Beginner Drummer Chick Needs Advice

BangChick

Junior Member
Hi guys,

I am new to drums. I need electronic drums so I don't disturb my neighbors while I practice, but I don't know what to buy. My budget is $500 or less.

I have seen the Alesis DM6 on eBay for less than $300 new (not used).

Guitar Center has the Yamaha DTXplorer for $499 on sale right now.

There is a used Yamaha DTXpress on Craigslist about an hour and a half from me for $300.

I have also seen used Traps ePads on Musicians Friend for $209 which would leave me money left over to buy a used set of acoustic drums and still be within my budget, but I don't know if the Traps are any good.

I've seen Simmons and Ion sets too.

I'm open to your suggestions of other sets I didn't mention. I really could use your advice on what is a good starter set of electric drums so I can learn. The guy I'm taking lessons from doesn't know anything about electronic drums.

Thanks
xoxo
 
You could do a search. This question has been asked before I'm sure. I can't help you with electronic drums.
 
After having been involved with the MIDI and electronic drum scene since the late 80s - I'm quite leery of these "budget eKits" that are so plentiful today. As far as quality goes, starter kit or pro kit, the thing has to be able to take a hit. And the only two companies I'd be willing to consider these days are Roland or Yamaha. Anything else and you're just buying something that you're going to have to replace sooner than later.

I say save up your money and get the cheapest Roland V-drum kit priced under $800. If you can afford more, than do that. It doesn't matter if you don't know how to play yet - you're looking for build quality that can take someone hitting it with sticks.

That said, may I present an acoustic alternative that I've also done: get yourself a Sonor Safari acoustic drumset and put mesh heads on it to practice. That way, you're playing on something that feels more like a drum, yet is just as silent (if not moreso). And then, when you're ready to play out with someone, just put the regular heads back on it and play. You can get the rubber neoprene pads for your cymbals as well that keep those pretty silent. Your neighbors will not know you're playing at all.

EDIT: Pricing-wise you're looking at about $800 ($339 for the drums, and the rest would be for some hardware and cymbals, and then of course, the mesh heads and pads for the cymbals). But again, I feel this is the better investment for you as it is a real drum kit. No electronic pad will ever help you as much in getting your technique together.
 
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You could also have a look at the Session Pro DD505. Its a pretty good starter e-kit but as with most kits for around that price, you will outgrow it quite fast.

I agree with Bo and suggest saving for the cheapest Roland V-Drum kit. The V-Drums are pretty impressive, even down the cheaper end, and with the mesh heads, they are very quiet. :)

My suggestion if you can afford it - Roland TD4KX
 
Thanks for all the advice Bo and Redfern!

Redfern: GuitarCenter.com is running a sale on the drum set you mentioned...
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Roland-TD-4K2-S-V-Compact-Series-Drum-Set-106515273-i1750391.gc
...for $949 and if I buy it this weekend, it's their birthday and they're discounting it another $100! So it would only cost me $849. This sounds like this might be the best thing to do!

Hmm. I thought I saw those things being sold at Best Buy for $799. Could be wrong.
 
All electric kits will fail eventually.They're electric.If you pay thousands for them,you wont beat on em as hard.Which is a sin in my book :)
If you buy a cheaper set,you can beat the hell out of them,and if a few years down the road you have to replace a piezo on a trigger,so be it.Way cheaper than spending that extra 500-1000 on a kit you only use to practice with.(remember,youre only using it so you dont disturb the neighbors)As soon as you move or get cool neighbors,youre going to want an acoustic kit,and your 1500 worth of e-drums will become the kids rock band kit.

Also look into what you can do to a kit.Are they expandable?If I recall the dm6 isnt expandable,which makes it much less attractive to drummers.Hence the dirt cheap prices on it.Look into what you would want to do to it.Would you want to add cymbals?A couple more toms?Doing so on one brand may cost you a thousand dollars,where another brand would only cost a couple hundred.
Are you going to play it 5 hours a day,7 days a week?Or 1 hour a day 3 days a week?The first,you may want something like Roland,the second you can get away with the alesis or cheaper yamahas.

stay within a budget...if you stick with drums,then soon enough youll be looking at what type of wood you want in an acoustic kit.Thats when the real fun starts.

