A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to in ostinato. The term "crash" may have been first used by Zildjian in 1928, though the company has been producing cymbals for over 400 years. They can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick, or by hand in pairs. One or two crash cymbals are a standard part of a drum kit. Suspended crash cymbals are also used in bands and orchestras, either played with a drumstick or rolled with a pair of mallets to produce a slower, swelling crash. Sometimes a drummer may hit two different crash cymbals in a kit at the same time to produce a very loud accent, usually in rock music.
Although crash cymbals range in thickness from paper-thin to very heavy, all crash cymbals have a fairly thin edge. They are typically 14 to 18 inches in diameter, but sizes down to 8 inches and up to 24 inches are manufactured. Custom crash cymbals up to 28 inches in diameter have been used by big bands. Different thicknesses are used for different kinds of music, and the alloy for each manufacturer's models varies. A thick cymbal is likely to be used by a metal or rock band, while thinner cymbals are generally used in lighter rock.
The sound of a crash is changed by its luster. A cleaner cymbal creates a more crisp sound, whereas a cymbal showing signs of oxidation [usually called a 'raw' cymbal, when used on purpose] will have duller sound.
Position
Crash cymbals were traditionally placed on the left side of the drum set (for a right-handed drummer), since the larger, more commonly used "ride" cymbal is usually on the right. Most drummers today use more than 1 crash cymbal.
Cracking
Crashes are sometimes the first cymbal in a setup to crack and warp due to repeated striking of the bell and edge. Some suggest that wear on the cymbal can be reduced by playing with glancing blows (angled to the side, slightly away from the vertical) about a quarter of the way between the edge and the center and allowing the drum stick to bounce off naturally, rather than forcing the stick down at the cymbal head-on. When a cymbal does crack, some suggest that it may be stopped by drilling a hole at the end of the crack or cutting it out completely. This often slows down the crack, it doesn't completely stop it.
Floor tom
A floor tom is a double-headed tom-tom drum which usually stands on the floor on three legs. However, they can also be attached to a cymbal stand with a drum clamp.
Not all drum kits include floor toms, but when used they are the largest and lowest tuned tom-toms in the kit. A common size for a floor tom is 16x16; that is, 16" in depth and 16" in diameter. Other common sizes are 14x14 (e.g. for jazz kits) and 18 by 16.
Floor toms can be of one of two designs. Quite simply, floor toms with legs and 'floating' floor toms; usually attached to either a drum rack or a cymbal stand by means of a clamp. It is uncommon to see a floor tom at 16x16 using the 'floating' system, however, and is more commonly seen on 'fusion' or jazz setups whereby the floor tom is of a 14 inch diameter.
The floor tom was popularized by Gene Krupa in the 1950s, using a 16x16. At first he placed it between his two bass drums, on the far side of his snare drum, but quickly moved it to its now traditional position to the right of his right leg. A second 16x18 floor tom, to the right of the 16x16, appeared in the late 1960s and was popularized as part of the extended kits used by progressive rock bands in the 1970s. In kits used by rock and metal drummers, it is very common to find more than one floor tom. Roger Taylor of Queen uses two floor toms that are 16x16 and 16x18
The floor tom is also used as a small bass drum by some (mostly jazz) drummers. In that case it is mounted horizontally on a specially designed rack system. More recently, companies such as
A tom-tom (not to be confused with a tam-tam) is a cylindrical drum with no snare.
The tom-tom originates from Native American or Asian cultures. The tom-tom drum is also a traditional means of communication. The tom-tom drum was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century.
Design history
The first drum kit tom-toms had no rims; the heads were tacked to the shell.
As major drum manufacturers began to offer tunable tom-toms with hoops and tuning lugs, a 12" drum 8" deep became standard, mounted on the left side of the bass drum. Later a 16" drum 16" deep mounted on three legs (a floor tom) was added. Finally, a second drum was mounted on the right of the bass drum, a 13" diameter drum 9" deep. Together with a 14" snare drum and a bass drum of varying size, these three made up the standard kit of five drums for most of the second half of the 20th century.
Later, the mounted tom-toms, known as hanging toms or rack toms, were deepened by one inch each, these sizes being called power toms. Extra-deep hanging toms, known as cannon depth, never achieved popularity. All these were double-headed.
Modern tom toms
Today two "power" depth tom-toms of 12x10 (12" diameter by 10" depth) and 13x11 is the most common hanging tom configuration, and would be considered standard by most drummers. Also popular is the "fusion" configuration of 10x8 and either 12x8 or 12x9, and the again popular "classic" configuration of 12x8 and 13x9, which is still used by some jazz and retro drummers. However a wide variety of configurations are commonly available and in use, at all levels from advanced student kits upwards. A third hanging tom is often used instead of a floor tom. Most toms range in size between 6" and 18", though floor toms can go as large as 24".
