Whats your thoughts on Electric drum kits....

[popcorn]

Are electric drum kits worth buying compared to normal drum kits? i am thinking of starting drumming and was wondering about electric drums, do they take up less space?, can you pack them away easily?, do they perform the same?, do they cost less? etc etc and any recommendations on starting drum kits electric or normal?

Thanks in advance

 

[viewerfromnihil]

they sound odd but are convenient. in my opinion, the only ones that sound good are the $5000 ones

 

[ParsonsMatt]

E drums and acoustic drums don't feel ANYTHING alike.

If you get a good set of electrics, you can download software like DFH:S and have real sampled drum sound. That is the best way to go, if you need to go electric.

 

[Earache]

If you're serious about drumming you will end up buying more than one kit. A cheap electric kit based on an Alesis DM5 will sound pretty decent (the hats will sound a little unnatural but usable), the best thing about electrics is you can put on headphones and play 'em night and day. So I would say go with electic first, work on your skills and save up for a monster set of acoustics when you're ready to go on tour.

 

[waif]

My friend just got an electric kit. He has BFD2 and Easy Drummer. So overall it's pretty badass. Plays well, sounds good. Cymbals sound a little weird, but good stuff.

 

[nissan]

they sound like crap. they feel like crap. no aesthetics. BUT they're very conveniant.

me personally, i think i would be a ten times better player if i had gotten an electric kit. why? cause you can play it, whenever you want, just chuck smoe headphones and play. they also have nifty inbuilt features like metronome/play along tracks.

now, if you're getting a bottom of the line electric, don't even bother seriously. they're pathetic.

higher end ones, however, eg above $1500, allow you to upload your own samples, ie if you don't like the snare sounds they have built in the kit, you can upload your own sound. also you can adjust the relative loudness of each pad which is great.

if you're gonna be playing metal, chances are you're going to trigger your bass drum. you will, trust me. with a good electric drum kit, you don't need to cause you can just adjust the affinity of the bass drum head.

+ves and -ves. i wish i had an electric kit

 

[DemonJay]

I do not know what the fuss is about electric/triggered drums because 90% (probably even more) of all modern recordings use some sort of triggering of sample replacement for the drums. You're kidding yourself if you think you're hearing all completely real drum sets now adays.

The technology behind electric drums have progressed so far that they pretty much can replicate the real thing. Just listen to a Roland TD-20 and see if you can notice and difference with those sounds to a real acoustic kit. Want even better sounds? Plug the module into Toon Tracks EZ Drummer then their is no way you can tell the difference.

Nothing bad with drummers using electronics to enhance their sound, we all know guitarists do it all the time, now it's our turn.

 

[Humppa!]

E-drumms are good as an addition to acoustic ones in playing arrangements on concerts
triggered drumms are used widely,DemonJay is right. Most of bands prefere their drumms sound as flap on bass drumm,
E-drumms are good for rehearse and train at homeut on headphones and play as loud,as you want

 

[TheDarkProject]

I'm interested in using e-drums to trigger sounds on my PC via MIDI. I have DFHS which has perfectly usable sounds, but I dunno which e-drums would be worth getting, given that I don't want some that are too cheap to be playable, and I don't want to pay money for expensive sample sets I won't use. Any recommendations?

 

[genocide roach]

i like the v drum heads. you can tighten them down and get a ton of snap back, which is what i like. and on the new ones, you can program anything to be a cymbal, which was a concern of mine before. being limited to just the 3 "cymbals". but you can program each cymbal to have 2 cymbal sounds, and each rim as a cymbal as well. you can also mute em.

electric drums have come a long way. however, the cost is way too high the one i was looking at is over 5000
~gR~

 

[waif]

yeah, the other day just for shits and giggles I programed the kick to a snare and the snare to a kick sound. It was kinda weird.

 

[TeamOmega]

There's no doubt that drum samples have gotten to the point where you can't tell the difference between a real drummer and something like DFH Superior, especially since it's common practice nowadays to completely replace the kick drum with a sample, as well as blending samples with the real drums. However, every drummer i know doesn't like the feel of electric pads. Having a few electronic pads integrated in a real drumkit is pretty common as well.

 

[David Cramer]

I'm interested in using e-drums to trigger sounds on my PC via MIDI. I have DFHS which has perfectly usable sounds, but I dunno which e-drums would be worth getting, given that I don't want some that are too cheap to be playable, and I don't want to pay money for expensive sample sets I won't use. Any recommendations?

KAT KT3 OR KT4 ARE THE BEST E DRUMS THAT I HAVE PLAYD THE DRUM HEADS FILL LIKE REG DRUM HEADS DO CHECK THEM OUT THAY ARE FRUM DW

 

[Burzum_Maiden]

Electric kits are easier to play on, or so I find, but they definitely lack the same feel as an acoustic drum kit. I have an acoustic kit and an electric, because i started off on an acoustic kit but as I don't have sound-proofing one of my neighbours complained about the noise (tis a shame, because one of my other neighbours enjoyed my drumming apparently). If you can afford an acoustic kit and don't think noise pollution will be a problem (or can afford sound-proofing) then definitely go for that.
Electric kits are for people who live in areas where noise pollution is an issue, or if you live in a small apartment or somewhere that doesn't have a lot of space. Depending on what type you get, they can be very easy to pack up and don't generally take up much space.
So yes, for practicing electric kits are extremely convenient, but for performances and rehearsals you will obviously want a decent acoustic kit. It doesn't have to be huge or top quality, but something that will get the job done. I suggest getting both at some point, if you can. Most serious drummers have more than one kit, but it takes time to get there. It's a very expensive passion to have.

 

[jakeduffie]

For my purposes, I get a lot of work done with one sending a midi signal to trigger Superior.

 

[houstonmusic]

I got the Alesis DM8 Pro with real drum heads:
http://www.alesis.com/products/legacy/dm8-pro-kit

It feels the closest in the sub $1000 category to the real thing but you have to get used to the quirks of not playing a live kit.
It is great for programming and you can fix your midi performance later, tweak hit volumes, etc. - things you can't really do with real drums.
Then there are the quirks - a lot of tuning of the triggering sensitivities, learning how to operate the module, readjusting your playing style, etc.
The quirky little "bass" drum that always wants to travel away from your body.

If you need to be super quiet, this kit won't work, you'll need the completely padded one.

It is good if you can't fit a real kit and can't make the racket that comes with it. It also comes in handy when you have jam parties as you can provide live drums if you have some drummer friends over. I did some great jams with this unit and a few buddies.