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Drum kit

A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums in popular music context) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The drummer typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks or special wire or nylon brushes; and uses their feet to operate hi-hat and bass drum pedals.

A standard kit usually consists of:
 * A snare drum, mounted on a stand
 * A bass drum, played with a beater moved by a foot-operated pedal
 * One or more tom-toms, including rack toms and/or floor toms
 * One or more cymbals, including a ride cymbal and crash cymbal
 * Hi-hat cymbals, a pair of cymbals that can be played with a foot-operated pedal

The drum kit is a part of the standard rhythm section and is used in many types of popular and traditional music styles, ranging from rock and pop to blues and jazz.

Early development
Before the development of the classic drum kit, drums and cymbals used in military and orchestral music settings were played separately by different percussionists. In the 1840s, percussionists began to experiment with foot pedals as a way to enable them to play more than one instrument, but these devices would not be mass-produced for another 75 years. By the 1860s, percussionists started combining multiple drums into a kit. The bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, and other percussion instruments were all struck with hand-held drumsticks. Drummers in musical theater appeared in stage shows, where the budget for pit orchestras was often limited due to an insufficient amount of money able to purchase a full percussionist team. This contributed to the creation of the drum kit by developing techniques and devices that would enable one person to replace multiple percussionists.

Double-drumming was developed to enable one person to play both bass and snare drums with sticks, while the cymbals could be played by tapping the foot on a "low-boy". With this approach, the bass drum was usually played on beats one and three (in time). While the music was first designed to accompany marching soldiers, this simple and straightforward drumming approach led to the birth of ragtime music, when the simple marching beats became more syncopated. This resulted in a greater swing and dance feel. The drum kit was initially referred to as a "trap set", and from the late 1800s to the 1930s, drummers were referred to as "trap drummers". By the 1870s, drummers were using an overhang pedal. Most drummers in the 1870s preferred to do double-drumming without any pedal to play multiple drums, rather than use an overhang pedal. Companies patented their pedal systems, such as that of drummer Edward "Dee Dee" Chandler of New Orleans in 1904 or 1905. This led to the bass drum being played by percussionists standing and using their feet, hence the term "kick drum".

William F. Ludwig Sr. and his brother Theobald founded Ludwig & Ludwig Co. in 1909 and patented the first commercially successful bass drum pedal system.

In 1912, drummers replaced sticks with wire brushes and, later, metal fly swatters as the louder sounds made by using drumsticks could overpower other instruments.

20th century
By World War I, drum kits were often marching-band-style bass drums with many percussion items around them and suspended from them. Drum kits became a central part of jazz, especially Dixieland. The modern drum kit was developed in the vaudeville era, during the 1920s, in New Orleans.

Drummers such as Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, and Ray Bauduc took the idea of marching rhythms and combined the bass drum, snare drum, and "traps" – a term used to refer to the percussion instruments associated with immigrant groups, which included miniature cymbals, tom toms, cowbells, and woodblocks. They started incorporating these elements into ragtime, which had been popular for a few decades, creating an approach that evolved into a jazz drumming style.

Budget constraints and space considerations in musical theater pit orchestras led bandleaders to pressure percussionists to cover more percussion parts. Metal consoles were developed to hold Chinese tom-toms, with swing-out stands for snare drums and cymbals. On top of the console was a "contraption" tray (shortened to "trap"), used to hold items like whistles, klaxons, and cowbells. These kits were dubbed "trap kits". Hi-hat stands became available around 1926.

In 1918, Baby Dodds, playing on Mississippi River riverboats with Louis Armstrong, modified the military marching setup, experimenting with playing the drum rims instead of woodblocks, hitting cymbals with sticks (which was not yet common), and adding a side cymbal above the bass drum, which became known as the ride cymbal. William Ludwig developed the "sock" or early low-mounted hi-hat after observing Dodds' drumming. Dodds asked Ludwig to raise the newly produced low-hat cymbal nine inches to make them easier to play, thus creating the modern hi-hat cymbal. Dodds was one of the first drummers to play the broken-triplet beat that became the standard rhythm of modern ride cymbal playing. He also popularized the use of Chinese cymbals. Recording technology was crude, which meant loud sounds could distort the recording. To get around this, Dodds used woodblocks and drum rims as quieter alternatives to cymbals and drum skins.

In the 1920s, freelance drummers were hired to play at shows, concerts, theaters, and clubs to support dancers and musicians of various genres. Orchestras were hired to accompany silent films, and the drummer was responsible for providing the sound effects. Sheet music from the 1920s shows that the drummer's sets were starting to evolve in size to support the various acts. However, by 1930, films with audio were more popular, and many were accompanied by pre-recorded soundtracks. This technological breakthrough put thousands of drummers who served as sound effects specialists out of work, with some drummers obtaining work as Foley artists for those motion-picture sound tracks.

Grooves
Kit drumming, whether accompanying voices and other instruments or performing a drum solo, consists of two elements:
 * A groove that sets the basic time-feel and provides a rhythmic framework for the song (examples include a backbeat or shuffle). Grooves can set the mood of the song.
 * Drum fills and other ornaments and variations that provide variety and add interest to the drum sound. Fills could include a sting at the end of a musical section or act as a drum showpiece.

Fills
A fill is a departure from the repetitive rhythm pattern in a song. A drum fill can be used to "fill in" the space between the end of one verse and the beginning of another verse or chorus. Fills vary from a simple few strokes on a tom or snare to a distinctive rhythm played on the hi-hat, to sequences several bars long that are short virtuosic drum solos. As well as adding interest and variation to the music, fills serve an important function in indicating significant changes of sections in songs as well as linking them together. A vocal cue is a short drum fill that introduces a singer's entrance into the piece. A fill ending with a cymbal crash on beat one is often used to lead into a chorus or verse.

Drum solos
A drum solo is an instrumental section that highlights the drums. While other instrument solos are typically accompanied by the other rhythm section instruments (e.g., bass guitar and electric guitar), for most drum solos, the band members stop playing so that all focus will be on the drummer. In some drum solos, the other rhythm section instrumentalists may play "punches" at certain points – sudden, loud chords of short duration. Drum solos are common in jazz but are also used in several rock genres, such as heavy metal and progressive rock. During drum solos, drummers have a degree of creative freedom, allowing them to use complex polyrhythms that would otherwise be unsuitable with an ensemble. In live concerts, drummers may be given extended drum solos, even in genres where drum solos are rare on recordings.

Grip

Most drummers hold the drumsticks in one of two types of grip:
 * 1) The traditional grip, originally developed for playing side drum in marching ensembles where the sticks are most commonly held with an overhand grip for the right hand and an underhand grip for the left
 * 2) The matched grip, in which both sticks are held the same way, which is considerably more popular among younger generations of drummers these days, and even some older drummers who may have been in a band in the 80s and so forth.

Bass drum
The bass drum (also known as the "kick drum") is the lowest-pitched drum and usually provides the beat or timing element with basic pulse patterns. Some drummers may use two or more bass drums or a double pedal on a single bass drum, which enables a drummer to play a double-bass-drum style with only one drum. This saves space in recording/performance areas and reduces time and effort during set-up, taking down, and transportation. Double bass drumming is a technique used in certain genres, including heavy metal and progressive rock.

Snare drum

The snare drum provides the backbeat. When applied in this fashion, it supplies strong regular accents played by the non-dominant hand and is the backbone for many fills. Its distinctive sound can be attributed to the bed of stiff metal wires held under tension against the bottom head (known as the snare head). When the top head (known as the batter head) is struck with a drumstick, the snare wires vibrate, creating a snappy, staccato buzzing sound, along with the sound of the stick striking the batter head.

Toms

Tom-tom drums, or toms for short, are drums without snares and played with sticks (or whatever tools the music style requires) and are the most numerous drums in most kits. They provide the bulk of most drum fills and solos.

They include:
 * Traditional double-headed rack toms of varying diameters and depths
 * Floor toms (generally the widest and largest toms, which also makes them the lowest-pitched toms)
 * Single-headed concert toms
 * Rototoms

The smallest and largest drums without snares (octobans and gong drums, respectively) are sometimes considered toms. The naming of common configurations (four-piece, five-piece, etc.) is largely a reflection of the number of toms, as conventionally only the drums are counted, and these configurations all contain one snare and one or more bass drums, (though not regularly any standardized use of two bass/kick drums) the balance usually being made up by toms.

Other drums

Octobans are smaller toms designed for use in a drum kit, extending the tom range upwards in pitch, primarily by their great depth and small diameter. They are also called rocket toms and tube toms.

Timbales are tuned much higher than a tom of the same diameter, typically have drum shells made of metal, and are normally played with very light, thin, non-tapered sticks. Timbales are more common in Latin music. They have thin heads and a very different tone than a tom but are used by some drummers/percussionists to extend the tom range upwards. Alternatively, they can be fitted with tom heads and tuned as shallow concert toms.

Attack timbales and mini timbales are reduced-diameter timbales designed for drum kit usage, the smaller diameter allowing for thicker heads providing the same pitch and head tension. They are recognizable in genres of the 2010s and more traditional forms of Latin, reggae, and numerous other styles.

Gong drums are a rare extension of a drum kit. This single-headed mountable drum appears similar to a bass drum (around 20–24 inches in diameter) but is played with sticks rather than a foot-operated pedal and therefore has the same purpose as a floor tom.

Most hand drums cannot be played with drumsticks without risking damage to the head and bearing edge, which is not protected by a metal drum rim. For use in a drum kit, they may be fitted with a metal drum head and played with sticks with care, or played by hand.

Cymbals

In most drum kits and drum/percussion kits, cymbals are as prominent as the drums themselves. The oldest idiophones in music are cymbals, a version of which were used throughout the ancient Near East very early in the Bronze Age period. Cymbals are mostly associated with Turkey and Turkish craftsmanship, where Zildjian has made them since 1623.

