Drum Racks

Drum racks are frames consisting of rods or tubes, made of metal or composite materials, utilized as mounting platforms for drums, cymbals, and other percussive instruments in a set. They were first introduced by Pearl in 1983. Racks present an alternative to tripod stand bases, which get cluttered and difficult to position when many are used. Drum racks are therefore frequently used in large drum sets.

Drum racks can support a multitude of instruments attached with clamps and brackets, and are easily extended by the addition of more frame parts. Rack mounted microphones also make the process of miking a drum set easier. Instead of requiring separate stands, microphones can be simply clamped to the rack alongside the drums and cymbals.

Drum racks do allow for cleaner, simpler setups, however all the tubes, clamps, and rods, are often time consuming to put together. Drum racks are also difficult to move and are likely to require partial or complete dismount of the attached instruments before the task becomes manageable, even within the same room. More distant transport will involve full rack disassembly, but the clamps can be left in place and instrument positions marked for easier reassembly at the destination.

Standard drum sets are rarely mounted on racks because tripod stands are easy to handle in small quantities. On the other hand, even the smallest electronic drum kits come on racks due to the light weight and compact nature of such kits, which the heavier, bulkier tripod stands would disrupt.

The advantage of drum racks is clear when used within the context of electronic sets and large acoustic kits, especially those that are played at home or in the studio and are not moved much. Otherwise, tripod stands are still good contenders.