People often ask me "what kind of drum set should I buy?"  Or even, "what’s the best brand of drums?"
This usually gets my "it depends" answer, but here’s the short list of what I like to tell them.

If you’re just starting to play the drums, beginners should look at the different parts that make up a drum set or "drum kit.  The basics are:

1. Bass drum 2. Snare drum 3. High tom 4. Low tom 5. Floor tom 6. Ride cymbal 7. Crash cymbal 8. and a pair of hit-hat cymbals.

This is known as the basic 5 piece set, but there’s a whole lot more that you can get into to fancy up your kit.  Almost everything you need in a drum set requires some kind of stand to put in on.  Even with the basic 5 piece kit you’ll need:a nare stand, two cymbal stands, a hi-hat stand and a foot pedal for your bass drum.  You’ll also need some basic hardware to mount the toms, and of course your "throne," which is the stool a drummer sits on.  Usually the floor tom comes with its own hardware or adjustable legs, and the most important piece — the drum key (for tuning the drums).  And don’t forget the drum sticks!  It sucks to bang on those things with your hands.

Now that you know what’s in a basic kit, then the rest of the "it depends" answer comes into play.  Before you buy anything, you need to consider a few factors, such as: your level of play, what kind of music you’ll be playing, and budget to name a few.  If you’re a just starting, you really don’t want to throw a couple thousand dollars into an 8 piece, double bass drum kit.  Likewise, if you’re into jazz, you may not want the latest in rock crash cymbals and the tightest piccolo snare.  Once you know your level of ability, style of music and your budget, then you can start to shop.

If budget is a concern, and it usually is for most new musicians, you may want to consider a used drum set.  There’s a lot of starving artists out there, so check your local Craigs List or local paper’s classifieds for used drum sets.  There’s some bargins out there.

Now on the Internet, there’s a ton of decent online music stores, such as Musician’s Friend or Guitar Center or even Ebay.  Offline, Guitar Center and Sam Ash are fairly good-sized stores with enough variety to choose from.

Then it comes to "what brand should I get."  Here’s where your style and your ears get some practice.  Before you buy any drum kit, you gotta’ go bang on some skins!  You wouldn’t buy a car without driving it, would you?  So when you find a set, whether used or not, you’re going to run into brands like: Pearl, Remo, Tama, Slingerland, Mapex, DW,  Gretsch, Yamaha, Ayotte, Ludwig, CB700, Premier, TKO, Sonor, Sunlite, Maxwin, and Thor.  And there’s even more than this, but these are the more well known brand names.  When it comes to the cymbals, you’re going to have to crash a few of those too so you can hear what they sound like too.  There’s brand names like Paiste, Sabian, Zildjian as well as Solar, Ufip, Meinl, CB and Stagg.

If you’re going the used drum route, make sure that you get everything that normally comes on a new drum set, such as the bottom drum heads, all the lug nuts, and other hardware.  You can spend just as much on missing hardware as you did on your used drum set!

As mentioned earlier, the drum key is a pretty important piece of the equipment, and ask any drummer, they probably have theirs in their pocket right now.  You’ll need to learn to tune your drums, and if you buy knew, most music stores have the skill and knowledge (hopefully drummers) sales people who are willing to teach you to tune your drums.

Drums have working parts and parts that wear out, especially drum heads.  Check out your drum heads to make sure they are not worn too thin or even torn.

If you got the bucks to buy a new set, go for it!  If not, it’s cool to go used, and like I said, there’s a ton of bargains out there. When it comes to buying used, let your ears and your gut guide you.  If it does not sound good or look good, then it’s probably not a good deal.  But if they sound hot and you don’t mind a few blemishes, you’re on your way to learning some great chops.

Have fun!
Humper-T