Set up / Position of a kit

[Supernaught]

Ive been playing totally self taught for 2 years now and am on my second e-kit.

The thing is, Ive never played an acoustic kit and the manuals that come with the e-kits dont show anything. Ive never really been sure if I have the kit positioned properly or set up right.

I know its 99% about personal preference, but if anyone can see any immediate faults or could offer suggestions, Id be grateful.

By biggest concern is where the hihat should go, followed by where to put the kit drum. I have my ride way off to the right after looking at pictures of a-kits, but most pictures on this forum of members kits have them high up and parallel to the crash.

I know the best thing to do is get a pro lesson, but in the meantime Id love to sort it out.

Thanks.

[Colquhoun]

The most glaring thing I see wrong is that the beaters on the pedal should be centered on the kick pad. Meaning that the right beater should strike no closer to the center of the pad than the left beater.
Once you do this, neither beater will be hitting EXACTLY center, so you may need to increase the sensitivity of the KD8 in the module.
Hi-hat looks fine.
As far as ergonomics and setup, read this article:
www.tothestage.com/upload/EV_Drum_Ergonomics_1986.pdf

[KevH]

It looks pretty much Ok to me, and as you say,it's personal preference. Traditionally the hi-hat is where you have it, but some move it around. Personally I have my snare central to my toms, but it's on it's own stand, not fixed to the rack, so this is possible. Looking at your rack it looks like it may be possible for you too.
My kit pic is a bit out of date (I'm waiting for some new bits before updating it), as I now have 3 toms on my top rail, but if you look at it you can see where my snare is.
Basically, find a position where everything is comfortably in reach and you'll be fine,. There's no hard and fast rule.
I agree about the beaters though - get them central asap.

[Supernaught]

Thanks guys. That makes me feel better.

The beaters are there just for the right foot at the moment. I only got the kit a couple of weeks ago and set the double beater up as it should be and couldnt get any volume out of it, so I moved it back for single foot use until I could figure out how to change the velocity thing. Im not big on manuals when i have a brand spanking new kit to beat the crap out of! And Im not much of a double basser, I can barley use one foot! Hence I havent moved it back yet.

[spyder]

Looks pretty close, the angles on the snare and the hi-hate are a little off from if you played an A kit. Also, your left foot would be directly under the A hi-hat...

just pointing out some differences...

Here is my kit (Although your right about personal preference.. if it feels comfortable, why change it?)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dpurdy/2867065958/sizes/l/

keep in mind the perspective is a little skewed because its a wideangle lens.

[Supernaught]

Looks pretty close, the angles on the snare and the hi-hate are a little off from if you played an A kit. Also, your left foot would be directly under the A hi-hat...

From what I can see from your photo, I should (?) have the snare and HH more flat, ie. parallel to the floor?

[Oz DrumR]

From what I can see from your photo, I should (?) have the snare and HH more flat, ie. parallel to the floor?

I guess this depends on a number of things:

a) how tall you are
b) where your arms / writsts / sticks sit 'naurally' (at rest), and
c) what your preference is for playing rim accented shots.

Ultimately, as you've said, it's all about ease of access. - I personally have my snare quite high and slighly angled towards me, that's the most comfortable way for me to get access to head shots (without accidentally triggering the rim) - but easily get to the rim . . . all this talk of 'head' and 'rim' concerns me!

Your setup looks fine to me.

[spyder]

c) what your preference is for playing rim accented shots.

I need to mess with this part of it.. i seem to be triggering too many rimshots... but i can't get my snare stand any lower with it tightened down all the way for a 12" snare... my old A snare was 14" and when tightened down was the perfect height if you get what I am saying...



just keep playing with it.. you'll find whats most comfortable..

[stickinthemud]

It looks like the way your hihat is positioned in relation to your snare might lead to your sticks interfering with one another, especially if you lift your left hand too much while your right is playing the hat. If you find that's a problem, try moving the hat a little counter-clockwise (back toward the module) so that your right hand is over your left wrist when playing the hihat and snare.

[lopan]

If your not going to play Acoustic, position won't matter that much. Just be sure everything is within reasonable reach, so your not extending your arm to play the ride or over-reaching for anything. If you want to position your hat in the middle or on the right side, there's nothing wrong with it. I have have an X-hat on my A kit and my E kit. As pictured, your set-up looks pretty straight forward.

[duncs]

The beauty of playing an E kit for me is not even refering to it as being like an A kit, but a totally different instrument. If you use a cow bell regular then put it on your snare rim you don't have to move far to trigge it. just look how many foot triggers Rick Allen uses. Duncs.

[Odisey]

Position of kit

I have a white paper on my footer.... Setting-up your trap kit. You might find it interesting. I don't see anything wrong in the picture, except the beaters are not centered - as has been mentioned - and there are not any hotdogs and burgers on the grill in the backyard. When you havin' a cookout? I will bring some beer.

Odisey

[hampis]

the only problem i see is that the case for the computer is missing !

No...joking it looks fine, why don't u try using the hihat between the toms playing free handed.i have done this and it;s more comfortable.There is a thread about this issue somewhere in the forum check the search engine and i recommend to give it a try

[Supernaught]

It looks like the way your hihat is positioned in relation to your snare might lead to your sticks interfering with one another, especially if you lift your left hand too much while your right is playing the hat. If you find that's a problem, try moving the hat a little counter-clockwise (back toward the module) so that your right hand is over your left wrist when playing the hihat and snare.

I get that a little. Not as much as I used to and I put that down to getting better at playing.

The intro to Aerosmith's Rag Doll here always gives me a problem with this though. The swing rhythm on the hats comes at just the wrong place when the snare is hit on beat 3 and I always end up smacking my hands together, or missing the beat. I just put this down to me being a useless player.

[Colquhoun]

On my td9, i switched the placement of the module and the hihat recently, to get the hat further to the left. Now while playing, my two hands cross at the wrists and not at the sticks, and the sticks cannot hit if I tried!