Ride cymbal positioning

[DaveTheRave]

If anyone's reading this, I'm just wondering where you would place your ride if you had a right-hand rack tom (referred to as 2nd rack tom).

If you already have a right-hand rack tom, get outta here! Haah, just kidding. Where do you put your ride cymbal?

[MDK]

Hey Dave, welcome to DC. Take a Look through this thread to get some ideas. Pretty common .

http://www.drumchat.com/showthread.p...eye-12263.html

[Bish]

Welcome, Dave.

Usually somewhere over your floor tom but far enough back that you can still hit the tom. Some position their ride higher above the right side tom. Personal preference more than anything else.

Or like Simon Phillips does, his is over his hats but he plays open with both hands. Me...not so much. Like never.

[FlyByNight]

I play a 1 up 2 down so my ride is where my second rack tom would be. If I had 2 rack toms, my ride would be half way over the tom, just so it's close to me.

[DaveTheRave]

Welcome, Dave.

Usually somewhere over your floor tom but far enough back that you can still hit the tom. Some position their ride higher above the right side tom. Personal preference more than anything else.

Or like Simon Phillips does, his is over his hats but he plays open with both hands. Me...not so much. Like never.

I notice that your right-hand crash cymbal is quite far away from your low floor tom. Is it a struggle to get from the low floor tom to the right-hand crash cymbal?

[slinky]

hey Dave welcome to the DC show, my ride has been in the same spot for so long it's hard to remember where i use to put it when i had the both racks up, but it was somewhere around the floor tom. The finish of your set sounds pretty cool hang a pic sometime in one of the threads.

The way I set up now just feels ergonomically better. No reaching or twisting. Also helps with my oxygen intake. That was a dumb way to say it keeps me from gassing out towards the end of a set

current. ride on top of kick

[MDK]

This was an old set up of mine. Hard to believe I had the ft that far away but it's an ever changing process for me, I am now playing a 1up 1 dwn set up and sometimes a 1 up 2 dwn.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Pearl MCX Man]

Like some have mentioned my ride is just off my floor tom and below my crash and has been for years.

[crispycritters]

Currently my ride is just over the floor tom.

My ride cymbal positioning has always been a bugbear for me. I tried mounting it higher (just over my second tom) and positioning my second crash behind it, I found this very tiring. Also tried stand mounting my toms at the side of the kick and positioning the ride over the kick, great for the ride - not so good for the hats - I seemed to be overreaching and it just didn't feel good..

I'll probably stick with the ride positioned over the FT, after almost 3 years I still keep changing the height, angle and moving it around slightly - I can't say I've ever been happy with it.

[DaveTheRave]

Thanks for your input and warm welcome! Personally I don't feel strained with having my ride cymbal where it is; a lot of people do. I'm perfectly comfortable with having it positioned there.

If you can't see it, I could always pull up some more images.

Also I like doing "multi-tom" grooves and fills with 3 as opposed to just 2; I find it more fun that way.

5-piece Arctic Sparkle Pearl Export:
14x6 snare (part of the kit)
10x8 high rack tom
12x9 low rack tom
14x14 floor tom
22 kick (not sure about the depth).

Zildjian cymbals:
14 ZBT hi-hat
20 ZBT ride
16 ZBT crash
14 ZBT crash (yep, a baby crash!).

I also bought my brother a cowbell (as he also plays drums) which will be mounted to the kick drum.

[Bish]

I notice that your right-hand crash cymbal is quite far away from your low floor tom. Is it a struggle to get from the low floor tom to the right-hand crash cymbal?

Not sure what picture you saw the gave you that idea but most of my right hand cymbals are directly above the ride as close as the stands will allow and are set fairly low. Never been an issue with reaching for them and I'm a stocky 6 footer.

[DaveTheRave]

Not sure what picture you saw the gave you that idea but most of my right hand cymbals are directly above the ride as close as the stands will allow and are set fairly low. Never been an issue with reaching for them and I'm a stocky 6 footer.

I was talking about your avator; about the distance between the second floor tom and the second crash cymbal. Or is that not your kit?

[Bish]

I was talking about your avator; about the distance between the second floor tom and the second crash cymbal. Or is that not your kit?

Ah, I see what you did there. LOL.

Yes, that is my pride and joy.

Here's a better view...


20151111_111816 by Pigg Penn, on Flickr

[Bish]

Here's a different angle. They really are in rather tight but perfect for my reach.


20151111_111744 by Pigg Penn, on Flickr

[DaveTheRave]

Ohh I see! That's a nice kit!

[Bish]

Ohh I see! That's a nice kit!

Thank you. I'm very happy with it.

I now have it moved out into the main practice room and all mic'd up. I've been working on getting some recordings of it but with the holidays, it's been difficult to get what I want done, accomplished.

I hope to post some vids soon.

[DaveTheRave]

Thank you. I'm very happy with it.

I now have it moved out into the main practice room and all mic'd up. I've been working on getting some recordings of it but with the holidays, it's been difficult to get what I want done, accomplished.

I hope to post some vids soon.

Cool. Let me know how they sound!

[markthechuck]

When i played 2 up i had mine off to the right above the floor tom.

[BigFatDrummer]

I play a 1 up 2 down these days but when I did go with the 2 up configuration, I'd offset the rack toms on a stand so that the ride would still be placed over the kick.

My approach to set up is to start with the parts of the kit I use most and get them comfortable. For me, this is kick, snare, hi-hat and ride. These take prioirty in my setup so get the optimal position. All other pieces are secondary and will need to fit around these 4 pieces. I moved to 1 up 2 down as I was not able to get the two rack toms where I wanted without moving the hi-hat to the left (I play right handed) and this is not something my approach to setup will allow.

In practice, with a 1 up 2 down tom setup along with 3 x crashes this is pretty stright forward with little need for compromise on the secondary pieces but can get trickier when having to setup in confined spaces or where the kit is larger.

[late8]

2 up 1 down, the ride is partially over the floor tom.