Getting together the right drum kit is not only a matter of proper knowledge, but also of patience and network. A drum kit (drum set or trap set) is a compilation of drums, cymbals and occasionally other percussion instruments arranged for apt playing by a single drummer. Quite a lot of primary and secondary percussion instruments may be tried and employed by drummers though all may not be practically considered part of the standard kit.



The fundamental of getting together the right drum kit includes a bass drum, snare drum, two rack mounted tom toms (or toms), a set of hi hat cymbals, a ride cymbal, a floor tom, and a crash cymbal. Fusion kits are generally used where the drum sizes are somewhat smaller and there is just a single rack tom. Some drummers prefer to add other tom toms and a selection of extra cymbals to the central kit. Hardware is the collection of stands, racks and pedals and typically forms an important part of the kit.

There are other secondary instruments in the kit; for example, tambourine, a china cymbal, cow bell, and wood blocks. Electronic drums are a kind of percussion instrument where the sound is produced by an electronic waveform generator or sampler instead of by acoustic vibration. The electronic drummer has virtually boundless prospects for configuring many different sounding drum kits from one set of electronic drums, simply because of its capacity to assign diverse sounds to any given pad. So to attain the right tune the drummer has to be into getting together the right drum-kit.

The drummer has to take into consideration the occasion. The precise anthology of components to a drum kit varies greatly according to musical style, personal preference, financial resources, and transportation options of the drummer. So considering all the physical and financial constraints the drummer has to go through some customization and improvisation in getting together the right drum kit

For a drummer in a scenario of rock & roll music the essential drum instruments are generally the hi hats played with the sticks, bass drum and snare drum. The ride cymbal follows this combination. These instruments are the one to help the drummer make the time and establish the fundamental beat.

Here, the main importance is given on the second and forth beat of a four beat measure. The fills and the short transitional phases are utilized by the tom-toms and crash cymbals.

In case of the jazz music the choice for the drummer are the ride cymbal and the high hats. The combinations with these are the foot and snare, with which the time is kept. Tom-toms are used more harmoniously and the bass drum is treated like just an additional tom toms. It is evident that getting together the right drum kit is a challenge for many professional drummers.

Drummers, generally, tune their drums to particular musical intervals. This means that the distance (the interval) between the tuned note of one drum and that of the other one is consistently identifiable. This can guarantee that the tonal connection between one drum and the next is constant from any starting pitch.

The drummers always need to check the integrity and condition of the drum shell. Bearing edges and shell condition are the primary areas of concern; still it does not hurt to check the hardware, and the general state of the drum.