Kick Drum

Also known as a “bass drum.” A kick drum is a large, low- or indefinitely pitched drum that is played using one or more mallets or beaters attached to foot-actuated pedal mechanisms. Typically the drum is mounted vertically, and is the lowest-pitched instrument in a drum kit. Kick drum widths (diameters) range from 16 to 28 inches, with depths from 14 to 18 inches. (Trivia: the fundamental pitch of a drum is determined by its width — and therefore head diameter — and not its depth. The wider the drum/head diameter, the lower in pitch the drum can play.) A kick drum may have two heads, two heads with a hole in the front head, or a single, beater-side head. In many cases, the kick drum also serves as a base for tom-tom mounts. Typically, kit kick drums are heavily muffled wth blankets, pillows, or other materials in order to control resonance and ringing, in contrast to “classical” bass drums, where the drum resonance is controlled by the player’s hands/playing techniques.