Practice Kit Options

Hello, This is my first post on Drum Chat! I have been Drumming for about 10 months. I started out with a Roland TD-11KV and watched (still do) all kinds of drum instruction videos. I try to practice every day using a practice pad ,but mostly I just like to play songs. About 6 months ago I purchased a Gretsch Renown 57 and some Sabian Cymbals. I really enjoy playing the acoustic set. I would play on the Roland typically later in the evening(noise ) and the more I played on the Gretsch the less I played on the Roland. The reasons will be obvious to everyone I'm sure. The main issues I had with the Roland are , didn't like the High Hat(just pedal, no VH-11) and the Cymbal sounds were not very good IMO. On the plus side ,the drum sound was good but.... I definitely sounded better while playing ,but that really didn't carry over to the acoustic kit.So, yesterday I sold it.
I would like some input on putting together a practice kit. What I'm leaning towards is a small kit, Ludwig Breakbeats(Played it) or Pearl Midtown(Only seen in Videos) with Sabian Quiet Tone Cymbals(Tried the Zildjian LV80's) and RTom heads. I want to be able to have a reduced volume set up so I can play in the evenings etc. I have no noise issues but I would like to be respectful to my neighbours in the evening hours. I know could set up the Renowns with the reduced volume but I just don't want to keep switching back and fourth . Does this sound like a reasonable idea? I tossed around the idea of perhaps a better Roland kit (Td-25 kv) but other than a more realistic HH I think it will be more the same as what I had.
I would like hear some opinions. Thanks in advance.

I’m a big fan of small kits. If volume is the main concern, a small kit will not help much. They can be deceiving in terms of sound. Something like a Sonor Martini would be your best bet for sound control. In fact, I play the majority of my band’s indoor gigs on a Sound Percussion Street Bop kit....and we have 4 guitars going. Not being heard has never been a problem. The smaller sizes are more punchy and seem to project deceivingly well. Add some mics, and they’re just as formidable as a full size kit. Here’s a pic of my typical gig setup;
Attachment 15170
Attachment 15171

You might laugh, but my practice kit is a real feel pad on an Acrolite snare mounted on a snare stand, a Gibraltar kick pad with a DW 5000 attached to it, a Tama Road Pro hi hat stand, and L-80 14" hats, 16" crash, and 18" ride. I have a Billy Blast mesh head on the snare so that I can remove the pad and work on it too. I can do everything that I need to do including learning songs for my Rock band. The cymbals are great and transitioning from them to my real cymbals at gig time is not a problem.

I also have a Roland E-kit that I have set up at our practice space and my gigging kit is a Ludwig CM 4 piece.

I been thinking of getting something similar except I really do not want to go smaller than a 20" kick. I been looking and researching the Nfuzd audio Nspire kit, as well as a pearl epro. I would also consider a Roland but to get the look and feel of an acoustic kit is really big bucks so I am searching used as well. Pearl was making an export with electronic heads but I think they have all been discontinued.

I would recommend you try to play the zildjian and Sabian quiet cymbals before purchasing. IMO the sabians really sound horrible.

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Originally Posted by mfd1068

Hello, This is my first post on Drum Chat! I have been Drumming for about 10 months. I started out with a Roland TD-11KV and watched (still do) all kinds of drum instruction videos. I try to practice every day using a practice pad ,but mostly I just like to play songs. About 6 months ago I purchased a Gretsch Renown 57 and some Sabian Cymbals. I really enjoy playing the acoustic set. I would play on the Roland typically later in the evening(noise ) and the more I played on the Gretsch the less I played on the Roland. The reasons will be obvious to everyone I'm sure. The main issues I had with the Roland are , didn't like the High Hat(just pedal, no VH-11) and the Cymbal sounds were not very good IMO. On the plus side ,the drum sound was good but.... I definitely sounded better while playing ,but that really didn't carry over to the acoustic kit.So, yesterday I sold it.
I would like some input on putting together a practice kit. What I'm leaning towards is a small kit, Ludwig Breakbeats(Played it) or Pearl Midtown(Only seen in Videos) with Sabian Quiet Tone Cymbals(Tried the Zildjian LV80's) and RTom heads. I want to be able to have a reduced volume set up so I can play in the evenings etc. I have no noise issues but I would like to be respectful to my neighbours in the evening hours. I know could set up the Renowns with the reduced volume but I just don't want to keep switching back and fourth . Does this sound like a reasonable idea? I tossed around the idea of perhaps a better Roland kit (Td-25 kv) but other than a more realistic HH I think it will be more the same as what I had.
I would like hear some opinions. Thanks in advance.

