New drummer with TD-4 e-drums. Hi hat help

Dave J

Member
So I am a beginning drummer with a Roland TD-4 set I bought used. I had to replace the KD-8 with a FT-9 to satisfy my low noise requirement. ( aka the wife)
I have the FD-8 hi hat pedal that came with the set. It works but I have to step down harder to get a sound from it. I think that rubber piece that fails on these is in decent shape as I can get the half closed sound. Based on the FT-9 I imagine the FD-9 would have easier action and be as quiet. The FD-8 is not too noisy for "me".
If I invested in a hi hat stand and a VH-11 would I have a noise issue similar to the KD-8? The VH-11 is a one piece so there is only my stick noise on that. Is a hi hat stand pedal going to make enough noise to be a problem I guess is my question.
Also is it normal for a FD-8 to need some umph to generate sounds? I'd like to be able to transition to an acoustic set at some point so if it's normal for the FD-8 to have that feel and it's closer in feel to a "real" hi hat stand I'll happily save my money.
Thank you for any advice.
 
FD-8 has a fundamental design flaw. Rubber goes hard and you have to replace / slice it up / boil it.

FD-9 will be similar volume of foot noise as FD-8 maybe tad less as you won't have to mash it.

VH-11 - foot noise similar. Pad noise will depend on what pad you're using at the moment. (unpopular opinion - moving hats are a pointless anachronism.)
 
Thank you electrodrummer ! Do you think the adjustment from a FD-9 or FD -8 to a acoustic hi hat stand would be a major event? Just thinking about how it would go when I get good enough to sit in at a jam or something with a house set.
Happy New Year. Hope your 2021 is great.
 
As I said - moving hats are pointless. There is no need on an electric kit :) It's just to appease stuck-in-the-mud acoustic drummers! A separate foot controller has more flexibility of positioning on a kit, and often has a greater range of movement creating a more subtle control. And it's lighter to carry! [1]

And Happy New Year to you as well!

[1] Note, I have all types of hat controllers, with moving and non-moving pads for comparison.
 
Update: Got an FD-9 and am happy with as a beginning drummer can be. I am still working on some very basic stuff so when I am doing an exercise that uses the hit hat closed only I will throw the FD-8 back in. Figure I'll save a little mileage on the better one while I can. Once I get to working with using my foot on the high hat I'll go back to FD-9.
Thanks again for the responses. Been fun setting up and fine tuning the kit.
 
Update: Got an FD-9 and am happy with as a beginning drummer can be. I am still working on some very basic stuff so when I am doing an exercise that uses the hit hat closed only I will throw the FD-8 back in. Figure I'll save a little mileage on the better one while I can. Once I get to working with using my foot on the high hat I'll go back to FD-9.
Thanks again for the responses. Been fun setting up and fine tuning the kit.
just use the FD9, the FD8 is pointless to use
 
I couldn't find it in the documentation that I was able to find, so I want to make sure: is FD-9 backward compatible with FD-8 (i.e. works with TD-4)?
 
Back
Top