thinkin of gettin an electronic set

S

sidmontu

New member
hi, been playin drums for bout almost 2 years now, and finally gonna buy myself a kit... kinda unsure when it comes to judging how good a drumset is so want some opinion. i was thinkin of gettin an electronic set, coz i live in a condo. however, open to any suggestions on acoustic sets and whatever soundproofing techniques you can offer. cost wise not much of a concern, but i really would want a value for money deal.

any opinions or suggestions appreciated, thanks very much.
 
Hi sid, since you stay in a condo, one practical solution would be to get an electronic kit. I use a yamaha dtxpress and it has been serving me well for some time. Of cos the feel is different from an acoustic kit but I can practise till as late as I like and not worry bout disturbing the neighbours, plus i get to hear drum sounds albeit midi samples but they are not muted drum sounds. But it wld be best if you can still play on an acoustic kit regularly (e.g. once or twice a week) to maintain the feel.

Otherwise, the most value for money option imo is to get a good metronome, sticks, drum pad and exercise routine. You cant go wrong with this option. :D

I'm sure the rest of the members can share their experience with acoustic kits and muffling techniques.
 
I use HQ SoundOff pads on my drums and cymbals (see pic below), the only difference is I put a RealFeel pad on top of the snare (above the SoundOff mute) cos the SoundOffs aren't as rebound-friendly as a real snare.

snare4.jpg


Only problem with the mutes is the bass drum mute. It lowers the distance between the beater and batter head by almost an inch, so just make sure you adjust your pedal closer to you so your beaters are still hitting at ~90degrees. Oh yes, and there is no good way of "sticking" the mute to the batter head, so double pedal work is going to feel a little more sluggish due to the whole mute coming off the head ever so slightly after each hit.

Well, you can't win 'em all.
 
I've an acoustic kit and I've no problems playing through the night, just means I work on lighter stuff with a lighter tough. Or more cymbal work with rutes/brushes.

I believe it also helps that my kit is in the living room, so when I'm playing at night, directly above and below me are also my neighbours living rooms, as long as I don't go overboard, there's nobody to bother in their living rooms.

Mesh heads are an excellent option when it comes to having the feel of an acoustic kit without the sound, but you do get sick of it. After a while, it's like "I've got real drums! Why the hell am I not hearing them??"

I switched to real heads after a month, I'm not sure if I'll ever swap back to mesh.

Due to consideration for my neighbours, I don't play as loud as I would like to, so I think I'm developing a lot of control when it comes to volume.

Just my two cents.

-Pearl RT and loads of cymbals in a HDB flat.
 
hmm........soundproofing....you could try putting layers of carpets on the floor and egg cartons on the walls..(they are FREE and it helps)
)
thats what i did for my room.. :wink:
 
cool thanks a lot for the help guys, i'll be lookin around the next few days for my drumset.. prolly gettin an electronic kit, coz as drumbum said, i do jam bout once or twice a week at least so it should be fine.. :)

thanks again everyone
 
Hi Sid

My opinion - To be honest, Drums like Guitar require skills. What I mean here is being a guitarist yourself, you are able to tell how good/skillful a guitarist really is. though with today's gimmick, a guitarist can do wonders and so many things with all these. Strip a Lead-Guitarist off all those gimmicks - one can see what he can really produce or how good a guitarist he really is...correct?

Akin to drums....we notice many Professional Drummers (especially those in US and many parts of the World use - Acoustic Kit) instead of Electronics....There must be a reason for that. Therefore I propose if (circumstances permits) it's best to get and learn using an Acoustic Kit (not electronics)

An acouctic Kit can be muffle too and I had really try every way possible to muff my kit....The difference is - "Rebound" from a Kit is very different. My own experience tells me - nothing better than playing on a real un-muff acoustic kit because drummers need to be able to listen to the "Sound" he is making it out from the drums.....and those sounds are all control by our hands...Stick Control is best achieved through this (my personal experience)...I use to muff my drums as I do strokes and my improvement had somehow been hindered in a big way, after taking out the mufflers - I improve tremendously (though I'm still far from being a Fairly Good Drummer till today)...the point is - It makes a huge difference.

An Electronic Kit is not much of a difference as compared to a Kit which is Muffled. I have friends who had Electronic Kit who came to my home and we share alot of things. He went home each week and comming back the next week telling me - "It's different" there are certain things that the feel is very different eg Hi-Hat Techniques, accenting and strokes especially.

You have been drumming for 2 years and that's pretty good...but it's still just my own personal experience & opnion that I like to share it out with you before you buy the kit - whichever kit you get - Happy Druming, at least we are fortunate to be able to drum...cheers !

