Got an Odery Cafékit which I converted from ac to e with Jobeky internal triggers, TD-17 module and Roland cymbals. It´s a great set up and I play it everyday but I love my acoustic kit and I will forever!
Old Roland TD-6V here, took me 2,5 years to get an acoustic kit and i think it was a great start as i could practice at home and not bother my family so much. The biggest minus of the electronic kit i guess is that it's hard to learn the dynamics
Edit) this comment was like years ago and you should know that this is just an opinion. Don't take my comment too seriously and I recommend reading the replied comments below too To add some of my tips: 1.If you have an edrum that has all mesh heads, tune them(it'll be just adjusting the bolts actually) to the similar rebound that you would get from an acoustic kit. +Edit) what I think I should have written here was to not tune the mesh heads crazy tight, because acoustic heads tend to have less rebound, but not too loose to make the triggering awful 2. If your edrum has a hihat pad and controller pedal separately (usually seen in lower priced kits) make sure to locate you hat controller right beneath the hihat pad, otherwise it'll feel ackward when you're switching between acoustic and electronic. Edit) acoustic hats are usually 14"+ and electric ones tend to be much smaller, so you might want to pull the electric hat a little closer to the throne to make it feel a bit more natural 3.Atv(which is an edrum company along with roland) tries to imitate the acoustics, having real-like sounds with big shells on their flagship(roland recently came up with a kit with big shells too) but gives you smaller range to adjust the sounds of the drums. You can't tune them, the ambience is fixed, however roland drums give you a wide range of selection even on cheaper models. However they do not have real-like sounds which atv drums have.(not a huge difference but still) So learning about what each of the manufactures are focusing on is also pretty helpful when choosing what to buy. 4.if you have a laptop, you can buy a drum vst,(superior drummer3 is great) connect your drum module, and have that super realistic sounds from the vst program. Edit) this might embody latency and dynamic issues, testing with free softwares and sufficient consideration before buying the actual thing is recommended (My english may be awful, it's not my mother tongue :(
Your tip #1 is not a good idea. Mesh heads need to be tight as heck for proper performance. Having them so loose as to mimic acoustic rebound will not just limit the dynamic range of your kit, but will almost certainly lead to cones that wear out very prematurely. When in doubt, tighten them even more. They should make a high-pitched "ping" sound like a tightly-strung tennis racket. Like a C note two or three octaves above middle C on a piano
I'm looking at doing tip 4 but I have a question regarding the latency. How noticeable is it compared to just plugging into the headphone output on the drum module? I know this will depend on what software/hardware you have but in your experience? Thanks in advance
I bought myself an E drum kit in April of this year at aged 68, something I always wanted to do.I‘ve worked all my professional life with live music and with Lockdown it seemed like a good idea to challenge myself. Learning a lot from you guys and loving every minute of it. I still have to be comfortable with all the Module functions, but I‘m getting there.Facinating learning the Rudiments, and realizing the improvement.Why E drums? Simply because of my living circumstances.
Timothy Stokes I'm almost 50 and post colon cancer so wanna do something after recovery. Thought I too old and embarrassed to be crap. After your text maybe I'll ask for a present 😂😂👍 greetings from Ireland 🇮🇪👌
@@shiftylad9938 Hi Wayne, all power to your elbow or should I say hands. „It‘s never too late“ and I must say a lot of things I started late eg Snowboarding at 42 Yacht Sailing at 50. But I‘m now a qualified Highseas Skipper. Thanks to Corona in dry Dock. I‘ve always tried not to place limitations on achievement so Drumming is a huge learning goal. But what the hell, lets see how far we can get down the path of success. Enjoyment comes first and sometimes a little frustration rises, but as always „Keep calm and Carry on. Greetings from Germany. PS beat the beast of Cancer .
I’ve given up on so many instruments in my youth and thinking back on it I was always pretty ahead of the curve. I’m studying on drum sets now as a 27 year old adult who want learn.
This is awesome. I’m 41 and just got an e pad. I do kind of know how to drum since 14. I might get the e drums later. In the meanwhile I am enjoying them so much.
As someone who goes between electric and acoustic, I highly recommend spacing your edrums to mimic your acoustic kit. This way way your reach and flow doesn't have to change from one kit to the other.
I have two electronic kits, one is a converted acoustic and then a smaller one at home. I ended up spacing out my home ekit and I think the smaller pads help with hitting dead center on my acoustic.
Second that, the transition will be much smoother that way.
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My tip: get a kit with mesh heads. Hitting these hard rubber pads will injure you sooner or later, like slapping your hand to a wall repeatedly. I also find that increasing the trigger sensitivity as much as possible (without getting false triggering) helps me practice dynamics better than if I leave the sensitivities on their default levels, since acoustic kits are much more sensitive than e-kits when playing really soft.
Try Ahead sticks with some grip tape. Been playing 35 years. Used the ball bats in the 90s and hated em. Love them now though. Went from a bag with 10 or 12 pair in it, going through 2 to 5 pair a month or so, to owning just 2 pairs of sticks, with replacing the shafts maybe 3 times in over a year. Check your tips regularly though! Or you'll lose one some day, and notice it when your 20" Paiste signature reflector crash has a 3 inch cross lathe crack in it..... And your 19" 2002, ouch!! I'm that guy.
You will only get injured if you have bad technique. I have been hitting rubber pads since the 80's (The original Simmons hexagons) to present time TD-11 pads and I have no issues. Also, all my modules (Alesis DM5, Alesis I/o, Roland TD-11. and Roland TD-27) registered very soft hits as well as very hard hits. This is set under sensitivity and threshold settings. Of course the old Alesis Modules didn't have as many adjustable features as the Roland and even the TD-27 doesn't have as much adjustability as the TD-50, but if you adjust all those settings, you shouldn't have to bash the pads to get them to sound the way you want. One thing I do agree with is Mesh pads are way better than the rubber pads. if you end up upgrading later on, you can keep those and use them as extra percussion such as a tambourine or a cowbell to improve your kit. (via using splitters to use to tom rim zones, and any available extra pad inputs). (if your module supports it. The TD-11 and the TD-27 do). The one thing that I see different is that in a acoustic kit you can make it sound bad when you hit poorly, you cannot do that in an e-kit because there are no bad samples recorded...
"If you live in an apartment..." *This only applies if you live on the basement or ground levels, with literally no one beneath you. It doesn't matter how quiet your electronic kit is, the pedal hitting the pad and your foot hitting the hi hat pedal both produce low frequency sound waves and thumps that are just as audible to your downstairs neighbors as anything. I've lived on the third floor of an apartment for 2 years, in LA, and it was by far our biggest mistake that we didn't think through. A tennis ball riser can help, but it doesn't completely eliminate the problem.* Also, I'm playing a full mesh set of Rolands w/ upgraded snare, TD-17 brain w/ Mac Mini, Axis-L longboard, KAT HD400 PA system, Yamaha MG10XU Mixer, Gibraltar add-ons to my rack. Cheers.
Yep, i live in a house and can't really play when wife is sleeping in the next room, even if i'm on headphones. She says it sounds like someone knocking on the door.
My tip: • Attach the bass drum to a platform to prevent it from rocking, swaying and (or) moving. Add spikes and (or) Velcro to lock it down. I built a platform with both the drum and pedal attacked, and it made a world of difference. • I switched to lighter sticks. Regal tip Jazz sticks are the same length as 5A, but thin like 7A (nylon) • For some reason, there's a tendency to set up electric kits way to low, I see this in every music store. Your knees are way up in your chest. I ended up raising my kit and thrown several times and still may raise it again. • When MIDI sequencing, I noticed that a few pads were pinning max velocity on most hits. I went through module and using the velocity meter/indicator, pulled back the sensitivity of every pad so that only a very very hard hit would max the velocity. This seemed most common on the bass and crash cymbals
I got an extra rack tube on eBay and put it behind the bass drum. I saw that on UA-cam somewhere. Works like a charm (I actually bought an entire rack for $50 used).
