Wagon for drum set; everything about drum riser

[JLNorthGA]

Our standard stage platform consists of a frame of 2 x 4s that is 24" on center. We cover it with a layer of QuietBrace or Hushboard to deaden the sound of the platform and then cover it with a layer of 3/4" plywood (ACX or equivalent). We've now taken to using Leg-a-Matic braces - that way we can vary the height with 2 x 4 legs as needed.

We usually use them for sets, but they've worked well as drum or band risers. The cost is maybe $90-100 per 4' x 8' platform. Slap some paint on them and skirt them with some lauan plywood and they look great.

 

[JohnD]

Has anyone seen these in use?
Portable Riser | Drum Risers, Band Risers & Choir Risers For Performances, Shows & Concerts
I also ran into this which is similar to the Novoflex, Two units would give you a platform a little larger that 6.5 ft square.
Global Truss America, LLC- High Quality Lighting and Stage Trussing

 

[DuckJordan]

I agree with footer, staging concepts makes a great product. we just purchased a ton of decks and legs from these guys (as well as barricades) The decks are solid, the legs are easy to setup. We just did a spot tower at 18' with two sets of legs a side and three decks. so much sturdier than the stuff we had before. (they even sell locking wheel legs so you can roll them on and off quickly.

 

[avkid]

Has anyone seen these in use?
Portable Riser | Drum Risers, Band Risers & Choir Risers For Performances, Shows & Concerts

Looks just like the Road Ready stages.

 

[techieman33]

Has anyone seen these in use?
Portable Riser | Drum Risers, Band Risers & Choir Risers For Performances, Shows & Concerts

A local church has some, they're not bad. I would put them in the light duty category though. I could see them used in a church or school, but I wouldn't expect them to hold up well on a tour. You also need to secure them to the floor somehow. They're very light weight and it's easy to bump into them and move them around.

 

[gafftaper]

The drum riser at the high school performing arts center I work at occasionally has a 6'4"-ish x8' riser. It's got wheels on one edge. Because it's just a little over 6', we can tip it up on end and roll it down the hall to a storage room and still fit through door frames. Granted, we never have any real big shot pro's using it, I've never heard any drummers complain about it being too small. It's typical shop wood construction, probably home built 20 years ago. It's got these 6" locking casters on it, which have both a lock on rotation of the swivel and on the caster itself. (Something sort of like this, but these look newer and better). It's very stable when locked down. Nice carpet on top. Very easy to work with. Great for rolling a drum kit on and off stage in talent shows and musical review type events.

 

[JohnD]

Youtube had some interesting clips in DIY drum risers:

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Here is the link to the company:
Drum stage riser
This one is rather clever but a bit fussy perhaps:

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[avkid]

Very cool design.

 

[gafftaper]

I need to build a rolling drum riser for my theater this summer. I want to build it 6' x 8'. I have a good vertical storage rack to keep it in, but it would be nice if I could fairly easily detach the wheels and slide the riser into the rack. I picked up some nice 6" casters already which lock in the swivel and wheel roll with one click. But how to design the riser? There is of course the obvious 2x4 and 3/4 ply approach.

But I've got time, tools, skills, and a budget. So I'm looking to build something a little better, with no welding required. Some of the ideas I've considered are:
-Building a unistrut frame with some sort of easy way to detach the wheels and bolting 3/4 ply on top.
-The Unistrut version of a Texas Triscuit. Build two 6'x4' triscuits (stress skin platforms) which get screwed onto a unistrut frame... possibly with something like wingnuts to make it easy to take apart. Maybe instead of screwing down the triscuits they sit loose and I use some angle brackets to build a lip to keep the triscuits from sliding around.
-One giant 6'x8' triscuit with wheels... would it be strong enough to just put 4 wheels on a giant triscuit or would I need some other frame work to distribute the weight a bit more?

I have tons of ideas but none of them really strike me as the one that will be simple to store and a clever solution.
Have you built a cool rolling drum riser? Have any ideas or cool tricks you did with it?

 

[Footer]

First, go 8x8. 6x8 is not big enough. Triscuits with studwalls would be the way I would go. How high you looking to go?

