Pearl Rhythm Traveller? Decent 1st kit or not?

[Frozen]

Well I did find out the price of the Arbiter Flats but it was way over my budget (S$1147.5 if you're interested, including 10% for ordering). :?

So now I'm considering getting the Pearl Rhythm Traveller. From internet reviews, they say that it's very quiet (suitable for playing in apartment-what I need) and quite portable. On the other hand, I heard that they don't sound that good with the normal heads fitted on them (toms sound like bongos, etc). :?

If anyone ever tried it or own it, can you tell me about it?

Thanks

 

[lepids]

why do u need it portable? portable kits in a way compromised.. get what i mean? unless u get a high end roland kit.. which i also no money to buy..

RT is good for practising.. but i would rather get a practice kit. it works for me better. 1. i dun like the feel of the RT.. the rebound is abit funny for me..

yep, it's quiet.. anyway, reconsider ur choice. i would recommend a practice kit in this case.. at ranking sports..250 bucks..

 

[cereal]

yeah...the roland V-drums.....yummmm..retails for 5k plus in the states...which prob amounts to 9k plus here.

I wanna get one also.maybe can try paying in installments

 

[Frozen]

i would recommend a practice kit in this case.. at ranking sports..250 bucks..

By saying practice kit, do you mean those practice pads?

I don't really want to use practice pads. I mean, I do want to get something for me to practice with but it should really make sound. With the RT maybe I can change the drums over time, etc. It just sounds more affordable with the silent heads included with a complete kit (except for throne and ride which I don't really mind not having for now).

As with portability I'm just planning ahead. I might move somewhere in a couple of years so I want to either bring it with me or have my parents store it somewhere else for me (kinda y I was looking at the arbiter flats in the 1st place).

 

[nkf31]

the rhythm traveller is more portable in that it's lighter than a normal drumset. i'm not sure if it's true that the heads are harder to tune, because i'm not particularly good at tuning and the heads that come with the kit may not sound as good as with newer, nicer heads. But my friend did say the snare is good.
i have always felt that getting an electronic kit is well worth it for home practice - except that good ones are really quite ex. Heh.
i do think the rhythm traveller is an OK kit. Nothing on it seems really that bad. But that said i do have chances to play "standard" size kits in church

 

[Frozen]

Whoops, my mistake. I thought the RT mesh heads make sounds. I saw it and got disappointed as they make almost no sound at all.

It does look quite compact though.

 

[lepids]

what kinda of sounds are u looking for? if u want acoustic sounds, e-kits or the real thing is the way to go.

RT has no sound.. that's why i recommend u a practice kit. even better and u save money!

looking for compact kits? get the td-3 from roland. one of the cheapest and not bad. if u got abit more to spare, u can go up the series..

TD-6, TD-8, TD-12, TD-20.. dunno still got TD-10 or not..

all are great kits! yamaha low end series are also not bad for the price..

 

[input_output]

for compact drums u have 2 choices for now ithink.. tama stagestar and yamah manu katche (any others i left out)
dis are normal acoustic kits but in smaller kit sizes.
for practice acostic kits, shallow shells tho. u can try rythm traveller, which u already know by now, or pacific chameleon which is the same except the chameleon has lugs and hardware for both batter head and resonant head, should u decide to use it with regular heads. (mesh heads also available)

alternatively u can get roland/yamaha/ddrum (more ex)

or can combine both together
get a cheap used drum module alesis is in the range of 250. get a practice rubber pad new 250-350? or any drums u can find.
den juz follow online instructions to make yer own edrums

 

[Frozen]

Think I might get an acoustic one (maybe ludwig).

Any way to reduce the sound though? I've heard that stuffing clothes in the drums reduce the sound a lot. Any other ways?

 

[lepids]

alrights.. if u want to use acoustic kits.. and get a muffled sound..

u can get a replica of quiet tone from ranking sports by lazer.. it's just rubber pad which u put over ur drums.. the auntie says it helps alot. but i haven't ask her to put that over the drums for me to hear though..

alternatively, u can also get sabian quiet tone to put over the drums. but i heard people saying that there's no much difference in reducing the sound when using sabian quiet tone.

secondly, u can change ur heads to mesh heads in ur acoustic kits. swee lee does sell mesh heads.

 

[xhareshx]

if u got not much money to spend.. jus stuff old clothings into the drums.. it much.. or if u dun actualli wanna open up ur drum skin.. u can put a piece of clothe on top of the skin. its helps also..

 

[nkf31]

but wouldn't the ludwig be much larger and difficult to transport? Anyway, although the rhythm traveller doesn't give you much noise, you are able to differentiate betweem the toms and snare and kick sounds.

 

[Frozen]

yeah, the ludwig is larger than the RT though the size of the toms and bass drums are slightly smaller than normal ones.

Yeah, the ppl at Swee Lee told me to stuff old clothes into the drums but I need quite a lot. Would it work if I stuff sponge in? I think I can get plenty of it.

I heard the rubber pads you put on top just takes away the sound almost completely, like rubber practice pads. Anyone tried the quiet tones? I'm interested in them.

 

[killerbee]

My first kit is the RT. Bought it second hand.

Noise-wise, it's still pretty noisy. Although people always say you shouldn't damp your drums with all the ulgy gaffer tapes and tissues, I really need to. Else, the noise will send my little sister off the edge.

Anyway, think it's a pretty good starter kid cos I can get all the practice I want. Tried the mesh heads, but took them off after a while not much kick to play.

However, after playing on a small kit, I find it a bit harder to maneuver on a proper kit. Cos on the RT the toms are smaller, thus the setup distance between toms are nearer and stuff.

 

[Soundpunk]

seriously, playing on mesh heads really no kick. too much rebound and no sound. might just as well get an electronic kit.

 

[jeremyrozario]

at the price of getting a rhythm traveller, might as well get a tama swingstar

 

[nkf31]

haha... aiyah i think the best piece of advice, is read up, try them out, then decide haha. i would recommend an electronic kit, but that is including the fact that i do get to practice on an acoustic kit everyweek at church.

 

[cereal]

or can combine both together
get a cheap used drum module alesis is in the range of 250. get a practice rubber pad new 250-350? or any drums u can find.
den juz follow online instructions to make yer own edrums

Got any websites where i can do some reading up on a " DIY acoustic/elec drums "....i heard need to get triggers and all.Still a newbie in this, if anyone got any links, do share it here. thanks