Eric
 
hi

hi sidmotu,
i will suggest to get an electronic drum set, since u said u have jamming session. electronic drum got alot of "play along" songs, u can learn different groove, it is alot of fun will the machine. and alot of sound sample, which is very good for modern music. roland td-6sx or td-6kx will good, but td-12 better, hehe.
 
Hahahaha Zen...I didn't know that you are a fan of Electronic Drum ley? I think electronic drums are like Hm.mmmmm Handphones, Computers and such...it becomes Obselete and devalue greatly also in time.

I mean, look at a Gretsch 1950s or 1960s Kit - They call it Vintage - bery expensive lah. On the other hand...take Simmon Electronic Drums for instances .... I wonder if people talks about it..say keeping it even (it's obselete liao)......but seriously my Bro Zen, forgetting about the value of drums....I think a drummer should learn and play on an Acoustic Kit, for in most cases, what one can apply on an Acoustic kit can re re-apply on an electronic kit - but not vice-versa...unless you say I step one time on the Bass Drum and want it to goes 1eta (16th note) that of course lah - Electronic kit can but acoustic kit cannot - but then again - that's the point - where is the skill?

PS:- Zen ...if you are only given one choice for a kit (just one)...either an Acosutic or Electronic? which one would you choose - I believe you would want an Acoustic for your ow personal kit...am I correct...Hehehehehe :lol: :smt021
 
electronics drums will definitely play a better role in hdb because you really can practice anytime of the day... no one can hear you.. but you can still hear the drums...

however you really giving up on the feel of the drums... like the different tensions of each drums, cymbal control...

if you get one.. just make sure to spend time going to jamming studios to prac too... or else next time play acoustic kit sure sound funny one
 
rudi, with the electronic kit, u can practice a lot of groove, and built up your groove too, coz the play along songs in side, is well mixed, then u play the drum part, u can improvise your drumming, practice your timing, built up your sense, and also extend your drumming idea. coz i m playing in pub, i always play on real drum, so, electronic drum for me, is just to practice for the skills that is mentioned above, hehe.
imagine, who will always stand by to jam with you? your friend? your band mate? no! it is roland v drum and mr. yamaha DT.
 
Hahaha Bro Zen (can argue like that somemore har) :smt021 knock knock your head then you chai-see :smt040 . Jam with the CD or MP3 cannot meh har? . Kekekekeke :smt033
 
bro RD... i actually have some problem. Recently i just bought a headphone. Its a Philips HP200 which i got only for RM45 at Carrefour. It paded well but when I play with my drums using my CD player, I cant hear the drum parts. All i can hear is the guitar or the vocal. I tried to reduce excessive ringing from my cymbals but it wont help much. Is it my ear or my drums are too loud? Or I should change to a new and expensive headphone? :cry: :cry:
 
Hey whats with the egg cartons again? i thought they don't work... they're so thin won't the bass notes just plow through them?
 
bro Kari... i actually encounter similar experience as you did. So I can only on Full-Blast my amplifier/CD (actually half) and then it's loud enough - from here I wack my drums and play along with the Music. Of course it's loud - 1km can hear it softly, 500m can hear clearly together with my drumming....This is what I always did when I play along with Music (so I did it less often) .... no choice I guess.
 
Hey whats with the egg cartons again? i thought they don't work... they're so thin won't the bass notes just plow through them?
Click to expand...

You're right, adding stuff like carpets, mattresses and egg cartons is a form of ACOUSTIC TREATMENT, NOT SOUNDPROOFING.

They will do a SO-SO job of making the room DEADER by absorbing and reducing reflections of sound waves, except the lower frequencies. They do nothing to reduce sound from leaving the room.

How to Soundproof an Apartment
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-4-2004-55087.asp

HOW TO SOUNDPROOF A CONDO
http://www.acousticalsource.com/condo-soundproofing.html
 
I would love to sound-Proof my Room, but when I check it out and found that it cost between 8 to 10K - it's crazy. If I sell my home - I can't get back the money and anyway new owners will tear it down too (not everyone wants a soundproof room)....

With 8K...shit..I can get myself a Yamaha Maple Custom with that $$$$ ...my heart pain pain - so I didn't do it lor.
 
but if i have the money next time i definitely will soundproof my room...

for the love of the instrument without mutes!!!
 
i own a td-6k

was wondering is there a way to reduce the vibrations from the bass pedal/receiver ? got complains from neighbors leaving on the bottom

other than adding few more layers of rugs/carpets underneath it...

i was thinking, does a platform help ? need some advice on this, can't play naturally with the thought of disturbing them.
 
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