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Thread: New to electronic drums

  1. #1

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    Default New to electronic drums

    I haven't played since I sold my old acoustic (cheap) set I had five years ago. I went to Bestbuy and found that they now carry drums and had a showroom of electronic drums. These seem better than I thought and I had a good time just seeing if I could still play on them. Since I'm married now and have a child electronic drums seem like the only option I may have, so to you guys who may have these are they good? The brands they have are Yamaha and Rowland and the Yamaha's were the cheapest. I also went to Guitar Center and found some. One set that caught my eye was a Simmons I believe and was set up like a real set w/the ride in the right place, two crash cymbals, hi-hat and trad set up and it was on sale for a grand, but it was not hooked up so I didn't get to play it and hear it. The ones at Bestbuy are a grand or cheaper. What should I do? Are these worth anything, or should I check eBay and craigslist for used stuff?

  2. #2

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Welcome to Drum Chat Iwannaplayagain! I don't have a lot of experience with e-kits, but I did get the Simmons SD7K kit, and I was faily impressed. It doesn't have mesh heads, so there are better e-kits out there, but if you are on a budget, it's been a decent kit.
    Quoting gonefishin: Just have some bacon with ya when you go pick her up..........youre an instant chick magnet.





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  3. #3

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Sure,

    So first let me tell you a little about my history with electronic kits.

    My first E Kit was a Roland TD-10 kit. I loved it. I brought it home from the store, set it up and played it. I never had an issue.

    Money got tight and I ended up selling it.

    When money go better I decided to get another E Kit. I did a lot of homework and decided on the Hart Dynamics 6.4 and Roland TD-8 brain.

    The Hart kits are built like a tank and the racks are great. But the down side was I had to configure the brain for the kit. Unlike when you buy a complete Roland, or any other complete kit, YAMAHA etc. . I placed many calls to Hart, their tech support is great. I also had to call Roland a few times. Their tech support is great as well. After literally months of tweaking off and on I never did get the kit to trigger as well as my previous Roland kit did right out of the box.

    I finally got to the point where I decided I just wanted to play the drums not tweak them all the time and never be satisfied with them. I [put them on ebay and sold them.

    I went out and picked up the TD-20 kit and have not regretted it at all.

    So my advice is to get a kit that where everything is made by the same company.

    I love the TD-20 kit, my only complaint is that the hi-hats are not perfect yet, very close though and I am used to them so I have no trouble playing them.

    Here is my take on the subject over all:

    First E drums are one of the best tools ever for practicing. They have a built in metronome and play along patterns. One of the things I discovered was that when I practice on an acoustic kit I know people can hear me. This tends to make me want to “entertain”. I tend to play solos and grooves that I know sound good. I tend not to practice repetitive patterns that I need to in order to improve my playing.

    I find for me this goes away with the E Drums, I know nobody can hear me. I practice a lot more and my practicing is a lot more productive.

    As far as the kits themselves,

    Pads:

    Try to go with mesh heads; they will not harm your hands, wrists and arms. The thin rubber pads will. Here is what happens, when the pads are to thin they do not completely absorb the impact when you hit them. Some of that impact is absorbed by your body.
    If you have to go with rubber pads you need the thick ones.

    I personally tune mine down so they feel like an acoustic drum. I find most E kits are tuned to tight and feel like a tennis racket.

    Brains:

    For strictly practicing, almost any of them out there will do the job. So if you are only going to be practicing then I suggest you find one that has sounds you like in a price range you can handle.

    On the other hand if you plan on getting into recording then the TD-20 is the only way to go. The reason is OUTPUTS.

    All of the brains lower in the line have 1-stereo out and 1- mono out. This means if you record you have to have all of the drums on one or two tracks. This makes it very hard to get a decent drum sound in the mix.

    The TD-20 has the standard Stereo and mono out plus individual outputs designed with recording in mind.

