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Drums & Percussion

Used Gretsch Drums 3 Piece Brooklyn Series Satin Cherry...
Product Price  $2,299.99
Great Condition
Used DW 8X14 Collector's Series Snare Chrome Drum
Product Price  $449.99
Great Condition
Used Mapex 14X2.5 Black Panther Velvatone Snare 2 Tone...
Product Price  $330.99
Great Condition
Used DW 3 Piece Collector's Series Broken Glass Sparkle...
Product Price  $2,699.99
Great Condition
Used Evans 16in DB ONE CRASH Cymbal
Product Price  $79.99
Great Condition
Used Mapex 7 Piece mars birch crossover blood orange...
Product Price  $729.99
Great Condition
Used Ludwig 14X8 maple coliseum Natural maple Drum
Product Price  $599.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 17in XSR 17in Cymbal
Product Price  $179.99
Great Condition
Used Ludwig 14X5.5 Legacy Mahogony Classic Vintage Black...
Product Price  $724.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 14in XSR HIHAT PAIR Cymbal
Product Price  $199.99
Great Condition
Used Singular Sound Beatbuddy Drum Machine
Product Price  $249.99
Great Condition
Used MEINL MARATHON SERIES Conga
Product Price  $299.99
Great Condition
Used MEINL MARATHON SERIES Conga
Product Price  $299.99
Great Condition
Used SONOR 14X5 S CLASS Natural Drum
Product Price  $325.99
Great Condition
Used Ludwig 4 Piece Cortex BeBop White Drum Kit
Product Price  $1,199.99
Great Condition
Used 2022 Ludwig 3 Piece Classic Maple FAB HERITAGE BLUE...
Product Price  $1,999.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 20in QTPC RIDE Cymbal
Product Price  $109.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 16in QTPC CRASH Cymbal
Product Price  $89.99
Great Condition
Used Premier 4 Piece XPK Walnut Drum Kit
Product Price  $799.99
Great Condition
Used Istanbul Mehmet 22in Ride Cymbal
Product Price  $389.99
Great Condition
Used DW 14in Design Series Snare Acrylic Seafoam Green Drum
Product Price  $299.99
Great Condition
Used Ludwig 14X6.5 LR751 Rocker Chrome Drum
Product Price  $159.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 22in CRESCENT ELEMENT CHINESE Cymbal
Product Price  $359.99
Great Condition
Used Soultone 14in ROMY HI HAT BOTTOM Cymbal
Product Price  $99.99
Great Condition
Used Dunnett 6.5X14 Classic Stainless Steel Snare Chrome...
Product Price  $699.99
Great Condition
Used MEINL 14in HCS Crash Cymbal
Product Price  $45.99
Great Condition
Vintage 1970s Fibes 5 Piece CHROME OVER FIBERGLASS Chrome...
Product Price  $1,299.99
Used Zildjian 13.25in K Custom Hybrid Hi Hat Pair Cymbal
Product Price  $429.99
Great Condition
Used DW 14X6.5 Collector's Series Brass Snare nickel over...
Product Price  $469.99
Great Condition
Used Roland Verselab MV1 Drum Machine
Product Price  $449.99
Great Condition
Used Gon Bops TUMBAO SERIES CONGA Conga
Product Price  $549.99
Great Condition
Used TAMA 14X8 Steel Sound Lab Project matte black Drum
Product Price  $299.99
Great Condition
Used 2024 SJC Drums 6 Piece USA CUSTOM Satin Black Drum Kit
Product Price  $3,799.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 18in B8 Crash Cymbal
Product Price  $130.99
Great Condition
Used SONOR 3 Piece AQ2 MARINE PEARL WHITE Drum Kit
Product Price  $799.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 21in Richie Garcia Signature Salsero Ride...
Product Price  $499.99
Great Condition
Used Yamaha 2 Piece Recording Custom Stainless Steel Drum...
Product Price  $599.99
Great Condition
Used MEINL 10in HCS Splash Cymbal
Product Price  $49.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 18in FRX CRASH Cymbal
Product Price  $334.99
Great Condition
Used Alesis PERC PAD Trigger Pad
Product Price  $189.99
Great Condition
Used Pearl 4 Piece EXPORT Walnut Drum Kit
Product Price  $349.99
Great Condition
Used Pearl 4 Piece MASTERS MAPLE COMPLETE SHIMMER OF OZ...
Product Price  $2,699.99
Great Condition
Used TAMA 4 Piece CLUB JAM Charcoal Drum Kit
Product Price  $579.99
Great Condition
Used DW 14in ANNIVERSARY ACRYLIC Clear Drum
Product Price  $599.99
Great Condition
Vintage 1970s Ludwig 4 Piece standard s 300 bronze strata...
Product Price  $1,499.99
Used 2021 SJC Drums 4 Piece Custom Metallic Gold Drum Kit
Product Price  $3,499.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 17in FRX Crash Cymbal
Product Price  $399.99
Great Condition
Used Zildjian 14in A Custom Hi Hat Bottom Cymbal
Product Price  $179.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 20in Paragon Diamondback Cymbal
Product Price  $349.99
Great Condition
Used Paiste 18in Formula 602 Crash Cymbal
Product Price  $449.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 10in XSR SPLASH Cymbal
Product Price  $79.99
Great Condition
Used Zildjian 17in I TRASH CRASH Cymbal
Product Price  $149.99
Great Condition
Used Sabian 10in sbr Cymbal
Product Price  $39.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 20in B8X Cymbal
Product Price  $119.99
Great Condition
Used Samsun 18in Thin Crash Cymbal
Product Price  $259.99
Great Condition
Used DW 3 Piece Performance Series Golden Sparkle Drum Kit
Product Price  $1,899.99
Great Condition
Used ddrum 4 Piece Paladin Maple Metallic Orange Drum Kit
Product Price  $749.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 20in AA APOLLO Cymbal
Product Price  $269.99
Great Condition
Used SABIAN 14in STRATUS Cymbal
Product Price  $249.99
Great Condition
Used Gretsch Drums 5X14 GB05148S Snare Black Drum
Product Price  $589.99
Great Condition

