Are kids and hobbyists getting priced out of drumming?

Chris Whitten said:

Really?
I used to walk into a drum store and buy half dozen pairs of sticks, just to try some new models out. I don't do that any more.
Reheading a kit is a significant expense. I don't think used drums and cymbals are too expensive, but new heads and sticks are definitely a pressure on your finances.

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Keep in mind that for me it's a hobby. I can re-head my set or live with what I've got. I can always save money until I can re-head the whole set or buy heads one at a time. I'd bet it's the same for most hobbyists, but I could be wrong. I can only speak for me.

I can also agree that any hobby is a pressure on one's finances. (looks over shoulder to see if Mrs Smoke is reading the post)

The used equipment market allowed me to have a set when I was young.

Heads were a problem and I rarely replaced them(unless they broke)...very sad sound back then.

Was not able to afford a new set until I was in my 30's...

Price of sticks is a slap in the face. Hope we see a revolution in stick creation that brings the price back down.

I don't know man. It's like new stuff is crazy high, and nothing used is moving (at least nothing is selling where I am). I think the ship will right itself eventually due to the basics of supply/demand. I think a good deal can still be had, but one has to be patient and be ready to jump when the time comes.

Just recently my father found a receipt for the CB700 set he bought me in 1983. 5 piece, kick pedal, hi hat and snare stands. $500 from a mom and pop music store. Now you can get a complete set of Ludwig Backbeats...all stands and cymbals...for $500.

mikyok said:

I have thought about that, about a 4 hour flight from mine.

Istanbul do a factory tour as well

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Not much to think about if you can do it, Turkish cymbals are some of the best in the world and they are not ridiculously expensive if you buy them there.

Duck Tape said:

I just buy the good deals that are too good to refuse. If there’s a will there’s a way.

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So you buy from the Godfather? Does he make you an offer you can't refuse?

Chris Whitten said:

From my experience pay has stayed static since the late 90's. I charge the same today as I was charging in 1987 for a recording session.
In the 70's when I started playing music a drum kit was incredibly expensive and out of the reach of most kids.
If we were lucky we got a beat up second hand Olympic with Kurt cymbals. Contemporary budget drums are much, much better built and great sounding. I agree, heads and sticks have got very expensive.
I don't think there is a problem with young people and getting into music regarding gear costs, the problem is piracy and streaming, and also the almost instant riches that can be found through Youtube channels, Twitch, Tik-Tok, gaming etc... Music does not seem like a good career choice.
Young people watch 'influencers' and see that with a cheap camera or phone they can start earning money talking about fashion, sport, computer games, music and movies.

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Aren't there musician unions? I know we have them here in the US, I'm sure there is more than one specially in the big areas (Nashville, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles). Couldn't those unions basically "adjust" the pay scales so that musicians are paid according to CURRENT living standards?
If not, then what is the point of even belonging to a union?
About music not being a good career choice... well tell that to all the people playing in bands which started in their bedrooms and now are touring nation wide opening (or headlining) some decently big tours.
Yes SOME can get rich via YouTube and Tik Tok alone, but most will have to actually work to be able to "make it".

To me (MY OPINION) is that it is not making it big that is the hard part, the hard part is finding people who are as committed as you to do what it takes (usually a few years of barely getting by while building a fan base), lots of time spent writing GOOD stuff and lots more practicing for the live shows, networking with venue owners, other bands, learning to market their band (or themselves if a solo artist).
Investing in the band as a business not just wasting their earnings, actually planning all aspects of a tour from transportation cost, food costs, merchandise costs and incidentals to see if it is even viable to tour on some places.
Dean Lamb from Archspire explains some of this things very well here:

nickybass said:

I got my first guitar from the flea market in the late 80's. It was a Univox and cost $20. I borrowed the money from my parents and it took months to pay back. Today they are selling for over a grand on Reverb. My first bass was a Harmony SG shape also from the flea market. Also around $20. That one ended up a victim of a Dremel. My first drum set, I splurged, and paid $150 for with a complete set of Camber cymbals and all hardware.

The guitar was nice. I got lucky with that one. But the bass and the drums, I outgrow pretty quickly. I think today, upgrading a kit is much more expensive, but I'm wondering if the student kits last longer before an upgrade is needed? I've been out of the game for a while, so I don't know.

