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Your Thoughts On Digital Drums!

Will You Play With Digital Drums?

  • Yes

    Votes: 275 71.6%

  • No Way!

    Votes: 30 7.8%

  • If The Music Calls For It

    Votes: 49 12.8%

  • Partial Digital Kit is OK (add digital pads to acoustic set)

    Votes: 42 10.9%

  • Carrots

    Votes: 17 4.4%
  • Total voters
    384
#221
vvvmmm said:
So I wanna pick up a $300-ish elec kit to have at the practice space (ahem, my living room) - any reco's?
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If you're not planning on playing Shea Stadium with it, there are some great cheap kits out there.

I'd suggest getting one with a bass drum pad that allows you to connect a proper pedal. Some of the cheap ones just have a bass drum footswitch and are a waste of time for practice.

Beyond that, don't get too hung up on 'mesh heads'. Some of the solid pads are fine for practising your chops. Just be aware the pads are small and close together ( which makes transferring to a real acoustic kit a bit challenging.

Even the cheaper kids have MP3 input and various rhythm training features. They're really good fun.
 
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#222
Pete Greenfield said:
If you're not planning on playing Shea Stadium with it, there are some great cheap kits out there.

I'd suggest getting one with a bass drum pad that allows you to connect a proper pedal. Some of the cheap ones just have a bass drum footswitch and are a waste of time for practice.

Beyond that, don't get too hung up on 'mesh heads'. Some of the solid pads are fine for practising your chops. Just be aware the pads are small and close together ( which makes transferring to a real acoustic kit a bit challenging.

Even the cheaper kids have MP3 input and various rhythm training features. They're really good fun.
Click to expand...
Well if the idea is to keep quiet, absolutely worry about mesh heads. They also feel a lot closer to acoustic kit so when you switch it’s not as drastic.

Plastic pads are the worst.
 
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#223
jdc866 said:
Well if the idea is to keep quiet, absolutely worry about mesh heads. They also feel a lot closer to acoustic kit so when you switch it’s not as drastic.

Plastic pads are the worst.
Click to expand...

Some of the solid rubber heads are pretty good feelwise. I had an old dtxpress2 kit years ago and still own a dtxtreme 2s kit. The rebound's petty similar to acoustic skins (I have a Pearl MLX kit too). Agreed, the cheapest plastic pads can be pretty horrible if you really get into toy territory.

Regarding noise, the main e kit noise tends to come from the bass drum energy going though the floor to the apartment below. We had some great inventors on the Yamaha forum coming up with solutions.

A cheap e-kit is still way better than the options we had in the seventies, when I started learning!
 
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#225
I prefer Acoustic drums if I had a choice, but some electric kits sound very good - some of the Roland kits sound very good..... and the advantage of playing with drummer that uses an electric kit, is if they are too loud you can turn them down easily.... sometimes trying to tell a loud acoustic playing drummer to turn down is like trying to tell a kid not to eat the candy bar that's in front of them!
the drummer in my current band uses an older Yamaha kit and it's 'ok' - not the greatest sounding kit.... but last night we jammed with a younger drummer who had a Roland electric kit and his kit sounded amazing
 
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#226
LBS-bass said:
Agree with all of this, however I don't personally need FOH quality sound onstage in order to know what we're playing is good.
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I understand. I too have had to play through many pretty crap-tastick mixes. You just roll with it.

But I certainly enjoy playing more when the drums are nice and healthy and I can feel the kick (I like hard-hitting drummers myself, and I've always had enough fire power to keep up). When our E-drummer brings a sub and main and sets them right behind him, that's the ideal for me (short of in-ears). But we've been in some situations where we either didn't have room for his personal sound system or the stage was already backlined and time or the sound engineer prevented us from using it. That's when you have confidence in your preparation and just roll with it.

Every once in awhile as a weekend warrior we find ourselves on a large outdoor or theater stage that actually has side fill monitors. The e-drums sound amazing through those.

TBH, in-ears is the ultimate solution, because my e-drummer got really tired of bringing his own P.A. to gigs. He thought going electronic would reduce some of the lifting and set up time. He brings his kit in almost fully assembled, just a couple of adjustments and it's ready to play.
 