    You get:

    Kick – Mono
    Snare – Mono
    Hi-Hat – Mono
    Ride – Mono
    Toms – Stereo
    Crashes – Stereo

    This means you can have individual tracks to mix as you would when you record an acoustic kit.

    Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
    Also take a look on my web site. If it does not say it is a live recording it was done on the Td-20.
    DW Collectors
    Vintage Superstars
    Roland TD-20
    Misc. Snares
    My Web Site

  4. #4

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Electric drums would be a very smart buy in your case. So I say, go for it. But definately stay away from the Simmons brand. I recently bought a Simmons myself and honestly, its not that bad it just has a very big problem registering all the hits. And when you go to adjust the sensitivity and gain it only helps a tad. A "tad" not being enough at all.


    So basically if youre looking for a good practice kit to play simple beats to a metronome on, simmons is good. But dont go trying anything fancy, you'll be dissapointed.


    If you want a good solid awesome dynamical electric kit, stick with Roland for sure.

    Hope I Helped. Definately let me know what you end up with!

    -TheBlastBeat

  5. #5

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Thanks for the responses. Apparently Roland's are the way to go and prob what I'm gonna try the hardest to get.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Quote Originally Posted by iwannaplayagain View Post
    Thanks for the responses. Apparently Roland's are the way to go and prob what I'm gonna try the hardest to get.
    Yes, Rolands are the best IMO.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    I was too looking at the Simmons set at the GC. GC says they have the simmons sets on sale up to 65% of list if you call the call center. Has anyone called the call center about stuff on sale before?

    I like cymbals so can you add cymbals to the e-kits like you can the acoustic kit and just keep purchasing another module?

  8. #8

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Quote Originally Posted by fishstix View Post
    I was too looking at the Simmons set at the GC. GC says they have the simmons sets on sale up to 65% of list if you call the call center. Has anyone called the call center about stuff on sale before?

    I like cymbals so can you add cymbals to the e-kits like you can the acoustic kit and just keep purchasing another module?
    I was about to ask the same question about the cymbals b/c the ride on a lot of the models I looked at is where the right crash would be so can you adjust or swing it out to more of where a ride would be? I also wanted to know can these electronic sets handle a double bass b/c I would like to get a double bass pedal and practice w/it. Also, how long do the triggers in the drums last. If they need replaced about how much do these cost.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Also, I was wondering about you can set the drums up to sound different do you always have to play with sticks or can you use your hands? For instance you can have them sound like conga's so I was wondering if that would be possible to play with your hands.

  10. #10

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    I do that, I play the toms with my hands and have them set as congs.

    So yes
    DW Collectors
    Vintage Superstars
    Roland TD-20
    Misc. Snares
    My Web Site

  11. #11

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    Default Re: New to electronic drums

    Quote Originally Posted by rmandelbaum View Post
    Sure,



    Pads:

    Try to go with mesh heads; they will not harm your hands, wrists and arms. The thin rubber pads will. Here is what happens, when the pads are to thin they do not completely absorb the impact when you hit them. Some of that impact is absorbed by your body.
    If you have to go with rubber pads you need the thick ones.

    .
    The rubber pads made by Yamaha - TP 100 and TP 120 will not harm you in any way. I've been playing them daily since 2005 and have no issues.



    Quote Originally Posted by rmandelbaum View Post

    Brains:

    On the other hand if you plan on getting into recording then the TD-20 is the only way to go. The reason is OUTPUTS.

    .
    While I respect your opinion, this is simply not a fair or true statement.
    As far as modules go it's a matter of opinion. Before I bought my DTXTREME lll kit I did a side by side comparision of the Yamaha DTXTREME lll kit and the Roland TD 20. The Yamaha's sounds and features I found to be far superior to the Rolands, and the price was $1800.00 less. So if you're going to go top of the line, go to a drum shop that carries both kits and demo them yourself.

    I'm not trying to start a Yamaha vs Roland debate, there are guys who will stand by Roland for life and guys who will stand by Yamaha for life, I just want to let people know the TD 20's are not the only way to go.
    Peace.

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