By the way,for the price of an entry level roland...you could get that cheaper yamaha or alesis AND a sonor force acoustic kit.You would have a good starter e-kit,and a very respectable acoustic kit to build on.
 
I wouldn't buy that TD4........again. '

I have that exact Roland. I paid 799 for it earlier this year when they were running their sale.

I played on that for about a month before I decided that it's basically nothing more than a glorified practice pad. It is not a real drum set in any sense of the word. The feel is nothing like an acoustic kit. The pads are hard and lifeless. The mesh snare sounds like a tennis racket. Everything goes through a speaker or headphones. There's just no life, no breath to it. It feels like I'm playing a toy. A cool, really freakin expensive toy, but a toy nonetheless. Also, if you live in an apartment, the electic kit are notorious for the kick pedal and pad the transmit a LOT of noise through apartment floors. There's several platform techniques that have been developed to combat this, but it is a problem for apartment dwellers.

Mine sits in the corner and rarely gets used now, and I've only had it 6 months. My daughter plays on it occasionally, and despite all the cool features the TD4 has, even she goes straight for the acoustic kit given the choice. It does have a really good metronome that I use all the time. Great, I bought a $800. metronome. :(

Honestly, with the neoprene pads on my acoustic kit, it's quieter than banging on those rubber e-kit pads. When I want to take it down another notch, I use rods, with the neoprene pads. Very quiet and still has the feel (not the sound) of a real acoustic kit.
When it's convenient, take the pads off and go to town.

I practice in the basement in the evenings. My wife is two floors up in the bedroom studying. If I am on the acoustic kit with pads, she cannot hear me at all. On the E-kit, she can clearly hear the tapping of the tom amd cymbal pads two floors up. It's not vibration noise, it's traveling up through the air ducts, but there is still a very clear difference in volume level.

My opinion, buy an acoustic kit.



However, all that being said.....
If you are going to get an electric kit, the TD4 is a great unit. I do think a grand is a little much, and I would shop for a used one. Also , I would look for one that has all mesh heads if it's in the budget.

Good luck
 
I wouldn't buy that TD4........again. '

I have that exact Roland. I paid 799 for it earlier this year when they were running their sale.

I played on that for about a month before I decided that it's basically nothing more than a glorified practice pad. It is not a real drum set in any sense of the word. The feel is nothing like an acoustic kit. The pads are hard and lifeless. The mesh snare sounds like a tennis racket. Everything goes through a speaker or headphones. There's just no life, no breath to it. It feels like I'm playing a toy. A cool, really freakin expensive toy, but a toy nonetheless. Also, if you live in an apartment, the electic kit are notorious for the kick pedal and pad the transmit a LOT of noise through apartment floors. There's several platform techniques that have been developed to combat this, but it is a problem for apartment dwellers.

Mine sits in the corner and rarely gets used now, and I've only had it 6 months. My daughter plays on it occasionally, and despite all the cool features the TD4 has, even she goes straight for the acoustic kit given the choice. It does have a really good metronome that I use all the time. Great, I bought a $800. metronome. :(

Honestly, with the neoprene pads on my acoustic kit, it's quieter than banging on those rubber e-kit pads. When I want to take it down another notch, I use rods, with the neoprene pads. Very quiet and still has the feel (not the sound) of a real acoustic kit.
When it's convenient, take the pads off and go to town.

I practice in the basement in the evenings. My wife is two floors up in the bedroom studying. If I am on the acoustic kit with pads, she cannot hear me at all. On the E-kit, she can clearly hear the tapping of the tom amd cymbal pads two floors up. It's not vibration noise, it's traveling up through the air ducts, but there is still a very clear difference in volume level.

My opinion, buy an acoustic kit.



However, all that being said.....
If you are going to get an electric kit, the TD4 is a great unit. I do think a grand is a little much, and I would shop for a used one. Also , I would look for one that has all mesh heads if it's in the budget.

Good luck

I'm going to have to disagree with almost every point you've raised here (except at the end when you went the complete opposite direction and contradicted most of what you were trying to say..)

