So what happened to electronic drums

I've got a Jobeky custom e kit which is lovely. I wouldn't play it live because I can simply use triggers on a normal kit. I would use a Roland SPD-S though!
 
Especially the HH.
Indeed. It's always the hats...I'm actually planning on heading to Wembly Drum Centre (for the first time ever) either tomorrow or day after, and in todays practice I was really feeling how much harder to play (not talking pedal, just stick to pad) the hat is over the ride, say, which just feels better, more rebound I guess? More of a realistic recreation of an a-cymbal, so I might look at a few options when I'm there.
 
as I've noted in another thread, e-drums aren't drums. They're control surfaces, they're interfaces, but not drums.

This is actually a helpful way for me to think about it. Indeed e-drums are not true "membranophones". That said, there is a unique, fierce learning curve with a good a set of E-drums.

Sure the first time you play a good e-kit it's fun as hell and seems like it's almost playing itself, with those unusually crisp and clear sounds, at a comfortable listening volume. Sounding pretty much like a monitor mix of a very well mic'd kit.

Then the honeymoon phase wears off and you realize that V-Drums are crazy sensitive, and challenging. They pick up every little hesitation and timing error and all dynamic issues. I even have the little CY-5 hihat pad. I don't hate it as much as some people do. It's definitely more of a trigger, than a hat. You have to adjust your sticking to get definition in busy stuff, but it's still pretty crisp, and the foot response is wicked clean.

During the early stages of the COVID lockdowns...

...Fast forward 20 months and I've probably accumulated more practice hours on my Nitro Mesh than all my previous time spent on the off-site Yamaha acoustic.

This is how I got accustomed to my new (used) TD-11 KVX. I picked it up just before 2020 began, and it took about two quarantined years for me to get really comfortable recording and playing the V-Drums in real world settings.
Now the sky is the limit. I'm tracking indie songs and making drumming videos, and much of the work can be done quietly in the middle of the night!

I'll share a couple screenshots from a video I made with my humble TD-11 KVX. Pretty stock kit. No laptop, just my smartphone mounted on the kit for the music track input. And output from the Roland to a Zoom handy recorder. Straight indie, lol. My headphones were actually monitoring the audio from the video camera. I was recording both wav and mp4, with two separate devices. It's crazy how affordable it is to put up clean sounding drum recordings these days.

These shots are of me tracking an indie song for a fairly popular political podcaster who is also a songwriter. He wrote a short, amusing country-style ditty, which my little V-kit did a neat and clean job of tracking up.
He wanted a "classy, loungey groove. Not too busy, not too jazzy" Straight money groove, lol. So I sifted through the modest number of voices on the TD-11 and found a handful of kit sounds that really did accompany the track nicely.


Screenshot_20220111-030843.png Starting the drumless track on smartphone.

Screenshot_20220111-031005.png Recording in progress.
 
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This is actually a helpful way for me to think about it. There is a unique, fierce learning curve with a good a set of E-drums.
Sure the first time you play a good e-kit it's fun as hell and seems like it's almost playing itself, with those unusually crisp and clear sounds, at a comfortable listening volume. Sounding pretty much like a monitor mix of a very well mic'd kit.

Then the honeymoon phase wears off and you realize that V-Drums are crazy sensitive, and challenging. They pick up every little hesitation and timing error and all dynamic issues. I even have the little CY-5 hihat pad. I don't hate it as much as some people do. It's definitely more of a trigger, than a hat. You have to adjust your sticking to get definition in busy stuff, but it's still pretty crisp, and the foot response is wicked clean.

So indeed e-drums are still very challenging, in a real instrumental way, yet while not being true "membranophones" themselves.



This is how I got accustomed to my new (used) TD-11 KVX. I picked it up just before 2020 began, and it took about two quarantined years for me to get really comfortable recording and playing the V-Drums in real world settings.
Now the sky is the limit. I'm tracking indie songs and making drumming videos, and much of the work can be done quietly in the middle of the night!

I'll share a couple screenshots from a video I made with my humble TD-11 KVX. Pretty stock kit. No laptop, just my smartphone mounted on the kit for the music track input. And output from the Roland to a Zoom handy recorder. Straight indie, lol. My headphones were actually monitoring the audio from the video camera. I was recording both wav and mp4, with two separate devices. It's crazy how affordable it is to put up clean sounding drum recordings these days.

These shots are of me tracking an indie song for a fairly popular political podcaster who is also a songwriter. He wrote a short, amusing country-style ditty, which my little V-kit did a neat and clean job of tracking up.
He wanted a "classy, loungey groove. Not too busy, not too jazzy" Straight money groove, lol. So I sifted through the modest number of voices on the TD-11 and found a handful of kit sounds that really did accompany the track nicely.


