Either way, I recommend that you go nuts once you're comfortable with the standard kit.
Yeah, I absolutely want to just get comfortable with the standard kit first. But I did feel the kit was lacking on the cymbal side prior to this purchase, so I was just trying to get some good advice as to what direction to go. Overall, I'm glad I went the route I did. As I said, I love the crash I got. And the 18" crash ride I have sounds decent as either a crash or a ride, so it's nice to have something versatile for the time being. And since a nice 20" or 22" ride is going to be more expensive, I can take my time, develop my skills and my ear for what sounds I like before shelling out the money for one. The only thing I'll probably add in the near future is a cowbell, just because...well, can you ever have enough?
And I can get one cheap, so... Later on, once I've got a fair amount of skill on the basic kit, I'll probably add the double bass pedal and ride cymbal.
Bosk, I pretty much have the same type of kit as yours. Except i just use 1 tom and a floor tom. I still consider myself just somewhat better than a beginner so I dont want to go all out yet. I think playing a smaller kit is better at first.
What kinds of stuff do you like to play? Ive been getting into a lot Muse songs like Stockholm Syndrome, Hysteria and Knight of Cydonia. They are fun songs to play and rock out too
As far as my own playing, I've only been at it a couple of weeks, so my repertoire is pretty small. Just some '80s stuff, as I posted above. Anything I can play a simple 4/4 beat to. When I was at the gym last night, Dark Chest of Wonders came on my iPod and I thought to myself that it would be fun to play, and I could just play it as a simple rock beat. So when I got him, after warming up on some more mid-tempo songs, I put that one on and played along. It was a lot faster than what I'm used to, so it challenged me. But it was a lot of fun. It's a bit of a longer song, and has a cool breakdown part in the middle to mess around with and change things up.
When I get together with my pals to jam, most of what we play is a variety of "classic rock" ('60s-'80s). Sometimes, someone will want to jam a country song, or some blues, or something else. But most of it is just straightforward rock. Problem is, the guy who used to drum moved to Georgia in 2006, so we've been without anyone who really knows how to drum. When my wife recently gave the okay to get a drum kit for the kids to learn on, I jumped all over it.