Talk:Floor tom

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Floor tom[edit]

I can't agree that the floor tom became popular in the 50's. I've seen many pictures from the 30's where a floor tom can be seen. I also don't know if Gene Krupa has ever used Two bass drums. As I know, double bass drumming was introduced by Louie Bellson. Maybe it would be good to mention, that the usage of floating floor toms was introduced by Steve Gadd. --Martinxxxx72 15:00, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can you give a reference to a 1930s drummer who used a floor tom? That's very interesting. It would not be the first time that the drum books were wrong, to say the least.

There are many photos of Krupa playing with double bass drums, although I concede it wasn't his most normal rig. In fact the hats were so much an integral part of his whole feel that I'm skeptical that he actually played the left foot bass! It was probably there for appearance (remembering that he was one of the first drummers to get significant endorsement contracts) and to hold up the toms and cymbals. Andrewa (talk) 21:58, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Definition[edit]

The term floor tom seems these days to mean a large tom tuned for more resonance than a hanging tom of the same diameter. The distinction blurred a bit in the heyday of the power tom and seemed likely to disappear completely if the deeper cannon depth had become popular, but these days the trad depths have become popular again (even if we're not quite back to the old 12x8 and 14x8 hanging tom setup that also had its heyday).

The most common sizes are of course square, 16x16 and 14x14, but then the most common 8" rack tom is an 8x8 so that's not definitive, and of course there are many 18x16 floor toms, which would be about cannon depth if cannon toms had ever been made that big and which is also a not uncommon size for a small bass drum. So it's not the shape.

Nor in these days of drum racks is it the mounting. It's more the role. Hmmm.... and need to source all that of course. Andrewa (talk) 22:13, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]