Electric Drums?

[slobizman]

I'm looking for some opinions.

 

My son has a Pro Tools LE studio in a former Guest Room. He is using it for his own music which is being recorded to CD for sale. Since the room is small, it is not conducive to recording drums. I've been playing with the idea of building a studio in the garage for him, but the costs add up quickly. So, I was thinking about how we might make do with the current setup. Of course, he could record the drums in another larger room or in a studio, and then bring the tracks in. But what about electric drums?

 

I know, I know, electric drums are not as good as real drums. But, considering the situation, would not the best electric drum kit, coupled with what we could do with it in ProTools and its plug-ins, produce high quality sound still? This isn't hard rock where there are intense drum solos; more like John Mayer type music. It's mostly just accompanying the rest of the instruments and the vocals.

 

Opinions?

[Funkwave]

You would be very surprised how "real" electronic drums sound these days. It's all up to what "brain" you use for the drum pads. The Roland td8 has some very realistic sounds.

 

I have real drums and electric drums and I find myself using the electrics more often. You don't have to use microphones, you just plug the brain into the mixing board and you're done.

 

You're going to get some purists out there who tell you that there's nothing like the real thing.

Well, that's like saying that if your're using an electric guitar and not acoustic, in a song, it's not the real deal.

[Trojian]

So what categories of electric kits can you get nowadays??

Ive seen the new roland v-drums and they are meant to be state of the art almost like real thing. If you are going to get some is it best to get the best because ive heard some of the cheaper ones trigger very mechanical cheap midi sounds.

Also are electric kits a good solution for quiet playing. I play a lot of stuff acoustically where rock beats etc require full crashes but normally that would be way too loud..

[Lee Flier]

Yes, electronic drums are a solution for quiet playing and can be good for practice I suppose. Personally I don't think they really sound "real" and it's actually kind of fun to scout out spaces where you can record. Churches, warehouses, lots of places can be cool drum recording spaces. Even though I now have a home studio and can have live drums at 3 AM with no problem, we still like to record in other places sometimes. It gives the drum sounds different character that somebody else can't just go buy in a box.

[zele]

Clients have been very happy with our electric drums--it is all we offer.....Really great samples help, though...>>> very affordable Kurzweils these days ---some of the best drum samples available

[Prague]

Everyone uses electric guitars, basses, pianos, organs, you name it.

 

Plenty of people can make electric drums work.

[g8bassplayer]

I'm using the roland td-20 set and they are great. The new samples are very good.

 

I record the midi, do a little midi editing to fix the flubs, and then feed the midi back into the drum module and record the audio tracks, 6 at a time. In two passes, I get a unique track for each instrument. I can change an instruments sound in the module if I don't like what I hear and re-record that specific audio track from the midi track. Try that with acoustic drums.

 

Using the electronic drums, I can get a very consistent sound, or use sounds from the module that are not in the drummers usual acoustic kit (wood block / cowbell -- stuff like that).

 

We've added drum hits (crashes / kicks) to the midi track after the initial recording to accent low spots in the song, or add a highlight. My neighbors would love'em too, if they knew I had 'em ;-)

 

d

[jay da cop]

I use Hart Dynamics pads with 2 D4's and a DM5, and have had no complaints. I use very little in the way of plugins, too. Being able to change snare sounds with a button push is kinda cool, too. Or add more crashes, different hihats, etc. That would cost too much if I tried to do this with my Tama's.

 

Jay

[Jazzman]

I just had an opportinuity to play for an hour or so on a Roland electronic set ($6,000)at Guitar Center in Arlington Texas. The sounds were very impressive, and the triggers were very good. Not the same as the real thing, but they came close. It depends on how intricate you are on them. They have improved alot. Some day I plan on getting a set for the studio.

 

It will allow me to do some things regarding the ability to record with singers in the same room, and not have to redo the drum parts if the singers don't have their act quite together.

 

Of course a good drum room would do the trick too. Currently I have moved and am in the process of building a studio over again........a lot of work to do! I still am considering a set myself.

 

Electronic sets don't need mics, mixing boards and are quite. It's all in one, and can be sent to a laptop.........Protools.

 

Just my thoughts here.

 

Jazzman

[Davo-London]

Plus, if it means you can play them more often (without annoying others) then that's reason enough. Acoustic kits can be very loud when you're having fun.

 

My company has been kind enough to let me install an electronic kit in the basement of our office. I go down there during my lunch break. Brilliant use of a spare hour!