I prefer digital drummers. You don't have to fire them, just flip a switch.
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Your Thoughts On Digital Drums!
- Thread starter CoffeeLove
- Start date
I been a drummer all my life. damn i'm 59 yr old now .anyway. I saw a few weeks ago the roland set up. true thoughts? i.'s or any string i' ve always enjoyed the feel and sound of real drum's. them plug in thing's have no feeling. ya might have to go slightly out of tune in studio to get the sound ya looking for. no different than guitar really or anyother string instrument. live don't really matter. goes by so quik no one notices. opp's. trade secret. lol say ya got a thunder storm and a bad guitar player or bass player and ya hoping the electric gets knocked out? drum solo. lmao nobody want's lectric to go out but my point is. can't plug em in. I saw ringo in a animated deal unplug his drum's long long ago. I got it. anyway always loved playing the bass helps me learn and write songs. bought a fender lyte because I liked the way it looked. used/didn't work. now that it does. wow. love it. any tips on here playing I sho appreciate thx y'all
if I was a sound guy on location for live show'i would ask/do you know it with a drum kit/if so/ do you have a drummer
this is exactly why there is no -------music---------today. play within 4 walls. plug in poopie expect I don't know. the 80's killed techno. jamm y'all
My problem isnt with digital drums; it's with the awful samples. For some reason drummers always want to use that super compressed, reverbed-out big arena tom kit that sounds like DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE DOUCHE when you hit them. The sound is lost in the mix, and there's no punch to it. I'm all for modernization and I sympathize with the loadin/out issues but, dude! ..can you find an actual drum sample anywhere in that sound module??!
That's hilarious! Now I'll never not hear that sample any other way!
(Fortunately, and for the record, I never use those settings.)
get ya self a bottle of whiskey' continue talking about it.lay down on the bass drum pass out and let a drummer bounce your ass off sissy lol hey throw all that electric poopie away from drums. it don't belong. might even find your self a real drummer. come on down here in my adboe you'll understand
that aint moderernization that ******** that's why no music mind ya business (string)
sry bout bull fight guys
after reading again what you were talking about.. just quit throw it away. or...……..understand natural. right wood for guitar or bass or any string instrument. get ya an acoustic. either one. that's music. gotta feel it. don't need a plug for that. good luck
I played for several years with a drummer who used a Roland kit, and it was pretty darned convenient for setup, tear down, and sound management. I could never seem to hear enough oomph or impact from the kick, it seemed to get swallowed in the mix, and the high hat sounded flat and tinny, but I accepted those limitations and we developed a good sense of groove working together. I started playing with another group of guys a year ago, at the guitar player’s house, and he owns an acoustic kit so drummers don’t have to haul gear for rehearsals. The drummer we had was recently booted out, and I invited my old drummer to join us - he’s since been playing on the acoustic kit, and it’s just like old times, only much much better. I can feel the air from his kick drum nice and solidly vibrating on my legs, I can hear the high hat clearly, and the smack of the snare. We are grooving in ways we never did before, and he’s actually playing better - my SO even commented on that. One of the other guys also commented that his playing has improved a lot over 3-4 times he’s been playing with us. I think the attack of the sticks/mallet hitting the skins makes a big difference in that regard. But I definitely enjoy the sound much much more. It would be hard going back to a Roland kit now.
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For some years now it has been possible to outfit a traditional acoustic kit with electronic heads (mesh-style or otherwise, there are a few brands) such that the kit still looks like an acoustic kit but will control your choice of e-drum processor. Does it feel exactly the same as normal acoustic heads to play? No. But they can feel reasonably good, and for situations where stage volume control is really important they can work well.
Even if the isolated e-drum sound isn't ideal, it can make the band as a whole sound better by helping to achieve a good mix at lower volume.
Fine for practice, but live or in the studio I just can't get behind it. The drummer in my band actually feels the same way. He has a very nice Roland electric kit, which he bought for late-night/early-morning practice and for playing along with recorded tracks. We're all in agreement though that there is a sterile nature to the sound of electric drums, regardless of how top-shelf they might be. Every time we play together in person, it's an acoustic kit.
To my ears, electric drums are just not satisfying. Just like trumpets... for some reason I just don't enjoy the sound in a band mix, so it might be a personal preference thing, but it's a definite "no way" for me.
To my ears, electric drums are just not satisfying. Just like trumpets... for some reason I just don't enjoy the sound in a band mix, so it might be a personal preference thing, but it's a definite "no way" for me.
Played with drummers who use both, and prefer a well-tuned, well-mic’d acoustic kit in a flattering acoustical environment.
But the above is often pretty tough to achieve in my world, so often, an electronic kit will just sound better in the environments that I encounter.
For example, the “drum room” at my home studio is basically a tiny box, and though it’s trapped and flattened, its still not a great drum room. Elecs just sound better.
And then there is the no-bleed thing, which is glorious. Recently jammed with a friend on an electronic kit. He laid down a cool beat, and I improvised straight garbage over it. But because drums were going direct, it was possible to erase my crappy playing, then re-record some slightly less crappy stuff over the beat.
Again, drum sound might be better with a great acoustic kit, in a great room, perfectly mic’d, but I don’t have that option.
This is the jam if curious. I think its a roland td-25 kit
But the above is often pretty tough to achieve in my world, so often, an electronic kit will just sound better in the environments that I encounter.
For example, the “drum room” at my home studio is basically a tiny box, and though it’s trapped and flattened, its still not a great drum room. Elecs just sound better.
