Small space practice kit.

B

BillyBumbler

Junior Member
Hi all.

I have a Roland TD-12 kit which my Dad gave me but it is just too big for my current space but I need something at home as I’m starting lessons after lockdown ends, I'm a complete beginner.

My requirements are it must be compact, be it foldable, table top or just a small floor space, quiet as I have a rescue dog that reacts to banging and as realistic in feel as possible as my lessons will be on an acoustic kit so I need to be able to practice any rudiments, rebounds e.t.c

I’ve looked around at things like the Medeli tabletop variants like the Alesis Compact Kit 7 other tabletop ones like the Yamaha DD-75 and the compact Roland TD-1K.

Does anyone have any recommendations? To be honest these are all I really know and as we are in lockdown I don’t have the opportunity to try any out so all I can do is read reviews, watch videos and ask those of you who have a better knowledge than me.

Thank you all for reading.
 
wildbill said:
Those will work fine for learning. If you want it to emulate a kit, make sure it's got hi hat and bass drum pedals or switches.

If you want to go a bit more upscale, there's stuff like the Roland SPD-SX, SPD-30, Yamaha DTX-M12, and Alesis Strike pads.

For rudiments and basic practice work, all you really need is a practice pad, a pair of sticks, and a guide book or sheet.
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They're like the same thing, I'd say even worse because there's no spacing between the pads themselves.

If you want to learn, get a full sized kit. You're not going far with a table top kit, that's a toy. SPD-SX and company are sample players and are meant as an auxiliary piece to a normal acoustic kit.
 
Fritz Frigursson said:
They're like the same thing, I'd say even worse because there's no spacing between the pads themselves.

If you want to learn, get a full sized kit. You're not going far with a table top kit, that's a toy. SPD-SX and company are sample players and are meant as an auxiliary piece to a normal acoustic kit.
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Thank you.

Like I said in my original post I have a Roland TD-12 but it's just too big for the space I have available so I have the full sized kit, what I need is something that I can practice at home with that doesn't take up so much space.
 
BillyBumbler said:
Thank you.

Like I said in my original post I have a Roland TD-12 but it's just too big for the space I have available so I have the full sized kit, what I need is something that I can practice at home with that doesn't take up so much space.
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The TD-1 DMK should be quite small compared to the TD12, so I'd try that. If you want a smaller kit still, try the TD1KV. It's not the best kit in the world but it is very compact.
 
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Thanks all, you've given me something to think about.

As I've already got a lot of Roland stuff, a full TD-12 kit plus a few extra cymbals, extra pads and a digital 14" snare, surely I can make a smaller kit out of that lot?

The frame is just too big, so that has to go and all the cymbals and toms attach to the frame but the hi-hat, snare and bass drum are free standing.

Perhaps if I get two cheap cymbal stands I could attach the crash & ride plus the toms to that? or maybe there is a small drum frame out there somewhere I could attach it all too?

Thanks all for your thoughts and ideas.
 
BillyBumbler said:
The frame is just too big, so that has to go and all the cymbals and toms attach to the frame but the hi-hat, snare and bass drum are free standing.

Perhaps if I get two cheap cymbal stands I could attach the crash & ride plus the toms to that? or maybe there is a small drum frame out there somewhere I could attach it all too?
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Pull the frame to pieces and reconfigure it to what you need. It's just tubes and clamps. All the tubes and clamps are industry standard size so you can also use bits from Yamaha, Gibraltar, Dixon etc. Get shorter tubes off eBay if you need. Often use 90-degree tube-to-tube clamps instead of t-pieces can help with flexibility for example, allowing tubes to slide to the length you want
1612172088606.png
 
electrodrummer said:
Pull the frame to pieces and reconfigure it to what you need. It's just tubes and clamps. All the tubes and clamps are industry standard size so you can also use bits from Yamaha, Gibraltar, Dixon etc. Get shorter tubes off eBay if you need. Often use 90-degree tube-to-tube clamps instead of t-pieces can help with flexibility for example, allowing tubes to slide to the length you want
View attachment 100532
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The frame looks like this https://www.roland.com/us/products/td-12s/ so if I remove say the left piece where just the module sits, will it be stable enough?

Those clamps look good, I'll look into those.

Thank you.
 
BillyBumbler said:
The frame looks like this https://www.roland.com/us/products/td-12s/ so if I remove say the left piece where just the module sits, will it be stable enough?
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Possibly not, since it has been designed to be mounted that way. In your case, a Pearl Compact Traveler with an extra cheap pad or two, or a Roland TD-1DMK for a full drumset with little floor space, should be your choices. With these kits you should be up and running. And always, of course, mesh heads whatever the kit, if you're supposed to practice quietly...
 
jotadrums said:
Possibly not, since it has been designed to be mounted that way. In your case, a Pearl Compact Traveler with an extra cheap pad or two, or a Roland TD-1DMK for a full drumset with little floor space, should be your choices. With these kits you should be up and running. And always, of course, mesh heads whatever the kit, if you're supposed to practice quietly...
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Looking at that Pearl compact traveller - I already have that with the digital 14" snare on a snare stand and a free standing mesh kick drum tower and a hi hat stand with a floating VH-11 hi hat as seen here https://www.roland.com/us/products/td-12s/ (The snare is the only thing different from this image)

So take away the stand and everything attached to it and I have the Pearl essentially, free standing Snare, kick and hi hat. I just need something to attach the crash, ride and toms.
 
You don't need to buy even more drums! Here's what I'd do:

1. Mooch around eBay for a smaller Roland frame - this one's going for thirty quid at the time of writing:

Roland.jpg

2. Decide you're going to learn on a one-up-one-down two tom kit, so leave the right-hand rack tom out of it for now.
3. Keep the mock-acoustic hi-hat stand for when you have more space and replace it for now with a simpler one that just clamps to the left-hand tube. Use a simpler kick pedal such as the KT-10 if you need more space at floor level.
3. Attach your two toms, snare and cymbals.
4. Park the brain on anything from an upturned cardboard box to a snare stand if there's no space for it on the smaller rack.

So, a bit of expenditure, but nothing you can't sell on again when no longer needed.
 
It depends what you want out of your kit.

I don't have an electronic kit as I only care about how things feel.

The universal idea though, is to just set up what you need.

For a practice kit I only have a 4-piece, hats, ride and generally something on the left side also, which shouldn't really add to the size.

What do you need/want for a "practice kit?"

I probalby wouldn't go with something like Octapad kit unless that's somewhat what your gigging kit looks like. People do do that, though. I know at least the drummer for Norwegian artist Emilie Nicolas does something like that.
 
Odd-Arne Oseberg said:
It depends what you want out of your kit.
What do you need/want for a "practice kit?"
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----Well, a snare, hat, bd and one-up, one-down. Just a four piece. Crash and ride. A simple kit. In fact, when the TD-1DMK arrives, I will probably leave one of the toms without mounting, and use his place for the ride....
 
Zaxx said:
You don't need to buy even more drums! Here's what I'd do:

1. Mooch around eBay for a smaller Roland frame - this one's going for thirty quid at the time of writing:
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----Do you write from the States? In the eBay European area is difficult to find those bargains...perhaps I should be patient!!! All good things to those who wait!!!:p
 
jotadrums said:
----Do you write from the States? In the eBay European area is difficult to find those bargains...perhaps I should be patient!!! All good things to those who wait!!!:p
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No, I'm in the UK - the item shown above was on the UK eBay site - plus I understand the OP (also in the UK) has since managed to pick one up for even less. I suggested the one-up-one-down idea in my post above.
 
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