Practise kit/s

GavManB

Junior Member
Hi people,

I am looking for a practise kit, now unfortunately I don't have the space to put my kit up and make as much noise as I used to so I am looking for either a small(ish) kit that isn't extremely loud like my Tama B/B.

I already have a Roland TD-12 and really hate it as it is nothing like playing on real drums and the sounds quite frankly suck. I have even tried buying other samples people make for these kits yet still nowhere near like a real kit.

I was wondering if anyone had tried those Flats kits or something with any success, i just want something that reacts like a real kit without the full on noise (I know the drummers practise dream). Or maybe a kit made up of some sort of decent practise pads.

Any suggestions will be greatly received.

Thanks

Gav
 
Hi people,

I am looking for a practise kit, now unfortunately I don't have the space to put my kit up and make as much noise as I used to so I am looking for either a small(ish) kit that isn't extremely loud like my Tama B/B.

I already have a Roland TD-12 and really hate it as it is nothing like playing on real drums and the sounds quite frankly suck. I have even tried buying other samples people make for these kits yet still nowhere near like a real kit.

I was wondering if anyone had tried those Flats kits or something with any success, i just want something that reacts like a real kit without the full on noise (I know the drummers practise dream). Or maybe a kit made up of some sort of decent practise pads.

Any suggestions will be greatly received.

Thanks

Gav

I think it's safe to say that the only thing that sounds and feels like a real kit is...a real kit. The muffles, the practice pad kits, and electric kits all have their own feel to them...some are closer than others, but of all of those, the Roland is actually probably the closest to the top, both feel and sound wise.

You may want to look into the Traps A400. It's basically a shell-less drum kit. The feel is just like playing a real kit, because you are playing on heads, etc. The sound is like a really high-tuned drum kit. It is quieter than a normal kit, but honestly, not by all that much...so that may be an issue for you.

Sadly, nothing but a drum kit feels and sounds like a drum kit. I think if there was something that did, most drummers would use it rather than transport their whole kit all over the place.
 
Ya, trapps are loud too. Unfortunately no way around it. I had a td-10 for a while (just experimenting) if you don't have the expansion it really sucks. It is so not worth it and these things are going for like 600 to 800 used on ebay, just for the module.

Your only option is to rent a rehearsal room, if you want to make it more affordable try to find another drummer or two and make up a practice schedule.
I know a couple of guys doing this, they live in condos and it works great.
good luck.
 
Thanks guys for your replies, think maybe the way to go is a traps kit with muffles on as long as there is some decent muffles available/ anyone know of any in particular?

The other thing would then be cymbals can you get decent muffles for them too?

I just really don't want to hassle my neighbours or be hassled by them.

I will look into renting a studio room too I think, would be great to have my kit up all the time, i just think it will be pretty expensive.
 
I think it's safe to say that the only thing that sounds and feels like a real kit is...a real kit. The muffles, the practice pad kits, and electric kits all have their own feel to them...some are closer than others, but of all of those, the Roland is actually probably the closest to the top, both feel and sound wise.

You may want to look into the Traps A400. It's basically a shell-less drum kit. The feel is just like playing a real kit, because you are playing on heads, etc. The sound is like a really high-tuned drum kit. It is quieter than a normal kit, but honestly, not by all that much...so that may be an issue for you.

Sadly, nothing but a drum kit feels and sounds like a drum kit. I think if there was something that did, most drummers would use it rather than transport their whole kit all over the place.

I agree.

I've had all sorts of muffle products over the years, and none of them "feel" like a drum kit. Rubber and foam rubber pads that go over the heads are cool, for about a week. But they feel so different, it ends up driving me nuts, especially the cymbals.

I prefer the electronic route, but it's is a different feel. I pretty much view my electronic set as a different "instrument."

If you're not going to gig with your drum set, I'd just assume take off the heads, and stuff the shells with towels, pillows, whatever, but the downside is it's time comsuming if you need your set.

There are also mesh heads that can fit on any kit, and I think mesh heads feel pretty decent. But again, it's time consuming to change all your heads if want/need to go back to it's regular state.
 
