Use whatever you need to convey the music you want to express. If you don't need any Tom Toms, don't use them. If you need one, two, three, etc.; use what you need.

As far as the question as to why have a Floor Tom, because its not used ... I'll just say that you need to expand your listening practices. To say "the Floor Tom is never used" is a grossly over-simplified, erroneous statement. Perhaps the drummers or music you listen to don't use a Floor Tom, which is fine, but that is far from the norm when it comes to having the instrument in the set-up ... and then not using it.

My apologies ... I was wrong. Don't know why my brain translated "barely" to "never", but it did.  I'm sure I'll be in for more surprises as I get older.

Another item to throw into the mix ...

The Floor Tom may not necessarily be a Tom with legs. Often times a mounted Tom acts as the Floor Tom. For example, I may use a 4-piece kit with a mounted 10-inch Tom and a mounted 14-inch Tom, but the 14-inch Tom is positioned where a Floor Tom would typically appear.

And to make matters worse, Buddy Rich used two, count 'em, two floor toms.  Granted, he often used the second one as a 16" table for his towel (I'm not sure how many plies or what kind of wood he preferred for this), but when it wasn't used as a table it was used extensively in fills and solos.

He wasn't alone in his floor tom usage.  Steve Gadd, Don Brewer, Karen Carpenter, Paul Leim all come to mind, as well.  There are counteless others who use theirs often.

Give me a break, im just a kid 


So is there a name for when you hit the snare, and floor tom at the same time?

Maybe drum lessons aren't as bad as idea as you think they are.

I don't have money for lessons. My drummer at church teaches me a few things, and another drummer I know has had lesson for a long time, has been playing for about 12 years now, and hes a real help to me. I just was thinking, and I couldnt contact any of them, so I asked on here, because I felt welcome to.

And by that post I didnt say that were a bad idea. I just don't have the money. And so there for I am going to continue playing no matter what because I love to. Even if I don't get lessons, Im going to try to be the best I can for a 15 year old kid.

I refer you to the previously mentioned Mr. Peart, and our good friends at www.drummerworld.com

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/Neilpeartlimbo.html

After the fill from Limbo, about halfway through the video, he breaks down the Intro and various fills from "Totem" off of Test for Echo.  I think it's a great example of how a floor tom (or several floor toms) can be used.

Nate

Whoah!  Can you imagine this youngster's response if he were turned on to a Rich (as well as countless others) performance??!!

My heart  feels good when a youngster learns, then appreciates a performance new to him. Takes me back many years when Ringo clinched it for me.

You are welcome to ask just about anything here.  Don't worry if some of our replies sounds a little harsh - everyone here cares a lot about drumming and helping each other out - that includes you.  IF you can't do lessons now, (a lot of great drummers were self taught) just be more intentional about how you practice.  A lot of what you get from an instructor is The Plan they provide and The Direction for improving and the descipline (practice this and have it ready for next week).  You can get some of this from books, video, and online sources.  I'm basically self taught but for a long time I didn't really practice, I just played stuff I thought was cool or tried to duplicate what I heard.  I thought I was decent and could play a bunch of stuff.  After a while, I realized I needed to get more serious, so I got video's and books and started working through some basic stuff.  This opened my eyes to a bunch of new ideas, techiques, etc and helped a lot.  Then after a while (I'm talking years), I was able to get some lessons and man what a help.  Not only can you get some direction from an instructor but a good experienced instructor can give you immediate criticism and feedback showing what you're doing wrong or specifically what you need to do to overcome a problem.  I learned more in a few lessons than I would have in a year of working on things myself.  Don't be discouraged if you can't get the lessons right now, keep practicing and develop a plan for yourself and work it!  When you do get a chance to take the lesson, do it.  You won't regret it.