Single-headed tom-toms
Single-headed tom-toms (also known as concert toms) have also been used in drum kits, though their use has fallen off in popularity since the 1970s. Concert toms have a single head and a shell slightly shallower than the corresponding double-headed tom. Phil Collins still uses 4 singled headed rack mount toms and 2 floor toms (Gretsch) in his setup. He claims he tunes his toms to "bark" like a seal.
Rototoms
Rototoms have no shell at all, just a single head and a steel frame. Unlike most other drums, they have a variable definite pitch and some composers write for them as a tuned instrument, demanding specific notes. They can be tuned quickly by rotating the head. Since the head rotates on a thread, this raises or lowers the head relative to the rim of the drum and so increases or decreases the tension in the head.
Gong Bass Drum
A gong bass drum (also known as "gong drum"), is a large, single-headed tom often sized at 20" or 22", with the drumhead being 2 inches larger than the shell. The sound produced is similar to a bass drum, though it is more open and has longer sustain. They can be mounted with standard floor tom legs, though many drummers mount them at an angle next to the floor tom(s). Notable users include Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, Bill Bruford, Simon Phillips, Jason Bittner, and Mike Portnoy.
A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. There are three general classifications of bass drums: the concert bass drum, the 'kick' drum, and the pitched bass drum. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral or concert band music is the concert bass drum. The 'kick' drum, struck with a beater attached to a pedal, is usually seen on drum kits. The third type, the pitched bass drum, is generally used in marching bands and drum corps. This particular type of drum is tuned to a specific pitch and is usually played in a set of three to five drums. It is the largest drum of the orchestra.
Usage
The bass drum is used in orchestral music, concert band music, marching music, and throughout 20th century popular music as a component of the drum kit for jazz and rock styles.
In popular music, the bass drum is used to mark time. In marches it is used to project tempo (marching bands historically march to the beat of the bass). A basic beat for rock and roll has the bass drum played on the first and third beats of a bar of common time, with the snare drum on the second and fourth beats, called "back beats". In jazz, the bass drum can vary from almost entirely being a timekeeping medium to being a melodic voice in conjunction with the other parts of the set. In classical music, the bass drum often punctuates a musical impact, although it has other valid uses. This instrument is used in many orchestras.
Orchestral bass drum
An orchestral, or concert bass drum is quite large, about 36" in diameter, and is played with one or sometimes two large, padded mallets. Usually the right hand plays the drum and the left hand muffles it. When played with both mallets, a knee or forearm can be used for damping.
Many different timbres or sound-colors result depending on how and where the drum is struck. Implements used to strike the drum may include bass drum beaters of various sizes, shapes, and densities, as well as keyboard percussion mallets, timpani mallets, and drumsticks. Concert bass drums can sometimes be used for sound effects. e.g. thunder, or an earthquake.
Drum kit bass drum
A kit bass drum is played using a pedal-operated mallet or beater. A right-handed drummer will usually operate a pedal with the right foot. A drum kit bass drum can also be called a foot drum or simply 'foot'.
In a drum kit, the bass drum is much smaller, most commonly 22" or 20" in diameter. Sizes from 16" to 26" in diameter are available, with depths of 14" to 22", 18" or 16" being normal. The standard bass drum size of past years was 20" x 14", with 22" x 18" being the current standard. Many manufacturers are now popularizing the 'power drum' concept similar to what tom-toms have gone through, with an 18" depth (22" x 18") to further lower the drum's fundamental note.
Sometimes the front head of a kit bass drum has a hole in it to allow air to escape when the drum is struck for shorter sustain. Muffling can be installed through the hole without taking off the front head. The hole also allows microphones to be placed into the bass drum for recording and amplification. In addition to microphones, sometimes trigger pads are used to amplify the sound and provide a uniform tone, especially when fast playing without decrease of volume is desired. Professional drummers often choose to have a customized bass drum front head, with the logo or name of their band on the front.
The kit bass drum may be more heavily muffled than the classical bass drum, and it is popular for drummers to use a pillow, blanket, or professional mufflers
inside the drum, resting against the batter head, to dampen the blow from the pedal, and produce a shorter "thud."
Different beaters have different effects, and felt, wood and plastic ones are all popular. Bass drums sometimes have a tom-tom mount on the top, to save having to use (and pay for) a separate stand or rack. Fastening the mount involves cutting a hole in the top of the bass drum to fix it, and 'virgin' bass drums do not have this hole cut in them, and so are professionally prized.
