What styles can electric drums not do?

[SomeDude49]

I was looking to getting into drums and it seems the only option i have is electric drums(due to obvious noise problems).

When it comes to music, i've always liked Rock and Metal, but i haven't just stayed with those genres, and i've enjoyed ones that have fused those with others(progressive). So i was wondering, are there styles electric drums can't do?

By the way, is there an electric drum set you would recommend?

Thanks.

[Gretschman1]

I own both an acoustic set (Gretsch Catalina Birch) and an electronic set (Alesis DM5 Pro) I use the electronic kit mainly for practice but I have played live shows with it in smaller rooms where volume with my Gretsch kit would be a problem. The advantage to my electronic kit is that I have 540 different sounds in 21 user kits that I can use. Many of these are with effects (digital reverb etc.) That makes them great for recording and you don't have the micing headaches that you usually do in the studio with an acoustic kit. My Electronic set has sounds suitable for metal, Jazz, Rock, Funk, you name it! But it isn't much to look at on stage and it as well as any other electronic set I've ever played feels sort of sterile when you are playing live. I can say that I have had a lot more home practice time with my electronic set and have become a better drummer as a result.
If you are on a limited budget, I would recommend the DM5 Pro from Alesis as it has all the above features and sells for only 599! If you have a larger budget I would say go to the Roland or Yamaha sets.

[dpf]

I also have both an electric and an acoustic kit. Mine are an 80's export 7 pc. and a Roland TD-6. I have had the e-kit for about 5 years and like Gretschman1 said, the amount of practice time you get on the e-kit makes a big difference. You can play at 3am and nobody will know. I also find that I am less self-conscious and can relax. I don’t feel like I’m driving the people around me crazy if I’m going over the same thing for an hour. I have not found anything you can’t play on it, you just cant beat the crap out of it. After 5 years of heavy use the Roland has held up extremely well. I am biased and have not tried too many other brands, but I would recommend Roland if you can afford it. But go out and try some and see what you like. Let us know what you get.

[gusty]

The problem with electronic drums is that they lack the 'feel' of acoustic drums. Stuff like jazz (which relies heavily on the feel) wouldnt be so great when playing with other jazz musicians. However, its great for practising pretty much whatever you want. in my opinion stuff like hip hop and electronic music are well suited to e drums. i have a set of roland td-10's, great for practising since i have a lot of stuff to fit into my week.

[thiscocks]

The Alesis DM5 is a great drum sound module. Think the sounds on it are better than the standard Roland ones, defenatly the cymbal sounds anyway.

Id reccomend a Roland TD6 kit for a starter kit, although I havent tried too many different electric kits other than Rolands. The good thing with the Roland modules is you can play along to clicks and song samples. You can do rock on them, but one of the weaker aspects of electric kits are the open hat sounds. It wont sound like a 'real' kit in this respect, but will still be easily good enough for practice situations to that type of music.

[JimFiore]

I don't buy the "feel" argument against edrums. I've been playing drums for 40 years, electronics for the majority of the past 25 years. I currently use a Roland TD-20 based system. While I actually prefer the older rubber pad triggers (due to size), the mesh head triggers respond very much like acoustic drums. "Feel", by the way, is acquired. If I sat down behind an acoustic kit today, it wouldn't "feel" right. In the hands of a good player, edrums can be very expressive.

The one thing I will say in favor of acoustics is that there's a certain sense of immediacy. You hit, it makes a sound right where you hit. When you get right down to it, the difference between edrums and acoustic drums is kind of like the difference between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. I imagine that some acoustic guitar players say that the electric guitar is inferior and doesn't "feel right". I guess it doesn't to them, but that doesn't make an electric guitar "wrong".

The convenience of high quality sounds and a volume control cannot be underestimated! I'd look for a quality used kit first. I have seen DM5 based systems pretty cheap from time to time. Be forewarned that you can drop a bundle on a new, high quality ekit!

[gusty]

I don't buy the "feel" argument against edrums. I've been playing drums for 40 years, electronics for the majority of the past 25 years. I currently use a Roland TD-20 based system. While I actually prefer the older rubber pad triggers (due to size), the mesh head triggers respond very much like acoustic drums. "Feel", by the way, is acquired. If I sat down behind an acoustic kit today, it wouldn't "feel" right. In the hands of a good player, edrums can be very expressive.

The one thing I will say in favor of acoustics is that there's a certain sense of immediacy. You hit, it makes a sound right where you hit. When you get right down to it, the difference between edrums and acoustic drums is kind of like the difference between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. I imagine that some acoustic guitar players say that the electric guitar is inferior and doesn't "feel right". I guess it doesn't to them, but that doesn't make an electric guitar "wrong".

The convenience of high quality sounds and a volume control cannot be underestimated! I'd look for a quality used kit first. I have seen DM5 based systems pretty cheap from time to time. Be forewarned that you can drop a bundle on a new, high quality ekit!

I dont mean the feel of the drum itself when you hit it...rather the 'feel' of the sound it makes. Take jazz for example. You can play the technical side of it just as well on edrums as you can on an acoustic set, but the sound will be lacking in swing and groove.

But I definately agreewith your last paragraph.