My tip : maybe try playing along to music using the kit not even turned on - It will help with your dynamics and sometimes the pads might miss notes...
Yes, this is important! Playing electronic drums gives you false feedback concerning your dynamics. Your hits will sound super consistent due to triggers, but on a real drumset your playing might sound weak, unbalanced (hihat vs. snare vs. bassdrum).
Sorry, wish I had a suggestion for amp. I’ve played mine through just about every version of the BOSE QC headphone series...they sound INCREDIBLE. On the rare occasion that they leave the studio, I let the sound guy worry about the mix while I monitor through my BOSE QC’s.
Here are some tips I wish I knew when I started (e-)drumming! *Drum pads acting up?* (Zones triggering poorly or over-enthusiastically) Try unplugging and re-plugging the cable on the pad. (Yes, seriously.) *Pedalling bothering downstairs neighbor?* Buy 2-3 scatter-rug pieces (the type with a hard rubber bottom and softer, semi-rigid fuzz coating) the size of your kit's footprint and stack them soft-side-down under the kit. Easy, cheap insulation; no need for tennis-ball / plywood contraptions. Hard rubber absorbs some of the shock, and soft layer helps insulate it from the floor. *Bass drum pad & pedals sliding off position over time?* Buy velcro tape and apply to bottom of pad stand, pedals and your rug. I *don't* recommend using the screws provided with the pad as they might dig through your rug(s) and into your flooring, damage it & act as vibration conduits to your downstairs neighbors' frustration. *Want to add pads but out of cables / module jacks?* Use Y-splitter cables (and F/F adapters as necessary) and split the rim zones off tom pads. - These new pads will likely have poorer dynamics, but work well enough for things like splashes, bells/chimes or even a china. - Your module needs to support dual-zone tom pads for this; re-assign the rim sounds from the module. - In my experience on a NON-Roland drum, you don't need special "Drum splitter" cables (ones with a built-in 100 Ohm resistor), unless you're splitting off a cymbal pad.
@@alexgoraieb8339 Welcome! Of course, sound insulation depends a lot on your building, and I can't guarantee your neighbors will be happy. But mine said the noise was considerably reduced with 2 scatter rugs (and a spare exercise mat under them).
I’ve been playing electronic drums on stage since I got a Simmons kit in the early 90s. My number one tip: avoid thinking an electronic kit is a “substitution” for an acoustic kit. It’s a different instrument, in the same way than an electric guitar is different form an acoustic guitar. Learn your kit. Learn how it feels, how it responds, in what situations it is best suited for the job, and how to use additional electronics with it (mixers, etc.) to get the best sound, just as a guitar player learns what combination of amps and pedals make the best combination. This instrument is just as valid and useful as an acoustic kit. It’s just different.
A store employee literally tried to talk me out of buying a Simmons E kit. I only asked the price and said they weren't worth it. I wasn't going to buy anything it though, I had already committed to the Alesis kit.
@@joetroutt7425 Back in the day, Simmons drums were the best of the best, and Alesis was years from even thinking about a drum kit. My, how things have changed.
Great video 👍 I’ve been playing electronic drums for a few years and it’s good to see you guys starting to recognize electronic drums more and cover them in such depth. I agree that acoustic and electronic drums are completely different instruments, but they do compliment each other. Some tips: 1. Bass drum beater - it’s true that felt beaters will eventually damage and wear through the mesh head. Some felt beaters you can simply spin around and use the reverse plastic side, or just buy a plastic beater. Alternatively, if you like the feel of felt you can just use a patch on the mesh head like those made by Evans to protect it. Either way is fine. 2. Mesh heads feel better than rubber and have less rebound. You can adjust the tension of a mesh head slightly, but not too much as this will affect the triggering of the sounds and shorten the nice of the trigger cone under the head. 3. The stock sounds and kits in the module are just that - stock sounds (templates). You need to dive and edit the sound and trigger settings to your liking. The top tier modules have huge editing capability where you can adjust things like head tuning, head type, shell size, shell depth, shell type, muffling, beater type, reverb (different room types, room size), mic positions, compression, effects - you name it. 4. If you don’t like the synth type sounds on the module, you can trigger virtual drum software (VST) via a laptop that contains actual professionals recordings of REAL acoustic drum sounds - Superior Drummer 3, Addictive Drums 2, Steven Slate Drums 5, EZ Drummer 2 to name a few. 5. You don’t have to buy electronic drums “off the shelf”. You can buy a cheap or second hand acoustic kit and convert it to electronic by installing internal or external triggers on the drums. However, you will still need either rubber e-cymbals or low volume cymbals (triggered) and a drum module to trigger the sounds. This gives you an acoustic sized electronic kit. There are also off the shelf acoustic sized kits from companies like Roland, ATV and Drum-tec etc. Hope that helps.
thank you good sir or madam. Great advice for the VST stuff. That's exactly hat I was looking for. I just bought my first drum kit, and I'm pretty psyched
First Tip: Make an effort to set up your drum/cymbal pads as you do your acoustic drums and cymbals. The small size of the pads tends to make everyone set their pads up too close. Second Tip: play your e-pads knowing that the stick response is noticeably different in comparison to an acoustic drum. So find a balance between practice time on e-drums and acoustic drums to keep your "acoustic touch."
this is something that I didnt think about but made soooo much sense when I realized it. Acoustic drummers are going to set it up like a kit with 8" snare and all 8" toms. That's why you feel cramped when playing at first.
@@christopherrogalski8997 I actually did the same. It feels pretty goofy in the beginning because visually everything is spaced out too much. But after a few practice sessions, I started to imagine bigger drums and things got comfortable.
I switched to an electric kit 20 years ago when I got old, married, and had kids. I've used wood tips the whole time and never had a problem. My tip is get rid of the rubber pads and make sure you're using mesh heads. Your wrists will thank you as you get older.
Yup having new borns over the last 8 years is the only damn reason ive bought em... since my kids have gotten older, now they are great 1 gallon moonsine very dusty place holders...
Am I the only one who notices the rubber pads try and pull your sticks in and can result in dropping sticks when you go to switch pads bc it’s like they stick to the rubber.
I tend to treat an electric kit vs acoustic kit like a guitarist would treat an electric guitar vs acoustic guitar. Similar instrument, idea, concept, but different technique, slightly different mechanic changes to fit the medium.
i would treat them further apart from that, as an electric guitar that is unplugged still makes guitar sounds. it's more like a digital guitar that doesn't make any sound or have any resonance of it's own, and all the sound comes from monitors or headphones. that's how i always explained it having played both instruments
Yes!!! Your on the right track. Now take it a step farther and start thinking more melodically and a little less rhythmically, and start actually composing music with your kit. That's where I'm heading
@@Insomnia_tic it’s very helpful when you think about your touch on the instrument though. An acoustic guitar and an electric guitar have similar strings, whereas the heads on electric drums are NOTHING like acoustic drumheads.
Really appreciate you a) not talking down on electronic players like most store employees will and b) didn't go for a TD-50 or VAD-506 for this. Your setup in this video is even more humble than my own and it's really nice to watch you play on it. Please continue with this, maybe make it a series.
A great video. Most of this has been said, and is in your opening notes. A couple of comments though. 1. Use wooden sticks. How can an e-drummer break one to damage the head? 2. Mesh heads. Adjust the tension to match the rebound of acoustics. I have done tests with slo-motion video to make the stick rebound, whether hit or dropped, rebound the same as acoustics. Yes, Real Feel heads do not rebound as much, but only slightly different to Roland heads. 3. Dynamics. As mentioned in someone’s response, adjust not only the sensitivity and volume, but the dynamics curve as well. Ed at 65drums, even with all his experience criticises having to hit the bell hard with the body of the stick. By getting all the settings right, I can just let the stick drop with the tip and get a bell sound similar to the sensitivity of an acoustic. No, I do not have a TD50 USB ride with 5 digital triggers. It is a 15 year old kit with a TD20 expanded module.