While most drummers purchase cymbals individually, beginner cymbal packs were brought to market to provide entry-level cymbals for the novice drummer. The kits normally contain four cymbals: one ride, one crash, and a pair of hi-hats. Some contain only three cymbals, using a crash/ride instead of the separate ride and crash. The sizes closely follow those given in Common configurations below. Most drummers extend the normal configuration by adding another crash, a splash, and/or a china/effects cymbal.

Ride cymbal
The ride cymbal is most often used for keeping a constant rhythm pattern, every beat or more often, as the music requires. Development of this ride technique is generally credited to jazz drummer Baby Dodds.

Most drummers have a single main ride, located near their dominant hand – within easy playing reach, as it is used regularly – often a 20"–22" in diameter, but diameters of 16"–26" are not uncommon. It is usually a medium-heavy- to heavy-weight cymbal whose sound that cuts through other instrumental sounds. Some drummers use a swish cymbal, sizzle cymbal, or other exotic or lighter metal rides, as the main or only ride in their kit, particularly for jazz, gospel, or ballad/folk sounds. In the 1960s, Ringo Starr of the Beatles used a sizzle cymbal as a second ride, particularly during guitar solos.

Hi-hats

Hi-hat cymbals (nicknamed "hats") consist of two cymbals mounted, one upside down, with their bottoms facing each other, on a hollow metal support cylinder with folding support legs that keep the support cylinder vertical. Like the bass drum, the hi-hat has a foot pedal. The bottom cymbal is fixed in place. The top cymbal is mounted on a thin rod, which is inserted into the hollow cymbal stand. The thin rod is connected to a foot pedal. When the foot pedal is pressed down, it causes the thin rod to move down, causing the upper cymbal to move and strike the lower. When the foot is lifted off the pedal, the upper cymbal rises, due to the pedal's spring-loaded mechanism. The hi-hats can be sounded by striking the cymbals with one or two sticks or just by closing and opening the cymbals with the foot pedal. The ability to create rhythms on the hi-hats with the foot alone expands the drummer's ability to create sounds, as the hands are freed up to play on the drums or other cymbals. Different sounds can be created by striking "open hi-hats" (without the pedal depressed, which creates a noisy sound nicknamed "sloppy hats") or a crisp "closed hi-hats" sound (with the pedal pressed down). High hats can also be struck with the pedal partially depressed.

A unique effect can be created by striking an open hi-hat (where the two cymbals are apart) and then closing the cymbals with the foot pedal. This effect is widely used in disco and funk. The hi-hat has a similar function to the ride cymbal; the two are rarely played consistently for long periods at the same time, but one or the other is often used to keep what is known as the "ride rhythm" (e.g., eighth or sixteenth notes) in a song. The hi-hats are played by the right stick of a right-handed drummer. Changing between ride and hi-hat, or between either and a "leaner" sound with neither, is often used to mark a change from one song section to another.

Crashes
Crash cymbals are usually the strongest accent markers within the kit, marking crescendos and climaxes, vocal entries, and major changes of mood, swells, and effects. A crash cymbal is often accompanied by a strong kick on the bass drum pedal, both for musical effect and to support the stroke. It provides a fuller sound and is a commonly taught technique.

In jazz, using the smallest kits and at very high volumes, ride cymbals may be played with the technique and sound of a crash cymbal. Some hi-hats will also give a useful crash, particularly thinner hats or those with a severe taper. Alternatively, specialized crash/ride and ride/crash cymbals are designed to combine both functions.

Effects cymbals
All cymbals, other than rides, hi-hats, and crashes/splashes, are usually called effects cymbals when used in a drum kit, though this is a non-classical or colloquial designation that has become standardized. Most extended kits include one or more splash cymbals and at least one china cymbal. Major cymbal makers produce cymbal extension packs consisting of one splash and one china, or more rarely a second crash, a splash, and a china, to match some of their starter packs of ride, crash, and hi-hats. However, any combination of options can be found in the marketplace.

Some cymbals may be considered effects in some kits but "basic" in another set of components. Likewise, Ozone crashes have the same purpose as a standard crash cymbal, but are considered to be effects cymbals due to their rarity, and the holes cut into them, which provide a darker, more resonant attack.

Accent cymbals
Cymbals, of any type, used to provide an accent, rather than a regular pattern or groove, are known as accent cymbals. While any cymbal can be used to provide an accent, the term is more narrowly applied to cymbals for which the main purpose is to provide an accent. Accent cymbals include chime cymbals, small-bell domed cymbals, and those cymbals with a clear sonorous/oriental chime to them, such as specialized crash, splash, and china cymbals.

Low-volume cymbals
Low-volume cymbals are a specialty type of cymbal, made to produce about 80% less volume than a typical cymbal. The entire surface of the cymbal is perforated by holes. Drummers use low-volume cymbals to play in small venues or as a way to practice without disturbing others.

Other acoustic instruments

Other instruments that have regularly been incorporated into drum kits include:
 * Wood block and cowbell, especially in classic rock and other genres.
 * Tambourine, particularly mounted on the hi-hat stand above the cymbals; an ordinary tambourine can be used, or a tambourine produced specially for drum kit use.
 * Timbales can be used to extend the range of tom-toms, particularly when the drummer owns them for other musical settings; a traditional timbale is tuned far higher than a tom of the same diameter, so the result is not always the most ideal.
 * Keyboard percussion instruments, such as tubular bells or a glockenspiel.
 * Gongs.
 * Triangles.
 * Found objects, including spanners, brake drums, buckets, cardboard boxes, washboards, oil barrels, and jam and kerosene tins (anything ordinary that can be struck to produce sounds, patterns, and grooves).

See also Extended kits below.

Electronic drums

Electronic drums are used for many reasons. Some drummers use electronic drums for playing in small venues, such as coffeehouses or church services, where a very low volume for the band is desired. Since fully electronic drums do not create any acoustic sound (apart from the quiet sound of the stick hitting the sensor pads), all of the drum sounds come from a keyboard amplifier or PA system; as such, the volume of electronic drums can be much lower than an acoustic kit. Some use electronic drums as practice instruments because they can be listened to with headphones, which enable a drummer to practice without disturbing others. Others use electronic drums to take advantage of the huge range of sounds that modern drum modules can produce, which range from sampled sounds of real drums, cymbals, and percussion instruments such as gongs or tubular bells that would be impractical to take to a small gig, to electronic and synthesized sounds, including non-instrument sounds such as ocean waves.

A fully electronic kit is easier to soundcheck than acoustic drums, assuming that the electronic drum module has levels that the drummer has preset in their practice room; in contrast, when an acoustic kit is sound checked, most drums and cymbals need to be mic'd and each mic needs to be tested by the drummer so its level and tone equalization can be adjusted by the sound engineer. Also, even after all the individual drum and cymbal mics are sound checked, the engineer needs to listen to the drummer play a standard groove, to check that the balance between the kit instruments is right. Finally, the engineer needs to set up the monitor mix for the drummer, which the drummer uses to hear their instruments and the instruments and vocals of the rest of the band. With a fully electronic kit, many of these steps can be eliminated.

Drummers' usage of electronic drum equipment can range from adding a single electronic pad to an entire drum kit (e.g., to have access to an instrument that might otherwise be impractical, such as a large gong), to using a mix of acoustic drums/cymbals and electronic pads, to using an acoustic kit in which the drums and cymbals have triggers, which can be used to sound electronic drums and other sounds, to having an exclusively electronic kit, which is often set up with the rubber or mesh drum pads and rubber "cymbals" in the usual drum kit locations. A fully electronic kit weighs much less and takes up less space to transport than an acoustic kit and it can be set up more quickly. One of the disadvantages of a fully electronic kit is that it may not have the same "feel" as an acoustic kit, and the drum sounds, even if they are high-quality samples, may not sound the same as acoustic drums.

Electronic drum pads are the second most widely used type of MIDI performance controllers, after electronic keyboards. Drum controllers may be built into drum machines, they may be standalone control surfaces (e.g., rubber drum pads), or they may emulate the look and feel of acoustic percussion instruments. The pads built into drum machines are typically too small and fragile to be played with sticks, so they are usually played with fingers. Dedicated drum pads such as the Roland Octapad or the DrumKAT are playable with hands or sticks and are often built to resemble the general form of acoustic drums. There are also percussion controllers such as the vibraphone-style MalletKAT, and Don Buchla's Marimba Lumina.

MIDI triggers can also be installed into acoustic drum and percussion instruments. Pads that trigger a MIDI device can be homemade from a piezoelectric sensor and a practice pad or other piece of foam rubber, which is possible in two ways:

 * Triggers are sensors that can be attached to acoustic drum kit components. In this way, an electronic drum sound will be produced when the instrument is played/struck, as well as the original acoustic sound, if so desired.
 * Trigger pads can be mounted alongside other kit components. These pads make no significant acoustic sound themselves (if not modified to do otherwise), but are used purely to trigger the electronic sounds from the "drum brain". They are played with the same drum sticks as are used on other drum kit components.

In either case, an electronic control unit (sound module/"brain") with suitable sampled/modeled or synthesized drum sounds, amplification equipment (a PA system, keyboard amp, etc.), and stage monitor speakers are required to hear the electronically produced sounds. See Triggered drum kit.

A trigger pad could contain up to four independent sensors, each of them capable of sending information describing the timing and dynamic intensity of a stroke to the drum module/brain. A circular drum pad may have only one sensor for triggering, but a 2016-era cymbal-shaped rubber pad/cymbal will often contain two; one for the body and one for the bell at the center of the cymbal, and perhaps a cymbal choke trigger, to allow drummers to produce this effect.

Trigger sensors are most commonly used to replace the acoustic drum sounds, but they can also be used effectively with an acoustic kit to augment or supplement an instrument's sound for the needs of the session or show. For example, in a live performance in a difficult acoustical space, a trigger may be placed on each drum or cymbal and used to trigger a similar sound on a drum module. These sounds are then amplified through a PA system so the audience can hear them, and they can be amplified to any level without the risks of audio feedback or bleed problems associated with microphones and PAs in certain settings.

