I have a whole series on this type of setup on my channel and I’ve actually received physical threats because I offended people who set up the way you have that white kit. Thank you for backing me up with pretty much the exact points I’ve been making for years!!! Ive been called names, told I don’t know how to play, and ordered to quit teaching because I’m too stupid to be a drummer. The rage directed at me is actually comical. I agree with you on every point. Nice video. I’m adding this to my playlist to help build my case.

I've been playing for 35 years and never realized that in all this time, I've been adjusting myself to fit the drums rather than adjusting the drums to fit me. Thanks for this!

I've been using this set-up for 30+ years now , has always worked for me.

Mr Riley, you are 110% correct. I copy your setup, been doing it for years, very comfortable.

Amazing, great video. I’ve set my kit up like this for years, it makes sense. The way people set up their double bass drum kits are the same. It’s natural and comfortable. Well done.

Absolutely 1,000% on point! Thank you so much. Love your drumming and your band too. You guys are great.

This is a great video. I had been wondering about your tom placement, and your rationale is sound. Thanks for such a thorough walk thru!

Brilliant. Thank you! Love how you started from throne height position then step-by-step worked it out.

I was always stumbling, and then I removed that middle Tom and replaced it with the ride cymbal. It instantly changed the entire way I play and everything flows so much better

Brilliant basic ergonomics lesson but so so important specially when you are working/playing continuously! Thank you very much for the great input! Top work! ;-)

That's the exact same process I used years ago trying to solve the ergonomics issue. Beautiful video Jim!

Thanks Jim, this is a very good demonstration of drum set positions. Most drummers take this for granted. It gives you suggestions that make you think about what the most comfortable position is to perform.

Fantastic, useful video! Great stuff Jim

Thank you Jim for the logical and practical way to set up a kit. I've been playing for over 54 years and, like stick grip, it's an area I'm always reavaluating.

Man, That’s all drummers need to know! It takes me 7 years to make perfect setup like this ☝️🙂

Love this video The set up is fantastic. I can't wait to try it . Thank so much ,real game changer.

Jim thank you so much for this lesson! I regularly perform 2-3 hour gigs on my kit and my lower back is often screaming at me halfway through, which can affect my concentration and enjoyment of playing. I set my kit up like you recommended here, and I can instantly tell a difference. These tips are exactly what I was looking for. Thanks man! You're the best

Yep.... this is exactly the setup I wound up with plus a left side floor tom. Good stuff Jim! 👍

See, the drummers are the real musical geniuses. I completely stumbled across this video because I am setting my kit back up after years of it sitting in a corner. Interesting and fascinating video. My kit actually had a tom rack that it came with, and I couldn't figure out how to make the tom rack work and wound up mounting the toms on top of the bass drum. All this, because I thought I needed the bass drum straight out pointing north. This is sensible, pragmatic, practical and logical (I sound like a Rush song)! And I will put those toms on the stand and set it up this way!

Excellent video and explanation.... great work. Thank you very much.

Best lesson on YoTube to set up my drums. Thank you a lot!

Excellent Jim. I'm a new old drummer beginning drums today. I'm setting up like you have shown here as it makes sense. I'm using 8 and 10 Toms and a14 floor tom. This type of setup will allow me easily add more toms on my bass drum mount if i want. Great Vids man. Rock On.

I started using this approach 10 years ago with amazing results, everything was so much easier to reach.

I've been playing 4-piece kits for years, but I like your logic about prioritizing the position of your ride cymbal over your middle tom.

Great advice, I’ll have to try this and see if it helps. Thanks

I absolutely love having an ergonomic drum setup. I've been playing on a very comfortable setup for about a year now that's allowed me to play virtually anything and have a great balance. Open handed playing, left to right side movements, and comfortable seating allows me to play the best I can be to the music I play

Makes total ergonomic sense. Need to try this one day

Thanks so much for this. As an exercise physiologist and a drummer, this is exactly what I do.

Great lesson, this is very important stuff.

thanks! only problem was that my toms where mounted on my kick, but solved it by buying an extra snare stand. Put my 12" in the place of the 10" and the 10" in the new stand.

Fantastic video!

Thank you so much Jim! Great teacher.

Great video Jim.

I pulled that extra rack tom out of the case it's been in for about 30 years and recently went from being a long time 4 piece player to 5 piece. I sought advice from a FB drummer's group and I'm happy to say that I ended up with pretty much this exact set up. It's actually easier for me to get around that it was on my 4 piece set up. It's nice to get validation from a solid, thoughtful pro.

I had the same logic and intuition and put a lot of my kit in the same way. Thanks for the vid.

