-
The way it looks, the only way I can get regular practice time in as of September 2005, would be to purchase an electronic set. I'll be moving into my new apartment...
Of course I'd prefer an acoustic set, but this seems to be the only option to keep the feel for playing. We all hate that moment when you sit down at a set for the first time in 2 weeks.....ggrrrr, I sure hate it.
Basically I have a bunch of questions and if you have experience with these sets, please help me out! Peter C...I know you're out there. I wanted to PM you, but you seem occupied with more important issues at the moment.
-What company should I go with? For example, is Roland the only way to go?
-Essentially, I just want a 4 piece set. Kick, Snare, Hi-tom, Low-tom, with hi-hat, ride, crash. Is it possible to purchase indiviual pads?
-Is it possible just to buy the "sound module" and add drums as I go along?
-What price range am I looking at? I don't know if this is unrealistic, but I don't want to put down more than 500. No way!
-Can I attach my own bass pedal?
-What's more true to the feel of an acoustic: Rubber or cloth pads?
-Do I need an amp? I'll only be using headphones.
That's the first round of questions. Would really appreciate some answers, so I can plan out how to go about things.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 11, 2005 11:03 PM: Message edited by: Suspiria ]</font>
-
You will need to go and try some, I think. A lot will depend on what you like.
I have a Yamaha DTExpress that I like. I think it is a good practice set. It does have the rubber pads, and they aren't as flexible as the mesh pads. Some people are concerned with their wrists with the rubber pads - but I haven't had a problem and I play a lot.
If I had the money I would buy the Roland TD-20, but I don't. I've played the Roland, and its quite nice. On the other hand, the Yamaha runs about $1000 US as opposed to $5400. Of course, there are lots of other choices.
See http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...?c=4838&c=4839
for some choices.
I also like that the Yamaha folds up easily when you don't need it (that may or may not be an issue to you).
And yes, you can use your regular pedals. I have Peal Eliminators and they work just fine. And no, you don't need an amp -- the headphones work. I do, occasionally for fun, run it through my sound system. They sound pretty good actually.
Someone on the board talked about delays between hitting and sound, but honestly, I think that is more in the mind than in the ear. Certainly, with headphones you will never hear that.
Another nice thing about electronic sets is that you can easily run them into your computer for recording or the like.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 11, 2005 11:19 PM: Message edited by: MRhet ]</font>
-
Thanks for the first response MRhet. While that link has a lot of variety, the kits seem a little on the expensive side. Is it not possible to get the central unit (is it called the module?) and then buy only the pads I need? i.e. a custom set up.
Also: Great that I can use my bass pedal. That was a major concern of mine. You also mentioned some sets are easily packed away. That really doesn't matter for me. Mine would be set up permanently. You're also write in pointing out that I should try out some rubber/cloth sets.
-
If you can just wait a little while
longer, I will be posting about my
new Yamaha DTXTremeIIS kit.
I want you to see and hear it. It
is coming soon.
I just have to get a couple of
adaptors and I will be able to
record them.
http://www.thediametrixletter.com/DigitalKit.jpg
[img]cool.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 13, 2005 07:15 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>
-
I wouldn't go with the TD-20. I played those for several months and was never satisfied with the sounds. I own the TD-10 kit and it's perfect for practicing at home and for lessons. I like the sounds much better. Actually, I like the TD-8 sounds better than the TD-20
The delay thing is real since it's measurable at 3-4 ms. MRhet is correct that you don't hear a delay when using headphones because your (here's the mind part) mind adapts to the delay between when you hit the drum and when you hear it through the headphones. The negative part of this is leaving your electronics after getting in several good practices and going out to a real gig with real drums. It turns out that your mind needs time to get used to zero delay between the moment you hit the drums and when you hear the sound. This may result in a pretty shakey performance even after all of that practicing. Other people have reported this delay effect on live drum performance. Fuse (who used to be on this board, whatever happened to him?) also commented on this. One way around it is to go through a small amp in your apartment where the level is fairly low, so you're allowed to hear the exact moment when your stick hits the pads.