The sound of electronic drums and cymbals themselves is heard by the drummer and possibly other musicians in close proximity, but, even so, the foldback (audio monitor) system is usually fed from the electronic sounds rather than the live acoustic sounds. The drums can be heavily dampened (made to resonate less or have the sound subdued), and their tuning and quality is less critical in the latter scenario. In this way, much of the atmosphere of the live performance is retained in a large venue, but without some of the problems associated with purely microphone-amplified drums. Triggers and sensors can also be used in conjunction with conventional or built-in microphones. If some components of a kit prove more difficult to mic than others (e.g., an excessively "boomy" low tom), triggers may be used on only the more difficult instruments, balancing out a drummer's/band's sound in the mix.

Trigger pads and drums, on the other hand, when deployed in a conventional set-up, are most commonly used to produce sounds not possible with an acoustic kit, or at least not with what is available. Any sound that can be sampled/recorded can be played when the pad is struck, by assigning the recorded sounds to specific triggers. Recordings or samples of barking dogs, sirens, breaking glass, and stereo recordings of aircraft taking off and landing have all been used. Along with the more obvious electronically generated drums, there are other sounds that (depending on the device used) can also be played/triggered by electronic drums.

Virtual drums
Virtual drums are a type of audio software that simulates the sound of a drum kit using synthesized drum kit sounds or digital samples of acoustic drum sounds. Different drum software products offer a recording function, the ability to select from several acoustically distinctive drum kits (e.g., jazz, rock, metal), as well as the option to incorporate different songs into the session. Some computer software can turn any hard surface into a virtual drum kit using only one microphone.

Hardware
Hardware is the name given to the metal stands that support the drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments. Generally, the term also includes the hi-hat pedal and clutch, and bass drum pedal or pedals, and the drum stool.

Hardware is carried along with sticks and other accessories in the traps case, and includes:
 * Cymbal stands
 * Hi-hat stand
 * Floor tom legs
 * Tom-tom drum brackets or arms
 * Snare drum stand
 * Bass drum pedal or pedals
 * Drum key
 * Assorted accessories such as spare washers, cymbal sleeves, wire snare cords, washers for tension rods, etc.

Many or even all of the stands may be replaced by a drum rack, which is particularly useful for large drum kits.

Drummers often set up their own drum hardware onstage and adjust it to their comfort level. Major bands on tour will often have a drum tech who knows how to set up the drummer's hardware and instruments in the desired location and with the desired configuration.

Common configurations

Drum kits are traditionally categorized by the number of drums, ignoring cymbals and other instruments. Snare, tom-tom, and bass drums are always counted; other drums, such as octobans, may or may not be counted.

Traditionally, in America and the United Kingdom, drum sizes are expressed as depth x diameter, both measured in inches. Many drum kit manufacturers have recently been expressing sizes as diameter x depth, still in inches. For example, a hanging tom 12 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep would be described by Tama as 8 inches × 12 inches, but by Pearl as 12 inches × 8 inches, and a standard diameter Ludwig snare drum 5 inches deep is a 5-inch × 14-inch instrument, while the UK's Premier Manufacturer offers the same dimensions as a 14-inch × 5-inch snare. The sizes of drums and cymbals given below are typical. Many instruments differ slightly or radically from them. Where no size is given, it is because there is too much variety to give a typical size.

Three-piece
A three-piece drum set is the most basic set. A conventional three-piece kit consists of a bass drum, a 14"-diameter snare drum, 12"–14" hi-hats, a single 12"-diameter hanging tom, 8"–9" in depth, and a suspended 14"–18" cymbal, the latter two mounted on the bass drum. These kits were common in the 1950s and 1960s and are still used. It is a common configuration of kits sold through mail order, and, with smaller sized drums and cymbals, of kits for children.

Four-piece

A four-piece kit extends the three-piece by adding one tom, either a second hanging tom mounted on the bass drum (a notable user is Chris Frantz of Talking Heads) and often displacing the cymbal, or by adding a floor tom. Normally another cymbal is added as well, so there are separate ride and crash cymbals, either on two stands, or the ride cymbal mounted on the bass drum to the player's right and the crash cymbal on a separate stand. The standard cymbal sizes are 16" for the crash, and 18"–20", ride, with the 20" ride cymbal the most common.

Four piece with floor tom
When a floor tom is added to make a four-piece kit, the floor tom is usually 14" for jazz, and 16" otherwise. This configuration is common in jazz and rock. Notable users include Ringo Starr of The Beatles, Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, John Barbata of the Turtles, and various jazz drummers throughout the 20th century, including Art Blakey, Buddy Rich, and Jo Jones. For jazz, which normally emphasizes the use of a ride cymbal for swing patterns, the lack of second hanging tom in a four-piece kit allows the cymbal to be positioned closer to the drummer, making it easier to play.

If a second hanging tom is used, it is 10" diameter and 8" deep for fusion, or 13" diameter and one inch deeper than for the 12" diameter tom. Otherwise, a 14" diameter hanging tom is added to the 12", both being 8" deep. In any case, both toms are most often mounted on the bass drum with the smaller of the two next to the hi-hats (which are to the left for a right-handed drummer). These kits are particularly useful for smaller venues, where space is limited, such as coffeehouses, cafés, hotel lounges, and small pubs.

Five-piece

The five-piece kit is the full-size kit and is the most common configuration used across various genres and styles. It adds a third tom to the four-piece kit, making for three toms in all. A fusion kit will normally add a 14" tom, either a floor tom or a hanging tom on a stand to the right of the bass drum; in either case, making the tom lineup 10", 12" and 14". Having three toms enables drummers to have high-, middle-, and low-pitched toms, which gives them more options for fills and solos.

Other kits will normally have 12" and 13" hanging toms and either a 14" hanging tom on a stand, a 14" floor tom, or a 16" floor tom. It is common to have 10" and 12" hanging toms, with a 16" floor tom. This configuration is often called a hybrid setup. The bass drum is most commonly 22" in diameter, but rock kits may use 24", fusion 20", jazz 18", and, in larger bands, up to 26". A second crash cymbal is common, typically an inch or two larger or smaller than the 16" one, with the larger of the two to the right for a right-handed drummer. A big band drummer may use crashes up to 20" and a ride up to 24" or, very rarely, 26". A rock kit may also substitute a larger ride cymbal or larger hi-hats, typically 22" for the ride and 15" for the hats.

Most five-piece kits, except for entry-level, also have one or more effects cymbals. Adding cymbals beyond the basic ride, hi-hats, and one-crash configuration requires more stands, in addition to the standard drum hardware packs. Because of this, many higher-cost kits for professionals are sold with little or no hardware, to allow the drummer to choose the stands and bass drum pedal they prefer. At the other extreme, many inexpensive, entry-level kits are sold as a five-piece kit complete with two cymbal stands, most often one straight and one boom, and some even with a standard cymbal pack, a stool, and a pair of 5A drum sticks. In the 2010s, digital kits were often offered in a five-piece kit, usually with one plastic crash cymbal trigger and one ride cymbal trigger. Fully electronic drums do not produce any acoustic sound beyond the quiet tapping of sticks on the plastic or rubber heads. Their trigger-pads are wired up to a synth module or sampler.

Small kits

If the toms are omitted completely, or the bass drum is replaced by a pedal-operated beater on the bottom skin of a floor tom and the hanging toms omitted, the result is a two-piece cocktail drum kit, originally developed for cocktail lounge acts. Such kits are particularly favored in musical genres such as trad jazz, bebop, rockabilly, and jump blues. Some rockabilly kits and beginner kits for very young players omit the hi-hat stand. In rockabilly, this allows the drummer to play standing rather than seated. A very simple jazz kit for informal or amateur jam sessions consists of a bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat, often with only a single cymbal (normally a ride, with or without sizzlers).

Although these kits may be small with respect to the number of drums used, the drums themselves are most often of normal size, or even larger in the case of the bass drum. Kits using smaller drums, in both smaller and larger configurations, are for particular uses, such as boutique kits designed to reduce the visual impact of a large kit, kits that need to fit into small spaces in coffeehouses, traveling kits to reduce luggage volume, and junior kits for very young players. Smaller drums also tend to be quieter, again suiting smaller venues, and many of these kits extend this with extra muffling, which allows for quiet or even silent practice.

Extended kits

Common extensions beyond the standard configurations include:
 * Effects cymbals, particularly splash cymbals and china cymbals
 * Double bass drums or a double bass pedal are standard for some genres, particularly heavy metal music
 * Extra hanging or rack toms
 * Extra crash cymbals
 * A crash/ride cymbal, in addition to the main ride cymbal
 * A second floor tom, either larger or smaller than the first
 * One or more octobans, or a pair of timbales
 * A second pair of hi-hats mounted as cable hats or x-hats
 * Cymbal stacks
 * Different types of gongs
 * Multiple ride cymbals; a sizzle cymbal, thinner and larger than the main ride, was once common as a second ride or crash/ride, even in a four-piece kit, but is now less so (jazz drummers, however, may still have two or more ride cymbals, even as part of a small kit).
 * An additional electronic sound module or sequencer

See also other acoustic instruments above. Another versatile extension becoming increasingly common is the use of some electronic drums in a mainly acoustic kit.

Less common extensions found particularly, but not exclusively, in very large kits, include:
 * Multiple snare drums, usually in the form of side snares. A side snare is usually positioned to the left of the drummer (opposite the floor toms and to the left of the hi hat). Side snares are used, similarly to effects cymbals, when an additional and different sound is required. Generally only one side snare is used in a kit, if any at all.
 * Multiple bass drums beyond the double bass drum setup
 * Gong drums (single-headed bass drums, played with sticks or mallets)
 * Sets of gongs, tuned or untuned
 * Sound effects such as a thunder sheet
 * One or more crotales
 * Instruments "borrowed" from orchestral percussion, such as timpani
 * Instruments "borrowed" from marching band percussion, such as the tuned bass drums used in the drumline

Sticks

Sticks are traditionally made from wood (particularly maple, hickory, and oak), but more recently, metal, carbon fiber, and other materials have been used for sticks. The prototypical wooden drum stick was primarily designed for use with the snare drum, and optimized for playing snare rudiments. Sticks come in a variety of weights and tip designs; 7N is a common jazz stick with a nylon tip, while a 5B is a common wood tipped stick, heavier than a 7N but with a similar profile, and a common standard for beginners. Numbers range from 1 (heaviest) to 10 (lightest).

