Electronic or Acoustic? Rock or Fusion? Hardware and Cymbals? I thought a Tom Tom was the GPS in my car?

There are a lot of things to take into account when buying your first drum kit, however that doesn’t mean it has to be hard. We’ve put this article together to make things a little easier for shoppers, to translate some of the technical drummer jargon and to answer some of the common questions you should ask when buying your first drum kit.

1. How old do you have to be to learn to play drums?

There are no rules as such for the correct age to begin playing drums. With years of experience selling hundreds of drum kits, we can tell you from our experience, at 8 years of age you should be able to jump behind a full size kit without too many problems.

However, If you’re child is super keen to learn drums before the age of 8 you can look at a ½ size drum kit. For example the Ashton Joey Drum Kit. (sizes listed below)

• 16” x 11” bass drum
• 12” x 3½” snare
• 8” x 7” tom
• 10” x 7” tom
• 13” x 10” tom

2. Do I really need a drum kit? Can’t I just get away with a practice pad?

No, not really. For your hands, a practice pad is fine, but for what about your feet? It’s vital that a beginner drummer works on co-ordination. Of all your limbs! Buying a bass drum practice pad will help but, you’ll also benefit from a hi-hat stand with cymbals, so all 4 limbs are getting the appropriate workout. A practice pad is small and light enough to take just about everywhere you go. This will give you the chance to practice no matter where you are and to can keep your hands loose and in good shape.

3. Fusion or Rock? What’s the difference?

The difference between Fusion and Rock is the size of the drums. Fusion Kits generally measure 10”, 12” and 14” diameters across the tom tom drum heads. In a rock kit they generally measure 12”, 13” and 16”.

Rule of thumb is, the larger the drum, the louder the sound and the deeper the tone. Fusion drums are better suited to styles such as Fusion, Jazz, Contemporary, Funk, Pop Rock, where Rock Drums are better suited to 70’s classic rock and metal, soft rock, and general rock and roll. These kits are also sometimes referred to as standard sizes.

4. The advantages and disadvantages of an electronic drum kit.

Firstly, the advantages of electronic drums are:

• You can play them without disturbing your neighbors.
• They are compact and fit in a small room or area.
• Electronic drums can generate all sorts of fun sounds.
• You can easily practice playing with a CD by plugging the player into the sound module, and not have to worry that the drum sound will overwhelm the music.
• You don't have to tune them.
• Electronic drums are much easier and much cheaper to record. Just plug them into your mixing board, and don't worry about having to carefully arrange multiple microphones.

The disadvantages of some electronic drums are:

• Electronic drums don't have the volume range of acoustic drums.
• They don't have expressive range of acoustic drums either, especially with the hi-hat, rides and other cymbals.
• Brushes are not effective on electronic drums, particularly with rubber pads.
• If you perform on stage with a live band, you are at the mercy of the stage monitor speakers to hear yourself play.
• Electronic drums are much more of a hassle in a live setting to assemble and take apart than a standard acoustic kit because they have many more parts and wires.

5. Accessories? Hardware? Cymbals? What’s included?

Beginner drum packages generally come complete with all that’s required to start off drumming. Your checklist should read something like this:

• Snare drum
• Kick drum
• 2 or 3 Tom toms
• Hi-Stand
• Crash Cymbal Stand
• Ride Cymbal Stand
• Hi-Hats
• Ride Cymbal
• Crash Cymbals

Starter Packs also generally include extras such as:

• Drum Stool
• Pair of drum sticks
• Instruction DVD

Once you move up from a “starter kit” to a semi-professional drum kit things become a lot more tailored, so don’t expect to get an all in one package as you take the next step. Generally in this range all that is included with a drum kit would be the stands required for that specific set up. Cymbals and additional hardware would be extras that you would have to purchase separately.

Then with professional drum kits you may only get what’s called a shell pack. This is great if you already have a set of drum hardware and cymbals you are happy with.