10 Tips For Drum Storage & Organization

[@frankspikes7858]

You being a home owner is a major advantage. You can do with your home what you wish. I really like your videos. Everything is so neat and organized. I would almost say O C D, but everything/space serves a purpose. Very inspiring.

[@malonedrum]

It certainly is. Makes my life way easier.

[@jorymil]

A house at 25? _Highly_ impressed. At 25, I barely knew what I wanted for dinner. And you're lucky to have a wife who isn't rubbed the wrong way by your needs. Finding a compatible partner is _so_ hard.

[@jorymil]

I store all of my cymbals in bags - 22s in one bag, 21s in another, etc. For hi-hats, I use snare cases. It's not perfect, but people often get rid of cymbal bags cheaply. They might not be gig-worthy, but they're storage-worthy, and it makes moving easier every year or two--little desire to be a homeowner at the moment.

[@malonedrum]

Homeownership ain’t easy to get into these days

[@jorymil]

The clear bins with the hinged lid clamps are so much nicer than the plain ones. I have a ton of the latter, and it's easy for the lids to pop off inadvertently.

[@malonedrum]

Absolutely!

[@mtrow23]

Great vid, I really like the vertical cubbies for hardware stands, I have struggled with those. I won't build them into studs as all the walls in my drum area are finished, but you've given me some ideas on how I could make some narrow vertical cubbies to do the same thing, thanks!. 👍 The tension rod drum key holder is a great idea too. I also use those same metal wire shelves with panels made from industrial carpet, they work and look great behind a drum set. One of my favorite drum display items is a shadow box that I custom made to fit an old snare drum head, that came off a vintage 60's Slingerland kit I bought from a family friend and had him sign the drum head. Looks awesome as a household decoration.

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for sharing

[@atoms12123]

I was lucky enough to visit a local drum shop of 50+ years going out of business back in 2020 and the very nice owner was kind enough to give me a cymbal tree for free. Really thought that would solve all my cymbal storage issues but I've run out of room on it, so back to guitar stands it is.

[@malonedrum]

Cymbal tree's are cool for displaying, but it's not the most compact option out there.

[@SonofWatts-c9t]

I am continually impressed by your organization skills. Truly.

[@malonedrum]

It’s taken twenty years to develop, and I’m always tweaking it.

[@charlesperry1108]

Very impressive! You put a lot of thought and time into optimizing storage for your percussion. I am on it!

[@malonedrum]

Appreciate the kind words

[@emrahercancakir]

I would be very interested in the drum key holder as well as the beater holder. Thanks for another great video 👏

[@malonedrum]

Send me a email if you're serious and maybe I can make a batch! [e-mail]

[@henry5917]

Stud Cubbies is my new band

[@malonedrum]

Lol.

[@thatryananthony]

Soo many amazing storage and DIY ideas in one video thanks for this Mike!

[@malonedrum]

Glad you like them!

[@BuckAugust]

I love that tension rod drum key holder!

[@malonedrum]

It works!

[@Dorice-q4m]

Amazing. Can't wait to show this to my partner who is a professional drummer.

[@malonedrum]

Put that drummer in check!

[@dillroastington]

Great info man. Thanks! I think you're the only person I've seen aside from rdavidr who goes in depth like this with solutions for the average working drummer who can't afford the cost or space for some crazy storage solutions.

[@malonedrum]

I appreciate that!

[@gregwonhoff7161]

Mike, I really enjoyed watching your storage/display video. I am in the same boat as another viewer. I don’t have any extra stuff, as I just add anything new I might get to y set. Your organizational skills coupled with your tendency to keep everything neat and tidy certainly makes things easier for you, and maybe even more importantly, keeps your wife happy.❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for watching!

[@demonicsweaters]

This is great. Even though I have probably 1/10th of the space you have, it still is giving me some ideas haha.

[@malonedrum]

Then you need to apply it even more!