The meanings of both numbers and letters vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and some sticks are not described using this system at all, just being known as Smooth Jazz (typically a 7N or 9N) or Speed Rock (typically a 2B or 3B) for example. Many famous drummers endorse sticks made to their particular preference and sold under their signature.

Besides drumsticks, drummers will also use brushes and Rutes in jazz and similar soft music. More rarely, other beaters such as cartwheel mallets (known to kit drummers as "soft sticks") may be used. It is not uncommon for rock drummers to use the "wrong" (butt) end of a stick for a heavier sound; some makers produce tipless sticks with two butt ends.

A stick bag is the standard way for a drummer to bring drumsticks to a live performance. For easy access, the stick bag is commonly mounted on the side of the floor tom, just within reach of the drummer's right hand, for a right-handed drummer.

Muffles

Drum muffles are types of mutes that can reduce the ring, boomy overtone frequencies, or overall volume on a snare, bass, or tom. Controlling the ring is useful in studio or live settings when unwanted frequencies can clash with other instruments in the mix. There are internal and external muffling devices which rest on the inside or outside of the drumhead, respectively. Common types of mufflers include muffling rings, gels and duct tape, and improvised methods, such as placing a wallet near the edge of the head. Some drummers muffle the sound of a drum by putting a cloth over the drumhead.

Snare drum and tom-tom Typical ways to muffle a snare or tom include placing an object on the outer edge of the drumhead. A piece of cloth, a wallet, gel, or fitted rings made of mylar are common objects. Also used are external clip-on muffles. Internal mufflers that lie on the inside of the drumhead are often built into a drum, but are generally considered less effective than external muffles, as they stifle the initial tone, rather than simply reducing its sustain.

Bass drum Muffling the bass can be achieved with the same muffling techniques as for the snare, but bass drums in a drum kit are more commonly muffled by adding pillows, a sleeping bag, or other soft filling inside the drum, between the heads. Cutting a small hole in the resonant head can also produce a more muffled tone, and allows the manipulation of internally placed muffling. The Evans EQ pad places a pad against the batterhead and, when struck, the pad moves off the head momentarily, then returns to rest against the head, thus reducing the sustain without choking the tone.

Silencers/mutes Another type of drum muffler is a piece of rubber that fits over the entire drumhead or cymbal. It interrupts contact between the stick and the head, which dampens the sound. They are typically used in practice settings.

Cymbals are usually muted with the fingers or hand, to reduce the length or volume of ringing (e.g., the cymbal choke technique which is a key part of heavy metal drumming). Cymbals can also be muted with special rubber rings or duct tape.

Historical uses Muffled drums are often associated with funeral ceremonies as well, such as the funerals of Queen Victoria and John F. Kennedy. The use of muffled drums has been written about by such poets as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Mayne, and Theodore O'Hara. Drums have also been used for therapy and learning purposes, such as when an experienced player will sit with a number of students and by the end of the session have all of them relaxed and playing complex rhythms.

Stick holder
There are various types of stick holder accessories, including bags that can be attached to a drum and angled sheath-style stick holders, which can hold a single pair of sticks.

Sizzlers

A sizzler is a metal chain, or combination of chains, that is hung across a cymbal, creating a distinctive metallic sound when the cymbal is struck, similar to that of a sizzle cymbal. Using a sizzler is the non-destructive alternative to drilling holes in a cymbal and putting metal rivets in the holes. Another benefit of using a "sizzler" chain is that the chain is removable, with the cymbal being easily returned to its normal sound.

Some sizzlers feature pivoting arms that allow the chains to be quickly lowered onto, or raised from, the cymbal, allowing the effect to be used for some songs and removed for others.

Cases

Three types of protective covers are common for kit drums:
 * Drum bags are made from robust cloth such as cordura or from cloth-backed vinyl. They give minimal protection from bumps and impacts, but they do protect drums and cymbals from precipitation. They are adequate for drums transported in private vehicles to local gigs and sessions. They are often the only option for young drummers who are just starting out.
 * Mid-price hard cases are of similar construction to suitcases, commonly made of fiber composite. The offer more protection from bumps than cloth bags.
 * Flight cases or road cases are standard for professional touring drummers.

As with all musical instruments, the best protection is provided by a combination of a hard-shelled case with interior padding, such as foam, next to the drums and cymbals.

Microphones

Microphones ("mics") are used with drum kits to pick up the sound of the drums and cymbals for a sound recording and/or to pick up the sound of the drum kit so that it can be amplified through a PA system or sound reinforcement system. While most drummers use microphones and amplification in live shows, so that the sound engineer can adjust the levels of the drums and cymbals, some bands that play quieter genres of music and in small venues, such as coffeehouses, play acoustically, without mics or PA amplification. Small jazz groups, such as jazz quartets or organ trios that are playing in a small bar, will often just use acoustic drums. Of course, if the same small jazz groups play on the mainstage of a big jazz festival, the drums will be miced so that they can be adjusted in the sound system mix. A middle-ground approach is used by some bands that play in small venues: they do not mic every drum and cymbal, but only the instruments that the sound engineer wants to be able to control in the mix, such as the bass drum and the snare.

In miking a drum kit, dynamic microphones, which can handle high sound-pressure levels, are usually used to close-mic drums, which is predominantly the way to mic drums for live shows. Condenser microphones are used for overheads and room mics, an approach which is more common with sound recording applications. Close miking of drums may be done using stands or by mounting the microphones on the rims of the drums, or even using microphones built into the drum itself, which eliminates the need for stands for such microphones, reducing both clutter and set-up time, as well as better isolating them.

For some styles of music, drummers use electronic effects on drums, such as individual noise gates that mute the attached microphone when the signal is below a threshold volume. This allows the sound engineer to use a higher overall volume for the drum kit by reducing the number of "active" mics which could produce unwanted feedback at any one time. When a drum kit is entirely miked and amplified through the sound reinforcement system, the drummer or the sound engineer can add other electronic effects to the drum sound, such as reverb or digital delay.

Some drummers arrive at the venue with their drum kit and use the mics and mic stands provided by the venue's sound engineer. Other drummers bring all their own mics, or selected mics (e.g., good-quality snare and bass drum mics), to ensure that they have good quality mics on hand. In bars and nightclubs, the microphones supplied by the venue can sometimes be in substandard condition, due to the heavy use they experience.

Monitors
Drummers using electronic drums, drum machines, or hybrid acoustic-electric kits (which blend traditional acoustic drums and cymbals with electronic pads) typically use a monitor speaker, keyboard amplifier, or even a small PA system to hear the electronic drum sounds. Even a drummer playing entirely acoustic drums may use a monitor speaker to hear the drums, especially if playing in a loud rock or metal band, where there is substantial onstage volume from large, powerful guitar stacks. Drummers are often given a large speaker cabinet with a 15" subwoofer to help them monitor their bass drum sound (along with a full-range monitor speaker to hear the rest of their kit). Some sound engineers and drummers prefer to use an electronic vibration system, colloquially known as a "butt shaker" or "throne thumper" to monitor the bass drum, because this lowers the stage volume. With a "butt shaker", the "thump" of each bass drum strike causes a vibration in the drum stool; this way the drummer feels their beat on the posterior, rather than hears it.

In-Ear Monitors are also popular among drummers since they also work as earplugs.

Bass drum gear
A number of accessories are designed for the bass drum. The bass drum can take advantage of the bass reflex speaker design, in which a tuned port (a hole and a carefully measured tube) are put in a speaker enclosure to improve the bass response at the lowest frequencies. Bass drumhead patches protect the drumhead from the impact of the felt beater. Bass drum pillows are fabric bags with filling or stuffing that can be used to alter the tone or resonance of the bass drum. A less expensive alternative to using a specialized bass drum pillow is to use an old sleeping bag.

Gloves
Some drummers wear special drummer's gloves to improve their grip on the sticks when they play. Drumming gloves often have a textured grip surface made of a synthetic or rubber material and mesh or vents on the parts of the glove not used to hold sticks, to ventilate perspiration. Some drummers wear gloves to prevent blisters.

Drum screen
In some styles or settings—such as country music clubs or churches, small venues, or when a live recording is being made—the drummer may use a transparent Perspex or Plexiglas drum screen (also known as a drum shield) to dampen the onstage volume of the drums. A screen that completely surrounds the drum kit is known as a drum booth. In live sound applications, drum shields are used so that the audio engineer can have more control over the volume of drums that the audience hears through the PA system mix, or to reduce the overall volume of the drums, as a way to reduce the overall volume of the band. In some recording studios, foam and fabric baffles are used in addition to, or in place of, clear panels. The drawback with foam/cloth baffle panels is that the drummer cannot see well other performers, the record producer, or the audio engineer.

Carpets
Drummers often bring a carpet, mats, or rugs to venues to prevent the bass drum and hi-hat stand from "crawling" (moving away) on a slippery surface, which can be caused by the drum head striking the bass drum. The carpet also reduces short reverberations (which is generally but not always an advantage), and helps to prevent damage to the flooring or floor coverings. In shows where multiple drummers will bring their kits onstage over the night, it is common for drummers to mark the location of their stands and pedals with tape, to allow for quicker positioning of a kit to a drummer's accustomed position. Bass drums and hi-hat stands commonly have retractable spikes, to help them grip surfaces such as carpet, or rubber feet, to remain stationary on hard surfaces.