Below are my tips... I play exclusively electronic - I live in a Brooklyn apartment. I bought a roland td-25k kit so that I can still practice dynamics (as much as possible on an electric). I should note that the sound when I play is of course much quieter than an acoustic but it still makes a significant sound (someone in the next room can not understand speech on the TV unless I close the door). Given this, I can not agree more with the first tip given in the video - get a nice pair of inserts, ideally ones that reduce outside sound by as much as possible so you can filter out your smacks against the mesh heads and rubber cymbals from your 'playing sounds'. I personally went all-out and had custom Westone monitors made. I am very happy I did this because these reduce outside sound by 40db. If I am playing at low volume, I can still hear my smacks while playing, so I usually wear home depot builders hearing protection on top (another -40db). At this point I can not hear any outside sounds at all, and this way I simulate as much as possible playing on an acoustic kit. One other thing I should note is that if I play for a while and then take my headsets off and just practice and listen raw on the kit, I can detect that I was playing with a slight delay (I would say < 10ms response) from the point of hit to sound in my ear. This isn't an issue while playing my kit, but I can tell it would be an additional factor to dial in if I were to switch to acoustic.
I got a Simmons Titan 50 last summer. Switched the ride and 2nd crash after watching you acoustic drum set up video. I also got nylon tip sticks based on this and it sounds great
Interesting. Both for me. I play my 1986 13-piece acoustic Ludwig at band practice; at home, I play the electronic Alesis Nitro Mesh kit to learn songs, arrangements, & techniques. I like it, 'cause I hook an MP3 player into the module, & I have tracks with only the bass & guitar playing our originals, where I can play to them, learn arrangements. And I can practice on a whim -- a few minutes here, a few minutes there -- getting much accomplished. (plus it's physical therapy for my motor neuron disability).
I have the new well new to me. The Alesis Nitro. The Roland wow love it but on a buget this set is perfect. Now i did spring for another tom and cracher because of the extra channels. Now i kinda have best of both worlds. I take lessons on an acoustic set and practice on my alesis. But like you said drumming is indeed drumming. Oh yes i follow you guys on Facebook and You Tube. I hope you do a whole series on electronic drums. Happy Drumming Everyone...
The main reason I prefer acoustic kits to electronic: With acoustics, even the cheapest sets are usually workable for simple gig. With electronics, a lot of money would have to be spent to get one that I would feel comfortable doing a gig on.
This. The passable e-kits are always close to $1000, while a cheap kit can be made to sound decent by swapping and tunning the heads. However, ekits give you free cymbals, while decent cymbals deserve their own budget.
@@user29a Especially playing live at a gig with any level of size or prestige. You're going to be mic'ing the drumkit. Especially for guys like me who do our own PA and run our own sound for every gig. Yes, E Drums can get spendy but when you consider you need at LEAST $100 per piece of kit you're going to mic, you're going to be at $600 before you even get mics and cords for any overheads or cymbals at all, not to mention the price of cymbals themselves. Plus, cheap cymbals will NEVER sound good. You can get away with a crap drumkit if you have enough gaff tape, a drum key, and some time, but no amount of technique will make a crap cymbal sound good.
I've been playing the Roland TD30 for about 4 years. I've used this gigging, church worship services and let me say this; incredible piece of hardware that creates a new level of versatility for any level of player. It is especially handy when wanting to combine with an acoustic kit for added cabilities, effects, and sound enhancements Great video Drumeo! So glad you and the team finally covering electronic
Good tips. I purchased a Roland TD17-kvx a few months ago and have been in love with it.You can get around the rebound issue by adjusting the mesh heads to make them rebound less. I did a lot of research before jumping in and for anyone on the fence with this model just go for it, you won't be disappointed.
I have a TD-17 (first kit) and I love it. I'm 63 and I've used Drumeo to learn how to play for the past 4 years. I can read now and I'm continually getting much better than on day one. This was a great video for perspective and thanks for giving the e-drums attention like this because I don't see myself ever owning an acoustic kit (although I'd like to play one for comparison). I know my TD-17 very well but will upgrade in the future. The Drumeo learning program is second to none and I share this with everyone I know interested in learning how to play. Thanks!
I've been playing in an electronic kit for about 7 years for practicing and drumming with friends (I lived in an apartment until 2018), and for the first time I see a publication for drummers (or channel, for that matter) giving attention to the public that uses electronic kits... Kudos for that! Cheers (btw, I have a Roland TD-4 kit)
When I go to a music store and play around their E kit it sounds like I haven't played in years. My sticks hit all over each other and I'm hitting rims. I could only imagine what the store employees are thinking but on an acoustic kit I'm right on the money never once crossing my sticks or slapping rims or even losing sticks. Definitely a learning curve from one to another.
a 42 yr. drumming vet and over the past 2 yrs I’ve converted to an eDrummer. Acoustics and electronics are similar instruments but unique in their own ways. Both my ears and my wallet love the versatility of modern eKits! My tip is to woodshed: spend significant time just learning the subtleties of striking the various types of pads and developing your new (albeit similar) skillset to playing acoustic drums/cymbals.
The alesis commander that I'm using is really great. I get to record and when I listen back to my practicing or something I've played on my own account. Say I'm in another kit sound and it's got bells or something played on the rim.. Well! I've been able to edit it and change it from drums all together so it's like an bigger midi if you think. And using that all together helps me observe More authentication over my compositions. I'm a composer first, a guitarist second and a drummer for life.
Tip1: I have found that gaming headphones are a solid choice as drumming headphones. I use AstrosA10s and they work really well. Just watch where the cord is so you don't break it. Tip2: Sticks do make a difference in sound. Lighter sticks make the sound lighter and heavier sticks don't. My fam didn't like it when I played because the sticks I was using made the set sound super loud. Switched to a lighter pair and now they don't care if I play or not because they can't hear me across the house anymore. That's all I have for right now.
Have to disagree about the gaming headphones. You are paying extra for the gaming aesthetic and the microphone that you could be spending on better sound quality. If you're on a budget, I highly recommend Beyerdynamic DT770 (32 or 80 Ohm versions). They are possibly the most common pair of studio headphones in the industry and have excellent low end reproduction.
Thank you Drumeo for the great tips! Below are some of my tips. My church has a Roland VAD306 (TD-17 module). I use nylon tip sticks and I have a felt beater that I wrapped in it duct tape and they work great. I have recently spaced the toms further apart to better match my acoustic kit. This gives me better fluidity. I picked 4-6 kits that sound good with the church piano and acoustic guitar. Then I went in an adjusted the pad EQ, muffling and tuning to make it sound more acoustic. One thing I've noticed I really needed to tune down tom 1 on some kits in order to get it to bark the way I wanted it. On one of my kits, I changed the floor tom (tom 3) from maple to beech or birch for a warmer/fatter sound. Since the church I play at is more conservative it is best that I don't overplay and sink in the pocket as best as possible.
Around a year ago, I added a TD-50 to my collection so that I could play weddings more comfortably. It quickly became my drum set of choice. Sound quality, feel, and reaction time are great. My Soundman loves them as well. The only important tip I would add- be mindful of your in-ear monitors. Now that every drum and cymbal is a direct feed into my ears, it is easier to damage yourself without realizing it. I love that snappy snare sound, but find myself turning things down as the gig progresses to minimize ear ring at the end of the show.
@LCort101 dont know what desk your sound guy is using but have a look at the behringer X32. You can get your own personal mix setup, and using the TD50s 10 outputs can set levels individually across a good range of pads. This is a different mix to what goes to main stereo and can bring in other band members. You can set the mix yourself with a remote ipad linked over wifi or a PC and behringer sell a remote P16 remote personal monitor. I'm still learning on a TD-12 and once my playing improves enough to justify will upgrade the module specifically to be able to do that. Already have the X32 for studio work where I can do as many takes as I need ;)
If you are hearing ringing them it is already too late as the damage is done. The ringing is a reminder that you are now on your way to hearing loss. How do i know this? Because i have tinitus. Enjoy the ringing. Its the last sound you hear before it is all gone.