[@JakeStaffin]

Lots of great ideas!! I've used metro shelves like yours for snare drums, hardware, smaller equipment (pedals, tambourines, etc) and drawers for sheet music, but I never thought of the bungee cord idea for heads so I may try that next! Also, I definitely like the idea of the bass drum beater and drum key holders.

[@malonedrum]

Thanks much man!

[@Six3rdy]

On a past video, I mentioned you were the Iron Man of drumming.......... I had _no_ idea how right I was...........😮😮😮😮 You had to turn _studs_ into storage to sort all this out. 😆 All you need now is a holographic table, and AI, and some robots to help you. And you'll be straight.

[@malonedrum]

🤣🤣

[@petercleary1000]

Your videos are very good thanks for going to the trouble, p.s . I live in the UK, and as a drummer my clam to fame, is i played with dave Murray and Adrian Smith, to founding members of iron maiden ,in the 1970s, they were 17th at the time, and were called stone free.

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for watching

[@jlhitz35]

I love the magnet strips idea! Definitely going to try some of these, especially the hardware cubbies.

[@malonedrum]

Making the world a more organized place, one drummer at a time!

[@kevindohn6776]

Holy Cow buddy, very impressive how much stuff you have, how organized you are, and how much you know how to do, I mean just playing drums is impressive, but knowing all the computer and recording stuff, and having all those tools and knowing how to make all that stuff, that's incredible, you certainly don't waste time, and I'm also wondering how you afford all that stuff, you must have a good job !

[@malonedrum]

I’m lucky to do music full time, and I’m start about making purchases. You’re also looking at 15-20 years of collecting musical equipment.

[@adrianuribe5107]

You talked about putting sets of drum heads and boxes, have you considered using Pizza boxes for such an idea? I also use those adjustable wire racks on wheels, great things to use

[@malonedrum]

Sure, but I wouldn’t recommend used pizza boxes…

[@adrianuribe5107]

Lol, yeah the cheese wouldn’t make a good dampener on the drum head. I would go for a brand new box

[@jorymil]

Personally I welcome all opportunities to channel my inner Ninja Turtle ;-)

[@MrPetedrums]

Excellent video! Thank you very much for the information and suggestions. What brand of adjustable metal shelving are you using? I have bought some in the past that weren’t that good. Yours look very durable. Thanks!

[@malonedrum]

I've gotten various from my local hardware store or target. As long as it's NSF, it's usually consistent and strong.

[@hiblitdrummer]

Nice video explaining what works well for you! Thanks for the ideas!

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for watching!

[@erniebertuzzo8020]

Great video Mike - thank you for posting.

[@malonedrum]

You bet

[@jonathanfazio6290]

Love this! Some great ideas here. My favorite is the drum key holder! Definitely going to make one myself

[@malonedrum]

Go for it!

[@DrumMenace]

Another great video, Mike. Keep them coming!

[@malonedrum]

Thanks

[@adammono1839]

I love your presentation style Mike. Very different to rdavidr for example, please don't change! Also I like the beater display, maybe that could be drilled on the drill press set to 45° angle, and it could hang on a wall hook. Also, maybe for drum head storage you could store them like records in a record store, so you can flip through them easily. Lastly, shout out to nick offermans book I saw there!

[@malonedrum]

Good call on the angled bass drum beaters, I hadn't thought of that, and I really like it.

[@adammono1839]

​@@malonedrummaybe a magnetic drum key lug on the top too, optional decal of a popular drum manufacturer, or dowel on the bottom to hang drum rings, or a hook for a stick bag. Feel free to use or ignore any of those ideas 👍

[@a.j.wilkes6352]

Great video and lots of good ideas! I have several basement shelves made from one 4x8 OSB sheet (have them rip it at the store to two-2x8 sheets) and 7 2x4x8' studs (four stay uncut, one into four 21.5" sections to make the end As, and two studs get halved to 4')...total cost of lumber right now is

[@malonedrum]

Nice work!