Bass drum pedal
William F. Ludwig made the bass drum pedal workable in 1909, paving the way for the modern drum kit. A bass drum pedal operates much the same as a hi-hat; a "footplate" is pressed to pull a chain, belt, or metal "drive" mechanism downward, bringing a "beater" or mallet made of felt, wood, plastic, or rubber attached to a "shaft" forward into the drumhead. The pedal and beater system are mounted in a metal frame and like the hi-hat, a "tension unit" controls the amount of pressure needed to strike and the amount of recoil upon release. A double bass drum pedal operates much the same way only with a second footplate attached by rod to a remote beater mechanism.
Snare Drum 
The snare drum is a drum with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom (internal) side of the top (batter) head to make a "brighter" sound, and the Brazilian caixa commonly has snares on the top of the upper drumhead. The snare drum is considered one of the most important drums of the drum kit.
Today in popular music, especially with rock drum kits, the snare drum is typically used to play a backbeat pattern such as quarter notes on the backbeat or the slightly more interesting: The snare is sometimes played with brushes as well as with drumsticks.
Operation
The drum can be sounded by hitting it with a drumstick or any other form of beater, including brushes and rutes, which produce a softer-sounding vibration from the wires. When using a stick, the drummer may strike either the head of the drum, the rim, or the shell. When the top head is struck the snares vibrate against the bottom head producing a cracking sound. The snares can often be thrown off with a lever on the strainer so that the drum only produces a sound reminiscent of a tom-tom. Rim shots are a technique associated with snare drums in which the head and rim are struck simultaneously with one stick (or in concert playing, a stick placed on the head and rim struck by the opposite stick), and rudiments are sets of basic patterns often played on a snare drum. Snare drums may be made from various wood, metal, or acrylic materials. A typical diameter for snare drums is 14 inches. Marching snare drums are deeper in size than snare drums normally used for orchestral or drum kit purposes, often measuring in at a foot long. Orchestral and drum set snare drum shells are about 6 inches deep. Piccolo snare drums are even more shallow at about 3 inches deep. Soprano, popcorn, and firecracker snare drums have diameters as small as 8 inches and are often used for higher-pitched special effects.
Wood shell construction
Most snare drums are constructed in plies that are heat- and compression-molded into a cylinder. Steam-bent shells consist of one ply of wood that is gradually rounded into a cylinder and glued at one seam. Reinforcement hoops are generally needed on the inside surface of the drum to keep it perfectly round. Segment shells are made of multiple stacks of segmented wood rings. The segments are glued together and rounded out by a lathe. Similarly, stave shells are constructed of vertically glued pieces of wood into a cylinder (much like a barrel) that is also rounded out by a lathe. Solid shells are constructed of one solid piece of hollowed wood.
History
The snare drum seems to have descended from a medieval drum called the Tabor, which was a drum with a single gut snare strung across the bottom. It is a bit bigger then a medium tom and was first used in war, often played with a fife or pipe; the player would play both the fife and drum (see also Pipe and Tabor).
Tabors were not always double headed and not all may have had snares. This simple drum with a simple snare became popular with the Swiss mercenary troops who used the fife and drum around the 1400-1500's, due to influence from the Ottoman Turk's use of the drum in their armies. The drum was made deeper and carried along the side. Further developments appeared in the 1600's, with the use of screws to hold down the snares, giving a brighter sound than the rattle of a loose snare. Metal snares appeared in the 1900's. Heads originally were of calf skin. The invention of the plastic (Mylar) drum head is credited to 
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, and other forms of contemporary popular music.
The Operation
The hi-hat consists of two cymbals that are mounted on a stand one on top of the other and clashed together using a pedal on the stand. A narrow metal shaft or rod runs through both cymbals into a hollow tube and connects to the pedal. The top cymbal is connected to the rod with a clutch, while the bottom cymbal remains stationary resting on the hollow tube. The height of the top-cymbal (open position) is adjustable.
When the foot plate of the pedal is pressed, the top cymbal crashes onto the bottom cymbal (closed hi-hat). When released, the top cymbal returns to its original position above the bottom cymbal (open hi-hat). A tension unit controls the amount of pressure required to lower the top cymbal, and how fast it returns to its open position.
History of development
Initial versions of the hi-hat were called clangers, which were small cymbals mounted onto a bass drum rim and struck with an arm on the bass drum pedal. Then came snow shoes, which were two hinged boards with cymbals on the ends that were clashed together. Next was the low-boy or low-hat, similar to a modern hi-hat stand, only with cymbals close to the ground. Hi-hats that were raised and could be played by hand as well as foot may have been developed around 1926 by Barney Walberg of the drum accessory company Walberg and Auge.Up until the late 1960s, the standard hi-hats were 14 inches, with 13 inches available as a less-common alternative in professional cymbal ranges and smaller sizes down to 12 inches restricted to children's kits. In the early 1970s, hard rock drummers (including Led Zeppelin's John Bonham) began to use 15-inch hi-hats. In the late 1980s, Zildjian released its revolutionary 10-inch Special Recording hats, which were small, heavy hi-hat cymbals intended for close miking either live or recording, and other manufacturers quickly followed suit. However, in the early to mid-1990s, Paiste offered 8-inch mini hi-hats as part of its Visions series; these were among the world's smallest hi-hats. Starting in the 1980s, a number of manufacturers also experimented with rivets in the lower cymbal. But by the end of the 1990s, the standard size was again 14 inches, with 13 inches a less-common alternative and smaller hats mainly used for special sounds. Rivets in hi-hats failed to catch on.