Great lesson, thanks for the good advice. 👏👏👏👏

This is exactly the way i have set up for lots of years. It just makes sense and there are few compromises. Take care

It’s so important and makes playing so much smoother!! Place things where your hands and feet naturally fall and it all gets easier in an instant.

Excellent video. Thank you!

great video, just about to do this setup, cheers jim!.

Thank for that info Jim!

I love this priority-based setup. Smart approach.

Stumbled across this and going to give it a try at rehearsal tonight. So far tests have been positive.

Great video, this is the only way to set up your drum kit.

Thank you! 🙏 that really helped, I've been playing for a long time. Go figure! Haha. Your video was so helpful that I subscribed to your channel because of it. Thanks again.

That was a perfect explanation as to WHY drums are set up the y they are. I never understood the bass drum facing straight forward.

Always interesting to see someone else's approach on the subject! Personally, I prefer to face the kick towards the audience for visual purposes first, but also to allow the kick to project more, since most of the gigs that I play are unmiced.

Thank you so much, I feels so vindicated! The amount of grief I've got for my entire career from people about how I set up my kit, with my bass drum and hi hat pointing out so that I can face forwards (I'm also the vocalist so I like to face the audience). .... I'll show them this now!

This makes so much sense !! Only problem is if that you gotta get up n use backline after a band say at a festival and half a dozen bands to play after you they gonna hate you for messing everything up position wise mics mic stands cables n stuff everywhere.

Wish i watched this in 1968...Thanks Jim!

Thank you so much for this.

Just like John Otto's drum kit in break stuff, love it!

I'm a beginner, in fact I haven't even played on my kit yet as I'm piecing it together now, and I saw one guys kit like this on reddit and it made sense to me right away. The rack toms over the kick drum have always seemed awkward to me. they should be directly in front of the snare and the whole setup for that matter should be like a command center with your throne at the helm. I'm researching now how to set up my kit like this before beginning to play. thanks for the video, there's not a lot of hits that come up when I search for "offset tom mounts" on youtube.

Jim, funny that I just saw this. I recently wanted to give my traditional 5pc. kit a twist, and set it up like your red kit in the video. Despite over a month of working with it, it wouldn't fly with me, for several reasons. It hurt my aging hips (especially the right side), I couldn't get with having the toms on either side of the snare drum, and also, because I had more of a swing and follow through, it just made me play naturally LOUDER. Ultimately, I went back to the traditional 5-er, and made some positioning and height adjustments, including my throne, and that wound-up being what I was looking for.

Excellent video. If I might add one tip, that I give to my students, set your seat height once your bass drum and hihat are in place. When your feet are on the pedals they're a little bit higher than when you just sit with feet flat on the floor when the pedals are not in place yet.

Great great video!

great to see this; in the early years of my playing, apart from when I used a BD pedal with a lateral swivel function, I always had the pedal at an angle to my foreleg; subsequently I ended up with knee pain years on. For many years I've used the set up where my feet land, maintaining a straight line, feels better and healthier. I think players like Buddy R had a good sense of ergonomics, especially having everything very close; though I don't know how he played with the BD directly in front of him and of course he slouched, ending up with severe back problems later in life, not that stopped him of course. I see very few players with the set up described though. I've tried the BD directly in front and the result is a twisted spine, not good.

Jim, you saved my life with this video over a year ago. My only question and issue i have is the best placement of HighHats. I find that it bumps close to the left tom and i struggle with perfect placement of everything.

Very helpful, thanks a lot. Have been playing for almost 50 years with a non-ergonomic setup 😂😢

Love the idea. Help me apply it to an e-drum kit where the rack limits equipment placement. Thanks.

Absolutely essential advice. A few more aspects that work well for me: - Placing the mid tom as close between snare and floor tom as your right leg allows. The resulting short distances make fast fills that much easier. May limit your ride cymbal placement options a bit though. - Low-hanging crash cymbals as opposed to 80s-style cymbals that require a ladder to set up. Way quicker and easier to reach. - Setting the hi-hat relatively high to increase clearance when crossing sticks. I do this only when I don't need to play the hi-hat with my snare hand, since the increased distance would make that harder. No problem, as it's a matter of only a few seconds to change between songs.

Yeah.... I saw few videos about it and I'll give it a try.... Who knows, you might be a part of my evolution. 🙂👍

I’ve been setting up a single bass set like a double bass set, with the hihat exactly where a second bass drum pedal would be, for years. Many people thought it was weird.

Yeah I’ve always been about playing as ergonomically as possible. I play a four piece, but I’d say the biggest help is getting your toms off the bass drum. Like honestly it’s the best way to leave room for your ride cymbal.