View attachment 116290 Starting the drumless track on smartphone.

View attachment 116291 Recording in progress.
Great story but sorry man electronic drums are not my thing.
 
Great story but sorry man electronic drums are not my thing.
That's legit though. I do understand why some cats literally hate electronic drums. If you have played acoustic drums for any length of time it makes sense. I actually don't believe in trying to convince everybody to love V-drums. Like I said it took me two years of grinding to get real "musical" with my V-drums.

I would think it was weird if everybody liked E-drums, because they are very different from acoustic drums, or rather "actual" drums, lol.
 
I'd say e drums can be used in interesting ways. however the person who said to think of it as a control surface is spot on. i would never play e-drums live as i said, but i would happily have an spd-s or other multi pad device which i could load samples on to. also the ability to recall different samples off a laptop for different songs. that's the sort of stuff that interests me.
 
When I'm 50 and playing Jimmy Buffett covers to vacationers from New York at a crappy Daytona Beach dive bar I may revisit that idea lol.
My dream job (acoustic kit only though) lol
 
When my band gets our live set together and starts gigging, I expect we'll aim to play industrial gigs and metal gigs.

I will be playing electronic drums, and at the metal shows I fully expect to be laughed at in some form by the e-drum haters.

Hopefully my playing will speak for itself, and they'll get over it, hopefully they'll enjoy the show, but in either case **** 'em. I play what I choose to play and both stylistically and instrumentationally.
 
When my band gets our live set together and starts gigging, I expect we'll aim to play industrial gigs and metal gigs.

I will be playing electronic drums, and at the metal shows I fully expect to be laughed at in some form by the e-drum haters.

Hopefully my playing will speak for itself, and they'll get over it, hopefully they'll enjoy the show, but in either case **** 'em. I play what I choose to play and both stylistically and instrumentationally.
Most of those dudes are using acoustic drums with triggers so if anything they are the a-holes for making fun of you while they are faking it for looks.

I was playing an ekit for a while at my band practices and the dudes loved it. One day I suggested trying it at a gig and they all suddenly were like "oh, well, I donno, I mean it doesn't really look great and we are worried about not being able to hear you on stage."

I feel like people look at edrums like an ugly ex girlfriend, she's fun to romp around with at home but I would NEVER be seen with her in public lol (not me, I'm pushing to try edrums live)
 
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Well I’ve been outspoken my disdain for e kits-it’s like a glorified organ you just hit larger heads that produce different sounds rather than keys. Started playing an Alesi Forge st church ( not fond of it initially) and now acquired an Alesi Surge with mesh heads for home. Cheap, cheap , cheap but sound great through headphones. I always see the weak link in e kits I’ve played is cymbals- makes you appreciate just how flexible a single cymbal or hats in how we cajole different sounds from our cymbals and not so one dimensional. But given it’s limits (lack multidimensional noise and frequencies of acoustic) I’m changing my mind on being so resistant. I can play along to all songs I enjoy and it doesn’t annoy my neighbor or me lol.
 
Well I’ve been outspoken my disdain for e kits-it’s like a glorified organ you just hit larger heads that produce different sounds rather than keys. Started playing an Alesi Forge st church ( not fond of it initially) and now acquired an Alesi Surge with mesh heads for home. Cheap, cheap , cheap but sound great through headphones. I always see the weak link in e kits I’ve played is cymbals- makes you appreciate just how flexible a single cymbal or hats in how we cajole different sounds from our cymbals and not so one dimensional. But given it’s limits (lack multidimensional noise and frequencies of acoustic) I’m changing my mind on being so resistant. I can play along to all songs I enjoy and it doesn’t annoy my neighbor or me lol.
Absolutely correct. That is the one thing that was always a little lacking, the cymbals. I have a dual zone ride but the triggering isn't the best. An e kit with normal cymbals is pretty good though.
 
There's many myths and lies about electronic drums that started 30 years ago and haven't died.

Electronic Drums Don't Sound Good

While Roland can't seem to build a good sounding electronic kit for $10,000. Yamaha uses real drum samples as does the high end Alesis and Pearl.

I use Superior Drummer 3 and they are some of the best sounding drums, recorded in one of the best sounding studios, by one of the best audio engineers in history. They have tons and tons of samples at many dynamic levels so I don't feel like I'm losing anything playing them. Software is the same price as a cheap snare.

My electronic kit just sounds better than almost everything on the market. And I've used, played, and tech'd almost every high end brand on the market. USA Gretsch, Ludwig, DW, Tama, Yamaha, Pearl and so on and so forth.

