Hey, Tim!

Good question. I'm sure it all depends on the musician and the kind of music that he/she plays. Personally, I'd feel lost without my seven piece kit. Since we play original music, all of our tunes depend on a certain percussive sound which everyone else knows and trusts. Some days, I wish I'd started with a much smaller kit though! Some days, I wish I'd taken up harmonica!

Brian

I do that alot. I play in a lot of real small bars. If we don't have enough space the first thing that goes is my floor tom. Sometimes I use just a snare, bass drum with a ride cymbal and a hihat. If volume is a problem I'll use brushes all night. You can swing just as hard with brushes as you can with sticks.

I'm a reformed prog-rocker. I used to think that I would be lost without five or six toms. Then I got older and less able to carry all that steel and wood with me everywhere. I now use a 4-piece 3-ply set with 3 or 4 cymbals and find myself saying the same thing more tastefully. At one point doing coffeehouse and winery gigs a few years ago, I brought along kick, snare, hats, crash/ride, and a cowbell (Latin music). It was fun and challenging to make it all work on that setup, especially with brushes.

I could, but I'm glad I don't have to. I don't mind hauling stuff and I think a big, shiny kit is part of the show. That said, I use everything I haul.

I know that I'd be a completely different drummer if I'd started out on the little four-piece Gretsch that my cousin wouldn't sell me instead of the large seven-piece Slingerland kit that I "settled" for.

I once accompanied sax and bass on a two-song avante-garde set with only a 19" K. Using sticks, brushes, mallets, and hands, along with choking and other muffling, it was amazing how many sounds I could produce.

Al

Yes Sir +1! When playing with a light jazz quartet (Fake Book standards), all I cart is a bass, snare, HH and ride. That's pretty much all those lounge drummers used when those standards were new back in the 50's and 60's, so that's all I should need. I sometimes substitute the bass for a floor tom with cocktail pedal attached, and a piccolo snare mounted to the FT with a suspension mount (no stands needed!). Add one pair of brushes and I'm good to go.

My 10-piece double-bass Rogers set hasn't seen action since I was covering Fleetwood Mac, Kansas and Yes back in the 70's. Take away all those toms and show-off fills, and it's amazing how you can rediscover the essence of all that a drummer needs to be.

Mike

The first thing to go, for me, would be the rack tom. If I have to lose a tom, though, I'll just lose them both...

My go-to is 24/13/16/snare with 16 hats plus a 20 and a 22 so it takes up a bit of real estate for a four piece. Often cut back to 24/16/snare + hats and one of the rides and occasionally just kick/snare/hats/ride. Depends on the gig (and the mindset I want to be in...)

Wow! Big bass, big cymbals. Obviously playing with a loud band. My ears just can't hold up to that anymore, but good for you for keeping the heavy music alive.

Mike