Nothing But Drums

Drum Kit Extras

June 16th, 2009 | Author: Drums

Rototoms can be a great extra to any drum kit, especially if you want to have something with more flavor compared to the standard toms. Rototoms usually feature heads with black dots due to the lack of an actual shell, and they have a distinctive biting sound. As the name rotodrum implies, these drums can be rotated to be tuned to a definitive pitch, and can be used as a form of pitched-percussion. Bare rototom frames are called ‘spoxes’ and are occasionally found on kits mounted in the air like cymbals, or sometimes as alternative high hats. Spoxes create a distinctive gentle bell-like pitched sound when struck, which is variable depending on where on the frame they are struck.

Octobans were originally created by Tama back in the 70's, and are a special type of tom drum whose pitch is affected by the depth of the drum rather than by the diameter of the drum. Octobans are normally six inches in diameter and can be over twenty inches deep and produce a very short, percussive sound. Octobans are normally bundled together in sets of either two or four. They are an interesting addition to a standard drum kit, but have pretty limited use in conventional drumming.

Percussive extras such as the cowbell, woodblock, and jam block are common extras on contemporary drum kits, and can be used as alternative sounds in complex rhythms. Jam blocks were created specifically for drum kit use, and share similar tonal qualities with the traditional woodblock – especially useful for Latin and exotic patterns and fills. Tambourines are also popular additions to kits, and can be mounted directly onto the high hat in some cases, which has the advantage of being able to shake the tambourine when you move the high hat pedal up and down.

Electronic drum kits can provide unique sounds for your project as well.