Why I moved to Electronic Drums

[snoopy]

After I replied to the drum head topic, I thought someone might wonder why I was gigging with them.......or maybe you don't care but here go's anyway. ;D

They never need tuning and are not effected by temp changes...I like having perfect pitched sounds

Never ever have to replace a head

I can plug right into the main mixer and not have to mic anything

Having over 1000 sounds for different feels to different songs...don't you get bored after 40 songs with the same drum sounds? Guitar players change all the time why shouldn't we!

I don't have to lug heavy drums around (this is nice at 1:30 in the morning)

Everything but the rack can fit in the trunk of a car (if I took my rack apart I guess it could go also)

Keeping my stage volume lower so I can hear the rest of the band

Not wearing out pairs of sticks all the time ( I played with bands where I used one set of sticks per set...ouch that's a lot of $$)

Tha kind of sums it up. I'm sure I could come up with more...you get the jest of it.
You know using electronics may not be perfect, but hey these reasons make it perfect for me.

[brandondrury]

The big reason in the past not to use electronic drums was the sound of them. They all sounded like a "New Order" drum kit (which was sequenced with an Atari).

Are you happy with sound of your electronic kit? What are you using?

Brandon

[heller_benjamin]

Yeah I can agree, I never liked the sound of electric drums. Some people change strings every set, I have come to realize that playing instruments seriously is an expensive hobby. In any case if you like the electronic set then who cares what we think.

[snoopy]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

The big reason in the past not to use electronic drums was the sound of them.? They all sounded like a "New Order" drum kit (which was sequenced with an Atari).?

Are you happy with sound of your electronic kit?? What are you using?

Brandon

I like New Order.......... ;D

Anyway.... I have a Yamaha based kit.

4 - 8" single trigger pads
1 - 8" 3 zone pad
1 - 10" 3 zone pad
2 - 2 zone cymbal pads (chokable)
1 - single zone cymbal pad
1 - Kick tower
1 - Hi-Hat controller
1 - DTxpress III drum brain
1 - Yamaha rack
1 - Pair Nike Shoes
1 - Seiko watch

As you can see with all the avalible zones, I can have a huge number of sounds for each song playing live.
I have about 8 kits preset that I use mostly during a 4 hour gig. Most of the sounds I have are borrowed from the Yamaha Motif library.

[lumpy]

I love the sound of a well tuned, well played accoustic drum kit. About 5 months ago I was a cunt's hair away from going digital. The sounds the newest generation of electric drums are creating are awesome. Not to mention the benefits mentioned by Snoopy above. I would probably practice 2 hours a day with a digital kit. I honestly believe a digital kit could raise any drummer's skills.

The only problem I have with digital drums is the cymbals. Even Roland's top of the line V-Pro cymbals sound like shit. They are at least cymbal shaped now and have zones for the bell and stopping. The harder you smack them the more the volume you get. They just sound cheesey. I think the cymbal sound will improve with inovation, but I just don't see them replacing traditional cymbals. And to me having traditional cymbals on a digital kit kinda defeats the purpose.

Maybe someday.....
Lump

[snoopy]

Lumpy

You should come hear us sometime...and let me know what you think.

I agree about the cymbals, they are the weakest link by a lot...I just take the good with the bad.

[randy]

I've never played on a digital kit, so I can't really compare them. But I always did think the cymbals just didn't sound right. Snoopy brought up some interesting points, and I would someday, love to have a digital kit for practicing. I can't really see me playing out on a digital kit though, it would just seem weird for the style of music we play (hard rock). I do agree that it would make you a better player for sure, and if only for that reason alone, I'd love to have one.

On my kit......

I use tune locks on all the heads. Keeps them in tune pretty well.

I do replace heads, quite often. That sucks.

I have no mics (yet). I'm working on that, and it will be a learning process.

As for different sounds, that might be neat, but again with the style of music we play, you can't really throw in a chime or machine gun fire in there. It's just straight up hard rock. Who knows though, maybe that's the one thing we need to set us apart from other bands.

I have roadies, aka "friends" to lug my kit (they just can't set them up for shit).

I have a nice big Jeep that fits everything nicely, so space isn't really an issue. (Driving to every fuken gig is however, haha).

I have a monster ass monitor on stage, just to my left (the ear I hear out of). Just kidding. We're young and still learning about stage volume...ahemm...MASON!@#*%&$, but hearing the rest of the band has never been a problem. We have a pretty damn good PA and an engineer that usually follows us to shows.

Sticks....yeah, I'll just have to live with that. I go through a set every hour of playing. However, I've been using ProMark exclusively now (again) and they've proven to be some sturdy bastards.

Maybe one day I'll have the funds for a nice digital kit. I could've been rich, but someone stole my idea for dildo thongs.

[snoopy]

Randy

I do use some sound effects, but just really to goof off between songs. The kits I have programed for live stuff have different snares and such. That way I can zero the drum sound in for that type of song....like a fat mellow snare on a med tempo song then a cracking cutting piccolo sound for fast louder stuff for example.

The way I see it drummer get the raw end of the deal..... guitar players, bass player change effects and guitars, keyboard players change sounds, vocalist change their voice and the whole band changes key most every song.....we get stuck with one set of sounds for 4 hours.....

[lumpy]

There have been many times I wished I had two or three kits on stage. A digital kit would fit this bill. Those Kevlar "heads" that Roland uses on their higher end V-drums are very soft on the hands also. I really do forsee me going digital in the next ten years.

Snoopy,
Have you ever recorded your e-drums? I believe they would be an engineer's wetdream in the studio.

Randy,
When you invest in drum mics stay away from the cheap pre-packaged mic sets as seen in catalogs like Musician's Friend. I've found that good old SP57's work great, even on bass drums. A cheap set of drum mics can make any drum kit sound like shit.

Lump

[brandondrury]

guitar players, bass player change effects and guitars, keyboard players change sounds,

In most local band situations this is more of a distraction than a plus, in my opinion. I like the crank up the Marshall, roll the volume down for clean type of sound. That's just me.

As for drum mic packages, I'd stick with the SM 57s too. I'd buy them used for about $65. There is always some guy selling a package of 5 of them for $250 or so. Of course, you need stands in that situation. I'm NOT a fan of the clamp mic to tom thingy majigs. You are at the mercy of the their system when it comes to mic positioning which is about 90% of the game.

Brandon