The full family of drums and percussion — acoustic and electronic kits, hand drums, pitched mallet instruments, and everything in between.
- 118 topics
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Inside Drums & Percussion
All 118 topicsThe 12 most-searched of 118 topics. The full index is at the foot of the page.
Electronic Drum Kit
Electronic drum kits for quiet practice, recording and adaptable modern drumming.
5 topics
Xylophone
Xylophones are tuned wooden percussion instruments with a bright, articulate sound for schools, ensembles and performanc...
1 topic
Drum Kit
Choose a drum kit for practice, recording or live work, with acoustic and electronic options to suit every drummer.
14 topics
Claves
Bright, compact rhythm sticks that deliver a clear click for Latin grooves, ensemble work and classroom percussion.
Glockenspiel
Glockenspiels deliver bright, bell-like tuned percussion for orchestral, educational and studio use.
4 topics
Drum Sticks
Drum sticks shape feel, tone and control, with options for practice, performance and different playing styles.
1 topic
Chimes
Orchestral percussion for shimmering accents, dramatic swells and atmospheric colour in live or studio settings.
1 topic
Bongos
Add lively hand percussion to your setup with bongos for Latin grooves, teaching and live performance.
2 topics
Tambourine
Find tambourines for bright accents, rhythmic lift and versatile hand percussion across many styles.
2 topics
Tubular Bells
Tubular bells are pitched concert percussion instruments known for resonant, bell-like tones in orchestral and theatrica...
Maracas
Maracas add bright rhythmic texture and easy-to-use percussion colour for studio, school and live performance.
2 topics
Drums
Drums for every player, from complete kits to upgrade parts, with options for practice, recording and live performance.
26 topicsArticles on Drums & Percussion
All news
Drum Kit: A Complete Buyer's Guide
How to Set Up and Use Pearl Tom Toms
Mount it right, angle it right, tune it right — a proper step-by-step process for getting Pearl tom toms sounding the way they should.
The Best Practice Pads for the Money
The right practice pad depends on what you actually need it for. Here is an honest look at which pad delivers the best value across general practice, quiet use, travel, and beginners.
Everything You Need to Know About Pearl Rhythm Traveler Drum Kit
Travel drum kits offer portable solutions for gigging musicians and apartment-dwelling drummers. This guide explains what makes them practical, compares configurations, and helps you select a travel d...
The Best Drum Keys for the Money
Most drummers underinvest in drum keys until the moment they desperately need one — here is a friendly breakdown of which designs are worth the money and exactly when each one earns its keep.
Alesis Nitro Max: A Complete Buyer's Guide
An honest, no-hype buyer's guide: who the Alesis Nitro Max suits, what to check before buying, and how it stacks up against rivals.
The Best Bass Drums for the Money
No single 'best' bass drum exists, so here they are grouped honestly by tier: entry-level, mid-range gigging, and professional touring instruments.
The Ultimate Guide to British Drum Co Drum Kit
British Drum Co drum kits combine meticulous handcrafted engineering with distinctive warm, resonant sound character, making them prized by professional drummers for studio and touring work.
Common Drums Notation Mistakes to Avoid
The same handful of drum notation mistakes come up again and again. None are complicated to fix, just a shift in habit.
Bass Drum for Beginners: A Complete Guide
You don't need tuning theory or bearing-edge knowledge yet. A calm, practical bass drum guide pitched at exactly where a beginner actually is.
Hi Hat Stand: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Choosing a hi-hat stand means matching the hardware to your playing style and budget — this guide covers the key decisions in the right order so you buy correctly the first time.
Common Pearl Tom Toms Mistakes to Avoid
Most tom problems trace back to setup, not the drum. Here are the mistakes that come up again and again with Pearl tom toms, and how to fix them.
The Best Bodhrans for the Money
A realistic guide to bodhran value: where to stretch your budget for better playability, what price tier suits your needs, and how to avoid wasting money on hype.
Cowbell Explained: Features, Types and Tips
How a cowbell is built, why clapperless changed everything, and how it travelled from grazing fields to famous rock records.
The Best Guiro Music Instruments for the Money
No invented product tests here — an honest look at which type of guiro actually suits which situation, tone, durability and budget included.