Well I gig most weekends so I can't stuff the shells that's for sure I haven't got time to do all that reheading tuning it would require as well.

I think the best route must be renting somewhere I can keep stuff set up, i'll start looking into that.

Thanks everyone.

Gav
 
Well I gig most weekends so I can't stuff the shells that's for sure I haven't got time to do all that reheading tuning it would require as well.

I think the best route must be renting somewhere I can keep stuff set up, i'll start looking into that.

Thanks everyone.

Gav

What about replacing the rubber pads with pintech mesh pads? www.hopedrums.com. Less than 1/2 the price of roland.
 
Rehearsal space isn't so expensive if you split the cost. Our space is $600 a month in LA. So four ways it cost me $150 a month to play my drums whenever I want. Smaller rooms for drums only are about $350.
 
Down here in south florida, there are several rehersal studios that rent rooms to bands by the hour or by the day. They normally charge 15 bucks per hour for a full band during daytime hours and 20 bucks for evening. Most of them also rent the room, complete with drumset and PA to solo drummers who just want to practice for like 10 per hour. You should see if there is anything like that in your town.

As for kits. i recommend the Pearl Rhythm traveller, which comes with real heads and mesh heads for practice and it's almost as compact as a Traps kit, but sounds closer to a real drum kit.
 
One other thought: A lot of bands in our area practice in those storage spaces that you can rent. I looked into climate controlled ones (to take care of the drums), and the average price was around $60/month, but I found cheaper ones for like $35/month. You could fit a small kit in one, and for not much money a month, go practice there.
 
Yeah the biggest problem is i'm in a shitty area in the UK the only rehearsal space charges £6 an hour which alsomeans hauling all my stuff all the time, which I don't mind so much but it woul be great to be able to leave it up between gigs. Damn this backwards country!
 
Hi
From time to time I had the same problem with practice space...I use Pearl Rhythm Travelers with mesh heads that come with the kit.
I have also use the Pearl Rhythm Travelers for short paying gigs with small stage areas. This little kit with proper head selection, tuning ,miking with a high quality snare drum ( I don't use the snare that came with the kit).
I believe this would work for everything but a heavy metal gig. Denis
 
One other thought: A lot of bands in our area practice in those storage spaces that you can rent. I looked into climate controlled ones (to take care of the drums), and the average price was around $60/month, but I found cheaper ones for like $35/month. You could fit a small kit in one, and for not much money a month, go practice there.

This approach will depend greatly on your location. A 10x10 storage space in LA costs in the vicinity of $300/mo, and have strict noise tolerances (eg, far quieter than you could have a band rehearsal).

Not to mention, there's no better way to alert people to the fact that you've got expensive musical gear in your storage space than to play said gear in the storage space. If you go this route... buy a really nice lock. (eg Mul-T-Lock)
 
I have planned to make room in room in my flat for practicing, but it is too expensiv and in the end i dont know if i made good job, so i decided to invest in 2box drums.
This is electronic/v drum system that is apsolutely new in the drum industry, you can play it with mesh heads,or normal heads. The price should be about 2000 euro and this is normal price in compare to Roland Td20, and you have maybe better V drum.
I saw Ralf Gustke to play it on youtube, and it seems to have great dynamic, only it comes to the market in may.
 
I'm in the same boat as you. A lot of my practice time is at night but I don't get much time because of neighbors. After doing some research on just this subject I think I'm going to save up for a Pearl Rhythm Traveler kit. They come standard with mesh heads for silent playing as well as plastic cymbals as well as 'real' cymbals (but they're apparently crap) but tuned up with decent heads and cymbals they sounds pretty good. Not to mention at $420 they're half the cost of the GoKit and most other compact kits on the market. I don't plan on gigging with it, but being able change the heads and throw it in the back of my car if I want to jam at a friend's is cool too.

Do a youtube search for pearl rhythm traveler. There are a couple videos where they sound pretty good with aftermarket heads and the mesh heads sound very quiet from what I've heard.
 
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