I play electronic only both in rehearsal and live. For people who are only playing electronic drums, I would recommend that they take the time to set up their kit to suit them best remembering that there's less real estate used by each component so there's more flexibility. For example, instead of playing traditionally crossed on the hi hat (as a righty) I have my hi hat setup where I can play more open handed which frees up access to other components and allows for smoother playing overall whilst making long sets and shows much more comfortable to play.
For those who started out on electronic drums and are now exploring acoustic drums: Learn to develop a lighter touch when playing electronic drums. Even when playing heavier stuff, you don't have to lay in so hard into those pads. That way, you develop a better touch and tone on the acoustic drums.
With dynamics I often play with the kit turned off, so I can hear how hard I actually hit each surface. It also gives me a way to analyze where I'm striking, cause I've noticed a lot of people care less about playing zones on electric kits.
I've pretty much only been playing electronic drums. A proper drum VST like Superior drummer 3 in combination with a good e-kit is one of the best investments i've ever made!
I wonder if you'd not like the feel of "real" drums if you have always played electric. I always played acoustic, and I never feel quite as inspired behind an electronic kit, despite how good they are nowadays (and I will use them happily when I need to).
@@EpicStuffMan1000 that's the thing with programs like superior drummer, the edrumkit gets more dynamic and then sound more realistic. It is also very cool to setup the same drumkit and cymbals as your favourite drummers.
What álvaro says, SD3 is so realistic you forget that you banging on rubber and the best part you can customise the kit so you get just the sound you want, finally got my dd65 and SD3 to work together today and I’m not disappointed, I would like better heads like mesh heads but I simply don’t have the space for a full size e kit and if I did I still don’t have the money for a full mesh head kit so I think I will live with the dd65 for a long time still!
I'm living in an apartment building and have a full size electronic drumkit that I brought all the way from China. I had mulitiple complains from my neighbors about the noise the drums were making. I tried to play quietly but the neighbors were still complaining. So I've built the drum riser made of mdf boards and tennis balls (there are tonns of videos on UA-cam how to make it) and I've never had complaints since. Hopefullysomeone will use this tip as well, it really worked for me. Thanks, everyone.
I have used my Roland TD25kv in theatres, perfect for sound techs to level out. i last used the full part of kit with acoustic bass drum and the sound and feel of it all worked really well, My Tip: when playing live with electric kits make sure you have a really good monitor mix to have the sound and fill of a live kit coming back to you. i use both Electric and live kits
I had considered this. I am not the drummer, but I am the overall production and bandleader, and I'm fortunate enough that my drummer is super open to trying things and making changes that I think will give us an overall better show. The way we use the kick now is already a pseudo-triggered thing. I use a sine-wave generator to generate a nice low tone (I live 56hz) and the put a gate on it, and side-chain the gate to the kick mic, allowing a short burst of that 56hz tone to come through, and I blend that in to the subs to have a ton of control over the kick drum low end without having to get into EQ and potential low-end feedback issues. But anyway, I am already doing this trick, and I've heard that the kick pedal and the kick drum sounds can be a bit lackluster, perhaps the weakest element of an E kit. Also the kick is never a problem in a small, overly reflective room where you may want to use E drums instead, that's namely the snare and/or cymbals. So my plan is to get a good module, top of the line snare and hats, decent cymbals and toms, and then forego the kick altogether and continue using the acoustic kick. You're saying you WOULD recommend trying this setup, yes?
I have a tama acoustic kit converted to a hybrid kit. Mesh heads roland td50 module and external triggers. Mesh heads are fully adjustable tension wise. Great dynamics. Realistic rebound. Real kit ergonomics. I find setting the volume to match an acoustic kit with microphones and then adjusting playing to match works a treat.
I call my kit my gym, has been a saviour during the lockdown. Interesting what you say about dynamics, when I first used an electronic kit I used to struggle with it because I was so used to just hitting harder to get volume. My advice when playing in a band environment is to set the master volume loud to keep enough dynamic range to always be able to keep up with the band. The first kit I owned had the hard rubber pads, and I struggled with dynamics and always ended up hitting them really hard leading to sore wrists and hands after extended jams. My newer kit (Roland TD-17) with all mesh heads is much easier on the wrists.
Relatively new user here (3 months and counting - Alesis Sample pad pro). My take on E- percussion is very different. I have always considered it to be a percussive way of triggering sounds that are considered to be rythmically biased. This means that bass tones, tuned percussion (including piano tones - as it's still a percussive instrument) are all on the menu. Added to the fact you can set up a pad to loop a sound, and have variations of that loop on other pads all set in one group so they will 'stop' each other this adds some exciting and dynamic way of doing things that would usually be done in a visually understated way, either with a button press or with computer based sequencers... Don't get me wrong - I'm not making the wheel in a new way here (listen to Grandmaster flash - White Lines the outro especially), but it is definitely a very different way of sample triggering
Another tip that I would recommend is that when you want to do rim clicks on the snare drum, make sure that both ends of the stick are on either ends of the rim because the drums will most likely register it as a snare head hit.
I've got an A2E converted Tama Superstar (Destroyer) Classic with Pintech heads, Roland cymbals, and a mix of triggers from Wronka, R-drums, and Jobeky. DDrum DDTI chained into a Roland TD-20, running into Superior Drummer 3. I'd still rather play acoustic, but it's worked well for me for the last couple years.
I'm new to drums, been playing for under 6 months. I got my alesis nitro mesh kit for around 400€ and pretty soon felt like it's kind of small and limited. For that price you get a pretty decent kit but lacks zones in cymbals (hi hat and ride is one zone, so no bell or edge to the ride etc.) I'm playing exclusively sounds from my macbook, i got ezdrummer 2 and as a music producer i love tweaking my kits and sounds from there, and not my nitro module so the sounds themselves won't matter. The only downsides are the small cymbals and small pads, so i figured i'll upgrade at some point. I just purchased an old acoustic kit which i intend to turn into an electronic kit. To get a better feel, more responsive drums and triggers and in general make the kit better, combining some of my existing gear and new gear. I have no intention of playing a fully acoustic kit as A) i will probably have to practice in an apartment building B) i have full control of production while recording drums to a song (and even more when i upgrade to superior drummer 3) and C) Most of the projects i would think of playing in live, would more or less benefit from my electric drums and sounds than from a traditional acoustic kit. I don't see electric drums in any way inferior to an acoustic set, if you know what you'll use it for and realize you can't just transform your playing directly to an acoustic kit. Many people roll their eyes when i mention electric drums, but the tech has gone sooo far in the past years that it should be viewed as it's own instrument instead of a plan b for drummers who play acoustic kits.
The pros can 1000% outweigh the cons. Just have to keep in mind that they're different animals and there will always be pros and cons and compromise in some things in life.
I use both an acoustic kit and an electronic kit for gigs depending on the environment and the requirements of the gig, I practise exclusively on an electronic kit. Few points about the electronics: 1) Your kit will sound way different through a PA as opposed to headphones. Spend time setting all the virtual kits you use in a gig to sound right through your board and PA speakers, 2) You need to consider stage monitoring for live gigs, the rest of your band needs to hear/ feel what you are playing 3) Electronic kits are great for doing theatre work (musicals) in smaller theatres. Your MD will thank you for the volume control and you can assign all sorts of exotic percussion to pads if a song calls for it - space saving in the pit. 4) Singers will love your lower stage volume if they often struggle to hear themselves in front of 115dB of acoustic kit in a smaller venue. Your band mates ears will thank you as well - especially if they are professional musicians who rely on good hearing. If you play in a metal type band this may not matter, in my experience, they like it LOUD:) 5) If you an afford it, go for an A2E conversion or a purpose made acoustic design kit, they solve the problem of drum "layout" issues when switching between acoustic and electronic and they look great on stage. 5) I your band mates get "snobby" about you using electronics, ask them if they would like to mess about with acoustic double bass, full size acoustic pianos and only use acoustic guitars with all sorts of messing with mics, although if you are in a lounge volume jazz outfit that is probably what they do anyway:) Soz if any of this has been covered further down in the comments.
