Talk:Tom drum

Changed description
I've changed the description of power depth from two inches deeper than standard (eg 10x12) back to one inch deeper (eg 9x12) and removed the reference to intermediate depths. If anyone has any evidence for the other nomenclature, I'm very interested. But I was there and saw it happen. Power depth was one inch deeper than classic, and soon became the standard. Canon was another inch deeper again, and didn't appear on many kits (canon bass drums were a bit more successful).

I almost bought a lacquered birch canon depth Adam kit in the early 80s, probably glad I didn't in hindsight, although the birch snare drum was superb (12 lugs I think, 10 at least), as was all the hardware and the price was very tempting, maybe it would have been worth it just for the bass and snare drums. But the 10x12 and 11x13 hanging toms were a real problem, they looked a good idea on paper to someone I guess but up close they looked a little out of proportion, they were untunable with the heads supplied (the Musicman shop selling it admitted this!) and I wasn't quite brave enough to reskin a new kit in the hope I could find a successful formula.

The claim that power depth was two inches deeper than classic rather than one was made by an anon with no other contributions; I think it's inaccurate folklore (drummers meet a lot of that) but I'm of course interested in any other views. Andrewa 12:12, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I'm interested in the meaning of this sentence, from the article: "The tom-tom drum is also a traditional means of communication." If, as I believe, the author of that sentence is referring to the so-called "talking drums" of Africa (and other places), I believe this to be incorrect. To my knowledge, the instruments involved are not drums at all, but actually slit gongs. I'm not going to remove or alter the sentence because I'm not really sure if my interpretation of it is correct. Any comments on this are more than welcome. Merenta 19:41, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Regarding power toms/Cannon toms, check out any of the big guys (Tama, Pearl, Yamaha...) from Japan in the early-mid 1990s. The default tom size at that time was depth= diameter - 1". Thus, a 12" tom was 11" deep and so on.

It's a very nice technical article on modern tomtoms .... any chance of adding descriptions of traditional tomtoms? 24.6.49.98 07:32, 13 March 2007 (UTC) Why there is not moor pictures with tom-toms here?--Aladin2 21:14, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Torns
Which is the Middle Torn, and which is the High Torn? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.233.237.240 (talk) 15:23, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I suppose you mean which is the high, middle and low toms. The smallest one is the high tom as it has the highest pitch. The one sized a bit bigger than the high tom is the middle tom. Usually, in my experience, the high tom is mounted on the left of the bass drum and the middle tom on the right. That way, when you do a drum roll on them you can easily go from a high sound to a low one by hitting the toms from right to left (and seeing that the crash cymbal is often placed next to the floor tom you can easily hit it after rolling. That usually fits in well with the music). The biggest tom is the floor tom, which usually stands on the floor and is sometimes called the tenor drum. -HannesJvV- (talk) 12:22, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Need more practical details
As a drummer I find this article informative with all the technical specs. But I really think more needs to be said on what part toms play in music. Questions like "How does their sound differ from the snare drum and base drum? (higher pitched than the base but with a similiar timbre) Are toms hit in a different way that other parts of the kit? (not really)" etc. come to mind. "Rolling" isn't mentioned once. My drummer training book sums up their use quite well (but we'd probably like a better cited source, right?):

"The tom toms are predominantly used for fills, drum rolls and some exotic rythms. They range from high to low. ... Rack toms are on top of the bass drum. The one on the left is usually set to a high pitch and the one on the right to a low pitch. Bigger toms are lower pitched. The floor tom is set up to the right of the snare drum and the ride cymbal, and it usually stands on its legs. ..."

-HannesJvV- (talk) 12:22, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Redundant?
Isn't "tom-tom drum" redundant? This dictionary has just "tom-tom". (It also describes a different instrument than what is described here, but that's another problem. Another dictionary [American Heritage] lists "tom-tom, also tam-tam", with a similar definition, while this article says the two are "not to be confused".)--BillFlis (talk) 12:54, 2 February 2012 (UTC)