Upgrading my set

[sidmontu]

Hi guys, I got myself a Pearl Rhythm Traveller set a while ago. I'll say its a decent set for practice but not up to standard for the quality of the sound, especially from the toms. I'm not sure if I tuned wrongly, but the crash and hi-hat don't sound too good to me. Just seeking some advice from you pros on how i can build up my set and what I should get first? especially those who have owned a pearl rhythm traveller set, you might elaborate on how i can further build it up. thanks.

 

[danial]

its the stock pearl hi hats and crash rite ??
save up on cymbals , maybe can get at the mid year sale ( if there is sale ) :wink:

 

[RudimentalDrummer]

I own a RT, much to my surprise it actually sound better than I initially expected (for that kind of price). I bought this kit for convenience sake as I thought it might be easier for me to bring it out to gig with my drum circle friends.

Proper Tuning is very important besides muffling the Toms because it's shallow & open (like those olden days Concert-Toms). I used Remo Centre Black Dot Batter for the entire Kit.....muffler it by sticking some muffler stickers at the bottom of the Centre Black Dot for all the toms......Stuff a small little pillow inside the Bass drum.

All Stocks Cymbals & hi-hats and Batters are not of good quality as always - If budget permits it's best to change them......

My opinion is to 1st get the Hi-hats & Cymbals first.....actually you should also get another extra Cymbal stand so that later you can have a crash & a ride place seperately......then when all these is in place maybe you wanna change the Batter to get better sound (for now you can still muff the toms)......I myself feel the RT is a nice drum, so compact...the only thing I don't like is the Foot-pedal....which you might wanna change also at a later stage...

Just my 2cents.

 

[sidmontu]

Sorry if this makes you faint, but what's a batter?

 

[weckl-x]

Sorry if this makes you faint, but what's a batter?

Look at your snare, it has drum heads on the top and bottom right?

The top one, which you hit with your stick, is the BATTER head.
The bottom one, which you don't hit, is the RESONANT head.

RT toms only have a batter head, and nothing on the bottom side.

# Batter Head: The batter head controls the feel of the hit, initial pitch, the sound of the stick slap and the initial element of the drum sound or overtones. When the drum is hit, the ear hears mostly the attack and the fundamental pitch of the drum. Overtones emitted by the batter head are washed out at a distance, but aid in the overall projection.

# Resonant Head: Often underestimated for its contribution to the tone, it is mostly responsible for the pitch, lingering tone and pitch of that created as a result of striking the batter head and resonance of the shell. The resonant head produces “resonance” and aids in sustain, it has a major effect in the overtones and enhances the timbre of the drum. Generally you do not use anything other than single ply on the bottom, but there are exceptions.

From: The Drum Tuning Bible
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/id5.html

Singled headed toms are also known as concert toms:

http://www.pearldrum.com/ctoms.asp

 

[sidmontu]

Ah icic, thanks a lot rudi and wecklx now i know where to start!

 

[TequilaSunrise]

My RT set up is simple with mostly DIY equipment. I still maintain the stock hi-hats and crash (to use as a ride, but that's awful) and added in two other crash cymbals.

The toms I stuck masking tape on them and tuned till they sound nice together, doesn't have to sound pitch perfect. The bass drum needed more work as it sounded very hollow without anything inside, so I stuffed a pillow and some plastic bags to dampen the sound (my drum kit is facing a wall btw).

 

[sidmontu]

Hi Tequila. Yup, the bass drum at first had that very hollow sound, but mine got all solved with that one pillow inside... now it sounds great

other than that, i'll suggest you also buy those remo heads rudimentaldrummer advised me on... i bought those and really feel the difference... hmm other than that, i don't know quite how you can bear the sound from the stock hi-hats, they're really awful to me, don't quite have the sweetness. i'll probably buy a new hi-hat this month (and some advise on which to buy pls ).. the stock crash (or ride, whatever it is) is kinda sucky yeah, but its ok so long i play it softly.. like you, i'll probably keep it and buy new crashes/ride

 

[TequilaSunrise]

Yeah, the stock cymbals sound awful, but I'll have to make do with them until I get enough $$$ to blow on both the hi hats and ride together, since they're timekeeping cymbals and need to sound good.

