A street drum set is a collection of percussion instruments made from found objects, given its name because it is often used by busking (street-performing) musicians. Street drum sets can be a fun and inexpensive way to make music for both professional and amateur musicians, but a compelling performance requires a good choice of instruments. Here are some tips for putting together a good-sounding set.
Instructions
1. Buy a pair of professional snare drum sticks. While found objects can make good drums, there's really no substitute for real sticks, and you can get a pair for under $10. Getting your sticks before you assemble the rest of your drum set will also be the best way to test objects for their sound and durability.
2. Start searching for objects. Look through your home and garage, then try places like dumps, junk yards and hardware stores. Look for objects that are big and hollow, like overturned plastic buckets or bins, and items of metal or glass that have a good ring when hit.
3. Test objects and consider sound. Any item that's going to become a part of your kit should produce a fairly loud, resonant sound when hit. You want instruments that produce pitch, rather than a dull "thud" or "thwack," and to make a sound that fades away slowly after being struck.
4. Consider strength. All the items in your drum set should be able to take a beating without showing any damage. Your instruments may be hit many hundreds of times during each performance, and they'll need to be tough enough to stand up to this sort of punishment.
5. Look for a variety of timbres in your instruments. While it's fairly common for street drummers to use just a couple drums with identical sounds, it's difficult to make compelling music with this setup. Having a wide variety of sound colors will not only attract listeners, it will make playing and creating music more fun for you.
6. Shakers make a great addition to a found-object percussion act and can be made by adding pebbles, dried beans or beads to a metal can or small, hard plastic container.
