I feel like I'll never get proper practice?

aviator42009

Junior Member
I've constantly had a problem with drumming. When I got my drum set I realized how obnoxiously loud drums are (especially in the environment I have to keep mine in) so I got silencer pads. I've grown very tired of these because my drums still sound very obnoxious and really think electric drums are the best way to go. I'm still not sure if its a good idea because of how people say that electric drums are unrealistic in feel. Although I think that having the electric set will motivate me to practice more because of the low volume and good sound. (I've played a cheap set before so I know what I'm getting into).

I do play in a band weekly using an acoustic drum set without any silencers and at my weekly lessons, so I won't be completely away from real feeling drums.
 
I thought the same thing last year, went out and bought a nice Roland TD-4 with all mesh heads (no hard rubber) from GC, got it home set it up and after about 1 week I was done with it. Thankfully GC has a great return policy so I lost nothing but some gas money.

Not sure why but the sounds were cool at 1st but then I just wanted the old acoustic sound and I could never really get it with the roland, plus after sitting behind a big ole acoustic kit sitting behind the e-kit just felt wayy out of place to me and I was never fully comfortable.

Even with mesh heads the kit was sort of loud, especially the hats and cymbals.

Different strokes for different folks, maybe a different model or brand will sound better and maybe I should have given it more time but I just never felt comfy behind it and did not practice anymore than I do with my acoustic so I got rid of it and honestly do not miss it at all. I tried it and it's not for me.

Make sure you check the return policy of wherever you buy them just in case you feel similar to how I felt.

Good luck.
 
I'm in the same boat.
I wish, I really wish I could have practiced on an acoustic kit all these years.
But don't fret too much.

You can still learn core hand technique, you can still learn grooves and chops that WILL translate to a proper drum set, although I find (and so do others I've spoken to) that it takes a bit of getting used to the size of an acoustic kit (as in the size and locations of the drums) before you can whack out your most complicated stuff on an acoustic.

Dynamics is also a problem; but I've found there is an essence of 'believing in the dynamics' here; you can play quietly on the rubber/mesh pads, so you can play quietly on a snare drum or tom and it will sound 'correct' still, despite any worries that the sound will be vastly different when really it won't if you have good technique.

The coordination between limbs you learn on an electric kit will obviously still be exactly the same as on an acoustic kit; that's down to your mind and your body, not the instruments you're playing with.

Rebound may be different, eg on the toms, but advice that I've recieved is to work on your core hand technique both on the pad, and on a non-rebound surface (eg pillow). Aside from doing that, there's not much you can do about this problem apart from get an acoustic kit and get used to the rebound! Though if you place importance on using the rebound to help you but not relying on it, this shouldn't be an issue.

Having weekly access to an acoustic kit is very good though, stick with that as much as you can.

On the plus side, as an e-kit owner, I often get away with practicing at ridiculous times in the evening. My cutoff point is 11pm - would you get that with an acoustic kit? What if you're at work and you come home and you're too exhausted to practice, but perk up at say 8/9/10pm? Too late, your drums will piss everyone off at these times!

I'm fortunate in that in 2 weeks I'm entering the British Army as a musician, and after my basic training I'll be able to practice all I want a very good percussion room when I'm in my phase 2 (music) training. I know that it'll take me time to get used to the feel of an acoustic kit, but like you I've had weekly access to an acoustic before and I'm confident that I'll get a grip of things in a short amount of time when I'm there. All is not lost.

When I first got my electric kit, I was frustrated with it and even considered quitting at one point, but I was about 12/13 years old and I'm sure in retrospect that was just a frustrated kid thinking. I stuck with it and I'm glad I did.

I find a lot of it is simply self-confidence: be confident that you've practiced the coordination of this fill or that groove, and that you can play it on the big acoustic kit in front of you and it'll be correct, despite practicing on an electric kit.

You can't practice brushes on an electric kit (maybe on the newer ones you can?) but I have an acoustic snare and stand - it's the only acoustic drum I own - so sometimes I'll set that up and just groove with brushes, or even just use my practice pad on a snare stand.

So, in short, don't worry too much, but be aware that there are differences you may have to work on.
 
It's not the same, but it's a million times better than having nothing.

I think expecially for learning new independence stuff the loss isn't too bad and better than pads so you can at least assosiate each linb with the right type of sound(though imagining everything inside your head is a fantastic exercise for those with the patience to do so). Working on improving your basic hand technique can be done on something else. I still use my Realfeel pad and now that I have real drums to play on I cab sort of adjust things in my head so that the difference isn't so big, unless I want it to be. I also vary the rebound on the pad by putting t-shirts and towels on it.
 
Those drum silencer pads are horrid, I don't blame you.

Put sheets under both the batter and reso heads, and fill your bass drum up too, I think it's the best approach.

I've got an e kit too but I never play it, it's just not real kit and therefore I'm not very interested.
 
A tradeoff. e-drums play anytime day or night with great sound especially with VSTs. Acoustics the real feel and dynamics. Practice Pad for rudiments. In ideal world, you have all three.
 
Thanks for the somewhat support, I felt like I'd get told I was wrong.. haha

The way I see it is that I'd rather have slightly too much rebound than some crazy inconsistent terrible rebound, and I can't even properly practice with my bass drum. I definitely think the combination of focused practice on drum set coordination (I have a really weird mentality with things, I'll just feel so much better with the change to a clean quieter sound), some pad practice, and practice on the acoustic twice a week will keep me in a pretty good way. The time will be much larger anyway, so the benefits outweigh the risks. Besides, the electric set I want has some built in goodies, I can record demos for my band with it, I can bring my acoustic to my band's practice space to replace the awful set there, and I'll be able to do more side jams anywhere I want (portability)
 
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