Will electronic kits ever entirely replace acoustics?

C

CCdrummer

Senior Member
I seem to remember a time back in the eighties, when some people, sound guys especially, were giddy about electronic drums when simmons came out. Drummers rebelled, and I can't remember who, but some famous drummer simply said, "drummers don't like hitting frisbees". The rage over e drums seemed to die down. (I could be remembering this all wrong)

However now as an owner of both e drums (yamaha dtx550k) and an old acoustic set (pearl exports, taye studio maple snare) I find myself much more willing to practice on the dtx. Easier on my ears, easier to play, can play when gf is home, easier rebound, and I also like the sounds. (I am mentally challeged when it comes to tuning drums).

I was just wondering that as the technology progresses and pads become even better, prices come down, sampled sounds become better etc etc, can you ever see the day when e drums are the norm for live performance and acoustics are the exception?

I have neither the expertise nor the knowledge to really answer this question myself.

Your thoughts?
 
I may not be nearly experienced enough to answer this question either, but I believe it will come down to the type of performance you are looking for.

The church I attend uses an electric drum kit for music being played before the sermons. It makes sense for them, because an acoustic drum kit, even without being mic'd, would be overpowering.

However, as a performer in a rock band, I can tell you if the sound quality and tones were EXACTLY the same between an acoustic and electric at some point, I'd still play the acoustic cause it looks cooler :) Visual performance is everything for that style and a lot of other styles, I just don't feel nearly as energetic behind an electric kit.

Though I suppose all in all that comes down to how the music styling will change. Maybe 10 years from now the popular music to play would have a look accented by electric equipment.
 
Entirely? I tend to doubt it. Electronic kits have been available for almost 30 years and they're already pretty amazing in terms of sound reproduction, sensitivity and functionality. They can sound a lot like acoustic drums as well as do a lot of other amazing things. There are electronic versions of all the other instruments, too, but the acoustic versions live on.

Drummers want to hit acoustic drums. In the end, I think that's why the acoustic drum will never completely go away.
 
Nope. Completely different feel, limited realtime dynamic control and plinky-plonk sounds. Even with programs like Superior Drummer 2.0, you can still hear that it's not a real drummer.
 
Not in a million years. There's something about playing acoustic drums and cymbals with their infinite dynamics that can never be replicated by electronic drums.

Not that electronics don't have their place, but you're asking about them entirely replacing acoustics. I'd wager the lives of 10 future generations of my own family (if I could) that electronics will never get more than even 50% of the drum market.
 
I just bought a Roland TD-4. With the rebate I paid $480.00. I love it for many reason but there are just so many things you can't play with it. I get a lot of use out of it; but not as much as I would have hoped.
 
I don't think so. One of the attractions of acoustic drums is, as Neil Peart observed after seeing Geddy's growing mountain of synths, is that they need only be hit with a stick. Electronics offer a great deal in terms of options and levels, but it comes at the price of dealing with extra gear and problems that are normally reserved for tech geeks. Compare that to an acoustic drum: Stretch heads across ends of tube, hit, don't break anything. Very simple, now we can focus on technique and musicianship instead of why the MIDI keeps changing the patch at bar 64 to "assorted percussion 1" instead of the 60's Ludwig kit we asked for in the first place.
 
Hey if you really want to get technical, electronic drums aren't technically drums. A drum is a 2 headed closed membranophone that moves a column of air. E drums shouldn't even be called drums IMO. I would feel like a smacked a%# if I had to play a set of them on a gig. No offense to anyone who plays them, they're just not for me. I just think they look retarded, sorry. Plus they don't move real air, so to me they aren't real drums. They are virtual percussive sound producing devices.

I hate E drum sounds and will never buy a set. Eww Yuch. Pitoui. I have my hands more than full with my actual drums. However, I do have a house. If I lived in tight quarters and noise was an issue....I still wouldn't buy a set of those confounded contraptions! Eww.

But yea they will replace acoustic drums in the future. Because that would suck, and that's usually how things go.
 
larryace said:
Hey if you really want to get technical, electronic drums aren't technically drums. A drum is a 2 headed closed membranophone that moves a column of air. E drums shouldn't even be called drums IMO. I would feel like a smacked a%# if I had to play a set of them on a gig. No offense to anyone who plays them, they're just not for me. I just think they look retarded, sorry. Plus they don't move real air, so to me they aren't real drums. They are virtual percussive sound producing devices.