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#228
Hundred proof said:
I keep hearing it’s about “volume” I’ve had the good fortune of playing with drummers that could groove down so low you could hear the audience talking. But the whole band was capable of breaking it down like that. But fake is the new real, carry on.
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Why does it have to be fake though? By that standard then most bands are doing fake .. For me E drums are all about the sounds.. and if the sounds and dynamics of acoustic drums can be replicated as well as the sounds of electric guitar, bass and piano .. I see no issue. It is just another tool to make music with from my perspective that gives drummers a much larger palette to paint from... and that is a good thing.. actually a great thing in the hands of the drummers you mention above ..
 
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#229
In a small venue it allows the whole band to play at a lower level. That is not always possible with acoustic drums.

The first time I ever played with a drummer using them was his audition for me and a guitar player. I snickered when he brought them in. After an hour, I had the thought, "this is pretty cool, my ears aren't ringing ..."
 
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#230
Sav'nBass said:
Why does it have to be fake though? By that standard then most bands are doing fake .. For me E drums are all about the sounds.. and if the sounds and dynamics of acoustic drums can be replicated as well as the sounds of electric guitar, bass and piano .. I see no issue. It is just another tool to make music with from my perspective that gives drummers a much larger palette to paint from... and that is a good thing.. actually a great thing in the hands of the drummers you mention above ..
Click to expand...
I think that’s the point...e drums don’t have quite the dynamic range. I always had random loud attacks with a light hit, or a missed rim sound, or triggered the snare along with the rim...sensors just aren’t the same. Playing usually ends up fairly flat-sounding, even with a great drummer. Which can be desired, of course. Just like an overly compressed recording where all dynamics are gone.

Again, not saying e drums are inherently bad, just not a flavor I prefer if given the option
 
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#231
Captain Comet said:
In a small venue it allows the whole band to play at a lower level. That is not always possible with acoustic drums.

The first time I ever played with a drummer using them was his audition for me and a guitar player. I snickered when he brought them in. After an hour, I had the thought, "this is pretty cool, my ears aren't ringing ..."
Click to expand...

I think they're great for rehearsals, when you want to hear the details that tend to get obliterated at high volume. We use drum and multitrack record, so we can iron out all the bugs. Then we go loud (with acoustic drums). We'd probably use e drums live if we had 6 grand to invest in the flagship Roland, but that buys a lot of acoustic drums and cymbals!
 
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#233
CoffeeLove said:
OP here. If it matters, our new drummer will be using the e-kit for smaller gigs and acoustic kit for bigger ones, that is where we landed as a band. We offered to help schlep his gear and help with mics, so it was an easy compromise. Great to hear all the perspectives out there.
Click to expand...

Glad you found a solution! Which e kit does he have, by the way? I don't think you said?
 
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#238
electracoyote said:
I understand. I too have had to play through many pretty crap-tastick mixes. You just roll with it.

But I certainly enjoy playing more when the drums are nice and healthy and I can feel the kick (I like hard-hitting drummers myself, and I've always had enough fire power to keep up). When our E-drummer brings a sub and main and sets them right behind him, that's the ideal for me (short of in-ears). But we've been in some situations where we either didn't have room for his personal sound system or the stage was already backlined and time or the sound engineer prevented us from using it. That's when you have confidence in your preparation and just roll with it.

Every once in awhile as a weekend warrior we find ourselves on a large outdoor or theater stage that actually has side fill monitors. The e-drums sound amazing through those.

TBH, in-ears is the ultimate solution, because my e-drummer got really tired of bringing his own P.A. to gigs. He thought going electronic would reduce some of the lifting and set up time. He brings his kit in almost fully assembled, just a couple of adjustments and it's ready to play.
Click to expand...
Yep. Great stage sound is optimal, and I love it when the stars align. They often do. Unfortunately I've also played too many shows where crappy stage sound got on somebody's nerves and under their skin badly enough to make it hard to play that show with them. I've always vowed to never be that person.
 
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#239
Captain Comet said:
In a small venue it allows the whole band to play at a lower level. That is not always possible with acoustic drums.

The first time I ever played with a drummer using them was his audition for me and a guitar player. I snickered when he brought them in. After an hour, I had the thought, "this is pretty cool, my ears aren't ringing ..."
Click to expand...
As a singer, one of the biggest advantages is not having to scream over the rest of the band to be heard. There's nothing worse than cultivating a great vocal technique only to have it completely obliterated by the need of the other musicians to play at feedback levels. If you cannot hear the nuances of technique your vocalist is bringing to the table, you are not doing it right.
 
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