[@davidsuprenant2782]

Very nice Mike, you did good my friend.

[@malonedrum]

Thanks!

[@zereds]

Love it! Lots of great ideas! Thank you for sharing

[@malonedrum]

Thanks!

[@Spagz]

Some cool ideas here, thanks.

[@malonedrum]

Glad you like them!

[@christiancanalita6487]

Thank you Mike! So many ideas I can use.

[@malonedrum]

That’s the goal!

[@christiancanalita6487]

Do you do anything special for organizing your drum books or lesson handouts for your students?

[@malonedrum]

@@christiancanalita6487 honestly, digital copies of books and the sheets I’ve written for lessons all organized on my computer. Much easier to command a specific page to print than grabbing a book, take it to the photocopier, find the page and wait for a copy to be made.

[@andrewwarrendrums8969]

Great ideas Mike! Thanks for sharing!!

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for watching!

[@Rossferatu]

Great vid, super helpful! Where did you buy the metal storage racks? Thanks.

[@malonedrum]

Local hardware store or Target.

[@JulianFernandez]

really cool. thanks!

[@malonedrum]

Absolutely!

[@JordanJMSDrums]

Love what you are doing man. Would love to collaborate sometime!

[@malonedrum]

If you ever find an opportunity that would fit, reach out and we’ll see.

[@davidsuprenant2782]

Mike are you going to be at the chicago drum show this year?????

[@malonedrum]

Plan to be there as per usual

[@davidsuprenant2782]

@@malonedrum well I'll be there on Sunday,and stop by your booth mike.looking forward to the show this year.

[@shawnsdrumcave]

Great tips Mike!

[@malonedrum]

I got your new video queued up in my watch later once I have the time!

[@shawnsdrumcave]

@@malonedrum thanks bud!

[@lawrenceyolles9541]

fantastic video! thank you. so what brand sprcifically do you have for your metal adjustable shelving?

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for watching!

[@Officialshayne]

Great vid bro!

[@malonedrum]

Appreciate it!

[@sam-drums]

Great ideas and thanks for sharing. I have seen snare drums stored in shelves vertically to save space. I noticed that you prefer to store the snare drums sitting flat instead of vertically. Is there a reason for that? Will storing snare drums vertically cause any issues in the long term?

[@malonedrum]

Mostly to keep the snare wires from rattling?, but now I actually stick drunk coasters between the wires and head so I guess no other reason than I like how it looks.

[@chiefluke210]

You sound exactly like Ryan Howard from The Office lol

[@malonedrum]

That is a first, but I'll wear that like a badge of honor.

[@PeteBeswickDrums]

Amazing! Can you come and sort mine out 😆 🤣

[@malonedrum]

Ha, for a fee!

[@ivanisrael4442]

Drums stored in cases yes or no.?

[@malonedrum]

Only if I want them ready to grab and go to the gig, but honestly most of the times I don’t even use cases with my gigging stuff…

[@morgunstyles7253]

Id pay 6 dollars for a tour of that place

[@malonedrum]

Deal!

[@jeshurunabinadab6560]

I’ve seen many people say that cymbals shouldn’t be stored standing upright on their side. But every “how to store cymbals” video is doing just that so I’m not sure what to do with my growing collection. Is this something you’ve heard? Is it a myth? Seriously just seeking advice from someone with more experience, like yourself. Thanks

[@malonedrum]

What I'd imagine is that storing them on their side, but on a hard surface like concrete could wear at the edges as you move them over and over again, but I put carpet in my holders to try and have a soft surface for them to add their weight to.

[@ronaldzeoli7528]

Love the ideas and lay out. Man you have a lot of drum stuff. Cool

[@malonedrum]

I've grown quite a collection, but it ebbs and flows from time to time.

[@prodrummerbill]

Great ideas, Mike! Thanks for sharing.

[@malonedrum]

Of course!