Practice equipment
Drummers use a variety of accessories when practicing. Metronomes and beat counters are used to develop a sense of a steady beat. Drum muffling pads may be used to lessen the volume of drums during practicing. A practice pad, held on the lap, on a leg, or mounted on a stand, is used for near-silent practice with drumsticks. A set of practice pads mounted to simulate an entire drum kit is known as a practice kit. In the 2010s, these have largely been superseded by electronic drums, which can be listened to with headphones for quiet practice and by kits with non-sounding mesh heads.

Tuning equipment

Drummers use a drum key for tuning their drums and adjusting some drum hardware. Besides the basic type of drum key (a T-handled wrench) there are various tuning wrenches and tools. Basic drum keys are divided into three types which allows for tuning of three types of tuning screws on drums: square (most used), slotted, and hexagonal. Ratchet-type wrenches allow high-tension drums to be tuned easily. Spin keys (utilizing a ball joint) allow for rapid head changing. Torque-wrench keys are available, graphically revealing the torque given to each lug. Also, tension gauges, or meters, which are set on the head, aid drummers to achieve a consistent tuning. Drummers can tune drums "by ear" or use a digital drum tuner, which "measures tympanic pressure" on the drumhead to provide accurate tuning.

Notation and improvisation
Drum kit music is either written in music notation (called "drum parts"), learned and played by ear, improvised, or some combination of any of all three of these methods. Professional session musician drummers and big-band drummers are often required to read drum parts. Drum parts are most commonly written on a standard five-line staff. As of 2016, a special percussion clef is used, while previously the bass clef was used. However, even if the bass, or no, clef is used, each line and space is assigned an instrument in the kit, rather than a pitch. In jazz, traditional music, folk music, rock music, and pop music, drummers are expected to be able to learn songs by ear (from a recording or from another musician who is playing or singing the song) and improvise. The degree of improvisation differs among different styles. Jazz and jazz fusion drummers may have lengthy improvised solos in every song. In rock music and blues, there are also drum solos in some songs, although they tend to be shorter than those in jazz. Drummers in all popular music and traditional music styles are expected to be able to improvise accompaniment parts to songs, once they are told the genre or style (e.g., shuffle, ballad, blues).

Recording
On early recording media (until 1925), such as wax cylinders and discs carved with an engraving needle, sound balancing meant that musicians had to be moved back in the room. Drums were often put far from the horn (part of the mechanical transducer) to reduce sound distortion.

In the 2020s, drum parts in many popular music styles are often recorded apart from the other instruments and singers, using multitrack recording techniques. Once the drums are recorded, the other instruments (rhythm guitar, piano, etc.), and then vocals, are added. To ensure that the drum tempo is consistent at this type of recording, the drummer usually plays along with a click track (a type of digital metronome) in headphones. The ability to play accurately along with a click track has become an important skill for professional drummers.

Drum manufacturers
Manufacturers using the American traditional format in their catalogs include these: Those using the European measures of diameter and depth include these:
 * ddrum
 * Camco
 * Drum Workshop
 * Gretsch Drums
 * Ludwig-Musser
 * Slingerland Drum Company
 * Tama Drums
 * Brady Drum Company
 * Mapex Drums
 * Meinl Percussion
 * Pearl Drums
 * Premier Percussion
 * Rogers Drums
 * Sonor
 * Yamaha Drums

People

 * Drummer
 * List of drummers

Styles and techniques

 * Drum beat
 * Jazz drumming

title: Drum kit


text:
Dying Earth

Dying Earth is a speculative fiction series by the American author Jack Vance, comprising four books originally published from 1950 to 1984. Some have been called picaresque. They vary from short story collections to a fix-up (novel created from older short stories), perhaps all the way to novel.

The first book in the series, The Dying Earth, was ranked number 16 of 33 "All Time Best Fantasy Novels" by Locus in 1987, based on a poll of subscribers, although it was marketed as a collection and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) calls it a "loosely connected series of stories".

The Dying Earth series has been described as a "sword and sorcery" series, as the plots of the various stories often revolve around picaresque exploits, swordplay, and magic.

Setting
The stories of the Dying Earth series are set in the distant future, at a point when the sun is almost exhausted and magic has asserted itself as a dominant force. The Moon has disappeared and the Sun is in danger of burning out at any time, often flickering as if about to go out, before shining again. The various civilizations of Earth have collapsed for the most part into decadence or religious fanaticism and its inhabitants overcome with a fatalistic outlook. The Earth is mostly barren and cold, and has become infested with various predatory monsters (possibly created by a magician in a former age).

Magic in the Dying Earth is performed by memorizing syllables, and the human brain can only accommodate a certain number at once. When a spell is used, the syllables vanish from the caster's mind. Creatures called sandestins can be summoned and used to perform more complex actions, but are considered dangerous to rely upon. Magic has loose links to the science of old, and advanced mathematics is treated like arcane lore.

The Dying Earth exists alongside several Overworlds and Underworlds. These help add a sense of profound longing and entrapment to the series. While humans can, with relative ease, physically travel to the horrific Underworlds (as Cugel does on several occasions, to his dismay) the vast majority of the population are only capable of mentally visiting the wondrous Overworlds through rare artifacts (e.g. through the "Eyes of the Overworld") or dangerous magic phenomena (such as the ship Cugel encounters in the deserts). Though they can look at the wonders and pretend they are really there, humans can never truly inhabit or escape to these utopias as their physical bodies remain stuck on the Dying Earth and will die with the sun regardless. These siren-like visions of paradise lead to the deaths, insanity, and suffering of many, especially during Cugel's journeys.

While most remaining civilizations on the Dying Earth are utterly unique in their customs and cultures, there are some common threads. Because the moon is gone and wind is often weak (the sun no longer heats the earth as much) the oceans are largely placid bodies of water with no tide and tiny waves. To cross them, boats are propelled by giant sea-worms. These worms are cared for and controlled by "Wormingers". In addition, the manses of magicians, protected by walls and spells and monsters, are relatively common sights in inhabited lands.

Origins
Vance wrote the stories of the first book while he served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II. In the late 1940s several of his other stories were published in magazines.

Science fiction historian Brian Stableford has noted the influence of Clark Ashton Smith and his "Zothique" stories on the "Dying Earth" series.

According to pulp editor Sam Merwin, Vance's earliest magazine submissions in the 1940s were heavily influenced by the style of James Branch Cabell. Fantasy historian Lin Carter has noted several probable lasting influences of Cabell on Vance's work, and suggests that the early "pseudo-Cabell" experiments bore fruit in The Dying Earth (1950).

Series
The series comprises four books by Vance and some sequels by other authors that may be or may not have been canonical.

 * The Dying Earth — 1950 collection of original, related stories
 * The Eyes of the Overworld — 1966 fix-up
 * Cugel's Saga — 1983 novel
 * Rhialto the Marvellous — 1984 collection of related stories and one canonical essay

One 741-page omnibus edition has been issued as The Compleat Dying Earth (SF Book Club, 1999) and in both the US and UK as Tales of the Dying Earth (2000).

Stories by Vance
All four books were published with Tables of Contents, the first and fourth as collections. The second and third contained mostly material previously published in short story form but were marketed as novels, the second as a fix-up and the third without acknowledging any previous publication.

 * 1) The Dying Earth (the author's preferred title is Mazirian the Magician) was openly a collection of six stories, all original, although written during Vance's war service. ISFDB calls them "slightly connected" and catalogs the last as a novella (17,500 to 40,000 word count).
 * 2) "Turjan of Miir"
 * 3) "Mazirian the Magician"
 * 4) "T'sais"
 * 5) "Liane the Wayfarer" (also known as "The Loom of Darkness")
 * 6) "Ulan Dhor Ends a Dream" (also known as "Ulan Dhor")
 * 7) "Guyal of Sfere" (it mentions a "Lost Book of Kells", but a later publishing changed the name as there is a Book of Kells)
 * 8) The Eyes of the Overworld (the author's preferred title is Cugel the Clever) was a fix-up of six stories, presented as seven. All were novelettes by word count (7500 to 17,500). Five were previously published as noted here.
 * 9) "The Overworld", from F&SF December 1965
 * 10) "Cil" (1966), the original component
 * 11) "The Mountains of Magnatz", from F&SF February 1966
 * 12) "The Sorcerer Pharesm", from F&SF April 1966
 * 13) "The Pilgrims", from F&SF June 1966
 * 14) "The Cave in the Forest", originally the first part of "The Manse of Iucounu"
 * 15) "The Manse of Iucounu", from F&SF July 1966
 * 16) Cugel's Saga (the author's preferred title is Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight) was marketed as a novel. ISFDB calls it "[t]wice as large and less episodic than The Eyes of the Overworld" but qualifies that label. "This is marketed as a novel, but there is a table of contents, and some of the parts were previously published (although none are acknowledged thus)." It catalogs previous publication of three chapters without remark on the degree of revision.
 * 17) "Flutic", the first part of the first chapter, published separately in the Italian anthology Fantasy (March 1996) and rereleased in English in Coup de Grace and Other Stories, a sampler of the Vance Integral Edition
 * 18) "The Inn of Blue Lamps"
 * 19) "Aboard the Galante"
 * 20) "Lausicaa"
 * 21) "The Ocean of Sighs"
 * 22) "The Columns"
 * 23) "Faucelme"
 * 24) "On the Docks"
 * 25) "The Caravan"
 * 26) "The Seventeen Virgins", from F&SF October 1974
 * 27) "The Bagful of Dreams", from Flashing Swords #4, ed. Lin Carter, May 1977
 * 28) "The Four Wizards"
 * 29) "Spatterlight"
 * 30) Rhialto the Marvellous was marketed as a collection, a Foreword and three stories, one previously published. The Foreword is non-narrative canonical fiction presenting the general state of the world in the 21st Aeon (a "short story" loosely).
 * 31) "Foreword", with list of players
 * 32) "The Murthe"
 * 33) "Fader's Waft"
 * 34) "Morreion", from Flashing Swords! #1, ed. Lin Carter, April 1973

Sequels
Some sequels have been written by other authors, either with Vance's authorization or as tributes to his work.

