I just started drums after almost 40 years on guitar....

stellar92010

Senior Member
First let me say, I have gained an immense amount of respect for drummers after starting to learn drums, because I didn't realize they had to have a TONE ear in addition to the rhythm. With that said, I played guitar and bass before in rock and jazz bands but....well, I think I am going to be much better on drums. I dont know why. I have a lot to learn, and maybe that is the fun part--the effort and journey of learning an instrument.

Right now my setup is: I am playing roland v-drums and triggering addictive drums. it sounds good but...i have started setting up a kit, and I bought a peral 20x18 reference bass, a pearl 14x6.5 ian paice snare, and a pearl 13x3 brass piccolo snare. Strange to say, I like the sound of that little brass piccolo snare the best, after I put a remo renaissance emperor head on it and tuned it. really nice crack and a fine 'snare sound'

I am going to add a few small toms and some cymbals to finish the kit, i like small toms, and I also have a zildjian 15 new beat hi hat. I look forward to learning a lot from you guys that have played a lot and am honored to learn anything I can from you.
 
Wow that's awesome! Well, welcome to drumming and the forum. I believe drumming is one of the most humbling things I have ever experienced and may be to others as well. Just when you think you've broken through on something or that you're making great progress, you load up a favorite drumming video only to watch it and realize you still have a loooong way to go lol. I especially admire Gospel drummers. Their linear creativity is just incredible, as are their right feet to go along with it lol.

And yes, as far as tuning, it's just like drumming and not to take away from Mike Johnston's saying but some are just beginning, few have mastered it and most of us are somewhere in the middle. IMO you have to be extremely tone deaf or sorry to be blunt, horrible at tuning a drum to make it sound bad. The middle ground is huge with tuning and only a few are probably masters at tuning up a drum head. So don't be too afraid of tuning up your drums. In fact here are a couple links to watch to get you started.

Anyway, that's awesome you plan to piece together a set to jam with and a Pearl Reference bass drum is a great start! If you like small drums I'd say look at going with an 8", 10" and 14" setup. Can be a very fun and melodical set to play with. If nothing else a 1 up 1 down 10" and 14" inch setup would be fine too. Not sure if you'll read this but good luck with your drumming journey!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM19VkXXJp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULSqYyzv7E
 
Yea. I'm thinking of an 8,10,12, and 14 mounted reference tom, and a 16 floor tom, I would like to get a 20 ply reference snare but they sure are expensive.

I haven't had much trouble with independance, what is strange is what I'm having trouble with is single stroke rolls around the kit, i can double stroke ok, and buzz, control my rebound, etc, but what has really surprised me is the thing i thought would be the easiest--single stroking--turns out to be harder than the others.
 
Oh I see lol. Well when you said a few small toms, I didn't know you wanted to create a seven piece kit lmao! :)

No problem there, as I bought the PDP X7 in maple 2 years ago after being away from drumming for 10+ years. The only thing about it is now that I've gotten back into it and have had the chance to really look at myself as a player, I find that I don't really like having two floor toms. I really just have no idea how to utilize the 14" and 16" together. Also even though I really like the 8" tom, I find that I don't use it all that much either. Though for the sale price that I paid for the set new, it was worth it to be able to have all these setup options at the ready. With having 7 pieces, I have tried everything from 1 up, 1 down to the full 7 piece setup and out of it all I just can't get used to having two floor toms. I may try a 1 up 2 down config again at some point just to give it another chance.

As for snares, yeah I agree. They can be a pretty penny. I have come to the point that the X7 snare is not giving me a nice woodsy sound but more sound from the snare heads them selves as the snare is quite thin and is Chinese maple. So I too have been researching snares for the past month or so.

As for the single strokes. The spacing of them when playing at faster BPM's can be a bit tricky to keep even I'm sure. Just have to keep working at it and it will happen soon enough. Good luck, have fun and don't hesitate to ask for help around here.
 
Welcome! I made the real switch to drums after about 10 years of playing guitar and bass. It just feels so much more natural to me. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, and I'm jealous of your V-Drums.
 