I have a Roland TD4 with mesh pads. I live in an apartment, so an acoustic kit wasn't an option (but I do play one when I take lessons every week). My neighbours have told me to stop playing twice over the span of 8 months, and that's only because the guy works nights and sleeps during the day. Even still, he rarely if ever says he hears me playing at all.

Your entire response hinges on the fact that you have the option of playing an acoustic kit. Not everyone (including the person who created this thread) has that option.

Being some one who was in DrummerChick's position 8 months ago, seeing a post like that is very demoralizing and of no value - if anything it has a negative impact. Your suggestion to purchase an acoustic kit is off topic.
 
Here's an update. Thanks for all the advice.

I just bought the Roland TD-4KX2-S V-Compact drum set from Guitar Center. They price matched a 15% off sale that Musician's Friend was having yesterday so I got quite a bit off the price. It has mesh heads on all of the drums which feel good. I ended up spending a little more than double my budget, but I did it based on the great advice I got here and I could tell a quality difference between the look and feel of the Roland versus the Alesis and Simmons.

I'm sure I will like this set. Acoustic drums simply weren't an option for me at this time.

Thank you all!
 
I'm going to have to disagree with almost every point you've raised here,,,

Really?

And playing these new hats = learning all over again..I'm finding I cant do anything on these hats and make it sound "right". There's so much more dynamics with real cymbals. With the Roland hats I could hit the hats pretty much anywhere and it would generally sound the same. I'm now noticing how rediculous that is. The sabian hats are definitely making me their bitch right now..The number of different sounds, depending on which part of the stick you use on which part of the hat, and how tight everything is is an astronomical difference in comparison to playing the Roland. It's really got me feeling like everything I've accomplished so far on my e-kit is completely erased, and that I haven't been playing "for real". Super bummed out about it..



I have a Roland TD4 with mesh pads

That's different than what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the rubber pads that come on the base TD4 and most other entry level e-kits..
ROLAND_PD8-dw.jpg


I suggested getting a kit with mesh pads if it was in the budget, and it was.

As far as the apartment sound issues I was referring to, it's a real issue, and there are threads all over V-drums about it.

Here's a few.

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17565

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21054

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20852

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20248

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20861

And disagree or not, in my house, an acoustic kit with neoprene pads is quieter than my TD4 with rubber cymbals and tom pads. That's not opinion, it's fact!
 
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Here's an update. Thanks for all the advice.

I just bought the Roland TD-4KX2-S V-Compact drum set from Guitar Center. They price matched a 15% off sale that Musician's Friend was having yesterday so I got quite a bit off the price. It has mesh heads on all of the drums which feel good. I ended up spending a little more than double my budget, but I did it based on the great advice I got here and I could tell a quality difference between the look and feel of the Roland versus the Alesis and Simmons.

I'm sure I will like this set. Acoustic drums simply weren't an option for me at this time.

Thank you all!

Wow very nice set.

If I new you were going that expensive I would have recommended a used car and a budget kit :)

Enjoy it!!!(and insure it)
 
@THC

You made great points man,and she did mention wanting to have money left over for an acoustic kit,so not sure how people got so uptight over it.

You got me looking into some brushes.My acoustic kit just eclipses the e-kit.Its like riding a go-kart,when you have a Lamborghini parked in the driveway.You just cant drive the lamborghini without getting pulled over 6 times before the first stop sign.

what we need to invent is a way to deafen those around us so we dont have all these noise issues!!Maybe run up on your neighbor with a blow horn ran through a megaphone.If it doesnt completely deafen them,theyll at least appreciate how much quieter the drums are next door,than the blow horn to the ear.
 
Here's an update. Thanks for all the advice.

I just bought the Roland TD-4KX2-S V-Compact drum set from Guitar Center. They price matched a 15% off sale that Musician's Friend was having yesterday so I got quite a bit off the price. It has mesh heads on all of the drums which feel good. I ended up spending a little more than double my budget, but I did it based on the great advice I got here and I could tell a quality difference between the look and feel of the Roland versus the Alesis and Simmons.

I'm sure I will like this set. Acoustic drums simply weren't an option for me at this time.

Thank you all!

You made a good choice there BC - perfect for what you wanted.

If you want to be involved with more positive vibes about electronic kits jump over to the Vdrums forum where they will gladly talk about configurations etc

http://www.vdrums.com/forum
 
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