How to Set up a Drum Kit

How to Set up a Drum Kit

No two drummers are the same, but here’s five things we all universally have in common:

• We want to sound good 
• We want to enjoy playing and have fun
• We want to get maximum efficiency and play in a relaxed manner
• We want to avoid injury 
• We want to be Dave Grohl 

Four out of the these five heavily depend on you setting up your drum kit correctly, and like many things in the drumming world, a lot of this comes down to personal preference. But there are a few basic principles we can put in place to achieve the best results. 

Drum kit configurations vary, but with an entry-level kit, it's most likely that you'll be dealing with a five-piece setup. A ‘five-piece’ kit refers to the drum shells only and not the cymbals. With a beginner drum set you'll usually receive two or three cymbals included as a bundle. These could be hi-hats, crash, and ride cymbals or a crash/ride combo. If you want to read more on this, make sure to check out our ultimate guide to acoustic drums. 

Before we get into setting up the kit itself: if you've got yourself a brand new beginners boxed drum kit and some of the drums need building because they are Russian-dolled inside each other, please see the paragraph at the end of this guide titled “Unboxing a beginners drum kit”. 

Let's Get Started

Here are a few key steps to help you set up your drum kit. First off, it's vital to consider the surrounding you’re going to set your drum kit up in - is the space right for the size of your kit? This factor doesn't consider your next-door neighbours and the wider community around you, but the room itself. 

You should aim to have your kit set up in an area with enough space, not just for the kit itself, but with a big enough gap behind you as well. This is because you'll need to move around freely without knocking your elbows or arms into walls or anything else. Drum kits are big - no matter what the sizes of the shells are, it’s still going to take up a large amount of space in the room.

Now you’ve identified a good space for your drum kit, follow this step-by-step process below to get clued up on just how to set up your kit so that it’s ready to rock out on!

Drum Throne

The first thing you’ll want to do is get your throne (or stool, they’re the same thing) adjusted so that it’s at a comfortable height. This is your centre of power, so make sure you feel centred and balanced. Start by adjusting the height of the throne to around knee height, give or take (depending on preference). A good test is to sit on the stool, plant your lead foot on the floor and aim to have your leg at a 90-degree(ish) angle. 

Snare Drum

Next up, you’ll need to place the snare drum in a comfortable position just slightly off centre left in front of you. The height and angle will differ from one person to the next, but this may be the most crucial adjustment parameter that you make on the whole kit, because it’s the drum you’ll be using most often. So, it's important to give it time and make sure that you get it set up correctly.

The snare should initially be set to around belt buckle height, positioned at a horizontal angle, adjusting this ever so slightly to suit your preferences. It's important not to adjust too much though, as you could end up smacking the hoop all the time unintentionally - or your thighs could get in the way of your downstrokes as you play.

Bass Drum

You'll need to situate the bass drum centrally in your space, making sure that it’s comfortable for your right foot. You’ll need to leave plenty of room on either side to build out the remainder of the kit. Make sure the drum is facing the right way round; this is done by checking which way round the spurs or legs are pointing. They are always nearer the front edge of the bass drum and point forward, aiming away from you as you’re sat behind it.

Once you have done this, use the spurs on the bass drum to prevent the drum from sliding around (a good drum mat will also help in this regard). Adjust the height of the legs so that the bass drum is sturdy and sitting securely in place. Keep in mind that the bottom of the bass drum should be parallel with the floor and be completely level once the pedal is attached, which is our next step.

Bass Drum Pedal

Once your bass drum is set up, you'll want to attach the pedal clamp (that's on your bass drum pedal) right in the centre of the hoop, on the side that’s closest to you. The beater from the pedal is commonly made of felt. This should be striking the skin directly or just below the centre of the skin. The foot plate (where your foot is resting on) should hit the bass drum before the foot plate bottoms out and hits the floor plate.

Hi-Hat

Next up is the hi-hat placement. Let’s start with the base and move upwards, starting with setting up the hi-hat pedal. You want to be sat comfortably and have the snare drum in between your legs and your legs positioned in a V-shape. Not too wide – so that the hi-hat stand placement is still comfortable - but also not too close, as you have to put the cymbals on top of the stand and don’t want them banging into the toms and damaging parts of your kit. Moving upwards to the cymbals themselves, you should aim to have the cymbals situated around waist height when you're stood up.

Again, adjust this to suit your preferences. When adjusting the gap between open-and-closed on the hi-hat, loosen the clutch, apply pressure to the foot pedal, then re-tighten the clutch and take your foot off the pedal. Applying more pressure will open the gap, less pressure will reduce the gap. Find your preference, but most people will have a gap of about an inch. 

Toms

Now for the toms. You should set up your toms going from smallest to largest in a clockwise rotation. In a 5-piece kit, it’s most likely you’ll have two rack toms and one floor tom. Place the smallest rack tom on the left-hand side of the mount (which should be attached to the kick drum shell). Repeat this with the second tom drum, but obviously place it on the right-hand side of the tom mount.

Finally, move onto the floor tom. This will be held up by 3 legs. Set it up so that the skin of the floor tom is somewhat parallel with the top of your snare drum. The floor tom should closely mimic the placement of your snare. 

Cymbals

The last step of this process is to set up the remaining cymbals. The crash cymbal should be off to the left-hand side, situated roughly in between your first rack tom and the hi-hats. The second crash / ride cymbal should be located on the right-hand side of your kit, somewhere above the floor tom, or just to the right of the second rack tom. 

A Traditional Right-Handed Setup

Here is a visual representation of what your kit should now look like from above: 

Left-Handed?

No need to worry -  a drum set in a left-handed configuration simply mirrors a standard right-handed setup. Your hi-hat goes on the right, the ride cymbal on the left, and the bass drum remains central. Follow the diagram below for reference:

Unboxing a Beginners Drum Kit

If you get a brand-new kit, (especially a budget one) you’ll probably have to build some of the drums, as they will be Russian-dolled inside one another. They’re easy to put together; you’ll need to simply put the drum head on the shell, then the hoop over that and then attach the hoop to the lugs with the supplied tension rods. The best thing to do is check out some videos online, as there are loads to watch – with some even centred around the exact kit you’ve just bought.