And then there is the no-bleed thing, which is glorious. Recently jammed with a friend on an electronic kit. He laid down a cool beat, and I improvised straight garbage over it. But because drums were going direct, it was possible to erase my crappy playing, then re-record some slightly less crappy stuff over the beat.
Again, drum sound might be better with a great acoustic kit, in a great room, perfectly mic’d, but I don’t have that option.
This is the jam if curious. I think its a roland td-25 kit
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Only if they are an extension of the acoustic kit but all full time digital drums? Not a chance in Hades...
Not in any band I'd ever want to be in...
Not in any band I'd ever want to be in...
Digital kits sound like digital kits. That's OK, if that's the sound you are chasing. They do not sound like acoustic kits, and rarely replace them. Digital kits sound great in a large p.a. but are very hard to get a good sound out of in a small venue/small p.a.
D
Digital this, digital that. What's next? The double bass player in a symphony orchestra showing up with a Palantino and a modelling amp?
Joking aside, I can see how digital drums must be convenient for a hard working cover band. But for anyone writing their own material and aiming for artistic intergrity I would find digital drums very inappropriate for most genres.
They can be great fun for quiet practise though!
Joking aside, I can see how digital drums must be convenient for a hard working cover band. But for anyone writing their own material and aiming for artistic intergrity I would find digital drums very inappropriate for most genres.
They can be great fun for quiet practise though!
In the last band I played in, our drummer used a Roland electronic drum kit. And people used to tell him all the time that they were anti electronic drums UNTIL they heard him play. He changed peoples' minds about electronic drums. So, in a sense, it's more about the player than the instrument. That being said, electronic drums worked for this band, but probably wouldn't work for other bands.
The pros- portability; took less time to set up than acoustic drums; we could run samples via his kit for a few songs; various sound options; if we wanted to play impromptu at a house party we could simply turn the volume down on the drums and everything and be no louder than a stereo (you'd get a kickin' live electric show at your house party without the noise complaints! Win-win!); and there was one podunk festival show we played where all the bands sounded bad because the drums weren't mic'd... except our band because we were able to connect his drums to the PA.
The cons- If the technology failed we were toast. There were days when we'd set up the drums, plug everything in, and nada. Sometimes we'd get sound engineers who didn't know how to handle electronic drums and our drummer would have to show them how to connect his drums to the house PA. Granted, once he did and they heard that everything sounded more even, they were happy.
Electronic drums, like headless basses, still look kinda weirdly nerdy new-fangled futuristic. They don't look quite as "cool" as acoustic drums. We've had photographers tell us that they couldn't make photos of him behind an electric kit look as cool as they could of drummers behind more impressive acoustic kits.
The ideal setup for us would have been electronic drums with properly mic'd acoustic cymbals. Yeah, newer electronic kits have metal cymbals for a more realistic feel, but those triggers don't sound good. Too brittle. The triggers on his "rubber" cymbals were fuller, but not organic.
Personally, I prefer the organic resonance of "real" acoustic drums. And it's pretty amazing how with electric guitars and basses getting louder with amplification, acoustic drums still keep up or exceed that level of volume. That's remarkable to me.
But I'm glad I played with this band, because it gave me a feel for electronic drumkits and had me thinking differently in some ways.
The pros- portability; took less time to set up than acoustic drums; we could run samples via his kit for a few songs; various sound options; if we wanted to play impromptu at a house party we could simply turn the volume down on the drums and everything and be no louder than a stereo (you'd get a kickin' live electric show at your house party without the noise complaints! Win-win!); and there was one podunk festival show we played where all the bands sounded bad because the drums weren't mic'd... except our band because we were able to connect his drums to the PA.
The cons- If the technology failed we were toast. There were days when we'd set up the drums, plug everything in, and nada. Sometimes we'd get sound engineers who didn't know how to handle electronic drums and our drummer would have to show them how to connect his drums to the house PA. Granted, once he did and they heard that everything sounded more even, they were happy.
Electronic drums, like headless basses, still look kinda weirdly nerdy new-fangled futuristic. They don't look quite as "cool" as acoustic drums. We've had photographers tell us that they couldn't make photos of him behind an electric kit look as cool as they could of drummers behind more impressive acoustic kits.
The ideal setup for us would have been electronic drums with properly mic'd acoustic cymbals. Yeah, newer electronic kits have metal cymbals for a more realistic feel, but those triggers don't sound good. Too brittle. The triggers on his "rubber" cymbals were fuller, but not organic.
Personally, I prefer the organic resonance of "real" acoustic drums. And it's pretty amazing how with electric guitars and basses getting louder with amplification, acoustic drums still keep up or exceed that level of volume. That's remarkable to me.
But I'm glad I played with this band, because it gave me a feel for electronic drumkits and had me thinking differently in some ways.
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I'm not a huge fan but that being said it works in our situation.
I play in a praise band which is. NOT on a stage.
We are crowded into a corner of the church and the acoustic drums were extremely loud and bounced off the corners alot.
The digital drums allow for the sound to be mixed better into the mix with less mic inputs ...
Ours actually is pads added to an acoustic set... More for looks
Also.. Each drummer gets to pick their own " set".... Some sound more acoustic than others...
So it works for us
I play in a praise band which is. NOT on a stage.
We are crowded into a corner of the church and the acoustic drums were extremely loud and bounced off the corners alot.
The digital drums allow for the sound to be mixed better into the mix with less mic inputs ...
Ours actually is pads added to an acoustic set... More for looks
Also.. Each drummer gets to pick their own " set".... Some sound more acoustic than others...
So it works for us
What if they are writing for digital drums? Using acoustic drums in that situation would be losing artistic integrity.
