Should drummers in covers bands use electronic kits?

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Rockdrill

Member
In a covers band you expect the guitarist to adopt a tone suitable for the song, the same for the keys and bass.... shouldn't drummers do the same thing?
I joined a covers band last year and we rehearse at the guitarists house. He has a large room kitted out with everything we need including a fairly decent electronic drum kit and for convenience sake I use it. The first gig I did with them was a, very, posh party, not too small a room to play but they did want to put us a small corner and they didn't want it loud. Consequently I used the guitarists electronic kit. A couple of revelations for me; the overall mix out the pa was excellent and we could keep the volume acceptable, I programmed the kit with sounds as close to the original songs as I could get and people commented on that afterwards, special effects and triggers were easy to incorporate, and I didn't take up much space.
Now, admittedly it wasn't as much fun as playing my gizillion dollar exotic veneer finished kit with custom cymbals hand hammered by magic fairies in Istanbul.... but the audience didn't care. And the lessened visual impact of an electronic kit on stage is, I think, outweighed by the different sounds it can deliver.
So, now I've bought a DTX6 and no matter what size the venue, that gets used.
 
C

Chris Whitten

Silver Member
Rockdrill said:
So, now I've bought a DTX6 and no matter what size the venue, that gets used.
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I know you've already found a system that works for you, but you could have added a drum sample module, like the Roland TM-6 Pro and used it to add appropriate sounds to your existing acoustic kit. So ambient drum sounds for 80's songs, or more dead thud samples for a typical 70's song. Fat snares on some songs, pingy piccolos on others.
But yeah, it doesn't solve volume issues and it still means carrying a large acoustic drum kit to gigs.
 
Odd-Arne Oseberg

Odd-Arne Oseberg

Platinum Member
Al Strange said:
Use what works for the playing situation. Sounds like you took a sensible pragmatic approach for the quiet gig…it’s not all or nothing though and tbh I’d rather die than play electronic drums exclusively…:unsure: :)(y)
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Even if you survive you will at least get herpes.
 
R

Rockdrill

Member
Al Strange said:
Use what works for the playing situation. Sounds like you took a sensible pragmatic approach for the quiet gig…it’s not all or nothing though and tbh I’d rather die than play electronic drums exclusively…:unsure: :)(y)
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I have other projects I can use my acoustic kit with, but for the covers I have to admit I'm rather taken with the ability to change my sounds to suit the song.
 
River19

River19

Senior Member
Well, after doing the wedding band thing for 10-15years which is nothing but covers with a huge catalog covering damn near every decade I stuck with my acoustic kit albeit with the occasional snare change or homemade precursor to something like the "Big Fat Snare Drum" for Eagles songs etc. where I needed that really fat sound.

No one complained about hearing a slightly different sonic take on classic favorites, in fact people seemed to enjoy it and we were paid quite well for it.

YMMV.........
 
C

Chris Whitten

Silver Member
Rockdrill said:
Now, admittedly it wasn't as much fun as playing my gizillion dollar exotic veneer finished kit with custom cymbals hand hammered by magic fairies in Istanbul.... but the audience didn't care.
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I bet the audience still don't care.
I have worked with guitarists using fancy virtual guitar rigs, where the guitar sounds change within the song, let alone every song. No one in the audience ever notices.
 
I-P

I-P

Well-known Member
Chris Whitten said:
I bet the audience still don't care.
I have worked with guitarists using fancy virtual guitar rigs, where the guitar sounds change within the song, let alone every song. No one in the audience ever notices.
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Drum construction wood types....
True story.

Drum manufactures marketing department will object however.
 
C

Chris Whitten

Silver Member
River19 said:
No one complained about hearing a slightly different sonic take on classic favorites, in fact people seemed to enjoy it and we were paid quite well for it.
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Yeah, I think if e-drums make the gig more fun for the drummer (or band) that's all good. If it cuts down on heavy lugging of gear, big trucks to carry large drum kits etc, that's also fine.
The crowd? They don't seem to care either way.
 
C

Chris Whitten

Silver Member
I-P said:
Drum construction wood types....
True story.

Drum manufactures marketing department will object however.
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Sure, but the big caveat is whether it makes a difference to the musician. I always choose what's good for me, as it impacts my performance, whether the audience understand that or not. I won't play a cheap, bad (or average) sounding drum set, because 'the audience don't care'.
 
River19

River19

Senior Member
Chris Whitten said:
Yeah, I think if e-drums make the gig more fun for the drummer (or band) that's all good. If it cuts down on heavy lugging of gear, big trucks to carry large drum kits etc, that's also fine.
The crowd? They don't seem to care either way.
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100%.

It is just another way/tool to get the job done. Play whatever makes good music and whatever blows your hair back, the audience will tell you when you have gone too far.......they largely don't care about the things we do as they are there to have a good time. Provide them a blanket of good tunes to carry their good time and you will get paid and get called back.......
 
B

Bozozoid

Platinum Member
This is just one man's observation in a universe full of opinions as numerous as the stars in the galaxy. I saw a band called The Rumbles once at a nightclub in a hotel where the drummer was playing electronic drums. It looked and sounded as cheesy as a Kraft mac-n-cheese box lunch. They all wore Hawaiian shirts to which didn't help.
 
Neilage

Neilage

Junior Member
"custom cymbals hand hammered by magic fairies in Istanbul" is one of my all-time favorite lines in this forum, because I relate 100%. I am in love with my bronze cymbals, natural maple-crafted shells, bearing edges, snare wires. I enjoy tuning, seating a new head, etc.

I recently joined a swing/jazz cover band that plays Sinatra, Bossa Nova, etc. While setting up, the guitarist asked if I'd ever considered an e-kit. I politely replied that I loved my kit. That got me thinking it would be much easier to have an e-kit. I don't think there's any question that current e-kit technology is exceptional, and there are many advantages over a trad kit.
 
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