# Non-classical question - best drum kit/sound



## Guest

During the 70s, I paid particular attention to the kit used by my favourite drummers - I wanted to be one and lamely got hold of a second-hand kit that I couldn't play. Listening again today to _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_ (Genesis), I was reminded how much I liked the drum sound (Collins was, AFAIK, a user of Premier kits).

My recollection was that there were only a few brands at that time used by the top UK bands - Ludwig, Pearl, Tama - (don't know what was in use in the US).

Anyone else have a view on their favourites and whether you could really tell the difference? (as a listener; I'm sure drummers can tell from playing!)


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## Nate Miller

I've always had friends that were drummers. Drummers like hanging around with musicians, anyway, so it works out for us both.


The brands you named, Ludwig, Pearl, Tama...they are also the ones here in the states, but you should add Slingerland to that list as they have been making great kits for decades. Yamaha also makes good kits.

generally I can't tell the brand of kit my drummer friends are playing. 

the size of the shells, the drum heads themselves, how the heads are tuned, the type of stick, and the drummer's touch have much more effect on the sound than the manufacturer, so I can't tell a Ludwig from a Slingerland from a Pearl from a Yamaha

every drummer I ever knew put a lot more money and effort into finding the best cymbals and hats than they did picking out their drum shells. 

also, the snare drum is usually something that a lot of drummers I've played with are really personal about. They may show up and play whatever kit is there, but they'll bring their own cymbals and snare drum with them


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## DFlat

Aside from his incredible playing, Billy Cobham had one of the most unique and beautiful drum kit sounds in the early 70s in his work with The Mahavishnu Orchestra and his recordings as a band leader. He played clear fiberglass drums made by Fibes. If you want to hear a great example of a truly great sounding drum kit listen to his first solo album “Spectrum.” Of course a lot of it is in the way he plays. Nobody else could make his drums sound like that.


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## DFlat

MacLeod said:


> Listening again today to _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_ (Genesis), I was reminded how much I liked the drum sound (Collins was, AFAIK, a user of Premier kits).


I don't know about the album you mentioned, but Phil Collins often didn't use bottom heads on his toms. Maybe his bass drum as well. That can have a big effect on the sound.


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## elgar's ghost

Bill Bruford - always had that upper 'pop' with the snare drum, as did John Bonham. Bonham only had a five-piece kit but it was of large proportions - not many drummers had a 26" bass drum then.


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## DFlat

Bruford is one of my favorite drummers. Man, do I love when he gets that ring in his snare drum hits. I think part of it comes from the way he tunes it. But he says he gets it by grabbing some rim with the stick at the same time. Basically a type of rimshot. According to Bill it’s something he developed in the early days of Yes to increase the volume of his snare drum so that he could be heard over the band. You really can’t overstate how much of a drum sound is the player. And obviously the same can be said for any instrument.


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