It's nice having high end drums but can you tune them, mic them well, have a good room? All of this is covered in a good electronic kit.

I'm not saying it's always the best choice for every situation. I'm saying that the idea that they don't sound good is a blatant lie and an old idea.


Electronic Drums Don't Feel Like Real Drums

This comes from the fallacy of the idea of "real drums use mylar" and "real cymbals are made of metal"

Here's a few questions to ask when thinking of how a drum or cymbal feels.

Cymbals
Who made them?
How thick are they?
What alloy are they?

Drums
How deep is the drum?
What is the diameter of the drum?
Are you playing single or double ply heads?
What's your tuning range?
Who's mylar?
Is there a dot?

Sticks
Diameter?
Length?
Tip Type?

All of these things change the feeling of a drum and cymbal.

A heavy B8 cymbal feels nothing like a B20 thin ride.

You can't say what a snare feels like because someone might be playing a 14x5 with an ambassador tuned high and another a 14x8 with a 2 ply head with a dot bagged out. These feel nothing a like.

The same can be said for toms. A 12x8 with a single ply cranked for jazz plays completely different than one bagged with a 2 ply.


Unfair Comparisons

Many compare $1000 electronic kits to the best sounding drums of all time.

You can't compare a USA Gretsch with high end cymbals to an Alesis Command / Roland TD07 / Yamaha DTX6.

You have to compare apples to apples. Like a Yamaha Rydeen with cymbals. Neither the drums nor the cymbals sound good.

A USA Gretsch with high end cymbals and hardware (in Canada) is easily $6000.

You can buy an amazing electronic kit for that money and far less.

TL/DR

Electronic drums are an instrument as any other. You gotta learn it and figure out how to get out of it what you want.

A jazz drummer will study a ride. Trying different stick tips, different amounts of tape on the underneath, hitting every square inch to find the right spot. Why is it different for electronics? Why won't people put in the time to figure out the best way to hit their electronic cymbals.

Just my thoughts.
 
I play my Roland TD-6V every day.

In ten years I've never once gigged with it and I never would, however it's a very important rehearsal tool for me.

My acoustic kits come out for gigs only.

I think there is still a very viable market for electronic drums, especially for rehearsal and studio applications.
Many professionals also utilize them for triggers and special effects.
 
Dxtrinc you are right. I started with the DTX6 kit and was spoiled by the quality of the pre loaded Yamaha acoustic kits and am now fruitlessly searching to get the same sounds out of an actual acoustic kit which I probably never will without spending huge amounts on the kit, heads cymbals and the room I play in…
But I think the 502 module I have now instead gives me equally good acoustic Yamaha kits for a lot less money and released funds to get bigger and more tcs pads. And I haven’t scratched the surface of tuning in either module, just a bit of muffling and changing some cymbal choices; for no cost…
 
Well I’ve been outspoken my disdain for e kits-it’s like a glorified organ you just hit larger heads that produce different sounds rather than keys. Started playing an Alesi Forge st church ( not fond of it initially) and now acquired an Alesi Surge with mesh heads for home. Cheap, cheap , cheap but sound great through headphones. I always see the weak link in e kits I’ve played is cymbals- makes you appreciate just how flexible a single cymbal or hats in how we cajole different sounds from our cymbals and not so one dimensional. But given it’s limits (lack multidimensional noise and frequencies of acoustic) I’m changing my mind on being so resistant. I can play along to all songs I enjoy and it doesn’t annoy my neighbor or me lol.


That's what I have...an Alesis Surge. It allows me to practice quietly because I want to keep my neighbors happy. The pandemic has effected people in different ways and some of my neighbors have become rather reactive. Sometimes just using an Evans practice pad with sticks has enough of a repetitive noise to upset one neighbor in particular. I put that down to the pandemic stress from that neighbor as they've had some job difficulties. They're all good people, but times are difficult right now. And I need to be a good neighbor and keep the noise down. So I'm glad I have an e-kit to get the bulk of my practicing done. But I much prefer my accoustic kit and snares. Looking forward to taking that export kit to the new practice space in the next few weeks
 
Where are all the e-kits now? They are in churches everywhere from what I've seen.

A friend of mine who is a pro was using a backline kit at a festival, and he told me "Well, your cymbals and your snare is where the majority 'your sound' comes from anyways." This has always stuck with me, and I think he's right. If you are playing music that's not jazz, and you muffle the kick, as long as it goes "thump" and the toms are in tune, your personal sound really does come from your snare and cymbals of choice. What's my point? Well, I believe that this is were e-drums fall short. I think e-drums do a great job with kicks and toms, but snares and cymbals not so much...especially hi-hats. If they can somehow get those up to snuff, they will really have something.
 
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