Originally Posted by Mad About Drums
I just call it "la batterie" :)
That's what I was about to say, batterie from the verb battre = to hit, like baseball bat.
French drumming vocabulary is not very extended though.
Charley or charleston = hi hat, but the other cymbals are simply ride, crash, splash.
Tom = tom.
Kick drum = grosse caisse, as in "big case".
Snare drum = caisse claire, as in "clear case".
Head = peau, "skin".
Hardware = simply called hardware, I can't imagine noone bothered to translate that, a French mouth can hardly pronounce that :)
OK I have bored you all enough now :)