Modern hi-hat cymbals are much heavier than modern crash cymbals, reflecting the trend to lighter and thinner crash cymbals as well as to heavier hi-hats. The other change has been that a pair of hi-hat cymbals are no longer necessarily similar. More typically the bottom is now heavier than the top (but in some cases like the K Zildjian Steve Gadd Session Hats the pattern is reversed for a cleaner chick and cleaner sticking), and may also be vented, this being one innovation to have caught on. Some examples are Sabian's Fusion Hats with holes in the bottom of the hi-hat, and the Sabian X-cellerator, Zildjian Master Sound, Paiste Sound Edge, and Meinl Soundwave. Some drummers even use completely mismatched hi-hats from different cymbal ranges (Zildjian's K/Z hats), of different manufacturers, and even of different sizes (similar to the K Custom Session Hats where the top hat is a sixteenth of an inch smaller than the bottom).
Other recent developments include the X-hat (fixed, closed, or half-open hi-hats) and cable-controlled or remote hi-hats.
Sabian introduced the Triple Hi-Hat, designed by Peter Kuppers. In this variation of the hi-hat, the top cymbal moves down and the bottom cymbal moves up simultaneously while the middle cymbal remains stationary.
Drop-clutches are also used to lock and release hi-hats while both feet are in use playing double bass drums. The drop clutch was invented by ragtime drummer Graig Cortelyou.
Playing techniques
When struck closed or played with the pedal, the hi-hat gives a short, muted percussive sound. Adjusting the gap between the cymbals can alter the sound of the open hi-hat from a shimmering, sustained tone to something similar to a ride cymbal. When struck with a drumstick, the cymbals make either a short, snappy sound or a longer sustaining sandy sound depending on the position of the pedal.
It can also be played just by lifting and lowering the foot to clash the cymbals together, a style commonly used to accent beats 2 and 4 in jazz music. In rock music, the hi-hats are commonly struck every beat or on beats 1 and 3, while the cymbals are held together. The drummer can control the sound by foot pressure. Less pressure allows the cymbals to rub together more freely, giving both greater sustain and greater volume for accent or crescendo. In shuffle time, a rhythm known as cooking is often employed. To produce this the cymbals are struck twice in rapid succession, being held closed on the first stroke and allowed to open just before the second, then allowed to ring before being closed with a chick to complete the pattern (the cymbals may or not be struck on the chick). A right-handed drummer will normally play the hi-hat pedal with his left foot, and may use one or both drumsticks. The traditional hi-hat rhythms of rock and jazz were produced by crossing the hands over, so the right stick would play the hi-hat while the left played the snare drum below it, but this is not universal. Some top modern drummers like Billy Cobham, Carter Beauford, and Simon Phillips do not cross their hands over at all, playing the hi-hat mounted on the left with the left stick rather than the right. This is called open handed playing. Some trap sets may also include an extra hi-hat on the right for right handed players, where it would be awkward to play crossed over. This is shown when drums or cymbals in the middle of the set are played with the hi-hat rhythm. The technique is common with metal genres, such as Lars Ulrich of Metallica and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater. In both rock and jazz, often the drummer will move the same stick pattern between the hi-hat cymbal and the ride cymbal, for example using the hi-hat in the verses and the ride in the chorus of a song, or using the ride to accompany a lead break or other instrumental solo.
Roger Taylor, drummer for the band Queen, plays with many unique hi-hat techniques, including involuntary opening of the hi-hat on every backbeat for a rhythm emphasis and leaving the hi-hat slightly open when hitting the snare. His trademark hi-hat beat is opening the hi-hat on first + and third + before hitting the snare.
Phil Rudd of AC/DC also uses distinct hi-hat techniques, which include very heavily accentuating the hi-hat hit on each beat and softer in between.
Those playing double bass drums have also developed special techniques for using the hi-hat.
In much hip-hop, the hi-hat is hit with drumsticks in a simple eighth-note pattern, although this playing is usually done by a drum machine or from an old recording from which the sound of a hi-hat is recorded and loaded into a sampler or similar recording-enabled equipment from which it is triggered. Pioneer Kurtis Mantronik was one of the first to program hi-hat patterns that employed thirty-second notes.
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