I hate E drum sounds and will never buy a set. Eww Yuch. Pitoui. I have my hands more than full with my actual drums. However, I do have a house. If I lived in tight quarters and noise was an issue....I still wouldn't buy a set of those confounded contraptions! Eww.

But yea they will replace acoustic drums in the future. Because that would suck, and that's usually how things go.
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Wow! Cheer up buddy. Did you have a bad day or what. :) They are a lot better than you make them out to be, but they will never replace the acoustic version. Just like we have acoustic, and electric guitars, and the same for pianos. They have there place. There are things you can do with acoustic that you can't do with electronic, and visa versa. I played electronic drums at church for the last 20 years, and they are perfect in that environment.
 
In much of pop music, they already have!

But overall, I don't think they'll ever completely go away.

The electronic keyboard hasn't made the piano obsolete. Plenty of traditional instruments have fallen out of favor with popular music, but have not disappeared.
 
Living in a house full of people I sometimes wish I had a set of E-kit just so I could practice w/something that sounds like a drum and a cymbal. Because I really don't like practicing on a pad or w/the neoprene pads on the toms and the cymbals.

But to answer the question; no.

An E-kit just (on it's own) doesn't cut it visually on stage.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
In much of pop music, they already have!

But overall, I don't think they'll ever completely go away.

The electronic keyboard hasn't made the piano obsolete. Plenty of traditional instruments have fallen out of favor with popular music, but have not disappeared.
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Maybe that's why I don't listen to pop music anymore? =/

And to carry an acoustic piano from gig to gig is not the same as carrying a drumset. Even the smaller upright piano is impossible to carry to and from a gig by yourself, unlike a kit.
 
Will electronic kits ever entirely replace acoustics?
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At the very least... Not till I'm dead in my grave. And I play both. Given the choice of one goes one stays, no contest. Gimme my real kit.
 
sticks4drums said:
Wow! Cheer up buddy. Did you have a bad day or what. :) They are a lot better than you make them out to be, but they will never replace the acoustic version. Just like we have acoustic, and electric guitars, and the same for pianos. They have there place. There are things you can do with acoustic that you can't do with electronic, and visa versa. I played electronic drums at church for the last 20 years, and they are perfect in that environment.
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Not a bad day at all! Yes they have their place, just like anything. I'm just not a fan. I really kinda dislike their 2 dimensionality. And the cymbal tones make me want to stick hot pokers in my ears. I could play my A drums in the most echo-ey room imaginable and it would blend. It's all in the touch. I won't belabor the point anymore. You like them and that's all that matters. Different drummer and all.
 
I guess in retrospect the reason I like the e drums now is that I am really just spending time on improving my technical abilities, like faster singles on hands and feet, working through stick control, transcriptions, etc etc, so at least some of the points raised in favor of acoustics don't really apply right now.

So true though, you can just never beat acoustics for visual appeal, no matter how far the technology takes the sound of e drums.
 
Electric guitars havent sent acoustic guitars to their grave. So I doubt it.
 
E kits will never replace acoustics kits.
Anyone who really wants a good sound (if they are mildly intellegent) they will stick to acoustic.
 
I bought an e-kit for practice at home and was unhappy with it. If I was playing rock it would be fine but it was messing with my feel. Now I just have a few pads, because at least the feedback on your stroke is true. I appreciate that I'm a dinosaur approaching my use-by date.

When considering drums' future, it's worth looking at what happened with pianos. Generic keyboards or electric grands are used for piano sounds at most gigs. There was a time when electrics were a poor imitation for the real thing but now they can sound very good. Nothing can truly replace the nuances of acoustic pianos but the logistics with size and tuning are too great with them for most gigs.

The logistics with drums aren't nearly as bad ... yet ... but as the world becomes more crowded and oil prices rise, space and, especially, noise will increasingly be an issue. Cars will get smaller too.

So I think acoustic drums will go the same way as acoustic pianos - they'll be the minority. Whatever, live musicians generally will increasingly be phased out. Some of us oldies (and some younger people) will cling to our a-drums. We can rage against the machine but we're swimming against the tide.
 
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