Recommend an electronic kit

[97mwill]

I'm considering getting an electric kit, due to passing some recent exams and it being my birthday next month, and would like some recommendations of a possible kit to get.

I had drum lessons when i was in primary school (i'm 21 now), so can bash out a basic rhythm, but i've never had a drum kit at home. So now i want one to be able to teach myself and basically have some fun with it. It would potentially be used for recording purposes maybe, but probably wouldn't get gigged. If i ever happened to be asked to play anywhere i would probably just borrow a friends acoustic kit.
Acoustic not an option as not enough space, and it can be quite annoying for any neighbours (we have neighbours who have drums).

I've been looking at the alesis dm5 pro kit, has anyone got one of these? are they any good? How much floor space do they take up? I could potentially stretch to a roland td 3 or yamaha kit, but that is nearly double the money and i'm not sure if i could justify it.

Unfortunately there isn't anywhere where i live, that i know of that have electronic kits to test (i live in devon), so i probably will have to go on other people's recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

[maxvonbeek]

I've got a Roland td3 and I'm very very pleased with it. I know its a big price jump from the cheaper kits and took me another 6 months to save for it but I consider it to be a pro kit and if you really want to learn drums and need to get an electric kit rather than an acoustic then you can't go wrong with roland. If your not 100% that its something that you'll keep up then you've got the choice between buying the cheaper kit for not much outlay or getting a higher end kit which will have a better re-sale value should you want to sell it.

its all about the triggering and responsiveness and the alesis kit I tried was a world apart from any of the roland or yamaha kits i'd looked at, you may not think it matters when youre just starting and bashing out beats but very soon you'll want to do something that needs just that little bit more feel and you wont get it from the cheaper kits imo.

whatever just get bashing!

[DjRo]

Hello,

I agree with Max, Save up for a roland kit. They give you a real acoustic feel and deliver excellent sounds at different velocities. Being an electronic kit it gives you so many sounds and lets you customize each and every drum. You also have the ability to record as well...good if you are doing a live performance and want to record what you have done.


DjRo

[Dave Boulden]

Alternatively, buy a Roland V-Drums module and build your own mesh head drums and sling 'em on an aftermarket drum rack... I did just that and they feel wonderful to play.

[Peter L Jones]

If you're fixated on something that looks like an acoustic kit, then go for one of the above. If you're a bit more open-minded and want a much wider range of options open to you as well, look at the Alternate Mode TrapKAT. 24 pads, hihat (with splash) and (stack-able) kick trigger inputs, up to 6 different MIDI notes per pad. None of the "major" UK stores carries them. I bought mine direct as they offered a better deal (even after carriage, duty and tax) than the UK dealer.

[Dave Boulden]

Nothing wrong with alternative controllers, I've always thought the KAT range looked very interesting indeed, if a little overpriced.

But "fixated" is a bit of a harsh turn of phrase... most people go for the conventionally laid out kit 'cos that's how they are most comfortable playing drums. Also, mesh heads will always give you a much more natural feel than any form of rubber surfaced pad.

[Peter L Jones]

Originally Posted by Dave Boulden

Nothing wrong with alternative controllers, I've always thought the KAT range looked very interesting indeed, if a little overpriced.

But "fixated" is a bit of a harsh turn of phrase... most people go for the conventionally laid out kit 'cos that's how they are most comfortable playing drums. Also, mesh heads will always give you a much more natural feel than any form of rubber surfaced pad.

Sorry, should have put a :lol: in there!

There are indeed good reasons to go for a conventionally laid out kit - practising for playing on an acoustic kit being a good one.

Rubber pads are a good reason to learn Moeller... not that it's working for me!

[Dave Boulden]

Aaah... no probs... the "tone" of a post isn't always immediately obvious

[tigerchris]

I bought my daughter a set of Traps electronic drums a while ago... They're quite nice, have standard sized toms with mesh heads, a slightly small (20") bass and a reasonable snare. The cymbals are round abs with rubber strike zones.
The nice thing about the kit is that you can convert to to acoustic by 'just' changing the heads and cymbals as the hardware is a standard rack with double braced high-hat & separate drum pedal (not switches as with some other cheaper electronic kits).

The available kits is limited on the set we've got but the newer versions are better, you can also use different drum brains if you wish.

The triggering is pretty good, you can even do rim shots.... the only 'problem' is with fast high-hat work... the samples seem a bit long and don't always seem to trigger, I had a chat with the manuf' and they said the newer controllers were much better.

Has a quick look and the E400's seem to be around £400 mark with the E500's a bit more.

Whatever you end up with... good luck !!

[mutilatedlip]

I'm really interested in this new product: Welcome to 2box.se - The Next Generation in Electronic Drums

The old Ddrums were my particular favourite electronic kit, and this looks to follow suit.

I love the Roland/Yamaha offerings, but they're very limited and the ability to import your own kit is really the key.

Imagine playing the Tape 808 via an electronic kit!!

Is this something that DV would be able to stock?