{"id":5856,"date":"2011-06-16T11:11:51","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T11:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/?p=5856"},"modified":"2021-03-25T13:24:02","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T13:24:02","slug":"ask-the-expert-advice-on-assembling-a-suitcase-drum-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/ask-the-expert-advice-on-assembling-a-suitcase-drum-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the expert &#8211; advice on assembling a &#8220;suitcase&#8221; drum kit"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>How to build a suitcase drum kit<\/h2>\n<p>Paul Hewgill emails:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I am taking a small worship team to Mexico to serve a group of missionaries for their retreat.\u00a0 There will be only about 40 of them \u2013 so it will be a small room with a basic sound system.\u00a0 The band will consist of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One guitar player worship leader<\/li>\n<li>One bass player<\/li>\n<li>One keyboard player\/vocalist<\/li>\n<li>One additional vocalist<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And I would really like to bring my drummer.\u00a0 They don\u2019t want to have to transport their drums from Mexico City to the resort \u2013 2 hours. And renting doesn\u2019t seem to be available.\u00a0 They have a djembe, but my drummer isn\u2019t experienced with playing that.\u00a0 I am considering assembling a suitcase drum set (as you can see many on youtube).\u00a0 What do you think of that idea?&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Andy replies:<\/p>\n<p>This sounds like a great idea!<\/p>\n<p>If people out there aren\u2019t aware about suitcase kits, they are either a small portable kit where you use an old hardshell suitcase for a kick drum and then just use a small snare, hat, ride and kick pedal that neatly packs inside the suitcase to make the entire system portable. Alternatively, some people actually build a small kick drum into the suitcase as well.<\/p>\n<p>Either way it\u2019s a brilliant way to make a drum kit portable and I\u2019d thoroughly recommend it for missions trips, small gigs, practices where you need to keep the overall volume down a bit. Couple of thoughts:<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Even for small churches this is a great solution to keeping the volume down if your drummer is a bit wild and untamed.<\/li>\n<li>It communicates that you don\u2019t need the latest greatest kit to make a good sound \u2013 i.e. it\u2019s about the player, not the gear. I think this communicates a lot into less wealthy environments, especially missions trips. Also if the kit belongs to the church rather than an individual it might even be good to donate the suitcase kit to the church you are visiting after the trip is over.<\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;ve used a suitcase kit to great effect for practices in someones front room where the volume again needs to be low to not disturb the neighbours. Suitcases are great for this as they still give the overall feel of the kick drum to the rest of the band.<\/li>\n<li>When you\u2019re playing try experimenting with stuffing the suitcase with a sleeping bag\/duvet\/blanket to change the tone and damping.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t make a drummer try and play congos\/djembe\/bongos etc. unless they genuinely know how to play hand drums. Kit drums and hand drums are two completely different instruments with different techniques needed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"Build-a-Suitcase-Drum-Set\" href=\"https:\/\/drc0fhsrp02et.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/08123152\/Build-a-Suitcase-Drum-Set.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"attachment wp-att-6154 \" src=\"https:\/\/drc0fhsrp02et.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/08123152\/Build-a-Suitcase-Drum-Set.jpg\" alt=\"Build-a-Suitcase-Drum-Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Photos <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instructables.com\/id\/Build-a-Suitcase-Drum-Set\/\">http:\/\/www.instructables.com\/id\/Build-a-Suitcase-Drum-Set\/<\/a> where you&#8217;ll find lots more info about building a suitcase kit.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other posts you may find helpful:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial; margin: 0px 0px 18px 0px;\"><a style=\"outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/50-tips-drums\/\">50 tips for drummers<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial; margin: 0px 0px 18px 0px;\"><a style=\"outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/how-many-cymbals-for-sunday\/\">How many cymbals for Sunday?<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial; margin: 0px 0px 18px 0px;\">Free video drum lesson from the Musicademy Beginners Drum DVDs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to build a suitcase drum kit Paul Hewgill emails: &#8220;I am taking a small worship team to Mexico to serve a group of missionaries for their retreat.\u00a0 There will be only about 40 of them \u2013 so it will be a small room with a basic sound system.\u00a0 The band will consist of: One [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":6153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,75],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - 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