Michael Shea's first publication, the novel A Quest for Simbilis (DAW Books, 1974, ), was an authorized sequel to Eyes. However, "When Vance returned to the milieu, his Cugel's Saga continued the events of The Eyes of the Overworld in a different direction."

The tribute anthology Songs of the Dying Earth (2009) contains short fiction set in the world of the Dying Earth by numerous writers alongside tributes to Vance's work and influence.

In 2010 Shea wrote another authorized story belonging to the Dying Earth series and featuring Cugel as one of characters: "Hew the Tintmaster", published in the anthology Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery, ed. Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders (Eos, 2010, pp. 323–362).

Translations
WorldCat contributing libraries report holding all four books in French, Spanish, and (in omnibus edition) Hebrew translations; and report holding The Dying Earth in five other languages: Finnish, German, Japanese, Polish, and Russian.

The whole first volume (of six stories) has been translated also into Esperanto together with two Cugel stories and made available on-line as e-books by a long-time fan and Vance Integral Edition co-worker. Permission to translate and distribute (only into Esperanto) was obtained informally direct from the author and, since his death in 2013, continues with ongoing permission from the author's estate. To date these are three: Mazirian the Magician, The Sorcerer Pharesm, and The Bagful of Dreams available for free download as EPub, Mobi and PDF.

The entire series has seen several Italian translations, and in Italy Vance remains one of the US scifi authors most often translated and published

Legacy
The Dying Earth subgenre of science fiction is named in recognition of Vance's role in standardizing a setting, the entropically dying earth and sun. Its importance was recognized with the publication of Songs of the Dying Earth, a tribute anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Subterranean, 2009). Each short story in the anthology is set on the Dying Earth, and concludes with a short acknowledgement by the author of Vance's influence on them.

Print
Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun (1980–83) is set in a slightly similar world, and was written under Vance's influence. Wolfe suggested in The Castle of the Otter, a collection of essays, that he inserted the book The Dying Earth into his fictional world under the title The Book of Gold (specifically, Wolfe wrote that the "Book of Gold" mentioned in The Book of the New Sun is different for each reader, but for him it was "The Dying Earth"). Wolfe has extended the series.

Michael Shea's novel Nifft the Lean (1982), his second book eight years after A Quest for Simbilis, also owes much debt to Vance's creation, since the protagonist of the story is a petty thief (not unlike Cugel the Clever), who travels and struggles in an exotic world. Shea returned to Nifft with 1997 and 2000 sequels.

The Archonate stories by Matthew Hughes — the 1994 novel Fools Errant and numerous works in this millennium — take place in "the penultimate age of Old Earth," a period of science and technology that is on the verge of transforming into the magical era of the time of the Dying Earth. Booklist has called him Vance's "heir apparent." (Review by Carl Hays of The Gist Hunter and Other Stories, Booklist, August 2005)

Role-playing
The original creators of the Dungeons & Dragons games were fans of Jack Vance and incorporated many aspects of the Dying Earth series into the game. The magic system, in which a wizard is limited in the number of spells that can be simultaneously remembered and forgets them once they are cast, was based on the magic of Dying Earth. In role-playing game circles, this sort of magic system is called "Vancian" or "Vancean". Some of the spells from Dungeons & Dragons are based on spells mentioned in the Dying Earth series, such as the prismatic spray. Magic items from the Dying Earth stories such as ioun stones also made their way into Dungeons & Dragons. One of the deities of magic in Dungeons & Dragons is named Vecna, an anagram of "Vance".

The Talislanta role-playing game designed by Stephan Michael Sechi and originally published in 1987 by Bard Games was inspired by the works of Jack Vance so much so that the first release, The Chronicles of Talislanta, is dedicated to the author.

There is an official Dying Earth role-playing game published by Pelgrane Press with an occasional magazine The Excellent Prismatic Spray (named after a magic spell). The game situates players in Vance's world populated by desperately extravagant people. Many other role-playing settings pay homage to the series by including fantasy elements he invented such as the darkness-dwelling Grues.

Monte Cook identifies The Dying Earth as an inspiration for his game Numenera.

Goodman Games have announced the publication of the setting using their Dungeon Crawl Classics roleplaying game system, running a successful Kickstarter campaign for it. The game was released in 2023.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Dying Earth


text:
Dispute resolution

Dispute resolution or dispute settlement is the process of resolving disputes between parties. The term dispute resolution is conflict resolution through legal means.

Prominent venues for dispute settlement in international law include the International Court of Justice (formerly the Permanent Court of International Justice); the United Nations Human Rights Committee (which operates under the ICCPR) and European Court of Human Rights; the Panels and Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization; and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Half of all international agreements include a dispute settlement mechanism.

States are also known to establish their own arbitration tribunals to settle disputes. Prominent private international courts, which adjudicate disputes between commercial private entities, include the International Court of Arbitration (of the International Chamber of Commerce) and the London Court of International Arbitration.

Methods
Methods of dispute resolution include:
 * lawsuits (litigation) (legislative)
 * arbitration
 * collaborative law
 * mediation
 * conciliation
 * negotiation
 * facilitation
 * avoidance

One could theoretically include violence or even war as part of this spectrum, but dispute resolution practitioners do not usually do so; violence rarely ends disputes effectively, and indeed, often only escalates them. Also, violence rarely causes the parties involved in the dispute to no longer disagree on the issue that caused the violence. For example, a country successfully winning a war to annex part of another country's territory does not cause the former waring nations to no longer seriously disagree to whom the territory rightly belongs to and tensions may still remain high between the two nations.

Dispute resolution processes fall into two major types:
 * 1) Adjudicative processes, such as litigation or arbitration, in which a judge, jury or arbitrator determines the outcome.
 * 2) Consensual processes, such as collaborative law, mediation, conciliation, or negotiation, in which the parties attempt to reach agreement.

Not all disputes, even those in which skilled intervention occurs, end in resolution. Such intractable disputes form a special area in dispute resolution studies.

Dispute resolution is an important requirement in international trade, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation.

Legal dispute resolution
The legal system provides resolutions for many different types of disputes. Some disputants will not reach agreement through a collaborative process. Some disputes need the coercive power of the state to enforce a resolution. Perhaps more importantly, many people want a professional advocate when they become involved in a dispute, particularly if the dispute involves perceived legal rights, legal wrongdoing, or threat of legal action against them.

The most common form of judicial dispute resolution is litigation. Litigation is initiated when one party files suit against another. In the United States, litigation is facilitated by the government within federal, state, and municipal courts. While litigation is often used to resolve disputes, it is strictly speaking a form of conflict adjudication and not a form of conflict resolution per se. This is because litigation only determines the legal rights and obligations of parties involved in a dispute and does not necessarily solve the disagreement between the parties involved in the dispute. For example, supreme court cases can rule on whether US states have the constitutional right to criminalize abortion but will not cause the parties involved in the case to no longer disagree on whether states do indeed have the constitutional authority to restrict access to abortion as one of the parties may disagree with the supreme courts reasoning and still disagree with the party that the supreme court sided with. Litigation proceedings are very formal and are governed by rules, such as rules of evidence and procedure, which are established by the legislature. Outcomes are decided by an impartial judge and/or jury, based on the factual questions of the case and the application law. The verdict of the court is binding, not advisory; however, both parties have the right to appeal the judgment to a higher court. Judicial dispute resolution is typically adversarial in nature, for example, involving antagonistic parties or opposing interests seeking an outcome most favorable to their position.

Due to the antagonistic nature of litigation, collaborators frequently opt for solving disputes privately.

Retired judges or private lawyers often become arbitrators or mediators; however, trained and qualified non-legal dispute resolution specialists form a growing body within the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). In the United States, many states now have mediation or other ADR programs annexed to the courts, to facilitate settlement of lawsuits.

Extrajudicial dispute resolution
Some use the term dispute resolution to refer only to alternative dispute resolution (ADR), that is, extrajudicial processes such as arbitration, collaborative law, and mediation used to resolve conflict and potential conflict between and among individuals, business entities, governmental agencies, and (in the public international law context) states. ADR generally depends on agreement by the parties to use ADR processes, either before or after a dispute has arisen. ADR has experienced steadily increasing acceptance and utilization because of a perception of greater flexibility, costs below those of traditional litigation, and speedy resolution of disputes, among other perceived advantages. However, some have criticized these methods as taking away the right to seek redress of grievances in the courts, suggesting that extrajudicial dispute resolution may not offer the fairest way for parties not in an equal bargaining relationship, for example in a dispute between a consumer and a large corporation. In addition, in some circumstances, arbitration and other ADR processes may become as expensive as litigation or more so.

title: Dispute resolution


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Catan: Cities & Knights

Catan: Cities & Knights (Städte und Ritter), formerly The Cities and Knights of Catan, is an expansion to the board game The Settlers of Catan for three to four players (five to six player play is also possible with the Settlers and Cities & Knights five to six player extensions; two-player play is possible with the Traders & Barbarians expansion). It contains features taken from The Settlers of Catan, with emphasis on city development and the use of knights, which are used as a method of attacking other players as well as helping opponents defend Catan against a common foe. Cities & Knights can also be combined with the Catan: Seafarers expansion or with Catan: Traders & Barbarians scenarios (again, five to six player play only possible with the applicable five to six player extension(s)).

Differences from The Settlers of Catan
Because of the new rules introduced in Cities & Knights, the game is played to 13 victory points, as opposed to 10 as in the base game The Settlers of Catan.

The following cards are not used in Cities & Knights:
 * the Development Cards—which have been replaced by Progress Cards.
 * the Building Cost Cards—the information on these cards is provided by the City Upgrade Calendar.
 * the "Largest Army" Card—having a large army is still an advantage, but does not earn victory points so directly as in the regular version of The Settlers of Catan. Instead of soldier cards, one is now able to purchase the eponymous knights.

Commodities
One of the main additions to the game is commodities, which are a type of secondary resource produced only by cities. Like resources, commodities are associated with a type of terrain, can be stolen by the robber (with Seafarers, also the pirate), count against the resource hand limit, and may not be collected if the robber is on the terrain. Resources may be traded for commodities, and commodities may be traded for resources. Commodities can then be used to build city improvements (provided the player has a city), which provide additional benefits.

