My friend Alan is the reason I always bring a small percussion bag to every drum set gig. He used to bring a briefcase with his charts and a percussion toy or two because he said, “You never know when a song might need an egg shaker, especially when you’re in the studio.” His advice got me thinking about which percussion add ons are essential.
The add on that you need is the one you hear. It’s the one you want. Indulge in your musical impulses and add the cowbell, wood block, or wind chimes. Put down one drum stick and play a shaker if you think the song would sound better. But it’s not always that simple.
To find out if Alan’s logic holds up, I tested it against a list of percussion instruments that I think drum set players should have on the gig. The list includes a variety of shakables, metals, and auxiliary drums. The goal is to figure out if the percussion add ons can be easily incorporated into a drum set groove without complicating the set up.
1. Shaker
I started with the shaker because it was Alan’s egg shaker that inspired me to think beyond the conventional drum set and incorporate more auxiliary percussion. You can hold it, tape one to your drum stick, or buy a drumstick with a built-in shaker.
The shaker can easily replace your hi hat in any song. The drawback is the loss of volume. But that can be what the song needs, especially during the verse of a song with less aggressive vocals.
This groove was inspired by Jim Gordon on Steely Dan’s “Ricky Don’t Lose That Number.” It’s what I call a pop bossa nova. Sometimes I leave out the kick on the and of four if it sounds too heavy. The syncopation is subtle, but cannot be understated. I’ve had more compliments on this groove than a full samba with traditional parts. It’s great for when someone says “Latin” but it’s more pseudo-Latin than anything.
You can play a shaker on a funk groove, a breakdown when the drums continue, or on a bossa nova, for example.
2. Tambourine
The tambourine can be treated like a shaker, played with a stick while mounted to a stand, or placed on a table or drum and played with a stick. How you incorporate your percussion add on is often dictated by how you will play it.
More often than not, I place the tambourine on my side snare with a towel underneath (see image below). This allows me to play it in one part of the song and move it quickly to access the snare. Plus, there’s usually a microphone already on the snare, so it doesn’t complicate live sound issues.
If you choose to shake it while playing with a stick in your other hand, consider holding the tambourine parallel with your body. Place your hand under the tambourine (palm up) and use your wrist to the produce the shaking motion. This technique provides lots of control over the jingles.
3. Cowbell
This is perhaps the most common percussion add on. Cowbells, and the like, can be heard in music styles from all around the world for decades and perhaps centuries. It’s one of the most recognizable sounds in popular music, so play it with respect. Too much can ruin a good thing.
The most common cowbell designs in popular music come to us from the Afro Caribbean music traditions, particularly Cuban music. Bells for mambo and cha cha are perhaps the most common of these designs.
I used to mount my cowbells on the kick drum. This isn’t my favorite choice anymore because the vibration of the bell on the drum creates lots of unwanted sounds, like ringing drum heads into a microphone.
Cowbell mounts come in several designs. I like the ones that mount to cymbal stands and provide the most options for adjustment. You’ll want to place the cowbell so it is comfortable for you. This depends on which hand you will most often use to play it as well as how it may be incorporated into your grooves.
You can’t go wrong with playing downbeats or upbeats on a cha cha bell. But why not try playing some syncopated accents and taps? Play accents with the shoulder of the stick on the edge of the bell while taps are played with the tip of the stick on the top of the bell.
4. Jam block
Tone blocks, wood blocks, jam blocks … whatever you want to call them. I like to use them for a backbeat sound, syncopated accents, sound effects, or a primary ostinato in a groove.
I mount my jam blocks off the hi hat stand. It’s easier for me to play accents for reggae grooves, for example. If the blocks are near the hats, my movement around the kit is more efficient.
If you’re right handed and playing an ostinato on the block for a cumbia groove, mounting the block on the right side of the kit makes more sense. This allows you to play the conga part with cross stick on snare and the rack tom while playing the block.
I use a blue LP Jam Block off my hi hat and an orange one mounted on my right side. The orange one is deeper and sounds better for cumbia grooves and other ostinatos.
The Bob Marley records I listened to growing up had this upbeat shuffle on the hi hat. The groove above doesn’t show it, but the upbeats have an accent. The other two hi hat hits are more subtle. The feature in this groove is the block sixteenths on beat three and the cowbell leading into beat four. This phrasing compliments the reggae feel of accenting the up beats – upbeat eighths on hi hat, kick on two and four, and this accent around beat three.
5. Wind chimes
This percussion add on is a piece of cake. The hardest part is not playing them too much. It’s easy to add wind chimes to the end of every song or going into a breakdown.
