While many instruments like the guitar or piano are capable of performing melodies and chords, most drum kits are unable to achieve this as they produce sounds of indeterminate pitch. The drum kit is usually played while seated on a stool known as a throne. One or more cymbals, mounted on stands, played with the sticksĪll of these are classified as non-pitched percussion, allowing the music to be scored using percussion notation, for which a loose semi-standardized form exists for both the drum kit and electronic drums.A hi-hat (two cymbals mounted on a stand), played with the sticks, opened and closed with left foot pedal (it can also produce sound with the foot alone).Two or more toms, played with sticks or brushes.A bass drum, played by a pedal operated by the right foot, which moves a felt-covered beater.A snare drum, mounted on a stand, placed between the player's knees and played with drum sticks (which may include rutes or brushes).Also, both hybrid (mixing acoustic instruments and electronic drums) and entirely electronic kits are used.Ī standard modern kit (for a right-handed player), as used in popular music and taught in music schools, contains:

In the 2020s, some kits also include electronic instruments (Hornbostel-Sachs classification 53). A drum kit consists of a mix of drums (categorized classically as membranophones, Hornbostel-Sachs high-level classification 2) and idiophones ⁠– ⁠most significantly cymbals, but can also include the woodblock and cowbell (classified as Hornbostel-Sachs high-level classification 1). A drum set – also called a drum kit, trap set (an abbreviation of the word 'contraption') or simply drums – is a collection of drums, cymbals and other percussion instruments, which are set up on stands to be played by a single player, with drumsticks held in both hands and the feet operating pedals that control the hi-hat cymbal and the beater for the bass drum.

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