The commodities are paper (which comes from forest terrain), coin (from mountain terrain), and cloth (from pasture terrain).

When combining Cities & Knights with Barbarian Attack, the written rules are ambiguous with regards to whether commodities are collected along with normal resources when collecting from a Gold River tile, as well as whether or not commodities can be collected directly from Gold River tiles. However, online rules state that "Gold can only buy you resources, not commodities."

A city on grain or brick gives two of each, as in the original Settlers. A city on wool, ore, or wood, produces one corresponding resource as well as one corresponding commodity (cloth, coin, or paper). Grain and brick, however, are used for new purchasing options: grain activates knights, and brick can be used to build city walls.

In total there are 36 commodity cards: 12 paper (from forest), 12 cloth (from pasture), and 12 coin (from mountains).

City improvements
A player with a city may use commodities to build city improvements, which allow several advantages. There are city improvements in five levels, and in three different categories. Each category of improvements requires a different commodity and higher levels require more cards of that commodity. At the third level, players earn a special ability, depending on the type of improvement.

The first player with an improvement at the fourth level can claim any of their cities as a metropolis, worth four victory points instead of two for that city. Each type of improvement has only one associated metropolis, and no city can be a metropolis of two different types (because of this, a player without a non-metropolis city may not build improvements beyond the third level). If a player is the first to build an improvement to the final level (out-building the current holder of the metropolis), they take the metropolis from its current holder.

Knights
The other significant concept in Cities & Knights is the concept of knights, which replace the concept of soldiers and the largest army. Knights are units that require continuous maintenance through their activation mechanism, but have a wide variety of functions. Knights can be promoted through three ranks, although promotion to the final rank is a special ability granted by the city improvement the Fortress.

Knights are placed on the board in a similar manner to settlements, and can be used to block opposing roads, active or not. However, knights must be activated in order to perform other functions, which immediately deactivate the knight. Knights cannot perform actions on the same turn they are activated, but can be reactivated on the same turn as performing an action. These actions include:
 * Moving along a road (with Seafarers, a line of ships)
 * Displacing opposing knights of a lower rank, forcing the lower ranked knight to retreat
 * Dispelling the robber (with Seafarers, also the pirate) if it is stationed nearby

If a knight is promoted or forced to retreat, its active status does not change.

The standard Cities & Knights game comes with 24 knights, 6 of each color. The 5/6 player extension adds a further 12 knights, 6 each of two new colors.

Barbarian attacks
Cities & Knights introduces a third die, known as the event die, which serves two functions. The first applies to the concept of barbarians, a periodic foe that all players must work together to defend against. Three of the sides of the event die have a picture of a ship on them. The other three sides have a symbol of a city gate, allowing players who have sufficiently built up a city to obtain progress cards (see below).

The barbarians are represented by a ship positioned on a track representing the distance between the ship and Catan (i.e. the board). Each time the event die shows a black ship, the barbarian ship takes one step closer to Catan. When the barbarians arrive at Catan, a special phase is immediately performed before all other actions (including collecting resources). In this special phase, the barbarians' attack strength, corresponding to the combined number of cities and metropolises held by all players, is compared to Catan's defense strength, corresponding to the combined levels (i.e. 1 point for each basic, 2 for each strong, and 3 for each mighty) of all activated knights in play.

If the barbarians are successful in their attack (if they have a strength greater than Catan), then the players must pay the consequence. The player(s) who had the least defense will be attacked, and will have one city reduced to a settlement. If they only have settlements, or metropolises, then they are immune to barbarians and do not count as the player contributing the least defense.

Should Catan prevail, the player who contributes the most to Catan's defense receives a special Defender of Catan card, worth a victory point. Regardless of the outcome, all knights are immediately deactivated, and the barbarian ship returns to its starting point on the track. In the event of a tie among the greatest contributors of knights, none of the tied players earn a Defender of Catan card. Instead, each of the tied players draw a progress card (explained below) of the type of their choosing. There are 6 Defender of Catan cards.

As the likelihood of having the barbarian move closer to Catan is very high, a variant in common usage is that the robber (and with Seafarers, the pirate) does not move until the first barbarian attack, nor can a knight move the robber before that point.

Examples where cities are lost:

 * 1) Player A has 3 cities and 1 active strong knight. Player B has 1 city and 2 active basic knights. Player C has 2 cities and 1 active basic knight. When the barbarians attack, player C will lose one of their cities, because the attack strength (6 cities) is greater than all knights combined (5 knights).
 * 2) Player A has 3 cities and 2 active basic knights. Player B has 1 city, which is a metropolis, and no active knights. Player C has 2 cities and 1 active mighty knight. Player B's city is a metropolis, and metropolises cannot be destroyed by the barbarians, so Player A loses a city because they have the next fewest active knights.
 * 3) Player A has 2 cities and 2 active basic knights. Player B has 3 cities and 1 active strong knight. Player C has 2 cities and 2 active basic knights. All players will lose a city, because they all tie in the number of knights activated, and the barbarian attack strength (7 cities) is greater than number of active knights (6 knights).
 * 4) Player A has 3 cities and 1 active mighty knight and 1 active basic knight. Player B has 2 cities, which both are metropolises, and 1 active basic knight. Player C has 1 city, which is a metropolis, and no active knights. First in line to lose a city is player C, but because their city is a metropolis we need to look at the person next in line. This would be player B, but the same applies for them: they have activated only 1 knight, but both of their cities are metropolises. This leaves player A to lose a city.

Progress cards
The other significant outcome of the event die is Progress cards, which replace development cards. Because of the mechanics of progress cards explained below, one of the two white dice used in Settlers is replaced by a red die.

Progress cards are organized into three categories, corresponding to the three types of improvements. Yellow progress cards aid in commercial development, green progress cards aid in technological advancements, and blue progress cards allow for political moves. When a castle appears on the event die, progress cards of the corresponding type may be drawn depending on the value of the red die. Higher levels of city improvements increase the chance that progress cards will be drawn, with the highest level of city improvement allowing progress cards to be drawn regardless of the value on the red die.

Progress cards, unlike the development cards they replace, can be played on the turn that they are drawn, and more than one progress card can be played per turn. However, they can generally only be played after the dice are rolled. Progress cards granting victory points are an exception, being played immediately (without regards to whose turn it is), while the Alchemist progress card, which allows a player to select the roll of the white and red dice, necessitates the card being played instead of rolling the numerical dice. (The event die is still rolled as normal.)

Players are allowed to keep four progress cards (five in a five to six player game), and any additional ones must be discarded on the spot (unless the 5th card is a victory point, which is played immediately and the original progress cards remain). The only exception to this rule is when the player receives a 5th non-victory point progress card during their turn, in which case the player may choose to play any one of the five progress cards in hand, bringing the progress card count back down to four. While this clarification is not overtly stated in the Cities & Knights rule book, it is enforced in the online version of the game.

In total, there are 54 progress cards: 18 science, 18 politics, and 18 trade.

Out of all the available progress cards, progress cards containing victory points can be only earned in the science and politics categories.

City walls
City walls are a minor addition to Cities & Knights that increase the number of resource and commodity cards a player is allowed in their hand before having to discard on a roll of 7. However, they do not protect the player from the robber or barbarians. Only cities and metropolises may have walls, and each city or metropolis can only have one wall, up to three walls per player. Each wall that the player has deployed permits the player to hold two more cards before being required to discard on a roll of seven. This results in a maximum of 13 cards.

If the barbarians pillage your city, then the city wall is also destroyed and the wall is removed from the board.

The game comes with 12 city walls, 3 of each color.

The Merchant
The merchant is another addition to Cities & Knights. Like the robber, the merchant is placed on a single land hex. Unlike the robber, the merchant has a beneficial effect.

The merchant can only be deployed through the use of a Merchant progress card (of which there are six), on a land hex near a city or a settlement. The player with the control of the merchant can trade the resource (not commodity) of that type at a two-to-one rate, as if the player had a control of a corresponding two-to-one harbor.

The player with the control of the merchant also earns a victory point. Both the victory point and the trade privilege are lost if another player takes control of the merchant.

City Upgrade Calendar
In place of The Settlers of Catan standard improvement cost card, Cities & Knights gives a calendar type flip-chart to each player, matching that player's color. The top of the chart has the standard costs from the Settlers game (for settlements, upgrade to city, and roads). It does not include the Development Card cost as those cards are not used in a Cities & Knights game. It does include the costs of hiring a knight, upgrading a knight's level or strength, and the cost to activate a knight. It also includes the cost of a ship, which are not used in a regular game of Cities & Knights, but presumably this is to cater for players who have combined Cities & Knights and Seafarers.

Those are only the rudimentary costs of the game however. The calendar also shows the costs of the next city improvement in each of the three categories — as a city is improved in a category, that segment has its card flipped down calendar style to reveal the newly built improvement, any advantages gained by the improvement, and the updated cost of upgrading to the next level in that category. Each segment, as it is flipped down, also shows the updated dice pattern needed to earn the player a progress card in that category.

