I'm not a drummer but I'm curious as to why drummers are usually elevated on some kind of platform.

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I always thought that they are raised at shows is so that everyone can see them so they arent just "in the back."

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Yeah that's what I thoght too but I've seen bands do it while just having practice in a garage or something.

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that is one thing, but it is also for sound resons, I am not a sound person, but I think it gives the drums better projection, especially if it un miced.

Also it looks cool for the drummer.

and at bigger venues, they often have the drummers kit fully setup on a movable trolley and so they just roll that out and leave the kit on it, hence why it is raised, because of the trolley.

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Ground vibrations 'carry more' than just aural sound vibrations. If you have a true-garage band, the neighbors will feel you more than they can hear you, and hence they will call the cops, so bands tend to do anything they can ( i.e. prop up drums on risers) to reduce vibrations. Also in venues, it makes managing on-stage sound easier, to have as little vibration as possible.

I much prefer playing on a stage or riser of some sort because you can feel the bass vibrate through your arse so much better. We practice in a church hall (hardcore, eh?) with a concrete tiled floor and it's fucking horrible - you've got virtually no idea what you sound like.

Because no one ever takes pictures of the drummer.

Got to sneak us in those pictures somehow.

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Maybe some random band just did that and it looked cool, so everyone did it. I think it's cool, because drummers don't get nearly as much recognition as the guitarists or singers, because people don't care, and that's not right.

its actuall the drummers have huge penis's so we are on a drum riser so the singer/bassist/guitarist don't tread on it, you ever tried to keep time when some is treading on your vitals????

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i definately helps the sound and gives the drummer some presense, not being buried behind in the back and stuff

another thing is so they can have eye contact with the other dudes in he band since they are sitting their head is alot lower than that of someone standing i.e. guitar players and such

Placing the drums on a riser will decrease the amount a set resonates. It will generally make the kick sound better as well as decreasing the volume outside of your practice room, ie, the rest of your damn house/neighborhood.

by lifting the drumset up it also increases projection of the kick, which makes it more audiable if your drummer is kind of quiet or your band is really loud.

The reason it does this is because if you notice, when you have someone grasp a drum and hold it, the drum doesn't sound for as long, thusly it has a decreased resonation. Also, the person holding it will feel it, now if you put something between the person and the drum, like some foam, a sweater, etc, they feel it less. Now if you imagine your garage or basement floor as the person grasping the drum, you can apply the same concept. By raising the drums up off the floor it adds a bit of space for the resonation to sort of 'wash away' before it goes to the cement floor and shakes your whole house! thusly, dissapating the vibrations, much like a heat sink on a computer graphics card or something.

but beware, platforms can doom your drummer! Make sure he doesn't step off and break a leg!