Good luck!
-
I'm gonna sound like the spoilt one here but I actualy have all three of the major vendors sets Yamaha DTX, Roland TD10 and DDrum Se4. I actually use a combination of DDrum (Drums and HiHat) and Roland For cymbals and percussion/special effects.
If you want to maintain the nearest feel to real drums you have to go with the DDrum. The problem is that they still make a bit of noise especially on the Kick Drum and if you have people living underneath you they may take exception to you constantly practicing your double bass drum drills. It will sound like someone who weighs maybe 250 pounds tap dancing on your ceiling.
The problem with the mesh heads on the Roland that I found was it made me a bit lazy on the goast notes as it is easier to achieve bounce. When you transfer to acoustic it definately affected my timing and precision. My biggest problem was that I spent 18 months only playing on the Roland as I was not in a band and living abroad so it was all I had. So when I came back to the acouistic kit it took me 3 months to get my feel and technique back.
If you can afford it and your situation is ameniable....go for the DDRUM and ass a couple of cybals to the percussion channel and one of the Tom Channels if you only want a four piece set up.
Good luck.
-
Sadly, in the e-drum world, budget is everything. Choices fundamentally boil down to what you can afford.
At the budget end of the market, you have the rubber pads like Yamaha's DTXpress and DTXplorer, and Roland TD3 and TD6 kits. There's a "grey" space at in the middle with Yamaha's new DTXtremeIIs kit, which does use rubber pads but with a new design and material that are significantly better than the older, harder pads.
Then we have the mesh head kits, with a whole mess of choices in the "mid-range" from Roland (TD8, TD12, or used TD10 from eBay), Pintech, Hart, and others.
Then the heady, and expensive, top end. Folks like Roland (again) with the TD20, Hart, and others like Spacemuffins (yeah!), RET percussion, Pintech and so on.
Note that only with Yamaha and Roland will you get a module. With anyone else, you'll need to source one from elsewhere.
Consider buying used on eBay, but watch out for scammers - it's rife in the e-drum market.
Final option: if you have space, don't rule out buying a dirt cheap shell pack and hardware, fitting mesh heads and triggers, and buying a cheap used module. Or if this is not a gigging setup, just use a trigger-to-MIDI converter, and use samples from Drumkit from Hell Superior on your PC.
-
I've just done what I should have done in the first place, and re-read your original post (d'oh!) where you mention money: 500 bucks is going to impose some real limits.
Here's what I'd do: adopt a gradual approach. Either use your current gear or, if you want to leave that headed for playing out, get a rock-bottom-cheap four piece set from eBay, and fit decent mesh heads like those from Hart.
Then depending on how the budget's looking, go for a set of triggers like ddrum, and either a dirt cheap module like an Alesis, or a trigger-to-MIDI converter (Roland TMC-6 or older PM-16) and use your PC as a sampler. The latter is provided you have a decent sound card with low latency.
As someone else mentioned, your kick pedal is going to need decoupling from the floor otherwise your downstairs neightbours might have a problem.
-
Yeah, what is your budget?
I was without a kit for a while and the first thing i did when i moved back and had a practice space was to buy the TD-8 V-Drum set... now i will never have to worry about not having a kit. If you could afford that, that will be more than enough for practice needs. I, obviously, prefer my acoustic kit, but the V-Drum is endlessly fun to mess with and, as i said, if i ever can't live somewhere where i can practice on the real set, i will still have the V-Drums... more than good enough for me.
-
Do you have a acoustic drum kit already ? if yes the more realistic solution is ddrum module with mesh head on you drum and ddrum trigger, if you have a doubt about the realistic sound of ddrum just listen those mp3 http://www.clavia.se/MP3s/index.htm#ddrum [img]wink.gif[/img]
If you don't have a real acoustic drum you can use a second hand cheap one or this http://www.music123.com/Pearl-RT705C...t-i19734.music
About what GaryL mentioned for the sound noise i guess he use old Cast Precision pad