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Keywords "Flea Market" We didn't have anything like that in Mexico when I was getting started. I'm sure most South American countries will be the same. buying even used was way out of reach for most regular folks, you literally had to save for years to get even used items.

I guess it's easy nowadays to buy on the used market. Flea markets aren't a thing either, but I just navigate Reverb instead. Clearly not the same type of deals, you won't find someone who doesn't know what they have, but it works.

doggyd69b said:

Not much to think about if you can do it, Turkish cymbals are some of the best in the world and they are not ridiculously expensive if you buy them there.

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I know, my old drum teacher swears by Istanbul and Bosphorus plus they sound amazing. I've got an Amedia crash that's best crash I've ever owned.

Might be a trip next year, I'll start my homework!

Chris Whitten said:

Really?
I used to walk into a drum store and buy half dozen pairs of sticks, just to try some new models out. I don't do that any more.
Reheading a kit is a significant expense. I don't think used drums and cymbals are too expensive, but new heads and sticks are definitely a pressure on your finances.

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This is my point entirely. I used to swap snare heads every month especially when I was doing studying amount of drumming.

I feel it in the heads most. I've always bought my shells and cymbals second hand, or traded, and have what I like.

Sticks — it does feel weird paying twice as much, but I've always taken pretty good care of my sticks. I don't bash, chop at cymbals, or rim shot a whole lot, and don't mind tips wearing down a bit, so any pair will typically last me a good number of years. I might just buy one new pair every 1-2 years, to keep the rotation going. (edit: and I came into drum set from playing mallet percussion, so even now stick prices feel refreshingly cheap by comparison.)

Heads, though — they are probably 70% of the sound of your drum, there are so many different kinds, and they're always making new ones. So I want to be experimenting with different heads as often as I can, just to learn the differences and uses. I can still manage a new snare head every once in a while maybe, but forget about swapping the whole set out.

One small cost cutting trick I've been using. I've stopped buying the signature model sticks I love and am buying the multipack vic firths. I play 7a's and can find 4 pairs for about $40. You have to play 5a, 5b or 7a to find these though.

Palaeographical said:

Heads, though — they are probably 70% of the sound of your drum, there are so many different kinds, and they're always making new ones. So I want to be experimenting with different heads as often as I can, just to learn the differences and uses. I can still manage a new snare head every once in a while maybe, but forget about swapping the whole set out.

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I feel this! I went through a 25+ year season of experimentation where I wanted to try everything I possibly could, including drums, cymbals and heads. Once I got my drums and cymbals squared away (more or less), my focus shifted to experimenting with drumheads.

Right around this time last year, I decided to quit experimenting with heads and returned home to good ol’ coated Ambassadors on everything. They’re familiar, I can make them sound however I want, and the film (not the coating) lasts significantly longer for me than other brands single-ply coated heads. Part of that decision to return home was the cost of drumheads. I simply don’t have the money to experiment anymore and need to go with what I know.

First you have to have Kids

caddywumpus said:

This. EVERYTHING is getting more expensive, at a sudden rapid pace.

I still direct students to the used market, as a more affordable option, but even that is getting adjusted for inflation.

As someone who doesn’t buy new gear, I’m still impacted by the spike in the price of heads and sticks. Since the pandemic, the average price of Vic Firth sticks has gone from $9 a pair to $15 a pair. It’s enough to make a fellow play a bit quieter…

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I also have not had asny reason to buy new gear in the past 30 years, other than sticks and heads, and I make those last, so it has not really impacted me

Palaeographical said:

This has been my take too. All across the music gear world (except orchestra & band), the entry level and one-above-entry ranges have really picked up steam. By and large, $400-600 will buy you a whole heckuva lot better drum set than it did even 20 years ago. It's the level right above that, the lower grade pro lines, that are getting hit hard. It's a lot to swallow going from a $600-700 kit that sounds awesome to a $1500-2500 kit that sounds about the same but takes 5 minutes to tune instead of 15.

Cymbals are definitely the hardest part. Very few drummers have access to play anything in person other than what's stocked at their local chain supplier like GC, where everything is going to be new and way overpriced. I feel like I'm actually seeing less diversity in cymbals these days despite all the amazing companies out there, since it's safer to just bite the bullet and get a standard pack from the Big 3 than to gamble on an endless cycle of randomly bought singles until you find your right set.

