Percussion Instrument Accessories

Percussion Instrument Parts and Accessories

Percussion instruments have come a long way from the time when cavemen stretched animal hide over hollow logs. You can get just the sound you want from your drumkit with a variety of useful parts and accessories. Collect some for yourself or give them as gifts to the drummer in your life.

You can find many types of drums, each requiring certain parts and accessories. For instance:

• The bass drum is the largest drum in a kit. Unlike the others, it rests on its side. The rock and roll bass drum is larger than the bass drum used in a jazz band. It is operated by a foot pedal clamped to its hoop. When you step on it, it swings a beater that hits the head right in the center.
• The snare drum is a smaller drum that is used for the downbeat. When it is struck, it produces a sharp crack that can penetrate through the other sounds made by the band. This is because it has snares, which are parallel lines of gut or crinkled wire that are stretched across the bottom of the head and attached on both sides to strainers. Snare drums can be 14 inches in diameter and 5 or 5 1/2 inches deep.
• Tom-toms come in several sizes and each size has a different tone. One tom-tom can be 12 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep. It can also be attached to the top of the bass or have its own stand.

In general, the top rim attaches to nut boxes in the shell via nuts, tension rods, and springs, while the batter head fits on top of the shell above the kettle edge. However, there is another head at the bottom of the shell that fits into a bottom rim. The bottom rim also uses tension rods and nuts to attach to the shell.

You can find a range of accessories, including:

• Bags or cases to carry your drums safely
• Drumsticks, including those that glow in the dark
• Rims
• Clamps, gaskets, bolts, and screws
• Stands
• Thrones or chairs
• Bass pedals

Drumsticks are made of various types of wood, including maple, oak, and birch, as well as hickory wood with a close grain. The tips of drumsticks can vary, with some being made of nylon. Tips can come in barrel, oval, pointed, round, acorn, and teardrop shapes. Some drummers choose to have an assortment of sticks so they can choose the appropriate ones to suit the style of music they’re playing.

• Medium: These cymbals can be used either as crash or ride cymbals.
• Ride: Rides are thicker and produce a louder noise than crash cymbals.
• Crash: These thin cymbals produce a crashing sound when struck.
• Hi-hat: Hi-hats are two cymbals, one on top of the other, that make a bright, clean noise when they clash together.