This is a video promoting Pearl Drums and their completely custom "Masterworks" drum line. The drummer can get whatever he wants from a huge selection of options and many non-standard options which don't require retooling the factory.
What I want to point out is for the parents who have children who are or want to be drummers. There are few things to notice:
1) There is no dampening on the toms at all. They are well-tuned with brand new thin Diplomat style heads. They are played properly and sound great. The fact the drums are incredible helps, but any drum that remains round with a flat counter-hoop usually sounds best when tuned well and not covered with dampening.
2) The majority of his drum playing is with 4 drums: the snare, bass drum, 12" tom and 14" floor tom. He plays the other drums, but if you look at the new strike marks on the heads at the end of the video, since those are new heads, you can see which drums get the most play. He could have pulled off that entire song with just four drums. The larger kit did allow for more flavor, but the energy, power, and talent could be created with a smaller set.
3) The majority of the cymbal work was on four cymbals: Hi-Hats, Ride, Crash 1 and Crash 2. He may have been able to do all of this with just one crash cymbal, but going from ride to crash as quickly as he often does is much easier if the crash is near the ride, same with going from hi-hats to crash, so most drummers consider two crashes necessary. Also, if you want to crash two or three times quickly in a row, it is harder to do with just one crash cymbal and doesn't sound as nice.
So, what do you need to be a good drummer? Skill, a basic kit, a few cymbals, and the ability to properly tune.
