Electronic drums

[pedro]

I'll begin by admitting I wasn't quite sure where to post this. If any of the moderators feels it belongs somewhere else, please feel free to move it.

Anyhoo, on Thursday one of the bands that I'm in had a rehearsal. We rehearse at our drummers house in his converted porch/studio. Upon arrival he announces its too hot in the usual place and has moved us into the living room. He sets up an electronic drum kit (I didn't know he had one) and one PA monitor. The rest of us drag our small little amps into place and begin practice. I couldn't stop giggling that this little kit our drummer was tapping on sounded like it was a huge 80's drum set thru a big PA, etc.

As rehearsal went on it occurred to me that I was hearing everything very clearly and at record player volume with minimal gear and began to wonder if there is any market for small private parties that want a low(er) volume party/dance band? Heck I could finally use my B15 without having to worry about PA support.

[pklima]

Here they're very popular with wedding bands, because it's easier to amplify and set up the whole band. A large part of the appeal is that you can turn the drummer down - exactly like you're saying.

I have a drummer who has a small electronic kit. He can program and control loops, play an electronic kit, play an acoustic kit, play cajon or various hand percussion. It's kind of a PITA that he doesn't have a proper sound module and has to use his laptop as a substitute, but I wish he'd bring it more often anyway.

[pedro]

Well I wasn't crazy about the tone of the drums (had the typical 80's tone) but I assume the tone on a good electric kit can be adjusted. But yea I love the idea of the simple set up, low volume and smaller foot print.

[cableguy]

I play with a drummer who has both types of kits. He obviously prefers (and me too) the accoustic kit. But for low volume gigs or practice they work well. The more expensive ones sound great through a PA. His is a lower priced one and is OK. But at most low volume gigs what customers are really caring about the drum sound. As long as they hear them and it volume is low, that's what they want. I wouldn't want to use them all the time but they are a good arrow to have in the quiver.

[pedro]

Thanks for the input Cableguy. It just seems like there might be a market on a private party basis for such things.

[bound'n'blocked]

I used to work live sound and did about six shows with George Jones and his band. They use no amps or monitors on stage at all and have an electronic kit. It is one of the more expensive kits and sounds like an acoustic set. The only thing you hear coming off the stage is the fiddle and the harmonica.

I've played with them before and they are fine except for when you need to play softer in a song, then they tend to sound weak to me.

BnB

[pedro]

I'd reckon nothing sounds as real thing.

[Roadkill]

I just put an Alesis DM8 Pro kit into my rehearsal space and it sounds awesome. The top 40 band (trio + singer) I'm putting together will probably play out with it. There are lots of gigging opportunities out there that require the volume to be kept down lower than most drummers can play an acoustic kit.

[ibateur]

Far easier to tune and setup an electric kit. Mostly it is the drummer that hates them the most because of the funny feel, and the lack of substance. I've tried the higher end Yamaha and Roland and those have a kind of synthetic drum head that is quite close to a real head. I'd almost kill for one of those kits.

Over here, for home use, it is almost the only option unless you live in a farm.

[mboogiemanusa]

Good for low volume practice .......a couple drummers I regularly jam with practice at home with them. I don't play low volume gigs for the most part. The down side seems to be the drum tone is cheesey on the cheapers sets and the volume seems to be the same whether its a loud or quiet passage. Probably ok live if you only are playing 80's dance music.

[pklima]

Originally Posted by mboogiemanusa

Probably ok live if you only are playing 80's dance music.

Well, yeah, having somebody playing an electronic kit tends to sound very 80s-90s dance. For 2012 dance music to really sound like the mp3 (LOL) you will need to use loops a lot of the time or a combination of loops and part of the kit - an electronic drum kit will never sound "right", especially on more hip-hop oriented tracks with those rapid-fire hi-hats. But it's still a lot closer to the original than any acoustic kit could be.

[BigRedX]

Electronic drum kits just like any other instrument are only as good as the technical skill and knowledge of the player lets them be.

Sure they sound crap out of the box, but so do acoustic drums. Even a half-way decent drummer would spend some time tuning their acoustic kit. You have to do the same thing with the electronic ones modifying the sounds and the responsiveness of the pads to match your playing.

Bad sounding electronic kits are nearly always down to the fact that the drummer simply hasn't put in the time and effort to get the most out of the kit. The most common problem I come across is those who set up the responsiveness when they are playing at home on headphones, and then when they get to a gig find that suddenly nearly every hit is triggering maximum velocity on the sounds because they are playing harder.

[jeffbass]

My band has an electronic drummer. Even though he misses the responsiveness of an acoustic kit, we have no mix or volume competition problems. And the size enables us to play smaller stages with less set up/tear down time. We can unload and be ready to play in an hour. My former drummers took at least that long just to get the kit set up.

[jarrydee]

I really lovede my Alesis USB pro kit, teamed up with Steven Slate drums it was a monster, used it in the studio many times!

[klokker]

We use electric drums, add real cymbals at gigs. Tiny little amps for rehearsal too, our lead guitar player uses this little Peavey 10 watt thing, I use a Fender Bassman 250/115 at low volume. We rehearse in a room basically the size of a bedroom. Why be loud at rehearsal?

It's easier to set up the sound etc. and way quieter at rehearsal where we don't need to be loud at all.

[garak7]

I have to admit, electronic drums do have their advantages. One of the better sounding bands I played in was with a drummer playing pads with real cymbals. Stage volume was under control and our overall sound was good and tight out front.

But.....there's nothing quite like a well mic'd and supported acoustic drum kit with a good drummer behind it.

[kanonfodr]

My drummer uses a Zendrum midi controller into a Roland TD-9 drum brain, sounds great and we can practice in their basement (about the size of a bedroom) with ease, works great for sending to the PA, and he has a volume knob

I'm personally a fan of V-drums because they are really nice for lots of applications, but unfortunately getting some setups (a full heavy metal kit with lots of cymbals) is really expensive though

Peace,
Greg

[pedro]

Originally Posted by jeffbass

My band has an electronic drummer. Even though he misses the responsiveness of an acoustic kit, we have no mix or volume competition problems. And the size enables us to play smaller stages with less set up/tear down time. We can unload and be ready to play in an hour. My former drummers took at least that long just to get the kit set up.

That's what I'm thinking. I asked my other bands drummer and he says he loves them but confirmed that you have to spend time setting them up.

[MNAirHead]

We used to sell it as a competitive advantage ---- overall the gear requirements dropped ---- quality improved ---- look better with some planning

[pedro]

Originally Posted by MNAirHead

We used to sell it as a competitive advantage ---- overall the gear requirements dropped ---- quality improved ---- look better with some planning

I'm not following. Can you rephrase?