Drum Throne: How to Set Up, Sit & Adjust the Height?

Drum Set Seat Height & Setup: How to set up the drum throne in the right manner, what’s the height to maintain, so that you can be comfortably seated while playing the drums.

Overview

How tall should be your Drum Throne & how high can it go? How to adjust a drum throne & sit on it the right way? You’ll also find it helpful in case it has been lying around for a long time and if you are having trouble adjusting the height.

Here’s how to set up the drum throne in the right manner so that you can be comfortably seated while playing the drums.

Positioning Your Drum Throne

It is important to be seated right while playing any musical instrument. But to maintain the correct body positioning while playing, you also have to pay attention to whether your drum set has been positioned correctly.

For example, pay attention to the position of your Bass Drum down:

It’s the biggest drum out there

It needs to be in the middle of your drum set

It needs to be in a comfortable spot for you to play

Positioning Your Legs

And how to set up the drum throne, and how to position your legs?

Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Your legs will obviously form a v-shape with respect to each other, when you are seated on the drum throne.
2. Your drum throne should also not be too close to the drum set, so that you get sufficient place to be comfortable, and so that your seating area doesn’t become too cramped.
3. When seated on the drum throne, make sure your legs make an angle of more than ninety degrees, or exactly 90 degrees at the most. Basically, your ankles should be ahead of your knees, if you have to maintain an angle of above 90 degrees.

Drum Set Seat Height: How Tall Should Be Your Drum Throne

What is the range of height that these thrones can be adjusted to? More importantly how should you set the drum set seat height to get the right pedal positioning?

Do you think someone who is (6’5″) is going to keep the same height as someone who is (5’6″)?

Definitely not; it’s going to be different for both of them.

An important aspect of playing drums is to maintain the right posture while playing. And this is why it is important to have something adjustable so that you can tweak the height to make it more comfortable to your style of playing.

As a general rule, the drum set seat height should be set to such a level so that your thighs are at a slightly higher level above the knees. As far as the pedals are concerned, they can be positioned as per your convenience in relation to the seat. Most experienced drummers keep their legs parallel to the ground, or slightly pointed downwards, that’s more or less the right way to be seated.

Maintain any other pose, and you are probably not going to be comfortable playing for a longer period.

Most drum thrones can be adjusted from 18″ to 24″ high, and some may even go as low as 16″.

Usually most students, depending on their height, keep the following positions:

• Growing kids position it around 16 inches or so, from the ground level.
• Most medium sized players keep it around 18-20 inches off the floor.
• The taller people usually keep it around 21″ to 24″.

Also Read: Buying your first drum set.

So in case you are wondering how tall your drum throne should be, just remember that you need to keep your legs slightly slanting downward when seated (say knees around an inch lower than the thighs), and that is how tall your drum seat should be.

This way it is also easier to play all the pedals, such as double bass, hi hat, etc.

So that is how tall your drum throne should be.

In case you are looking for more suggestions, here’s a nice video that shows how to be more comfortable with regards to placement of the drum set and the seat height.

How to Adjust

Most recent drum thrones, and especially the more expensive ones, come with an adjustment feature so that you can adjust it to a height that you are comfortable with.

What if it is quite an old one?
So, did you buy a drum throne long time back to learn to play drums, and then gave up learning, and now you are keen to restart but find that the drum throne has become rusty?

A familiar scenario considering that most beginner musicians do this.

The best way in this case to adjust the drum throne is to try out these things.

Try out these things…

Loosen the adjustment thumbscrew, apply some force, and try moving it up and down. Do these a few times so that the throne comes back in gear.

In case the above doesn’t work, apply a lubricant or oil over the rusty parts, and leave it that way for some time, say about 15-20 minutes. Try adjusting now.

In case, even the above doesn’t work, then you should try to get it fixed. Get in touch with your local music shop for repair work. If it is beyond repair, then it is time to upgrade to a better drum throne.

However, most of the time, the first two steps itself should make it work, and you should be able to adjust it.

As a good practice, always keep your seat at a height such that you thighs are slightly slanting downwards (only slightly).

This is how to adjust your Drum Throne.

How to Sit

For most beginners, it is important to maintain the right posture, to help them develop the right technique, but over the long run it is also important for your lower back.

So you need to always keep any eye on your posture and learn the right way to sit on the drum throne.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you are seated on the throne.

Try to keep the angle of your leg (thigh to the lower part of the leg) at a little over 90 degrees. This is the most comfortable pose to be in, that will help you to perform for longer duration.

If you are not sure about the angle, then here is another way to get the right height for your drum seat.

Just stand next to the throne, and raise the seat to the point where it is just above the knee-cap.

You can keep the seat at that height, and this technique is used by many drum players.

Also Read: Review of the best Drum Thrones.

Final Words

As you can see, it is not just important to maintain the right height, but it is also important to place your legs correctly, while playing the drums. This is how you set up a drum throne. These are some of the techniques that you could use, in case you’re not sure about how to sit on your drum throne.