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Drums & Percussion

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Sabian SBR Hi-Hat Pair
4.0 of 5 stars (4)
from  Product Price  $99.05
$114.99
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MEINL Synthetic Compact Junior Djembe -
4.5 of 5 stars (2)
from  Product Price  $39.99
$47.95
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Walrus Audio DFX-1 Percussion Processing Unit
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Product Price  $764.99
$899.99
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BONE Drums TRUE Carbon Fiber Wide Plain Snare Drum with...
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DW Performance Series Snare Drum
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from  Product Price  $579.00
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Ludwig Limited-Edition Maple Exotic Snare Drum With...
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Ludwig Classic Maple Snare Drum White Mosaic With Brass...
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Product Price  $699.99
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Zildjian Kerope 20" Medium Thin Low Ride Cymbal
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Product Price  $999.95
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Zildjian Kerope 22" Medium Thin High Ride Cymbal
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Product Price  $1,179.95
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Gretsch Drums Catalina Club 4-Piece Shell Pack With 22"...
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Product Price  $799.99
$999.99
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SJC Drums Limited-Edition Josh Dun Signature Goliath 3 mm...
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Product Price  $1,499.99
$1,899.99
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MEINL Sonic Energy Solfeggio Crystal Singing Bowl Set
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Product Price  $1,399.00
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TAMA Starclassic Walnut/Birch Snare Drum -
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Product Price  $499.99
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LP Alex Van Halen Signature Cowbell -
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Product Price  $85.25
$99.99
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Slingerland Limited-Edition Radio King Specialty Lacquer...
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Product Price  $1,899.00
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TAMA 50th Limited Mastercraft Steel Snare Drum
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Product Price  $699.97
$779.99
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Zildjian Z Custom Power Crash Prototype Cymbal -
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DW Collector's Series Satin Black Over Brass Snare Drum...
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$713.90
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Ludwig Neusonic 4-Piece Studio Shell Pack With 22" Bass...
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Product Price  $1,799.00
$2,249.00
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Ludwig Neusonic Snare Drum
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Product Price  $499.00
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Sabian HHX Wide Lip China Cymbal
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Product Price  $499.97
$609.99
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Doc Sweeney Drums Sable Stave Bolivian Rosewood Snare Drum
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Product Price  $900.00
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Doc Sweeney Drums Tear Drop Stave Bubinga Snare Drum
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Product Price  $825.00
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Doc Sweeney Drums Reptile Stave Maple Snare Drum
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Product Price  $975.00
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Doc Sweeney Drums Classic Collection Walnut Steam Bent...
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Product Price  $759.99
$950.00
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Pearl Sensitone Limited-Edition Nickel-Plated Black Brass...
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Product Price  $899.97
$999.99
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TAMA Starclassic Walnut/Birch Snare Drum With Chrome Shell...
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Product Price  $449.99
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TAMA Starclassic Walnut/Birch Snare Drum With Black Nickel...
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Alesis Crimson III Electronic Drum Kit With Mesh Heads
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Product Price  $899.99
$999.99
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SONOR SQ2 5-Piece Elder Tree Vintage Beech Shell Pack With...
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Product Price  $7,999.97
$8,300.78
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dialtune Maple Snare Drum
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Product Price  $599.00
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DW DW Performance Series 1 mm Polished Copper Snare Drum -
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$649.00
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Zildjian 400th Anniversary Limited-Edition Alloy Snare Drum...
5.0 of 5 stars (2)
Product Price  $3,699.97
$3,999.99
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TAMA 50th Limited Starclassic Mirage Snare Drum
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Product Price  $399.99
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TAMA 50th Limited Mastercraft Rosewood Snare Drum
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Product Price  $899.97
$979.99
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Ludwig Vistalite 50th Anniversary 3-Piece FAB Shell Pack
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$3,199.00
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Ludwig Vistalite 50th Anniversary 3-Piece Pro Beat Shell...
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$3,299.00
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Pearl Primero Crate-Style Cajon, Coffee Bean
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Product Price  $132.99
$189.99
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Sabian HHX Anthology Low Bell Crash Ride Cymbal
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Ludwig Universal Series Black Brass Snare Drum With Chrome...
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$369.00
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X8 Drums Lava Lamp Djembe, 10"
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Product Price  $99.99
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DW Collector's Series Satin Black Over Brass Snare Drum...
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from  Product Price  $599.00
$649.00
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MEINL Byzance Dark Trash Crash Cymbal
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Yamaha DTX6K2-X Electronic Drum Set
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Product Price  $1,199.99
$1,279.99
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Mapex Black Panther Predator Snare Drum
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Product Price  $447.20
$479.00
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Mapex Black Panther Shadow Snare Drum
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Product Price  $519.09
Or $11/month^ with 48 month
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Dream Bliss Hi-Hat Cymbals
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$414.99
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Dream Bliss Crash/Ride Cymbal
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Sela Varios Cajon Drum
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$149.99
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Roland KD-220 22" Acoustic Electronic Bass Drum
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Product Price  $1,529.99
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Remo ARTBEAT Artist Collection Aric Improta Aux Moon...
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Product Price  $369.99
$429.99
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LP Prestige Karl Perazzo Signature Timbale Set
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Product Price  $727.99
$743.99
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Zildjian K Sweet Ride Cymbal
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from  Product Price  $444.95
$524.95
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Ludwig Classic Maple Downbeat 3-Piece Drum Shell Pack -
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from  Product Price  $2,649.00
$2,699.00
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Pearl Dennis Chambers Milled Aluminum Snare Drum
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Product Price  $999.97
$1,199.99
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DW Collector's Series Satin Oil Snare Drum
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from  Product Price  $777.40
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LP Giovanni Compact Conga
4.5 of 5 stars (8)
from  Product Price  $287.63
$329.99
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LP 36 Bar Chimes 36 Bar Studio
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$194.99
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LP Monsoon Rainmaker
4.5 of 5 stars (4)
Product Price  $127.59
$139.99
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LP Merengue Guiro -
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Product Price  $117.39
$129.99

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.