Good to see drum information on YT. Just wanted to say , I think your correct about snare height but there a guys 7 and 1/2 foot tall and there's some like me that are shorties nearly 5 foot. So my snare stand has to go low as possible using 14x8 FF Pearl snare ??? I can't have my stand as high as you have yours in other words. I will definitely be trying what you recommend because it's not the first time I've heard this. I use the exact same set-up as you have set-up.

Very *Very* helpful

I agree with all this. Any chance you could take a short video from where you're sitting?

I literally had this same conversation this morning with a trumpet player that has turned into a part time drummer. I told him ergonomics was so important so that you could do a 3 or 4 hour gig and not be totally exhausted by having to contort yourself to look good to the audience. They won't care if your bass drum is square to the stage, they want to see the drummer moving and grooving

Hi Jim thanks for sharing this video. I have been setting up my kit like this for a few years now because it definitely makes sense and is comfortable and easy to get around the kit. Now I've started recording drums with an engineer and he is totally against the idea, he says that you need to create a stereo image in the mics and he has made me set up the kit like the other set up e.g. (bass drum facing forward) now I've tried to argue my point that there are tonnes of other drummers out there who set up like us but because I'm new in the studio I've just gone with what makes the engineer happy. If you have some advice for me it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I also use the Black Widow Drum Web👍🏾 close to the same set up.

Jim, great video. I've watched it several times to replicate the same logic on my edrum set. Still something is not right manly with the toms position. Can you provide a photo from above on how the setup should look like ? Or even better - do a similar video using an edrum kit 🙂 Thanks

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Terrific video, ive been doing it wrong for 40+ years, haha. Cheers

After many years of trying to figure this out, I realized for me that how flat I wanted my toms determined other things.

i to set up the traditional way because thats all i ever saw......went to this offset bass drum set up, way better. and i also play open handed not cross handed as many do. many top drummers play this way. never knew that. i thought i was one of the few!

Jim do you have a schematic or overhead pic that would show ideal location for each piece? I’m new to drumming and need to correctly set height of each piece- somewhat tough to see with a straight camera shot. Thanks- love the vid!

People still criticize, and don't understand, Ringo's rooftop kit. The Ludwig Hollywood kit he uses in the Get Back sessions. But you're positioning yours in a very similar way

It's funny even as a kid.Thirty five years ago I put my drums like that because having my kick straight ahead just didn't seem right and felt awkward.

One problem with that setup: if you use traditional grip, the 10" (in this case) is oddly positioned and hard to hit without the hi-hat getting in the way.

With my double bass drum kit, it comes this way naturally.

YES!!! Black Widow Drum Web. My favorite Drum rug. I have 2 every drummer should at least try them out.

Thanks 🧐👍🥁

what if you don't have a boom stand?

I am a big fan of this ergonomic set up with the off-center bass drum, but it does not work well if you're also a fan of using two floor toms because it pushes the second floor tom too far back and away. Otherwise, I would set up your way more often. I do use it with one floor tom, but I love the 14-16-18-24 configuration the most.

outstanding. does the positioning of the hi hat get a little tricky considering how close the first tom is? ty

One of the reasons I like double bass kits. Your face in the audience in an ergonomically position, and it doesn’t look odd having one kick at an angle. Unfortunately most of the places I play are too small for my 2nd kick drum. That said, my body facing the crowd isn’t all that important to me, so I set up with my body angled slightly counter clockwise with my right foot and bass drum aimed at the crowd. And I’m OK with that.

I set up with my bass drum directly facing the crowd, but then I just sit facing slightly left. It’s never seemed to be an issue.

I think we always see the bass drum facing forward when bands play live just for optic reasons....

If I could go back in time, I would learn to play drums open handed

I mean thats the right way, but what if your rack toms have to stay connected to the bass drum, then what?

Great video, if you bought a kit without the tom mounts on the bass drum.

Now you have to twist farther right to play your floor tom. All you have to do is move snare to the right, and play your pedal like it’s the gas pedal in your car. Most drummers don’t have their right foot perfectly aligned with the footboard.

But what if one is pigeon toed or their feet point inward or outward too far? that would be a totally different topic then for high hat and bass pedal placement right?

but what if you mount your tom on your kick drum instead of on a stand off to the side

It seems like the rack toms interfering with the ride cymbal are the number one issue here.

Now do that with the standard white kit

My kit has the bass drum forward facing the audience and I sit facing toward the bass player, who stands to my left and we are able to see one another and vibe together really well that way. Just sayin'.

I am wondering why the Ryde is not beside the hi-hat ?

hey all fine and well but what if ur toms mount on the bass drum uh oh

This is how i set up all my kits.