Suitcase drum kit

Saw this on YouTube, and I thought I'd share.

Using some leftover drum parts (he buys used drum gear inexpensively, then mods them), this guy made a usable drum kit that fits inside an old hard-sided suitcase.


There's a link in the top left corner, at about 0:03, that shows a video where he demonstrates that it all indeed fits inside the suitcase.


Skip to about 6:05 to see him actually playing it:  all of the video up to that point is showing him building it.


It would be good for busking -- especially if you showed the audience how it all comes out of the suitcase.  You'd probably get more tips (because it would be more impressive) if you packed it away and re-assembled it every few songs.


And, inspired by that video, here's some more YouTube folks for suitcase drum kits.  I excluded videos where they simply use the suitcase as a drum, rather than having a functioning drum kit that fits inside the suitcase.

The one that I embedded, above, was possibly the most complicated of the ones that I found.



This one is a little bit of a cheat, as he mounts the ride cymbal on the outside:  it seems like you could just use a slightly smaller-diamter cymbal.  But, it's a remarkably complete kit.  Not as geeky, though, to have "regular" stands that are just folded up inside the case:  I prefer the above approach, where the suitcase is also the frame.



This one is a minimalist set-up.



This one is just a simplified kit where everything fits in the suitcase:  he intentionally didn't modify the suitcase at all.  But I included this one because he sits on the suitcase, instead of a drum throne, and he also uses the suitcase as the kick drum as he sits on it -- like a cajon.



I think this one's toms fit inside the suitcase -- although he doesn't actually show this aspect.  I like the drum rim:  a really good kick drum sound..  Another one of these drum videos (I forget which one) mentioned that if it's an old plywood suitcase the kick drum sound is already pretty good -- but if it's a softer, floppier plastic-sided suitcase then it would benefit from the extra effort to install a ring.



This one is pretty simple and straightforward. This one doesn't show the gear fitting into the suitcase:  but given that the guy has added dolly wheels to the underside of the suitcase -- plus the nature of the brackets on the high hat stand -- I'd expect that it would.




As you can see, there are several different approaches.  There's more -- but I just chose the ones that I thought were better ones.  Although there's a bunch that I didn't take the time to review.


Oh:  and this one (below) violates my rules:  it's "just" a drum used as a kick drum.  But I like the "double beater" approach -- especially with the metal "brush" and the license plate -- so I included it.




So:  another project for my "To Do" list.  I have some ideas.  ;)


--GG