Marking your drum feet for easy quick setup

[spazapproved]

For those who play out a lot... how do you setup? What's your setup routine? Do you mark out your drum rug for easier setup? If so how do you do it?

Here is how I do mine!

 

[Houndog]

Yes mine is taped off as well .

 

[Tornado]

I don't. I use a 3'x5' rubber backed door mat, and I know exactly where my bass drum should be on it. Once I have my bass drum set, the rest of it is easy visually. I use different configurations sometimes, so it doesn't always make sense to have stands in the same spots. Changing a cymbal diameter by two inches would mean that I'm slightly moving a stand in or out, or adjusting a boom arm anyway.

I used to get hung up on things needing to be exactly the same every time, but now I play 3 very different kits every week. An 18,12,14 bop kit on Sundays, a 22,12,16 kit with a big band, and a 26,13,16 kit set up at home for practice. I'm completely comfortable with things changing now.

One thing that HAS made setup a lot faster for me is my SKB rolling golf club case. I can leave stands at their needed heights, only needing to fold up boom arms. That was a game changer for me.

 

[Rock Salad]

I keep meaning to make marks on my rug, but I guess it's not urgent. Just the size of my 4'×6' rug shows pretty much where things need to go

 

[Pat A Flafla]

I used to do that a while back but I'm using different kits and different setups all the time so it wouldn't really work now.

 

[Matched Gripper]

My set up is simple. 4 drums, 3 cymbal stands and hi hats. Like Tornado, everything is set up in relation the the bass drum. Not sure markers on the rug would save any time or effort.

 

[Carlos McSnurf]

Myself,
1. I use memory locks on snare stand for exact same height of the snare
2. I mark position with felt pen on the legs of floor drum and disappearing spurs of the bass

For the carpet marking, in my case it doesn't makes too much sense, I play in various space available environments. Always have to adapt drum or hardware position to situation

 

[spazapproved]

See for me, the new band I'm in has shorter 45-1hr sets and plays with 3-4 other bands. So quick setup is going to be important.
Now in my last band, we were a bar band and played an all nighter by ourselves... with them I didn't mark anything. I had all the time in the world.
Now we are trying to get on and off stage as quick as we can.

 

[trynberg]

I'm slow at setting things up, so marking the rugs with velcro strips and using Stealth racks has greatly shortened my setup time for a gig. The Stealth rack locks my snare, mounted tom(s), and primary crash cymbal together, which is always the relationship that takes me the longest to get right.

 

[latzanimal]

When doing backline I use different color tape for each drummer.....