Drum sets can be quite a mission to store safely and securely, purely due to the fact that they’re so large. There are several components to worry about, and each one has its own potential issues if you don’t store it properly.
We’ve put together a guide to storing your kit safely. There are a few things you need to get, and we’ll explain what to do once you have them. After reading this, you should feel safe with how you’ve stored your kit, whether it’s for a short time or a few years.
The drum shells are your biggest component to worry about. To keep them safe, you need to get bags or cases to put them in.
There are a few companies that sell dedicated drum bags, and they’re designed to keep the drums padded so that they don’t get damaged. These are used to transport drums to different gigs, but you can also keep your drums inside them when packing them away for storage.
You get soft bags and hard cases. Hard cases would be the better option for getting as much protection as possible, but they’re typically more expensive compared to soft cases.
Just get whatever fits your budget, as both of them work well.
You also need to get a bag to place your cymbals in. The good thing about a cymbal bag is that you only need one to store a bunch of cymbals.
Most cymbal bags can hold up to five or six cymbals.
If you have more than that, you may need to get two cymbal bags. You also get hard cases that can hold cymbals, but we’ve found standard soft cymbal bags to work perfectly fine.
Just make sure to get a cymbal bag large enough to hold everything. Your ride cymbal is most likely your biggest cymbal, so get a bag that it can fit in.
22” is a good size for a cymbal bag, but you’ll need a bigger one if you have a 24” ride.
As with a cymbal bag, you only need one bag or case to put all your hardware stands inside. It will get quite heavy, but that won’t matter if you’re just storing your hardware somewhere in your house or in a storage unit.
We’d suggest getting a hard case to put your hardware in, as soft bags tend to break and tear within a few years.
Drum hardware has many sharp parts, and those parts can easily pierce holes in soft fabric. So, a hard case is just a safer option.
It may help to get a dedicated case for your kick drum pedal, as fitting that in with the other hardware can get a bit awkward.
Once everything is packed in bags, you can place your drum kit in your dedicated storage space.
The best thing to do with drum shells is to place them on top of each other. Put the bass drum at the bottom, and then stack the rest of the shells in order of their size.
Doing this will give you the smallest footprint.
It also helps to place them against a wall or in a corner so that they have no risk of toppling over.
You can then place the hardware case somewhere near the drum shells. Just make sure they’re out of the way, as tripping over a hardware case is very common.
The cymbal bag needs to be placed somewhere very safe and out of the way. These are the easiest to damage if you’re not careful. We’ve found it best to be behind a door where no one can stand on the case accidentally.
If not, then place the cymbal bag somewhere high up on a shelf.
If you have multiple snare drums, you should consider creating a snare drum rack. This is a structure that can hold all the snare drums, and it allows you to easily take one out whenever you need it.
There are companies that make dedicated snare drum racks, but you could also find something suitable at a store like IKEA.
If you don’t have any drum bags, you can still pile your drum shells on top of each other and place them in a corner. Just note that the drumheads will get damaged over time.
The bearing edges and shell hardware will also degrade without any protection due to dust building up.
You should wrap all your cymbal and drum stands in a blanket so that they’re protected as much as possible. You can do the same with your cymbals.
However, we strongly recommend that you get bags for everything so that it’s all protected in the best way.
It helps to place the drum shells in a corner. You can then lean the hardware bag upright instead of having it lay along the floor. Cymbals are easy to place anywhere in a small space.
Drums will maintain their quality if you keep them in drum bags. They will just go out of tune eventually due to weather changes.
If you don’t use storage bags and cases, they can get damaged.
Some are more expensive than others. You just need to find a set that fits your budget. The cheaper ones won’t offer as much comfort or protection, but they’ll still work just fine.
Storing a drum set is relatively simple. You just need to get dedicated drum bags for all the components, and then you need to place them in areas where they won’t fall or get damaged.
If you’re storing a drum set without using hardware and drum bags, make sure to check on it every now and then to dust it down and make sure that everything is in order. If your drums are in bags, you can happily leave them for years.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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