Batter Skin:The skin you hit. The skin that is on the upper side facing you.

Beaters: Used with the bass drum pedal to strike the bass drum.

Brush sticks: (sometimes called hot-rods). Thin wooden or plastic strips held together by the grip and often a ring half way up the stick. These sticks are a nice medium between sticks and brushes.

Brushes: Thin wires with a handle used for quieter music, especially Jazz.

Cases: Soft or hard cases used to carry your drums so they don't get damaged.

Clear Head: Transparent skins without a white coating. Clear heads aren't suitable for using brushes as there is insufficient friction for the wires to scrape across.

Clutch: The mechanism attached to the pole of the hi-hat stand that holds the top hi-hat.

Coated Head: Unlike clear heads, the coarse white coating on coated heads gives you the option of using brushes.

Counterhoop: The wooden or chrome ring that hold the skin to the drum. They usually have between 6 and 10 holes to fasten and tune the head.

Crash: A cymbal used for a crash effect in music.

Cymbal Bag: A soft or hard case used to carry cymbals.

Cymbals: Disc shaped, metal percussion instruments.

Drop Clutch: A hi-hat clutch with a lever that allows the hi-hats to be released and drop the top hat down. They are handy when playing double pedals and your left foot is on another pedal and you need the hats closed.

Fills: (also called a fill-in) A drum fill is a variation in the beat, often at the end of a phrase.

Floors: A tom that sits on the floor, raised with legs attached to the side of the drum.

Ghost strokes: Small, almost inaudible ghost like strokes. The term is often used when playing other strokes in the same groove or pattern that involve loud and soft notes with the ghost strokes being the soft ones.

Grooves: A drum beat, a rhythm and also a feel.

Heads: Skin attached to the top of a shell to make a drum.

Hi-hats: Two cymbals on a stand together. The top cymbal is attached to a centre pole that is controlled by the foot pedal so both cymbals can be closed or opened by the foot.

Idiophone: Any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument vibrating itself, without the use of strings or membranes. Most percussion instruments which are not drums are idiophones.

Kit: The entire drum set, cymbals and drums.

Lugs: The metal attachments that the skins are held on with.

Mallets: Sticks that have soft, round ends used mostly for orchestral effects on cymbals etc. They come in many different shapes and sizes.

Membranophone: Any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. Most membranophones are drums.

Muffling: Sometimes it is necessary to muffle a drum to reduce excessive overtones. There are many types of muffling options whether internal or external (thick sticky tape will also do).

O Ring: A ring used to muffle a drum. They are designed to reduce horrible overtones so the drum has a short, solid tone.

Pedal: The foot pedals used to control the hi-hats and the bass drum.

Percussion: Instruments that you hit (tambourines, congas, timpani, xylophones, shakers, etc).

Practice pad: Used to practice techniques and rudiments quietly. A very useful tool for any drummer.

Rack: A rack system is a way of mounting your drums and cymbals without multiple stands or mounting off your bass drum.

Ride: The classic cymbal sound of Jazz. They are big cymbals which are generally played with the tip of the stick.

Resonance skin: The skin on the bottom of your drum which you don't hit. This prevents it from getting damaged or dinted so it resonates better and makes the drum sound better.

Remote hi-hats: Remote hi-hats allow you to position the hats independently of the pedal giving greater freedom for positioning.

Rim shot: Hitting the skin and the rim at the same time.

Rudiments: The practice exercises that are considered essential for skill development.

Shells: The round, moulded wood used to make the shell of the drums. Shells are often made from plywood, maple, birch and even fibreglass.

Side drum: (A snare drum). This term came from marching drummers who carried the drum on their side.

Skins: see Heads.

Snare: A wire device strapped under the drum against the bottom skin. When the drum is hit these wires bounce back on to the skin making a cracking sound. Originally gut was used but now wire is preferred.

Spurs: Legs at the bottom of the bass drum that stop the drum sliding forward on the floor.

Stacker (Cymbal stacker): A special stand that allows you to mount two cymbals off the one stand.

Stick bag: A bag used to carry your sticks and mallets.

Throne: Also known as a stool.

Toms: Drums mounted on the bass drum or on stands. Toms have no snares and come in many different sizes. Refer to the Drum kit page.

Tone: The richness or quality of sound generated by the drum.

Traps Case: The case used to carry all the stands and other auxillary parts of the kit. Many varieties are available but most are 100-140cm long.

Traps table: A table used to hold percussion instruments and accessories.

Tuning drums: The process of adjusting the little lugs/screws near the rim of each drum so the drum sounds their best.

Tuning key: A small device with a square hole in the end of it. They are used to adjust the tension rods on your drums for tuning.