OK, I admit it, I'm definitely an equipment junkie. Maybe I'll go with 10/12/13/14 rack toms with no floor tom. that might be a nice jazz/easy listening/ type of kit. I'm working on what heads to use, and deciding on cymbals.

Now, I searched forums for advice on drum heads, I looked at about 40 or 50 peoples recommendations and now I have 40 or 50 combinations of heads to try. LOL.

I was at first going to say "wow I like Ian Paice, I'll get all paiste cymbals" etc, but i've found I like a combo of paiste and zildjian i.e. paiste ride and fast crashes, zildjian hi hats and crashes, but I do love the sound of reference series drums. It's just painful to have to pay like, $600 or $700 for one tom.

But then again, quality cymbals aren't cheap and neither is hardware or stands. I'm wondering how drummers build a quality kit at the prices for drum gear.

But if it is like guitar/bass playing I have learned one immutable truth in the last 40 years, if you want a good sound, and equipment that lasts, you have to pay for it (though there are some quite good low end korean/japanese made guitars, for example, that sound excellent)

That's my 2 cents worth....got to learn another tune.
 
OK, I admit it, I'm definitely an equipment junkie.

We all get to that point sometime, or what ever our wallet, wife or girlfriend will allow us to lol! I personally have a hole burning in my pocket as I am wanting this 13x7 snare badly. The sound of it is just absolutely perfect! I really don't want to give away the name of it because I want it to stay an unknown gem of a snare lol.

Anyway, those are choices you'll have to make when it comes time to buying some toms. I personally am quite curious as to how you come about that Pearl bass drum and why or how you plan to piece together a kit. Is it going to mismatch? Are you going to get more Pearl Reference toms in a natural finish? Plus and considering your situation and how you're going about this, I would have went with a complete and used intermediate kit instead of spending that kind of money on something you are just starting to learn. You seem to be going about getting a kit in a difficult way. Though it's your money and I am not, in any way, saying what you should do. Just for the money you possibly could have gotten a full set in great shape and of great quality to start out on for a few years.

As for heads, it's all part of the fun of learning what you want regarding sound and feel. It's ok to ask for suggestions but trust me in the long run, it's all about testing things.
 
Yea, I think I will go with Reference Toms with natural finish. At first, I had just wanted a bsss, snare, and hi hat to work on. The V-Drums with mesh pads sound very good ltriggering addictive drums with a quality sound card. So I thought, I'll get some acoustics......and after research I decided I wanted a small pearl reference, so I got one relatively cheap that was new. I wanted a smaller one, so I found the 20x18....after hearing it, I thought i would get some shells to match it......I mean, it sounds tight, with a vintage type deep sound, but with more punch and much less interior 'reverb' --exactly what I had wanted. So I'm hooked.

I've also thought about getting some birdseye maple master's mcx toms because those shells sound pretty tight also, a bit brighter perhaps and less expensive.

I guess I have the luxury of doing it because I love it!
 
Welcome stellar! Sounds like you're coming to this with an interesting perspective, and I look forward to reading more about how it goes for you.

As i was reading the thread, this made me laugh:
We all get to that point sometime, or what ever our wallet, wife or girlfriend will allow us to lol!

I'm in my first year of drumming, and i believe I've just crossed that line!
I play v drums too, and was thrilled to move up from a practice pad to a full kit. And THEN I started craving 'real sounds', so picked up a tambourine, shaker, etc. and am buying a second hand snare as soon as its ready. But that's not enough... I've got a plan to secretly assemble a small but mighty acoustic kit, piece by piece over the next couple of years. Hopefully slow enough that my husband won't clue in until I have a full acoustic kit in the dining room!

And now I'm off to my second job, that I recently started to cover my drumming lessons and pay off my e-kit!
 
And now I'm off to my second job, that I recently started to cover my drumming lessons and pay off my e-kit!

Oooh yeah, that's right, there are women drummers. :p :D

Yeah that goes for the women and their significant others too lol. Also I commend you on your efforts to provide for yourself and family. Best wishes for you with your new job and that all goes well. Keep on doin Leanne!

XD
 
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