NEED HELP????????

[Airborne]

Want to get back into drumming. I will have to drum in the garage which is going to drive my neighbors up the wall. A few friends said why not Electronic. I went to a local shop today and left a guitar as a deposit for a new set tomorrow.

My kids want to play as well so I am not going to spend alot of money at this time. My choices from his shop are as follows:

Acoustic:
Tama Imperial Star-$679 or Siverstar $850- he said it comes with hardware and cymbols. (That's Scary). I asked if the hardware is crap and he said no, It's TAMA.

Pearl Forum-$679 or the Pearl Vision-$850

Electronic:
Roland TD-4KX2 $1,095 or Roland TD-9K2 $1,500

Question:
How often do the Rolands break down? What are the pro's and con's? Are there any other ways to quiet down an Acoustic without loosing the sound?

Thanks

 

[jammy313]

if i where you i would go for a yamaha electric for a little cheeper than the td4 if your shop has them. yamahas are cheeper and they are Japanese so its impossible for it to brake. but if you where going to go for an accoustic then go for the pearl vision they are realy good drums for the price better than the tamas but you might not get cymbals or hardware. or get something used just as good but half the price

 

[dairyairman]

the only way to quiet down an acoustic kit without killing the sound is to play very quietly. i suppose you could also play with bundle sticks (aka hot rods, rutes, etc.) but you probably don't want to do that.

if you can tolerate killing some of the sound, you can put towels over your drums and cymbals and stuff pillows in the bass drum. You can also buy "mutes", which are essentially rubber covers that lay on your drums and cymbals. those things really kill the sound.

i have an electronic kit i use for practice to avoid rocking out the neighbors. it's a yamaha kit and i really like it, although the roland kits are very good too. yamaha and roland e-kits are very tough and you're not likely to break them unless you abuse them.

i'd like to put in a good word for the tama kit you're looking at. i had a similar tama kit (a "rockstar" actually) and it was perfectly fine. the hardware was high quality. the drums were well made and sounded good. there was nothing wrong with it.

 

[Shedboyxx]

Acoustic vs. Electronic
I think you have to define 'getting back into drumming'. Are you just playing around on some drums for fun or do you want to eventually start gigging? Are you going to take lessons or start studying method books/DVD's?
I rarely recommend an electric over acoustic for this scenario unless the volume issue is paramount. If so I understand. If not then know that you won't get the same kind of progress and/or gigs on electronic. They can be very musical but have to be played differently. You also have to consider what will be used to put sound out with a band. You either have to buy an amp or you are at the mercy of whatever PA you get plugged into - sometimes without monitors.

There are silencers out there for drums and cymbals. They aren't really 'silent' but more like playing on a drum pad with less bounce.

As far as the Tama's are concerned, their hardware can be some of the best for the money. I'm not sure how the low end stuff holds up but I have Tama hardware from 1982 that still works. I haven't seen the specs on the sets you mention but my concern would be the cymbals. Not as much for durability as for sound quality. Many 'beginner' bundled cymbals are just trash IMO. They are there almost as a stand-in for the eventual real thing. If you buy one of the Tama kits, put brand new, off the shelf heads on and maintain them, you probably won't grow out of the kit for years. At an earlier point, the sound of cheap (not 'cheep') cymbals will start to wear on you. If that's what they are and you are good with that then just go in eyes open. The preceding assumes that these are brand new kits. If they are used and include cymbals, you may get some decent sounding cymbals.

If you do go electronic, Rolands aren't any worse than the nearest competitors (Yamaha) especially at that price point. If you keep them set up just for personal playing and enjoyment, then they should be good for a while. If you start transporting them, they are like any other electronics and will eventually start to show signs and symptoms of wear. How fast that happens depends on the care taken transporting them (Cases!) and how much you break them down.

Acoustics whether Pearl, Tama, Yamaha, etc. will hold up much better being broken down and moved, especially if you keep them in cases.

Figuring out what you want to do (home vs. gigging) and volume level will probably make the biggest difference in decision making.

Jim

 

[Airborne]

Thanks Jim.

I will be using in my home in the garage. I will not be gigging or playing with a band. I will be jamming in the garage with friends but for fun only. Just entertainment. But I would like to progress as well.

Noise is fine as long as I keep it down to a low roar or be respectful of what time it is. I figure to drive them crazy until about 9:00PM and then stop. That is where silencing comes in to play. If I want to practice until 11:00PM, this would be a problem in the garage.

I found a Yamaha DTXeplorer for $499 on clearence at a local shop. This vs the TD-4 at $1,095. Is the Yamaha Junk because it is half the price.

So the question remains, would Electric be the way to go for my situation? Or Acoustic and learn to paly softer when I have to?
Thanks

 

[harryconway]

I found a Yamaha DTXeplorer for $499 on clearence at a local shop.

Jump on that, excellent little unit ... e-kits are much like computers ... old models become very affordable when a new model shows up .... and new models show up "every" six months ...​

I have both a Roland and a Yamaha ... they are the two leaders in the e-kit world. Roland's run a tad more than Yamaha's, simple because Roland is the largest drum manufacturer in the world .... and they don't even make acoustic drums. They're the largest, and they don't have to discount "jack" ...​

Yamaha, on the "other" hand, makes everything ... and a lot of people prefer the sounds of the Yamaha over the Roland, because Yamaha samples their actual acoustic drums.​

When I run my e-kits, I usually go hybrid, real cymbals and snare ... and e-kit in kick and toms. And if you grab the Yamaha unit (as opposed to the $1K+ Rolands), you can go that route, easy ... and still be on a tight budget (of sorts).​

As far as noise ... I have 6 amps in my "jam" room ... 3 Roland PM-1's and 3 Roland KC-100's ... all are 60 watt ... so there's plenty of guitar, bass and keyboard capability ... but no one has Marshall stack volume ... with the capacity to rip the shingles off the neighbors house .... and with a little finesse, you can jam at a volume where you don't even need mics and a PA for vocals.​