You should be adjusting each pad's sensitivity such that only your strongest hit yields the strongest signal (the module should tell you the signal strength in real time), otherwise you will be limiting the dynamic potential..
Actually. Logically this seems sound, but in reality, "may" have a flaw, depending on the brain. You'd think, my lightest hit producing the smallest velocity matched with my hardest hit producing the largest velocity possible means my dynamics are the same on my reg and e kits. Nope, imagine there's a fader the distance between the bottom and top is going to be much shorter on that drum brain, than the fader representative of your actual body's arm and feet which will throw off your internal estimates of how much you need to lay off to hit a 75% hit for instance. On your accoustic kit, you reduce you force an momentum by "this" much, but do the same on your ekit and you'll discover you've actually hit the drum much harder or lighter than the same "muscle memory" hit on your old luddys, so. This is actually NOT the best advice. What is? I've no idea lol, but think it through. I was very long winded about it, but it is a good thing to take into account. Full disclosure, I read your comment, and came up with this idea on the spot, so it's only theoretical at this point, but in my mind seems to make sense. Whether my words made it make sense to anyone else or not is another story lmao. Have a good one, and a ponder. I'ma experiment.
@@publicprofilename4273 sounds like you're describing the velocity curve... you can set it to linear/exponential/logarithmic as well as the for cf e required for max/min volume (probably depends on the drum brain)
Great tips Jared... as someone who regularly transitions between an e-kit & an acoustic kit... I concur with all the points you just made... couple of comments: 1- Dynamics are vastly different & the distance between drums/ cymbals is as well... first time I transitioned between the 2 ... I sounded awful... had to re-learn my dynamics... my tip is to ensure you have a couple of hours of re-adjustment practice on an acoustic drum kit before a gig to ‘re-aclimatize’... and not go too long without playing an acoustic kit so you don’t lose your acoustic muscle memory. 2- Investing a good amount of time understanding your module is key... depending on what module you have you can control just about everything including the environment you’re playing in ... tuning the heads, materials they are made off, depth, size, sustain... list is endless... spend the time & you can get them to sound & play pretty close to your actually acoustic kit... and to your style of play... some modules will let you download kits from the net where you can ‘borrow sounds’ & experiment/ discover... this is one part of an e-kit you want to get right. 3- Mesh heads are a must... you can tighten/ slacken them up to improve the rebound ... they feel better... some of the new mesh heads are really close to the real experience including the rim shots. In short... invest the time on set-up & you’ll see a return... E-drums still give me a whole lot more practice time that I would ever have otherwise, given I live in Central London...
RE : Learning the module. First thing I did was learn everything the kit could do and dialled in my own personal User kit. Because the kit only has two cymbals - I assigned a crash to my Left Tom Rim... A Cymbal Bell to my Right Tom Rim and a ride cymbal to my floor tom Rim... It's great...Plus you can *pan* every drum so not every thing is in the middle and you get more separation and can hear the drums better over the music.
I have a Simmons SD1500. (It's an SD1000 with an extra tom and crash cymbal). My tips in no particular order: 1) Add a second kick pedal- I've added a second kick drum pad unit with a second kick drum pedal. I simply use a quarter inch cable splitter and a quarter inch guitar cable to plug in the new kick. Both signals run into the same kick input cable via the splitter and it works great. 2) Customize and take advantage of the sounds. (I only use the preset kits as starting points to customize). Two advantages electronic kits have over acoustic kits are low stage volume and the ability to have many different kit sounds at your fingertips. Customize, save and use different kit sounds for different styles and even different songs throughout the night. Think about the best kit sound for the song- slow, rock, jazz etc. 3) Save the custom kits in the computer in the same song order as the set list so it's easy to jump to the next tune during the gig. 4) Type up and print out your custom kit list so you have it handy. 5) If you're gigging with the kit, it's worth investing in a spare 2 zone cymbal pad to keep with you. (about $99 to 350). If for some reason a cymbal pad craps out on you, it makes it a long night. You'll be glad you have a spare.
@@DrumeoOfficial It was really interesting, because I felt the difference in the dynamics, and the force that I needed to put in the kick. I can tell this were very accurate tips haha. Although, I love the sound of both.
I have been playing a TD-12 for 10 years and then bought a TD-50 a couple of years ago for gigs. I love the versatility, sound and the right out of the box set up and go! You get all kinds of questions, comments, hate and likes. For me getting older, I find the mesh heads and rubber coated cymbals feel like they have less impact on my hands and wrists. One big upside, (besides them being quiet), is all of the drum-less music that you can download and play along with. It's highly motivating and now I am incorporating sampled parts into our gigs. Very fun stuff!
Hi, first of all sorry for my not so perfect english, I'm Italian.. Anyway, I'm playing an e-drums Roland TD11K (mash snare, rubber toms) since 5/6 years now. Most bad thing for me is the hi hat.. without the real dynamic of opening and closing it and the feeling with the pedal, completely different. Mainly for this reason I'm seriously evaluating to buy and higher level e-drum kit or, better an acoustic one. I'd prefer to play acoustic also to be more concentrated on playing instead of being distracted to play with the module, set the sounds etc. etc. I think the acoustic or an high level electronic kit are really better than the low-intermediate ones because changing the set up it's easier. Set up my kit for a left handed (my daughter) it was a very boring and long job. Frankly speaking, despite what I was thinking, it is not really quiet and silent.. Anyway, it is good for practicing and playing, even if when you play the acoustic you find many difference Unfortunately right now I cannot move for an acoustic due space, noise problems etc. so I think that I'll try to buy a more advanced edrum but for the moment I'm looking to buy better headphones and a monitor to play and ear the drum without headphones. Would anyone please be so kind to give me some suggestions for both? For the monitor my main scare is to buy something that will be.enough powerful to be able to not ear the noise produced by the sticks hitting the toms and cymbals.. Thank you all in advance. Stay safe at home. Greetings from Italy
Get the VH-10 hi-hat pad if your module supports it. Mounts on a real stand, moves up and down, and has 1000x better rebound. My ability to play faster went up the instant I plugged mine in. The Gibralter hi-hat stand is also a really nice inexpensive stand.
NiCoLoCor I own both a Roland TD17KVX and a Yamaha acoustic set. They do play differently - especially the cymbals which frankly I find can be a bit frustrating at times. That said the Roland kit is great, and using the hi-hat on a Roland ‘noise eater’ stand gives a very similar feel to an acoustic hihat. One of the big advantages of the Roland, aside from being quiet when you need it, is the ability to customize the tone and loudness of each cymbal and drumhead to suit your personal preference. It is well worth the time spent to learn how to get the most from the TD17 module. I would also recommend a Roland PM100 monitor for when you do want sound. Pay attention to the height - it is heavy on bass and light on cymbals if you place it on the ground. I like it much better keeping it elevated on a chair. Enjoy! Ciao
I got a Roland TD-25kv. Added another cymbal, replaced both 8" toms with 10" toms. Smaller ones I kept missing doing fills. I use felt drum beaters, mainly to reduce noise, but on the drum pad I added a double pedal Remo Falam Slam patch to protect the mesh. Still using the original mesh head on the bass drum.