 

[danial]

hey man , im selling 14" the remo black dot batter head , the one that Rudimentaldrummer uses for rhythm traveler kit

its 14" NEW , if u want it call me 94300940

cheers ,

 

[sidmontu]

gambatak: cool thanks man... i'll try and come, will confirm on the thread soon, see if i can make myself free

danial: already bought the 14" one

 

[RudimentalDrummer]

Hahaha so funny - the other day I thought of getting another (Resale Rythmn Traveller) so I can have like a Double Bass Drum and make my small cute looking Rythmn Traveller a little more unique - but my RT is the older one (though good condition 9/10) and is like Cream Colour.....Unless I see a good buy - then I just buy the Bass drum.

This is my idea - (the RT only have 2 toms - 10" & 12" - no other sizes) - so I figure I will use 2 BassDrum and on every Bass drum I only use 1 tom holder - then the other extra tom holder on the end of each Bass Drum - I put 2 cymbal holder to hold cymbals....Hm.mm wonder if it will look good....Hahahaha just some crazy idea. :lol:

 

[sidmontu]

lol i think the 2 RT bass drums will look cute haha normally those double bass drum sets are monstrously big fixing cymbals to the tom stand, dono if can hah... why not jus have 4 toms, really like a metal set

btw, rudi, can you tell me what hi-hats, crashes and rides u own? i'm thinkin of copyin ur setup as much as possible

 

[RudimentalDrummer]

I only own the below

14" Paiste Sig Sound Edge Hi-Hats
14" Paiste New Sig DE Hi-Hats
8" Paiste New Sig DE Splash
10" Paiste New Sig DE Splash
16" Paiste Sig Fast Crash
17" Paiste New Sig DE Mark 1 Crash
18" Paiste Sig Fast Crash
20" Paiste Sig Full Crash
20" Paiste New Sig DE Mark 1 Ride
21" Paiste New Sig Dark Dry Ride

14" Bosphorus Traditional Light hi-hats
10" Bosphorus Traditional Splash
12" Bosphorus Traditional Splash
16" Bosphorus Antique Thin Crash
17" Bosphorus Traditional Thin Crash
20" Bosphorus Master Turks Ride
21" Bosphorus Traditional Med-Thin Ride
22" Bosphorus Master Ride (I forgot the weight

14" Paiste Rude Hi-Hats
16" Zildjian Avedis Thin Crash
18" Zildjian Avedis Ride With Sizzle (1975)
20" Paiste 505 Heavy Ride.

12" Celtic Bell (Factory Metal Percussion)
8" Cross Crasherz (Factory Metal Percussion)
12" Cross Crasherz (Factory Metal Percussion)
16" StackBasherz (Factory Metal Percussion)

A Bosphorus Cymbal Tree to put my Cymbals.

 

[shaox]

fuck.. do u own the singapore mint?

those paistes.....

 

[marcdadrummer]

wah.. james already cancel the vulgars u can put here...

usually when u say F***, it'll automatically substituted by love..

yeah, rd paiste fan.!

 

[Phanto]

anyone tried out this low-end paiste , 302 16" crash?

its really good sounding for the price, its discontinued already. beats the current 101s or 201s

 

[marcdadrummer]

low end paiste's are not really worth buying... discontinued or not, it's still low end ones... still sounds bad comparing to their flagship counterparts!

that's why we would really recommend u try out value made in turkey cymbals..

This cymbals are actually NOT CHEAP FYI!.. it's just that the market here is small and they haven't yet set a benchmark for a demand..

U can check out this website:

www.cymbalsonly.com

SEE HOW MUCH THEY PRICE THEIR BOSPHORUS... some of the prices u see there are more expensive than the prices local dealer here offers.. plus it's USD there... so they have already made their presence at north america..

i dunno bout europe though... prices are now cheap so grab em before they go up..

 

[drum_hobbyist]

Agree... get the turkeys before the price go sky rocketing... there are drummers in USA ordering Bosphrous from Accent... even with shipping it is still cheaper than the inflated price over there...

 

[gambatak]

i owned a box of 302s before. sold off every peice only kept the ride. apparently the banglas didnt want it. =D

if the crash is like $20 den u can buy it to replace a stock mayb e.