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I have a lot of experience in this zone having been through similar situations over time
I found that if I played an electronic kit and then transferred to an acoustic kit to practice with the band, I had a terrible time with muscle memory and the physical location of my acoustic drums.
Acoustic drums and cymbals were simply too loud to play at home,

I tried drum mufflers which are neoprene devices which sit atop your drums and cymbals, but it sounded as though I was playing cardboard boxes and trash can lids.

My final solution was to employ mesh heads and low volume cymbals on a practice kit near identical to my kit I use to play with the band. Now I have a practice kit and cymbals which mimic my acoustic kit (which resides at the studio). The interesting bit about this approach is one does not need a high-end kit for their practice kit. I use Stage Custom drums for the kit I play with the band (Practice and Live performance). My practice kit is the entry level Rydeen kit. The great thing about this setup is that transferring between kits is virtually identical for me. Therefore, what I practice individually, turns out the same as what I play with the band.

I know owning two kits is not the ideal situation for everyone. One can swap out heads and cymbals and stick with one kit, or one could find some used bits and put them together as an individual practice kit, the manufacturer does not matter on a low volume practice kit, One could even have mixed up bits from various manufacturers. A practice kit does not need to fill up a stage, it just needs to provide drum sizes which are relative to the kit one gigs with.

Resonant heads with Mesh heads
I found I had better luck with cheap, single ply, PTE resonant heads when using them with the mesh heads. There simply is not enough air movement within the drum shell when using mesh heads to make thick resonant heads vibrate. I get the PTE head packs for less than 20 bucks on line, that includes the BD head.
I enjoy practicing now, so my overall drumming has improved, and my band mates have already commented on the improvements.

Bit late to the party but for anyone else stumbles across this thread I am also a Roland V drums owner and have just bought a Midtown and it is an exceptional little kit in every way. My plan was to sell the Rolands and replace with the Midtowns. I too was expecting it to be quieter but in some ways maybe louder than some full sets I have owned. Can tune the Toms very low and powerful and the snare is pure evil loveliness in a little 13" package. The crack is frightening but just how I like it. I too would prefer to play an acoustic set but I have deduced the best thing for practice (or gigs) is an E kit with a proper acoustic high hat / top and bottom cymbals. Just disconnect your pedal and remove the rubber HH cymbal. The V drum high hats sound great but you just don't get the stick bounce / feel / attack off the rubber pads that you do off a nice high hat. I also got a set of Paiste acoustic cymbals (proper full sound cymbals) but of course you can get low volume cymbals now too. I find I can control the sound of the crash / ride cymbals low enough not to be a problem. I could be happy enough using just my V drums with an acoustic traditional set of hi hats. Crash ride cymbals hmmmm, the Roland's are probably good enough. So I don't plan on selling my Roland's just yet as the Toms, Floor tom and Bass drum just sound so good with many variations and no need to tune or replace heads.

But don't let that put you off buying a Midtown. Excellent little kit I have just been surprised at every aspect of it from finish, build quality, looks and most importantly tone and sound. Have no fears of not being to be able to gig with this kit. The snare tuned very easily but the toms took a little more tweaking to get a low throaty sound out of smaller shells without the boom, boing and overtones but was well worth the effort. The 10" tom will tune from the lowest frequency to the highest. Just need to balance the reso head carefully to fine tune and remove overtones where both heads are balanced.