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actually, orchestra and band equipment has definitely gone up. I am a middle school/high school band director/percussion instructor, and have definitely seen prices go up, and, sadly, instrument quality at the beginner level go waaaaayyyyyy down.

I just bought new heads for all of my marching drums this week, and a bill that normally would have been around $700 is now over $1000 for the same amount, and kind of heads I have been using for 30 years

my middle school kids are consistently having breakage issues now with instruments that are about 50% more expensive than they were before COVID. AND, no one offers repairs on those instruments anymore for less than $100 to just walk in to the store.

I am lucky to teach in a school system where the parents can afford this stuff, but most of my colleagues are seeing numbers drop due to the cost of the instrument, reeds, valve oil etc...

Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:

I also have not had asny reason to buy new gear in the past 30 years, other than sticks and heads, and I make those last, so it has not really impacted me



actually, orchestra and band equipment has definitely gone up. I am a middle school/high school band director/percussion instructor, and have definitely seen prices go up, and, sadly, instrument quality at the beginner level go waaaaayyyyyy down.

I just bought new heads for all of my marching drums this week, and a bill that normally would have been around $700 is now over $1000 for the same amount, and kind of heads I have been using for 30 years

my middle school kids are consistently having breakage issues now with instruments that are about 50% more expensive than they were before COVID. AND, no one offers repairs on those instruments anymore for less than $100 to just walk in to the store.

I am lucky to teach in a school system where the parents can afford this stuff, but most of my colleagues are seeing numbers drop due to the cost of the instrument, reeds, valve oil etc...

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Yeah, it's crazy. The quality drop and cost hike of school band grade instruments have gotten really bad. We've had our own woes getting reliable repair work done too. These days it's basically only the absolutely dire needs that get taken care of, and anything less than that you either fix yourself or just tell the student to live with it.

Second hand long lug APKs are £100-150. I started playing in the mid eighties and an awful old Japanese stencil kit was that much then!

mikyok said:

I know, my old drum teacher swears by Istanbul and Bosphorus plus they sound amazing. I've got an Amedia crash that's best crash I've ever owned.

Might be a trip next year, I'll start my homework!



This is my point entirely. I used to swap snare heads every month especially when I was doing studying amount of drumming.

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I've been playing Istanbul Agop and Bos cymbals for a while now. They're not exactly cheap. They are "my" sound for sure. I get them from Memphis, or Cymbal House. Love Cymbal House. It's a tiny store cymbals only. You make an appt and spend time just you behind their kit trying cymbals. Well worth the trip if you're near Cincy.
Cymbal House

Rattlin' Bones said:

I've been playing Istanbul Agop and Bos cymbals for a while now. They're not exactly cheap. They are "my" sound for sure. I get them from Memphis, or Cymbal House. Love Cymbal House. It's a tiny store cymbals only. You make an appt and spend time just you behind their kit trying cymbals. Well worth the trip if you're near Cincy.
Cymbal House

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Different continent sadly Sounds like how cymbals should be bought! What a great idea.

Haven't really looked at the price of cymbals in about 3 years when I got the K Con renaissance ride and that was £500 but worth it! Had a quick look and Istanbuls are a smidgen cheaper than Zildjian.

Smoke said:

Keep in mind that for me it's a hobby. I can re-head my set or live with what I've got. I can always save money until I can re-head the whole set or buy heads one at a time. I'd bet it's the same for most hobbyists, but I could be wrong. I can only speak for me.

I can also agree that any hobby is a pressure on one's finances. (looks over shoulder to see if Mrs Smoke is reading the post)

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We've discussed this before. It's the same for me. Drumming isn't a huge expense for me because I already have just about all the gear I'll ever need (about 2-1/2 full drum kits). I don't play that much, am currently not in a band, so I don't need to replace sticks and heads very often.

Even when I was gigging heavily and playing most every weekend, drumming was what I'd call a "controllable expense". I could put off buying new heads, for example; and nobody would know the difference. Same goes with gear. The difference in sound between cheap and expensive gear is indiscernible out on the dance floor.