Drums have been around for quite some time….a long time actually. Well, they’re actually the oldest instrument on the planet to sum it up. There are various types of drums and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Some of the different types of drums include:

Drumsets
Latin drums / Conga drums
African drums
Symphonic and marching drums: Snare drums, bass drums
Various other hand drums like Celtic drums tambourines, etc.

Drums overview:

Drums are of the instrument family “percussion.” The technical term is membranophone, “membra” meaning membrane. Drums usually consist of two membranes called a drumhead or drum skin with a shell in between. These membrane drum heads are struck by the percussionist with either their hands, mallets (in the case of a timpani) or drumsticks on a drum set. Drums are the world’s oldest and most musical instruments. Most drums, like hand drums make a single pitched sound, although a few drums like timpanis and African talking drums, for example, can be manipulated to make multiple pitches. There are many variations of drums throughout the world and each have a unique sound.

Drumsets:

The drums on a drum set most often contain a bass drum, or two bass drums even, tom toms, floor tom and a snare drum. These drums are accompanied by cymbals that the percussionist, or drummer, strikes.

Many factors determine the sound a drum makes, that include drum shell size, drum shell wood and the drum head’s tensioning. Drums come in all shapes and variations. Different genres of music call for different sounds. For example, a jazz drummer may want crisp, clean sounding drums that are a little on the soft side, whereas a rock drummers may want drums that sound loud, deep and heavy with little sustain. The drums for these different genres usually involve different woods in the drum’s makeup as well. A jazz drummer may prefer maple drum shells that ring a little more and are open, whereas a rock drummer may prefer birch drum shells which gives a loud, punchier sound. It’s important to choose carefully the style and sound of drums one will invest in.

Hand drums:

Hand drums are drums that are sometimes meant for portability and consist of one or more drums paired together. Congas, bongos and Djembe drums are some of the most popular hand drums. These drums usually have heads made of animal skins. They are used in many ethnic drumming genres including Latin and African drumming.

Playing drums becomes an engulfing lifestyle to the serious drummer. Some drummers start playing when they’re very young and some drummers start playing drums when they’re older. It’s never to late or too early to start playing drums. Some play drums as a hobby an others use drums as a means to support themselves. Either way, there is a great amount of enjoyment to be had from playing any type of drums.

Prodrumreviews.com is drum review site for drummers of all skill levels and interests.