I like the double row wind chimes because one row clangs into the other, making it possible to excite more sounds in different registers of the instrument. In other words, a single hit to one chime can be a gentle accent and contrast to using the entire spread of chimes.
Wind chimes can be mounted with special clamps designed for the specific percussion add on or a cymbal stand or clamp arm. I prefer the cymbal clamp arm because it can be used for a splash or small crash when I don’t need wind chimes.
6. Timbale
Have a steel snare you’re not using? Take off the bottom head and crank the batter. It’s a timbale that can be placed on a snare stand or mounted with any number of floating tom mount systems.
I use brass LP Tito Puente timbales and usually mount one drum where my second rack tom would be. This placement keeps the percussion add on tight to my cymbals and other drums, facilitating movement around the kit.
Other options include lighter and more compact designs that don’t take over as much of your drum setup. This is my recommendation for most situations because it’s not taking up much real estate for the occasional accent or fill.
7. Trash crash (or stack)
Dry and nasty is good for any setup. It cuts through the heavy grooves and gives the groove an anchor. You can buy an individual cymbal with a trashy sound or put together a cymbal stack.
I like my 11” Zildjian K Hybrid splash as a top remote hat with a 10” china on the bottom. The remote hat is off to my right side so I can incorporate toms and other instruments into the groove without getting my arms crossed.
The remote hat systems work well for stacking because you can control the tightness and sizzle of the cymbals. But if all you have is a typical cymbal stand or boom arm, you’re still in business.
8. Bongo
Playing bongo with sticks and other implements is highly recommended. Although I am a hand percussionist through and through, sticks don’t take away from the essence of a good bongo sound.
If you don’t have a bongo stand, use a snare stand. I did this for years before I busted out the cash for a bongo stand, which made it easier to place this percussion add on right where I wanted it.
Usually, the best place for my bongo is to the left of my hi hat, above the cha cha bell and blue block. It’s easy to access for fills and accents, like using it to layer it with my snare to change up the backbeat sound.
Bongo is a great add on for country and Americana music. A lot of those songs require drummers to be creative about the phrasing by incorporating some more Latin percussion groove elements and instruments in lieu of the convention backbeat. Otherwise, it becomes too easy to sound like everything else, right?
Related: How to Play Bongo.
9. Goat nails
These days, I see a lot of drummers with goat nails on their hi hats. It adds a dirtier sound, which works if your playing is tight and clean to begin with.
The hi hat is a great place to put a light shakable percussion add on. You can easily grab it and shake it or move it to your snare drum. Placing the goat nails on your snare adds a strange partially muted sound.
You could even use the goat nails as an implement. When they strike the drum, the individual nails come into contact with the batter head at different times, giving the sound a marching aesthetic.
Imagine this sound for a traditional blues tune. The worksong influence on the blues would come through as it marched a backbeat under bending guitar riffs and call-and-response lyric forms.
10. Micro snare
It’s always been important to get the most out of your snare drum in terms of different sounds. But it seems like electronic music and drum modules have made it more important for acoustic drummers to level up their snare drum sound toolbox.
Side snares are cool, and micro snares are one of the best choices. They fit into tight places around your kit, and don’t add a lot to gear schlep in and out of venues.
Related: 10 different sounds to get from your snare.
My side snare is a 12” steel snare. I would put it in more of a soprano snare category than a side snare, but I don’t think it really matters. As a percussion add on, any side snare can facilitate other percussion add ons, multiplying the effects by simply place one instrument upon the other.
My Favorite Percussion Add Ons
I use half of the items on this list for almost every gig. Whether I’m playing auxiliary percussion or drum set, my setup includes jam block, cowbell, tambourine, side snare, shaker, and goat nails. Can’t forget the goat nails.
Most of these ideas have come from playing percussion gigs with small groups and no drum set. I thought of the shaker as a hi hat, the bongo like a snare, and even used a cajon as a kick. The cajon didn’t make the list, but I will write about it in another article.
Playing percussion gigs sans drum set gave me the opportunity to take chances with instrument substitution. It also allowed me to bring in the auxiliary percussion parts on top of what would traditionally be conventional drum set instruments.
Applying these ideas to drum set has been equally exciting and challenging. Most songs don’t need shaker throughout the whole song, for example. But the issue of transitioning from add ons to conventional drums and cymbals is not always straight forward.
The answer to this problem comes in the form of hardware add ons for your percussion add ons. I know this sort of sounds like the George Carlin bit about stuff for your stuff, but it’s true. A clamp on percussion table to hold your toys, sticks, and even metronome can solve a lot of problems during the instrument transition.