About Drums

Drums and percussion are likely the second oldest musical instruments, beaten only by the voice itself. Percussion instruments produce sound by being struck, shaken, scraped or rubbed. Drums are just one member of the percussion family. They refer specifically to instruments with head or skin stretched over a shell. The technical term for the drum head is a membrane, making the drum a membranophone.

When you think about drums and percussion, your first thought might go to a drum set with a snare drum, rack toms, floor toms, bass drum, cymbals and cymbal stands. Perhaps you're a hand percussionist and drums to you are bongos, congas, timbales, cajons or even djembes. This just goes to show the wide variety of instruments within the drum and percussion category, and with such a long, rich history it’s easy to see why there are so many variations and types of drum in world.

Drum History

Drums and percussion instruments are the oldest musical instruments in history and haven’t changed much in the course of a few thousand years. One of the oldest discovered drums was made with an alligator skin and dates back to as early as 5500 B.C. Every culture on every continent used drums in some form, whether it was for musical purposes, communication with distant neighbors or relaying commands on the battle field. We've all seen the paintings of the Revolutionary War drummers marching on the front lines, or the ancient hortator keeping time on the Viking longship. However, as technology evolved, so did the drum.

Drum Construction

The basic principal of every drum is the same: a round cylinder with a drum head—or a drum skin— that you strike with your hand or a drum stick or mallet. The head is held down by a hoop or a rim, and tension rods or rope thread into a lug. The distinction made between drums and hand drums is somewhat obvious. Any drum you play using your hands is a hand drum or hand percussion. Acoustic drum heads vary widely depending on the type of drum they're on. A typical drum set drum uses a drum head made of mylar on the top and bottom of the drum, while hand drums often only have a calfskin head on top. To tune the drum up or down, you tighten or loosen the drum head.

The drum shells are constructed from a myriad of materials including wood, metal and plastic, and the different wood species or metals can produce special sounds. Many companies such as DW, TAMA and Yamaha create hybrid drum shells which utilize different tone woods or metal and wood to achieve a unique sound. Wood drum shells are constructed in several ways but the two most common ways are multi-ply construction or stave construction. Multi-ply drum shells are constructed using anywhere from three to 20 thin pieces of wood that are glued and pressed together. Stave drum shells are built using one piece of wood that is typically steam bent into its cylindrical shape.

Electronic Drums

Electronic drums originally started out as simple metronome machines and evolved in the early 1970s into something closer to what they are today. Companies such Roland, Yamaha and Simmons produced the first electronic drum sets. They became popular and commercially successful in the early 1980s as technology and samples became better and more advanced. Electronic drum kits or e-kits have a very similar design to acoustic drum sets. There's a snare, toms, bass drum, cymbals and you play it using drum sticks. However, electronic drums utilize rubber or mesh heads and the cymbals are rubberized pads. The biggest advantage to electronic drums is the amount of drum and percussion sounds you can program, as well as the built-in, complete drum sets.

Drum Set Cymbals

A typical drum set or percussion setup utilizes cymbals. A drum set includes a pair of hi-hats, a crash cymbal or two, and a ride cymbal. However, experimenting with different cymbal sounds has become very popular and many drummers often have effects—or FX—cymbals in their setup, including china cymbals, splash cymbals and cymbal stacks. Most cymbals are made from bronze alloy and are either machine or manually hammered into their final form.