Great video but I think that a few key points are missing. Even with a top end drum module you are always going to get better sounds using a library on your computer. Drum sample libraries are much karger than the memory space on these drum brains, even the top of the range. This means more velocity level samples and more round robins. This becomes really evident on the high hat, during fills and rolls. This leads to a second point regarding electronic kits. You essentially have access to any drum kit in the world. Just buy the appropriate library. From 60s rock to modern metal. With a decent app like Superior Drummer you can mix and match anything you want. There is also a very real issue regarding sound quality. What sounds better, a cheap acoustic kit that's badly miced or a sample library of a top notch kit recorded by a pro in a world class studio and triggered off an electronic kit? There's no doubt that the experience of playing is just not the same on an electronic kit but there are some serious sound advantages. Keep in mind that you can also use an electronic kit to trigger any sound you want... Steel drums, marimbas, tubular bells, latin hand percussion. If you are a composer or engineer who also plays the drums, and decent set of pads triggering a good sample library collection, is probably going to get you a lot further. We've been using an expanded Roland TD-9 kit as a MIDI controller for drum parts for years now. We just purchased a Yamaha DTX 12 for hand percussion... Congas, bongos and tablas etc as the playing experience is closer than using kit pads. Again, the sounds on the DTX 12 are OK and can be used live if you are in a fix. Plugging the DTX 12 into a good hand percussion library is a completely different story. With this one unit as a hand percussion midi controller and some good libraries you can play a plethora regional or historical skin instruments that would cost a fortune to collect... Not to mention the space. Electronic pads and drum libraries have come a long way over the last 20 years. Because of the nature of how they are played, as opposed to a wind or string instrument, a very good approximation can be recreated using the current technology. Not the same can be said of a MIDI guitar, for example. For recording purposes, nobody except a drummer or engineer, will recognise a drum part that has been played on an electronic kit onto a decent library from a real kit. It really comes down to the drumming experience. Do you like playing an acoustic kit?
I have both acoustic and electronic. I rarely play my acoustic anymore. I play my electronic kit (Alesis Command X). The versatility is insane. It directed me to play other styles because of the programming. Having 600 plus sounds - it's endless on what I can do. The the adjustments, tweaking, enhancing, and sensitivity was all within reach on the module. And way easier on the ears!
I played acoustic for so long. Now I'm on a Strike Pro. I actually loosened the heads to almost match what my old acoustic heads felt like. For strictly a rock stand point this really works well.
I am using a Yamaha DTX 532K and I have 2 tips for people who want to buy an e-kit; or bought one but it's not as quiet as they thought and it bothers their neighbours.Also the ones who bought a kit but are not happy about the size of it. 1-) If you live in an apartment, don't buy the kits with kick drum towers because they are extremely loud for your neighbours.But if your apartment has 2 floors you can set your drums upstairs, find some knee protection(yeah like the ones for cycling, but the ones that have foam not the plastic ones.), put it over your kick pad and play much quieter. It sometimes causes your module to skip your kicks so you have to hit it a little bit hard.Although you still don't get enough kick drum sound. To solve that problem I make some adjustments to my kick drum trigger and raise the min volume of my kicks when my kick drum is triggered. So even when your kick drum doesn't get much power from your hits, your module acts as if it does. It may cause you to play your kicks way too quiet on accoustic kits so make sure that you practice on an accoustic kit for at least a week before you go on stage with an accoustic kit. 2-) The kits that are relatively affordable are actually way too smaller than accoustic kits. So when you go and try to play an accoustic kit you won't be able to perform your fills in time because your toms and floor tom would be much further away from you compared to your accoustic kit.I turned my tom pads away from me, not to my face (the YAMAHA labels on them look upside down) and I turned my floor tom pad to my riight and slided it all the way to the edge of the rack. That way you can maximise the size you get out of your kit to make it feel more accoustic-like. By doing so, it would take much less effort to adjust your limbs to a bigger, accoustic kit.
Jared, glad to see you playing and demonstrating an e-kit, well done! I mostly practice on an Alesis "rubber" head kit. I've no place to play "quietly" on my acoustic. Tip #1 Use Zildjian's anti-vibe "limb-saver" sticks. They keep your hands, wrists and forearms from tiring (rebound vibrations) while beating on hard rubber pads. #2 Practice more with an acoustic HH because the e hats can't match the sound and feel of metal hats. #3 Since kick towers are mounted on the floor, that's the loudest sound neighbors & family hear. A non-commercial (and cost effective) solution, place a towel over an acoustic foam panel under the pedal & tower. #4 If your single kick tower head size (circumference) has no room for two beaters, set up a second kick tower with its pedal line going into a tom port. #5 And, kick towers with rubber heads cause a vibrating hit response. Solution, buy a beater with padded head, or wrap a thick cloth over the one you have. #6 Regularly play with the module's click and use its "record" feature. Thank-you and look forward to more e-drumming from Drumeo.
Good video. I’ve been playing a Roland TD-50KV KIT for about 2 years now and i love it. I know it’s expensive but i use all zildjians not the Roland cymbals and i sold all the cymbals the kit came with and made some of the money back. I practice and play live shows. I play it through a bose L1 model 2. Sounds amazing. I have the 22 inch kick and the 14. People used to say oh you play electronic kit. My answer is I still have to play it. It doesn’t play itself.
I have both an acoustic and electronic kit and will say that your observations are spot on. The bounce, the tones, and the overall feel is entirely different as you go from one to the other. BEST ADVICE I can offer is to get an electronic kit that has a REAL HIGH HAT (though still rubberized). Yes this will cost a bit more, but will be worth it I think. The single pad hi hat is the WORST feature on an electric kit.
08:06 I have a way better solution for dynamics control : if you wanna learn to hit cymbals (including hihat) softer and shells harder on an ACOUSTIC kit, then on your ELECTRONIC kit crank the volume of the cymbals and lower the volume of the shells, which will force you to exagerate softening your hits on cymbals and playing harder on shells. Taking one earbud of is definitely not a good solution, considering how awful electronic drums sound acoustically in the room (not to mention the fact that you're loosing the isolation of the IEMs from the room, and don't hear what's in your IEM much anymore). In other words : set up your electronic kit so that it doesn't flatter your playing, but so that it makes you PRACTICE and improve (and sound better on an acoustic kit) instead.
@@looksirdroids9134 Depends what your goal is : playing an electronic kit for what it is, or practicing to play better on acoustic drums. My goal is the second one, so i play my e-kit accordingly.
I have 2 Roland TD20s, the first is the standard TD20 flight cased ready for clients who want electronic drum sounds, my on stage amplification consists of 2 Roland TDA-700s to achieve that stereo sound on stage for myself & band musicians. All of the above gear has no lock down restrictions, its all used everywhere but home, its me who's on lock down. My 2nd Roland TD20 is again the standard TD20 but with lots of extra's, the Roland TMC6 allows for 5/6 extra inputs via midi. If you take a look at Dave Weckl's acoustic set up with percussion including Bongo's, Djembe, high & low Cowbells etc, this TD20 is a carbon copy of that set up Dave was using for his "Transition" CD. I also use the Roland PM-3 Monitor System with the 2 Satalites Speakers for home use including for practice & home recording in conjunction with the Tascam DP-01 or the Tascam 2488. This equipment has always been subject to a lock down as it helps the equipment stay in good shape. I use acoustic drums to, Yamaha Zildjian, with real percussion as I mentioned above. Sometimes a combination of acoustic & electronic combined. Since Roland introduced the TD20 I've never looked back, a Drummers Paradise. Tell you what, I will upload some Roland TD20 recordings to backing tracks I've made.
I learned on a TD11 electronic kit for 3-4 years, only playing on an acoustic kit for my Trinity exams (that was a scary transition I can tell you!). The experience convinced me that I had to get an acoustic kit, which led me to my current DW collectors Birch and Black Beauty which I absolutely love. The biggest change for me was learning to hit the snare properly, as rim shots were so easily available on the electronic kit, but I didn’t really realise how important stick position was… they just came by hitting the rim. This has been a big transition. I also realised that I had simply been playing too hard with the electronic kit, because I would always just set the volume to the appropriate level and not really worry about how hard I was hitting the pads. It obviously led to some nonhelpful muscle memory, which I had to undo when I finally got the acoustic kit. Now very happy playing on both, although acoustic kit does get 90% of attention if I’m honest - can’t beat the feeling of that air moving :-)
Recently added a TD25KV that I snagged from Guitar Center for a STEAL at 1699! We moved into a new place with a basement finally so we could setup our music room but playing my acoustic kit still didn’t work as it was so loud through the house (wood floors). I love this kit as it’s my primary now and I’ve gone through and setup and tuned each instrument to sound almost identical to my acoustic kit setup. So many great videos on here about really honing the electric kit sounds (tuning, change sizes of each piece, change instruments, mix your levels, etc). It’s also such a great tool for recording covers and practicing with drum less tracks you can find on YT. You can load them directly into the module super easy with a flash drive.
