Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get full scale drum sets

For bands playing most commonly performed genres, including rock, pop, swing, country, dance or ethnic styles of music, a drum kit is a critical part of the band's setup. Choose from a vast variety of drum kits, with different arrangements of the following items: snares, bass drums, toms, hi-hats, cymbals, cowbells and just about any other type of instrument that you hit.

I recommend: Drum seekers can get a range of each of drum unit from the sales pages at Musicians Buy Line, where online drum set sales contain easy pricing and detailed lists of everything included in a set. Get quality drums from top drum manufacturer shops like Ludwig and Pearl at MassMusic.net as well as drum hardware and accessories.

Get bongos, single drums and percussion instruments

Lots of solo artists and performers like to carry just one drum. Bongos are also used as stand-alone percussion items at a wide range of performances, where it's subtlety that is needed in percussion as opposed to a drum orchestra.

I recommend: Find affordable one-piece bongo sets from Market Man Online, a seller of just about anything. You can find brand-name bongos and more stand-alone drums for sale at the drum store at Cascio Interstate Music.

Get other special drums and percussions

Besides full drum kits and bongos, there are a variety of other drum types buyers might look for, depending on the desired use. Steel drums are popular in a lot of modern performances. Orchestral drums such as kettledrums, triangles, etc. are exclusive to classical performance halls. Get these types of drums and percussion instruments online for your convenience.

I recommend: Browse a truly diversified line of steel drum models at Steel Drums Unlimited for purchasing these melodic percussion instruments for a studio or performance venue. Find a range of orchestral percussion from various percussion companies at Lone Star Percussion in Texas, a shop offering drums models for all kinds of musicians since 1978.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Know your genre and student needs. Each performance facility has different needs for the drums. If you need to outfit a band, the bongos won't do. Figure out what the drum needs are before committing to a large purchase from a percussion store.