Hoping for some advice on E-drums

pandoor

Junior Member
Hi
I'm thinking of buying electronic drums but they're not something i know a lot about. . . .

My primary use would be to have as practice kit that doesn't disturb the neighbours and saves me paying to practice in a rehearsal studio so regularly.

I have a recording set up and it'd be useful to have something to trigger samples too but in terms of recording I've used V-drums (which i gather are some of the best ) and was not into their sound/feel vs the sound of a real accoustic kit at all. (I'd also like to use it for a few D.I. rehearsals with my band.)

So i'm not exactly looking to find the best replacement for real drums to record with. But for someone that hasn't played for a while and wants to keep up strength and co-ordination i guess the more real it feels to play the more useful a tool it is. Basically i don't wanna be too disorientated going back to a real kit if possible.

Mesh heads seem to be popular (and quieter) but they also seem to push the cost up. I was thinking of just investing in a mesh head for the snare and scouting on ebay. i'd really like to pick something up that will serve me reasonably without spending more than £400 (I think that's about $650)

So far ION, Alesis, Yamaha, Roland are the main brands i've been looking at. I've seen a few DTXpress 2's in budget would that serve me well?

If anyone can offer any advice on what if anything might fit my requirements, budget etc. i'd be really grateful,


thanks in advance
 
I have been playing e drums for about 7 years. I currently own a TD20 kit.

I prefer mesh pads for the feel. I think in the entry level kits the YAMAHA is the best bang for the buck. it seems to have the most features and quality. In the high end I feel the Roland kits are better,They seem to have invested more in development.

Just keep in mind if recording is important and you want to record audio then you need to pay attention to the number of outputs on the brain.

So in your situation at least in my opinion, the pads are the make or break of the deal.

You need to find the best feeling pads in your price range. You want nice thick pads with low impact to your arms, wrists, hands and fingers. If the pads are to thin you could hurt yourself.
 
Here you can check out all electronic drums manufacturers and cherry pick the one, which suits your budget: http://www.whatdrum.com/drum_navigator/drums/electronic_drums_and_drumsets/

Roland TD-20 with TDW-20 is a flagship model, which is by far better than any other e-drums brands available at the market. Roland is really an equvivalent of Mercedes S-class or Jaguar, if you like.

Recently I have learnt from Drummerworld forum about British supplier http://www.vexpressionsltd.com/ from where you can download high quality and big variety midi samplers for any Roland brains, which will give you a good trade off for money and improve your Roland module inexpensively, I mean you don't need to buy more expensive Roland hardware to expand your existed brain..

Newest Roland budget models e.g. TD-4,TD-9, HD-1 in terms of quality are better than any Yamaha substitutes, hence I'd recommend to choose from Roland models and expand it via http://www.vexpressionsltd.com/

Enjoy e-drumming,
 
Thanks for your input guys.

I have to say the Roland stuff does seem to be quite a bit more expensive (even what you class as budget models).

If i was thinking of using it for recording or as my only kit or budget wasn't an issue maybe the investment would make sense but as mainly a practice tool it's a big leap.

Is it possible to mix and match kits i.e. roland mesh snare with yamaha kit etc.?

IF anyone has any more experience input on pad comparison for yamaha Express/extreme vs roland vs others that'd be cool.

cheers
 
Just for practice at home if I were you I'd buy Roland HD-1 - the best trade off and very quiet due to its pedals system, nothing fancy but very practical and compact set. That's all you need for quiet practice at home. What would be its price in the UK max 500 pounds.

You can use Hart Dynamics pads and cymbals with Roland brains, they works with each other very well. In theory Yamaha and Roland can work together too but I have never saw them together neither in Europe, Japan nor US.

Kind regards,

Sega

www.whatdrum.com
 
Whatever you decide, they are all great. I am currently deployed to Iraq and I stuffed the Roland TD 9 into a box and shipped it over. It sits in my little metal hut, aka Cabana, aka CHU and I bang away for hours at a time. The head phones keep it really quiet. I was worried they may not stand up to the heat, dust etc. but they are great. Being able to play music through the drums and then add a Nome is very handy.

Good luck.
 
Cool, thanks again

IT'd be great to upgrade to a proper kick pedal with the HD1 but from the looks of the construction of the unit it doesn't look like you could.

I've been looking and there seem to be a few TD kits around that might end up near budget.

Also I did read that yamaha DTXpress' only have midi out. What are the implications of no midi in? does that essentially just mean you can't expand on the sounds that are in the brain when playing?

cheers
 
The pedals on the HD-1 feel like no other pedals and so I would only recommend this for a beginner and especially for a child.

Just a correction www.vexpressionsltd.com is an American company and they offer fantastic kits and service.

Davo
 
Like the original poster, I, too, seek some wisdom on the eDrum concepts.

A BIT OF BACKGROUND

While I'm currently a 40 year old attorney, I used to be a rocker -- even got a music degree from one of those fancy music schools in Boston. I played in lots of different bands and really loved it, but once I went to law school, I gave up the rehearsal space and my ability to play in the apartment communities (and future condo/townhome) are quite limited.

I still miss playing, but it was/is impractical for me to spend a few hundred bucks a month on rehearsal space with other financial obligations and pretty extreme time commitments at work. So, I've done virtually no playing for a few years. it's actually rather sad.

Well, over the past few days, I saw some ads in a guitar center flier that showed some edrum sets for less than $1,000 bucks. I remember playing a few acoustic sets that I loved back at the old guitar center 1-3 years ago -- but they were a few thousand bucks and I just didn't have the gumption to spend that kind of cash. I still don't.

The truth is, I could see myself spending $1,000 bucks on an edrum set. I have double hardward (and a great ludwig vistalite drumset, along with my original tama drumset from 25 years ago). It seems like folks seem to argue about a the yamaha vs. the roland -- with a few other hybrids inbetween.

Ideally, I'd be able to crank it up and bang away for 5-10 hours per week to all of the classic rock stuff I have on an iPod. As a minor addition - If I were able to smartly find some folks who wanted some live drums laid down to assist in their recording, I'd dig doing that. I play out very occasionally now -- and given my time constraints at work, my availability for rehearsal is virtuallly non-existent. Thus, first priority is playing to recorded tunes in headphones; second is some ability to record some stuff for people. And a distant third, is using the set for some theoretical live gigs, where I wouldn't use either of my two acoustic sets -- perhaps, to get loud live sounds, but at low stage sound levels.

For me, I'm extraordinarily frugal. I can't imagine buying new. I can imagine getting to know the market and buying used at half-price.

I like the concept of the cymbals that look like cymbals, and hi-hats that look like hi-hats. I also recall really enjoying the feel of the mesh heads a few years back at guitar center.

Anyone made a recent transition? Anyone have any advice? thoughts? Criticisms?

--Craig.
 
I definately say go for mesh heads.. it feels much more like playing real drums then playing rubber pads and the volume level is much lower then plastic heads.
If buying a new set of electronics or even used is cost prohibitive, and you're a self-motivated and crafty person, you can always build your own. there are a ton of resources for DIY edrums. http://edrums.info is a good place to start. I'm working on the a to e conversion now and I am very pleased with the outcome so far. You would still of course have to buy a drum module.

If you're really looking to just practice and don't necessarily need the edrum sounds you could always make or buy mesh heads for your accoustic set and get some practice cymbals or dampeners.
 
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