Most tips start with: ... when you go to an acoustic kit ... ;-) I‘m a beginner and bought my first E-Drum Set (Millenium MPS-850). Thanks for the tips. It will be interesting to read other tips, if you definitely don’t switch to an acoustic kit.
Yes I just bought mine to get back into drumming after leaving it behind while going to college for 4 years. Now that I’m out of college , got a job and have some stability. I can focus on drumming again. Thank you for this video!
Spot on! I just got an electric kit about a month ago and every difference Jared noted is how I feel about it. I find the e- kit way easier to play ( distance between drums, bounce and of course tuning), but I it’s very tough to beat the nuances that an acoustic kit it is capable of. Apples and oranges, both with their advantages and both are awesome to rip up!!
On sticks: I've been playing on a Roland e-kit for the past five years or so. The extra bounce and vibration through the sticks were killing my wrists. Particularly from the heavier cymbal pads. I switched over to Ahead sticks which inherently reduce vibration and, in my opinion, are significantly more comfortable to play with.
Well, I'm 64 I have just bought an Alessis mesh. My 1st. Drum set in which I am learning. I play congas as well. For me it's the best, cause I do a lot of noise with my congas. But now I can learn and have fun learning drumming without disturbing the peace of the neighborhood, nore in my own house.
Hi Jared. My new Tourtech TT22M is my 4th ever kit because I live in a block of flats. It's mesh heads and velocity sensitive and the heads are "tightenable" to get the feel you want. Because i've experience on acoustic kits - i still practice like its an acoustic kit with the dynamics etc. It gets *pretty* close ! Also it has an actual bass drum - which is a huge plus.
After way too long away from my acoustic kit [cuz neighbors] I jumped into the E pool a year ago. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in drumming. I can play whenever I get the urge and I get it ALOT! Ya can't argue with that. I have a middle of the road kit from the best name in E-drums and one of the many things I dig about em is i have the snare head tight and the floor tom loose. It is possible to reduce the acoustic/mesh head rebound continuum. 😝🤘Thank you drumeo, keep up the good work.
My tip for anyone who has played/does play/is planning on playing acoustic kits and is using an ekit for quieter practicing: ditch the stock rack. There are plenty of ways to "convert" an ekit setup to be almost identical to an acoustic setup. The biggest challenge is the hi/mid tom since you don't have a kick to mount them to, but there are all types of different individual stands that allow you more freedom of arrangement. It does increase the cost, but i think it's worth it for anyone who wants the acoustic kit feel. Also, try to get the same cymbal sway. I have a Yamaha ekit, and the cymbals actually have a little hole that a pin on the stand goes into, and it allows the rubber cymbals to actually sway/bounce like metal cymbals. I'm not sure if all brands have that, but it's my favorite part of the ekit i have.
With the nylon tip stick tip, I’ve never found wood tips to create damage. I’ve been playing mesh head kits for nearly 10 years. Where I think damage could happen though, is those occasions where the nylon tip comes unglued and leaves just the stick tip to strike the mesh.
I think wood tips can be fine as long as use them exclusively for the E kit. Soon as you introduce real cymbals that's where you can run in to issues with chipped tips destroying your heads. But then again, you can also run in to that destroying your real drum heads too if you're unobservant. I like nylon tips regardless for those reasons. They basically don't come off, and IF they do, and you don't notice, what are you doing. Lol. Might wanna lay off the Jack n Cokes at the gig in which case.
I started playing electronic drums around 5 years ago, without having the opportunity to play an acoustic kit at all. I played a real acoustic drumkit a few months ago and realized that I could not play anything on it ! The feel is extremely important with drums ...
I knew this topic may be brought up. I got my all mesh TD9's a few years ago after playing acoustic for 30ish years. After a few months of neglecting my TAMA's I realized I sounded like an amateur when I sat at them. COMPLETELY lost my touch/feel. That was a few years back. My TAMA'S have since been sold.
@@JacksonAxe my problem is my acoustics just sound so freaking loud now! Im just able to play my td-10 so much more that the acoustics arent used much.
Been playing for 25 years. E-kit in apartments since early 2000s. Currently on the latest high-end from Yamaha, which I much prefer instead of Roland due to Yamaha's proprietary TCS heads. - Tactile feel. Already discussed in video. The physical sensation of hitting your pad in order to not having to be surprised when moving to an acoustic. - Sensitivity, i.e. module adjustment. Linear trigger envelopes mostly so you run from 1 to 127 and back. Keeping the dynamics in check. - The hi-hat has always been the most difficult to carry over to an e-kit. Snare work may not suffer, but hat work could. The same applies to the ride. Having a riser/drum podium is a necessity because of the kick drum noise travelling to the building's structure. Unless you live in a house. Where you'd probably have an acoustic kit anyway. Build my own before, but bought a tailormade one a decade ago. Much better. For obvious reasons most of us using e-kits prefer to trigger various VSTi:s (no names mentioned). Ear training and tuning already mentioned, but most people have a preconceived notion of how drums "should" sound like, from listening to all the hits, regardless of genre. Don't be disappointed. An e-kit is a confined space between your ears, while an acoustic is the kit + the room in which it is being played.
Watching from Singapore....thanks for the shoutout! You're right, almost everyone here lives in an apartment, and even houses are really close to one another.
You can use a felt beater on the mesh head if you put a drum patch on the mesh head. Thats what I did and the felt is quieter and the mesh head does not get damaged . I have had that patch on for two years now and it is still in great shape. I have a Roland TD17-KVX. A good practice kit.
Guys here the trick is simple: unfortunately with e-drum, the more you spend, the better feeling/sound you receive from the instrument. Another thing: don't believe they're so silent!!! I had a lot of troubles with my neighbours about that...the kick pedal makes a lot of noise; for solution i advice to mount the drum on a rubber base, that helps a lot. Here's a video i made with my Yamaha dtx750 (a really good instrument): ua-cam.com/video/fFSJKomcdMw/v-deo.html
I have been playing Electronic drums exclusively since 1998 starting with a Roland TD-7. It just happens to be my instrument of choice. When I was playing out all the time it was the best choice for me to play in the environments I was playing in. I played in a Christian Hard rock band that played church's and small coffee house's where acoustic drums just did not work. I use nylon tips on the electronics because it helps keep the rubber pads or cymbals cleaner the wood tips build up on the rubber. My best piece of advise would be spread out the pads, with the smaller pads people tend to move the pads in really tight which actually does not benefit you as much as you think. They best part about an electronic kit live is you hear all the drum sounds especially in mid size rooms where you can't mic all the acoustic drums. I use 8 direct outs live so the sound guy has full control over the sound and can EQ and adjust the volume from the front of house. With a gigging band not using in ears you may need some additional monitors for the drums because you might not get enough of the drums on stage. When I went to in ears for the drums live the drums in the front monitors made it hard for the band to hear vocals, so we went from a 2 monitor set up to a 3 monitor setup and it fixed the issue (4 piece band). I now play a Roland TD-50 and still have a couple of PD-7 pads from the original TD-7 kit that still trigger flawlessly. Another benefit of using electronic drums is you don't break drum sticks or replace drum heads that often any more. When I was using an acoustic kit I would break a drum stick a week at least, since play the electronic kit I might have broken 5 stick since 1998 (Promark 747, I now use Promark 727 to keep pad noise down).