The Best Hang Music Instruments for the Money
There's no single best handpan — only the right tier for your experience, patience for a waiting list, and the playing style you actually want.
The Best Samba Music Instruments for the Money
A bateria is a system of different roles, not a shelf of interchangeable products — here's an honest, tier-by-tier breakdown of where your money goes.
Cymbal Stand Explained: Features, Types and Tips
Cymbal stands do a quiet, thankless job — but they do it on every hit of every gig. Get to grips with the types, parts, and setup tips that keep your hardware planted.
How to Set Up and Use Steel Tongue Drum
No tuning pegs, no assembly, but there's still a right way to start. Here's exactly how to go from box to your first proper session.
Beginner Drum Kit: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Bells for Beginners: A Complete Guide
Start learning bells: understand handbell mechanics, practice ring-and-damp technique, learn orchestral chimes, and explore cowbells. A gentle learning curve with immediate pleasure.
The Best Zildjian Cymbals for the Money
From the Planet Z pack for first kits to the K Series for professional jazz work, these picks cover the best Zildjian offers at each level.
The Best Yamaha Drum Kits for the Money
Which Yamaha drum kit offers the best value? Compare Stage Custom, Recording Custom, Tour Custom Maple and electronic DTX by sound, use case and price.
Bass Drum Pedal: A Complete Buyer's Guide
From drive mechanism to footboard angle, here is what actually separates a great bass drum pedal from a frustrating one — with a clear budget breakdown.
What Drums & Percussion Covers
Drums & percussion is the broadest family in music: it covers every instrument that produces sound by striking, shaking, scraping or setting a surface in vibration. The category divides into membranophones — instruments with a stretched skin or synthetic head, such as a snare drum or djembe — and idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself produces the sound, as with a xylophone, cowbell or claves.
Drum Kits: Acoustic and Electronic
The acoustic drum kit — bass drum, snare, tom-toms, hi-hats and cymbals — remains the foundation of rock, jazz and pop. Every component has its own page here, from choosing drum sticks and replacement heads to selecting the right cymbals for a given style. Electronic drum kits and percussion pads use triggers and sampled sounds, and are increasingly popular for practice, home recording and smaller venues where volume matters. Hybrid kits combine acoustic shells with electronic triggering, giving players the feel of real heads alongside the flexibility of on-board sound libraries.
Hand Percussion
Hand percussion spans dozens of world traditions. Congas, bongos and claves draw from Afro-Cuban music; the djembe comes from West Africa; the cajón from Peru; the bodhrán from Irish folk. Frame drums, goblet drums and shakers appear in folk, classical and popular music alike. When choosing a hand drum, the key considerations are playing technique, head material, tuning range, portability and whether it is intended for solo practice, ensemble playing or live performance.
Pitched Percussion
Pitched percussion instruments play identifiable notes and sit at the intersection of rhythm and melody. Xylophones, marimbas, vibraphones, glockenspiels, tubular bells and the celesta are all mallet instruments, found in orchestras, concert bands, musical theatre and studio production. The handpan — a relatively modern bowl-shaped idiophone — has attracted a dedicated following for its resonant, meditative tone.
Accessories and Smaller Percussion
The tambourine, triangle, cowbell, shaker and chimes might not anchor the rhythm section, but in the right moment they define a recording. This section also covers the accessories that hold everything together: drum sticks and mallets, beaters and brushes, mounting hardware, cymbal stands, drum pedals, replacement heads, cases and triggers.
All 118 topics in Drums & Percussion
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- Djembe
- Double Bass Pedal
- Dream Cymbals
- Drum Bags
- Drum Cases
- Drum Hardware
- Drum Hardware
- Drum Heads
- Drum Key
- Drum Kit
- Drum Mutes
- Drum Pad
- Drum Rack
- Drum Rug
- Drum Shells
- Drum Sticks
- Drum Throne
- Drums
- Drums & Percussion (General)
- Drums & Percussion — Other Brands
- Drums & Percussion — Pearl
- Drums & Percussion — Tama
- Drums & Percussion — Yamaha
- Dw Drum Kit
