help me choose a starter drum kit for my daughter

[JustJen]

I am so stealing this while she's at school. Haven't been on this side of a kit since I was her age and took lessons for awhile. It's not nearly as loud when I'm the one playing it somehow.

[JustJen]

Even the pedals look cool. I'm like a little kid with a toy. But seriously how does the phrase 'double chain drive bass pedal' not  sound cool? Of course it sounds cool! Ok done spamming the thread. Probably.

[hefdaddy42]

My question is:  What are those strange devices on the bookshelf to the left?  The ones that appear to be large plastic things encased on cardboard sleeves with movie titles on them?

lol

[JustJen]

Looks great, Jen.  And it looks like you did a pretty good job setting it up, as well.  She will make adjustments and find what works best for her, so I wouldn't worry about getting it "perfect."  There really isn't such a thing.  One thing a lot of people get wrong with that type of 5 piece setup is splitting the rack toms too far apart.  Looks like you got them pretty close together, which is great.  The only little things I would suggest is that it looks like the floor tom is tilted slightly away from her (although it could just be the perspective), so I might change the tilt on that.  Also, you might try having her bring the snare and the hi-hat in a little closer so she isn't twisted as much toward the left.  It kinda feels cool having everything spread out and having the kit feel big, but having it more compact is actually much easier because it requires less movement and twisting from side to side to hit whichever piece you want to play. 

I was on my phone earlier and didn't want to try to fuss with this quote block of text on that little screen.

Thanks for all the input! It's all very useful, and I definitely appreciate the input on the positioning of her kit and the fact that it was spread out a bit more than it needed to be. I had to go around the back and sit down myself to get a feel for it - yesterday when I put it all together with her I had her sit there while I built it around her, so I had to wing it as far as perspective went. I thought the floor tom was still tilted wrong but she tried to say it was good. I fixed it while she was at school and didn't tell her and she hasn't complained so that should be good now.

[JustJen]

My question is:  What are those strange devices on the bookshelf to the left?  The ones that appear to be large plastic things encased on cardboard sleeves with movie titles on them?

lol

you really don't want to see what else I have back there, if you think that's ancient technology. I wish I could post pics direct to the forum without photobucket being in between..

[Cyclopssss]

So how does she decide on what sticks to use? I had a lot of fun in the beginning experimenting with all kinds of sticks. Thin, thick, I even had one for a while for my left hand wit a regular tip and a really thick, round back-end. I could rotate that while playing if I wanted  a little more power. I soon realise with the music my band was playing (sort of punkisch rock) that I couldn't play with sticks that were too thick, for that would prevent me for getting the speed I needed on the cymbals/hi-hat. I finally more or less naturally settled on Vic Firth's 4 or 5 A. (The B was already too thick).

I won't get into stories of cramping up mid-song while playing, and the large bulb I develloped after a while on my inner wrist (ouch), the stories of playing on lend-kits which fell apart while playing the first song of the gigs, the sliding bassdrums, falling down cymbals, falling off my stool, almost falling off stage, etc, etc...I could be here for hours. Main thing: have fun, (and practice, practice, practice...ad infinitum).   

[JustJen]

So how does she decide on what sticks to use? I had a lot of fun in the beginning experimenting with all kinds of sticks. Thin, thick, I even had one for a while for my left hand wit a regular tip and a really thick, round back-end. I could rotate that while playing if I wanted  a little more power. I soon realise with the music my band was playing (sort of punkisch rock) that I couldn't play with sticks that were too thick, for that would prevent me for getting the speed I needed on the cymbals/hi-hat. I finally more or less naturally settled on Vic Firth's 4 or 5 A. (The B was already too thick).

I won't get into stories of cramping up mid-song while playing, and the large bulb I develloped after a while on my inner wrist (ouch), the stories of playing on lend-kits which fell apart while playing the first song of the gigs, the sliding bassdrums, falling down cymbals, falling off my stool, almost falling off stage, etc, etc...I could be here for hours. Main thing: have fun, (and practice, practice, practice...ad infinitum).   

I have to take my daughter to the school bus in a second here (have to drive her to the bus stop because we live in the middle of nowhere) so will just quickly reply that I actually need advice on what sticks to consider and why. She's a very brand new beginner and her kit came with two pairs of sticks that look identical to me and have no markings on them to tell me anything about them. Her favorite music is pop punk type stuff - Blink 182, Green Day, Pierce the Veil, All Time Low, Sleeping With Sirens, etc if that helps (though she's also gone to see Alice Cooper, KISS, Dream Theater, Opeth, Steven Wilson, Blackfield... etc with me and loves it all). Gotta run, back in a bit - really appreciating your input!

[Cyclopssss]

No, that's ok. No rush. And she'll probably instantly know which ones are the best for her. It took me a while though. I'll probably sound like an old fart now, but I always found drumsticks to be amazing things. The longer you play with one pair, the more they seem to almost fit your hands perfectly. I know this sounds absolutely insane to anyone who reads this, but consider this, if you will: wood always keeps 'working', so I didn't think it was such a crazy thought.  They change colour as well, probably from the sweat that comes off your hands. They turn slightly more dark. Also, I noticed that I used to drop sticks during play almost always when they were quite new. Never when they were already broken in, so to speak. I've never played with felt or plastic tips. Somehow that sounded 'off' to me. It had to be all wood. Also, I've broken some sticks badly with artificial tips, and so I never bought them. When I did break a stick, it was always the right (cymbal) one from hitting a cymbal at a wrong angle or it was already too worn out. Later on I adjusted the angle at which I hit my cymbals so that I rarely ever broke one. Or the quality just might have been bad. Anyway, this probably all comes wayyy too early for your daughter. Just let her explore and have fun with it. I'll shut up for now.