The Drum Handbook: Buying, Maintaining and Getting the Best from Your Drum Kit [Paperback]

Geoff Nicholls (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book explains what to look for when buying a drum kit and how to set it up effectively. It also covers tuning, drum heads, sticks, resonance, damping, the effect of drum shells, and the differing needs of live and studio performance. This complete reference for drummers includes 150 photos, as well as a major section that explores recording and miking the drum set, with studio tips from pros.

About the Author

Geoff Nicholls is a professional writer and musician. He is the author of The Drum Book, the only full history of the drum kit. He wrote the award-winning BBC radio series Byte The Music, and contributes to many publications from Rhythm and Modern Drummer to The Independent newspaper. He was the drummer/presenter on BBC TV's Rockschool series, presented the Virgin video How To Play Drums, and wrote the acclaimed Rock Drum Method for Boosey & Hawkes. Nicholls lives in London, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879307501
• ISBN-13: 978-0879307509
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #757,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First drum book I bought..., August 1, 2006

By	E double "E double" (Louisville KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Drum Handbook: Buying, Maintaining and Getting the Best from Your Drum Kit (Paperback)

I've been playing the drum in it's kit form for about 10 years now and not until I started working in a drum shop did I feel the urge to want to actually learn about the instrument I was playing.

Sure, I knew HOW to play, and what everything was called and how to repair a few things, change heads, tune, set up and tear down... everything you need to play in an active band and tour.. but I never fully understood why it mattered how many plies a tom was made out of, and I never knew there was a big difference between the type of "mahogany" starter kits are made of and the way companies like DW make their higher end drum shells out of several plies of DIFFERENT kinds of wood all working together.

This book explores anything and everything you could possibly think of as far as the basic drum kit goes. If you are looking for a place to start as far as learning about drums, this book is a must have, but even if you've been playing for a decade this book is still great to have on the shelf.

I'm not finished with it yet, but half way through I am more than pleased that I gave this book a chance. It's been a big help and it's showed me exactly what I've missed by not paying attention to the details of drums.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good information!, June 23, 2005

By	A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Drum Handbook: Buying, Maintaining and Getting the Best from Your Drum Kit (Paperback)

I came across this book and took a look at its table of contents and thought "Oh, just the basic information about drums I'm sure I'll find in any other general drum info book"... WRONG! This book is good stuff! If you're new to the drumming world like me and only got a chance to play on someone else's drum set and never knew where to look to learn about all this drum stuff like the different types of hardware qualities, whats the difference between a steel snare drum and a wooden one, etc. This book explains it. I have to say, just the 1st chapter about the basics taught me so much I'd have to pay double the amount this book costs just to get a teacher to take me on a tour like that...
I recommend it for anyone who might not be too experienced or has not had too much exposure to the drumming world because this book explains a lot of the information very well.
On a side note tho, if you've never drummed or have not much of an idea about some technical terms like snare throw-offs, you might have some prolbems when you come across these terms.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buying a new kit? Need info? Look no further!!!!!, September 22, 2005

By	Mr. P. M. Fowler - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Drum Handbook: Buying, Maintaining and Getting the Best from Your Drum Kit (Paperback)

I have been playing on and off for the last 10 years, and am looking to buy a new kit. I wasn't sure exactly what to go for due to the huge choice available out there. This book is excellent in that it gives you a very clear understanding of the entire drum kit and breaks everything down. Types of shells, cymbals, hardware whether vintage is good or not etc. Would have been so lost without it.