 

[gafftaper]

This will be used once or twice a year for high school bands in talent shows where you need quick changes between acts. So there won't be any big pro drum kits on it and I don't care about height, it's about getting the kid on and off stage quickly. Storage is the most important factor. If I need a real drum riser for a band I have 4x8 platforms I can pull out and set up in a variety of heights.

 

[JohnD]

Long ago I knew of a band that had Anvil build them a folding one. It did use a lot of unistrut.
How about how these people build them?
http://www.drumrisers.com/index.html

 

[derekleffew]

Some/most/all of the awards shows I do use this or a variant.

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No diagonal bracing required until one exceeds about 3'-0". Twenty acts times approx. five 8'x8' x 2'h rolling platforms equals A LOT of wagons. Rolling them up a ramp (~30' long?) from 0'-0" to +4'-0" and back down again is ever so much fun.

 

[Footer]

This will be used once or twice a year for high school bands in talent shows where you need quick changes between acts. So there won't be any big pro drum kits on it and I don't care about height, it's about getting the kid on and off stage quickly. Storage is the most important factor. If I need a real drum riser for a band I have 4x8 platforms I can pull out and set up in a variety of heights.

If you don't care about height, a few 4x8s with caster plates would work just fine. In reality, until you want to build with steel its not going to be the sexiest of pieces... Height+wood+rolling+easy storage is never really that good of a combination. Personally, I would take your summer time to go buy a welder and start learning how to weld. It is really not that hard... and 120v welders are getting cheaper every day. Take a welding class and just dive in!

 

[gafftaper]

Height+wood+rolling+easy storage is never really that good of a combination.

Your math perfectly points out the problem.

Personally, I would take your summer time to go buy a welder and start learning how to weld. It is really not that hard... and 120v welders are getting cheaper every day. Take a welding class and just dive in!

Yeah I would love to do that. I wonder if there's a way I could do that and get college credit to help me maintain my teaching certification... hmm.

 

[JohnD]

Are there any votech schools nearby, around here the votech schools offer both long term (leading to certification) and short term courses. College credit is offered.

 

[gafftaper]

So, 3 years ago I started a thread about building a rolling drum riser with a crazy idea in my head of a "triscuit" design that really was not a triscuit and would have weighed an insane amount (I have no idea what I was thinking). I got busy after that and never built that drum riser. So time has passed and I now have lots of time and a little more storage space, so I plan to actually build one this time. So I want to start the discussion over without pre-steering it in a crazy direction.

What's the best rolling drum riser design you have built/seen? Any cool ideas for keeping it light and easy to store?

I'm thinking about just doing basic 4x8 platforms with 2x4 frame, 3/4" plywood on top, and coffin locks. But wanted to see if anyone has any better ideas.

 

[What Rigger?]

The best rolling drum riser I ever saw belonged to a country act I worked 20 years ago. All aluminum, retractable casters. It rolled in as one unit and the built in 12 foot ego ramps just folded down like Optimus Prime arms or something. We rolled it onstage, set it in place, locked the ramps and skirted the whole thing. From truck to "done" in less than 10 minutes. Was it light and "easy to store"? Well, it had it's own space in the 53 ft trailer which seemed to accomodate the weight without issue.

 

[Ancient Engineer]

OK, I am a drummer. I have played on all kinds of risers... Some great, some chock full of opportunity for improvement.

The best I ever played on (aside from something pre-made like Stageright) was a custom 10'x10' platform made of 2x6s for the frame and 1" MDF for the deck.
They had like 20 different colors/styles of pre-cut carpet for it (inevetably remnants) that used 2" velcro in a grid to keep the carpet in place.
The casters were on cam type lifts that operated with a piece of 1/2" square stock. They only lifted the deck about 1".
It had a 1x2 lip on three sides and a row of two Chauvet COLORband like strip lights on the front and sides.
It also had a grid of XLRs in the floor that lead to a panel on the back to keep the mic wiring neat. (holes pre-cut in the carpets and a bin of short mic cords)
There were also two outlets (under deck caps) that led to a cord on the back of the riser to keep whatever electronics neat looking. (worked for my Tivoli Vistalites...)
Velcro skirting in about a dozen colors.

It was great to play on.