Catan Legend of the Conquerors
Catan: Legend of the Conquerors is a scenario released in 2017 for the expansion Catan: Cities & Knights. A blog post was made in connection with the release. The game adds swamp hexes to the board. The game also adds a cannon which can be combined with a knight to increase the strength of a knight by one, which makes the maximum possible strength 4, when applied to a mighty knight of strength 3 ($$1+3=4$$). To build a cannon, you pay 1 lumber and 1 ore for a foundry. When you combine a cannon and a knight you have a cannoneer. The game also adds a horse farm that you can build for one lumber and one grain. The horse farm gives you a horse that you can use to turn one of your knights into cavalry. A cavalry unit can move between road networks, even if there is no connection between them. The cannon and horse cannot be combined. The blog post writes, "Some strategists may like the idea of equipping a knight with a horse and a cannon, thus making it some kind of overpowering “mounted cannoneer.” However, you are not allowed to place both playing pieces adjacent to a knight. This being said, it’s also hard to imagine a knight on a horse holding a cannon in his arms and firing it in all directions... "

Reviews

 * Pyramid

General references
The official website for the world of Catan. (2016). Retrieved May 17, 2016, from http://www.catan.com/service/game-rules

title: Catan: Cities & Knights


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Catan: Seafarers

Catan: Seafarers, or Seafarers of Catan in older editions, (Die Seefahrer von Catan) is an expansion of the board game Catan for three to four players (five-to-six-player play is also possible with both of the respective five-to-six-player extensions). The main feature of this expansion is the addition of ships, gold fields, and the pirate to the game, allowing play between multiple islands. The expansion also provides numerous scenarios, some of which have custom rules. The Seafarers rules and scenarios are also, for the most part, compatible with Catan: Cities & Knights and Catan: Traders & Barbarians.

The concepts introduced in Seafarers were part of designer Klaus Teuber's original design for Settlers.

Ships
Seafarers introduces the concept of ships, which serve as roads over water or along the coast. Each ship costs one lumber and one wool to create (lumber for the hull and wool for the sails). A settlement must first be built before a player can switch from building roads to building ships, or vice versa. Thus, a chain of ships is always anchored at a settlement on the coast. A shipping line that is not anchored at both ends by different settlements can also move the last ship at the open end, although this can only be done once per turn and may not be done with any ships that were created on the same turn.

The "Longest Road" card is now renamed the "Longest Trade Route" since this is now calculated by counting the number of contiguous ships plus roads that a player has. A settlement or city is necessary between a road and a ship for the two to be considered continuous for the purposes of this card.

The Road Building card allows a player to build 2 roads, 2 ships, or one of each when used.

Along with the concept of ships, Seafarers also introduces the notion of the pirate, which acts as a waterborne robber which steals from nearby ships (similar to how the robber steals from nearby settlements). The pirate can also prevent ships from being built or moved nearby, but it does not interfere with harbors. The pirate does not prevent settlements from being built

When a seven is rolled or a Knight card is played, the player may move either the robber OR the pirate.

Gold Rivers
Seafarers also introduces the "Gold River" or "Gold Field" terrain, which grants nearby players one resource of their choice for every settlement adjacent to a gold tile and 2 resources for every city. Since being able to choose any resource type allows more building power, gold rivers are often either marked with number token of only 2 or 3 dots and/or are far away from starting positions to offset this.

When combined with Cities & Knights, the rules state that you are not allowed to take commodities instead of resources if a city is nearby.

Exploration
Some scenarios have extra rules encompassing the concept of exploration, which is done by having the hex tiles placed face down. Should a player build next to unexplored terrain, the terrain tile is turned face up, and the player is rewarded with a resource should the tile revealed be resource-producing. In other scenarios, the board is divided into islands, and if the player builds a settlement on an island other than the ones they begin on, the settlement is worth extra victory points.

The Cities and Knights manual recommends that players not use the Cities & Knights rules in scenarios where exploration is a factor.

Scenarios
Unlike The Settlers of Catan and Catan: Cities & Knights, in which the only random element of setup is the placement of land tiles, number tokens, and harbors in an identically-shaped playing area, Catan: Seafarers has a number of different scenarios or maps from which to choose. Each map uses a different selection of tiles laid out in a specific pattern, which may not use all of the tiles. Other attributes also set each map apart, for example, restrictions on the placement of initial settlements, whether tiles are distributed randomly, the number of victory points needed to win, and special victory point awards, usually for building on islands across the sea.

Seafarers provides scenarios for three or four players (the older fourth edition used the same maps for three- and four-player versions of the scenarios), while the extension provides scenarios for six players (the older third edition also included separate maps for five- and six-player scenarios). The scenarios between the older editions of Seafarers and the newest are generally incompatible, knowing the different frames included with the game. (In particular, older editions of Settlers did not come with a frame for their board; a separate add-on was made available for players of the older-edition Settlers games, containing the newer edition frames, so as to make them compatible with the newer edition of Seafarers; the older edition of Seafarers included a square frame, and while both older and newer editions of the frames have the same width across, the newer editions are not square-shaped, and are longer down the middle of the board compared to the sides.)

Heading to New Shores
Heading to New Shores (New Shores in older editions) is the scenario resembling Teuber's original design for the game. The game board consists of the main Settlers island as well as a few smaller islands, which award a special victory point to each player for their first settlements on them. This scenario is meant for players new to Seafarers, with elements of Seafarers incorporated into the more familiar main board.

The Four Islands
The Four Islands is the first scenario introduced where new mechanics introduced to Seafarers is brought into the forefront. In this scenario, the map is split up into four islands of roughly equal size and resource distribution. (The six-player version found in the extension has the map split into six islands; the scenario is titled The Six Islands, but is played identically. Older editions of the extension had a five-player version with five islands, called The Five Islands.)  Players may claim up to two of the islands as their home islands, and settling on any of the other islands awards a special victory point.

The Fog Island
The Fog Island (Oceans in older editions) is the first scenario where exploration is used. The board starts off with a portion of the map left blank: when players expand into the blank region, terrain hexes are drawn at random from a supply and placed in the empty space, and, if a land hex is "discovered", a number token may be assigned. As a reward for discovering land, the player making the discovery is rewarded with a bonus resource card corresponding to the type of land hex discovered.

Through the Desert
Through the Desert (Into the Desert in older edition) is similar to The Four Islands, but consists of a large continent and smaller outlying islands. On the large island, there exists a "wall of deserts" that separates the island into a large main area and separate smaller strips of land. As the name of the scenario implies, expanding through the desert into these smaller strips of land, or by sea to the outlying islands, award bonus victory points.

The Forgotten Tribe
The Forgotten Tribe, originally titled Friendly Neighbors, was a downloadable scenario (but only in the German language) which was incorporated into newer editions of Seafarers.

The map consists of a main island and smaller outlying islands, where the namesake forgotten tribe resides. Players may not expand into the outlying islands, but by building ships so that they border the outlying islands, players may be awarded with victory points, development cards, or harbors that players may place on the coast of the main island at a later time.

Cloth for Catan
Introduced in the newer editions, Cloth for Catan continues the adventures with the Forgotten Tribe. The scenario was previously available for older editions as a downloadable scenario (but only in German), titled Coffee for Catan.

Players begin with settlements on the outside of the map, but may build ships to reach the Forgotten Tribe's islands, which are in the center. By connecting to the Forgotten Tribe's settlements (represented by number tokens), players may earn cloth tokens when the number token for the Forgotten Tribe's villages are rolled. Cloth tokens, in turn, are worth one victory point for each pair obtained.

The Pirate Island
The Pirate Island, introduced in newer editions, is the first scenario which changes the mechanics of new gameplay elements introduced in Seafarers. The Pirate Island had previously been available as a downloadable scenario (but only in German) suitable for the older editions.

In this scenario, players begin with a pre-placed settlement on a main island. Ships may only be built in one single line, which must pass through a fixed waypoint (different for each player) en route to a pirate fortress (each player has their own pirate fortress). Once ships connect to the pirate fortress, they may attempt to attack the pirate fortress once per turn. Ships may be lost if the attack is unsuccessful, but after three successful attacks, the pirate fortress is converted into a settlement. Players must convert their pirate fortresses and have 10 victory points before being able to claim victory.

Furthermore, the pirate mechanics have also changed: the pirate moves through the middle of the map in a fixed path every turn, and attacks the owner of any nearby settlements. Players win resources if they are able to fend off the pirate attack (which depends on the number rolled by the dice, as well as the number of warships in the defending player's possession; warships are created from using Knight cards on existing ships), but lose resources if they are unsuccessful. Maritime expansion is only permitted by building a settlement at the waypoint, however, this increases the chances of a pirate attack.

The Wonders of Catan
The Wonders of Catan was a downloadable scenario for older editions of Seafarers in both German and English, and was incorporated into Seafarers in newer editions.

In this scenario, there are a number of "wonders", each with a large cost of building as well as a prerequisite. If a player meets the prerequisite for a wonder, they may claim the wonder for themselves. A player may only claim one wonder, and each wonder may only be claimed by one player. Wonders must be built in four parts, and each wonder has a different build cost. The winner is the first player to complete their wonder, or the first player to have 10 victory points and have more parts of their wonder complete than any other player.

The Great Crossing
The Great Crossing was a scenario in the older editions of Seafarers, which has been dropped in newer editions. The map is divided into two islands, Catan and Transcatania. Players begin with both settlements on one of the islands, and must build ships connecting settlements between the two islands. Players earn victory points for connecting their settlements with settlements (not necessarily theirs) from the opposite island using ships, or to another player's shipping lines which connect two settlements together.

Greater Catan
Greater Catan was a scenario included in the older editions of Seafarers but is not included in newer editions. Due to the sheer amounts of equipment needed, two copies of Settlers and Seafarers are required to set up this scenario. The map consists of a standard Settlers island, along with a smaller chain of outlying islands. Only the main island initially has number tokens: number tokens are assigned to the outlying islands as they are expanded. However, the supply of number tokens is smaller than the number of hexes in the scenario: when the number tokens run out and players expand into a new part of the outlying islands, number tokens are moved from the main island to the outlying islands.

Hexes on the main island for which there are no number tokens do not produce resources, but number tokens are moved in such a way so as to avoid rendering a city unproductive; furthermore, whenever possible number tokens must be reassigned from hexes bordering a player's own settlements and cities, so as to prevent harming another player's economy without harming a player's own economy at the same time.

New World
New World is a scenario that blankets all other scenarios that may be created from the parts of Settlers and Seafarers. This scenario uses an entirely random map, and players are encouraged to try and create a tile layout that plays well. The only difference between versions in Seafarers, the extension, and the older editions therein is the size of the frames.

Reception
The Seafarers of Catan was reviewed in the online second volume of Pyramid.

title: Catan: Seafarers