaps that drum is enough of an experiment to try a port...

QUESTION FOR EVERYONE: anyone here had good results reinforcing the lower or fundamental frequencies of their drum with one or more ports?

Micheal, don't cut a hole in your drum until you're sure you want to. But considering that the open space between 2 'stacked' drums can help tone on each, it might be something to consider especially with your 2 drums are 'sealed' together.

I kinda gave up on using my cut-down 10x14 single headed tom as a micromini kick because it too was small and boxy sounding. I did decide tho to set up a 16x16 maple Premier drum to work either vertically or horizontally, in both cases intended for sitdown playing. You're already doing this with your micro kit, so perhaps the same 16x16 would work for you vertically as well.

A bunch of people here have concocted expresso (vertical) type kits using a 16x16 as big drum. This has worked especially well for me with a side (10 or 13-inch) snare if you're thinking of going that way anyway.

I don't know about Au availability or cost, but check out these snare drums:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=443576

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=445235

I use a maple version of the Pacific side drum with my cocktail kit and love it. Not familiar with the ddrum snare but it would be an inexpensive entry.

[MetalHead]

There are so many possibilities, I suppose I should just try things out before I cut or drill or BUY anything, haha. The money just burns a hole in your wallet if you keep it too long I guess I've been getting a really cool jungle bass drum sound out of the 14" and that's with a dodgy old stretched out pearl protone skin! I think it will sound cool with a good skin on it. I turned the snare off and tuned to top down to a low tom sound then simply put my 12" snare next to it on a stand to get a feel for the position a side snare would have, I like it, much more comfy.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind.

-Michael