Wow great video! I recently purchased an Alesis Nitro mesh kit for practicing because I have a small apartment. And I got to say during this time of shelter in place I've been practicing on this thing a couple hours a day and it is so much fun! I don't think it will ever replace an acoustic kit but there are things that you can do with electronics that you cannot do with acoustics. Anyway thanks for the video!
I practice on a e-kit. For most of my gigs, I use this kit with Sabian cymbals. It gives you the dynamics of real cymbals and is still easier to carry and send the signal to the mixer.
@@jadonchacon4914 i play electric on my church and it is ok but when i played on my friends acoustic kit at another church it felt like another thing it was just masive and very nice sounding kit
I have a tama acoustic kit with real feel mesh heads and surface mounted triggers. No issue with dynamics or rebound. As the kit is a fully acoustic kit the distances are identical. Only issue is rubber Cymbals which are harder to play than acoustic ones which makes life easier when going back to an acoustic kit. Having saud that there are after market metal cymbals with triggers for e drum use.
Great tips! I've drummed in bands for over 30 years and stopped playing when I got hearing aids. Just bought an Alesis Command kit so I can play again without the volume.
Just reading through the comment section- many seem to be overly concerned about getting the E-kit to 'feel' like your acoustic kit. I wonder if guitar players spend time worrying about getting their Strat to 'feel' like an acoustic. How long will it be before we break into camps of electric players vs. acoustic and accept it as a similar yet separate instrument?
fileditview it makes sense though. I had various e-kits for my whole drumming life because I simply had no space or realistic sonic environment to have an acoustic, but it never felt acoustic enough. This was important seeing as I was studying music and drums at university for 4 years where all other drummers had acoustic kits and practice rooms were hard to come by unless you went in overnight.
Couldn't agree more. I learned to play the drums on acoustic sets, and now I play more electronic kits. I love both. I strongly disagree with the mindset, "E-drums feel different, therefore, they suck." They are 2 different animals; of course they are going to feel different. E-drums are as real as electric guitars and keyboards. They need to be marketed as such and players need to take advantage of the features the e-kits bring.
Oh I got a good one! Best tip ever! If you want to do the Bernard Purdy tom switch thing where the high tom and middle are switched, you don't have to go into the module on every channel and switch the toms. You just unplug the wires out the back of the pad and switch them. I will accept praise now And as always I was entertained
I know NOTHING about drumming, but I literally just bought a Simmons Titan 20 just so I can learn and have a buddy drum along with me while I play my bass or guitar, nothing too serious. Found it for $180 bucks, so I jumped on it. I can’t wait to try it out and have it in my room whenever I want to jam or even write.
Couple things...take advantage of the metronome in your module. Also think about getting drum software, for much better sample quality and multitrack recording with any ekit.
The best advice I can give to eDrum players is that acoustic and electronic are completely different instruments. I played acoustic for years and never really had an issue. I bought a TD17 KVX last year due to playing constraints (small house, many family members who don't like loud noises) and it has been a damn journey. I have played acoustic for hours and been fine, but the first 3 hour-long session I had on the TD17 left me with pretty bad wrist pain. It is important to note that mesh pads are not the same as drum heads. They may be more bouncy, but they do not function the same and I have personally noticed that a lot more control is required to stop the shock of a stroke from going right back up your stick and into your hand. That being said, the mesh heads are not as bad as the cymbals. Just try to remember that you are striking a piece of plastic wrapped in thin rubber, not a regular cymbal. As far as I am aware, these things may not be as big an issue if you have really good technique, but I just thought I would mention it because I don't want anyone to hurt themselves. I seriously do not recommend hitting them as hard as you would hit an acoustic drum (granted, you probably shouldn't be whomping either that hard). Please be careful, work on perfecting your technique (I try to play as loosey-goosey as possible. that includes grip and not tensing up [I have a bad habit of tensing my shoulders lol]), and if you start feeling pain stop playing! P.S. I would recommend looking into Zildjian Anti-Vibe sticks for edrummers. I haven't personally used them, but I have great things from other people who dealt with the same issue. Good luck, stay safe and happy drumming!
My biggest tip for any kind of drum set is, if you have cats, keep the seat away from the drums when not in use. This keeps the cats from trying to lounge on the drums and although the seat might become a scratching post, the drums will not.
Do you realise that cats can jump and climb? Removing the throne, it's called a throne not a seat, will not stop cats from climbing and lounging all over.
Or just condition the cat to do what you want and not the other way around. They will learn quickly enough not to do it as there will be consequences. Not pain, not food. There are other ways.
Do you have an electronic kit? Comment with your set-up ⬇️
2 week old drummer here, Alesis Chrimson II kit, Pearl Kick pedal
Got an Odery Cafékit which I converted from ac to e with Jobeky internal triggers, TD-17 module and Roland cymbals. It´s a great set up and I play it everyday but I love my acoustic kit and I will forever!
Yes!! I Play a Yamaha electronic drums💪
Old Roland TD-6V here, took me 2,5 years to get an acoustic kit and i think it was a great start as i could practice at home and not bother my family so much. The biggest minus of the electronic kit i guess is that it's hard to learn the dynamics
I use a roland td 1kv i call her EVE. I am really happy with the kit. Connect it to a daw and it turns into a beast
Edit) this comment was like years ago and you should know that this is just an opinion. Don't take my comment too seriously and I recommend reading the replied comments below too
To add some of my tips:
1.If you have an edrum that has all mesh heads, tune them(it'll be just adjusting the bolts actually) to the similar rebound that you would get from an acoustic kit.
+Edit) what I think I should have written here was to not tune the mesh heads crazy tight, because acoustic heads tend to have less rebound, but not too loose to make the triggering awful
2. If your edrum has a hihat pad and controller pedal separately (usually seen in lower priced kits) make sure to locate you hat controller right beneath the hihat pad, otherwise it'll feel ackward when you're switching between acoustic and electronic.
Edit) acoustic hats are usually 14"+ and electric ones tend to be much smaller, so you might want to pull the electric hat a little closer to the throne to make it feel a bit more natural
3.Atv(which is an edrum company along with roland) tries to imitate the acoustics, having real-like sounds with big shells on their flagship(roland recently came up with a kit with big shells too) but gives you smaller range to adjust the sounds of the drums. You can't tune them, the ambience is fixed, however roland drums give you a wide range of selection even on cheaper models. However they do not have real-like sounds which atv drums have.(not a huge difference but still) So learning about what each of the manufactures are focusing on is also pretty helpful when choosing what to buy.
4.if you have a laptop, you can buy a drum vst,(superior drummer3 is great) connect your drum module, and have that super realistic sounds from the vst program.
Edit) this might embody latency and dynamic issues, testing with free softwares and sufficient consideration before buying the actual thing is recommended
(My english may be awful, it's not my mother tongue :(
Your tip #1 is not a good idea. Mesh heads need to be tight as heck for proper performance. Having them so loose as to mimic acoustic rebound will not just limit the dynamic range of your kit, but will almost certainly lead to cones that wear out very prematurely. When in doubt, tighten them even more. They should make a high-pitched "ping" sound like a tightly-strung tennis racket. Like a C note two or three octaves above middle C on a piano
And perhaps the most important tip of all:
DO NOT get an electronic kit that doesn't have a proper kick pedal!
Your English is really great! Much better than most UA-cam comments I read
@@SightReadDrums At least some lower-end e-drum kits come with cruddy single pedals and many will want to replace it with decent double pedals anyway
I'm looking at doing tip 4 but I have a question regarding the latency. How noticeable is it compared to just plugging into the headphone output on the drum module? I know this will depend on what software/hardware you have but in your experience? Thanks in advance
I bought myself an E drum kit in April of this year at aged 68, something I always wanted to do.I‘ve worked all my professional life with live music and with Lockdown it seemed like a good idea to challenge myself. Learning a lot from you guys and loving every minute of it. I still have to be comfortable with all the Module functions, but I‘m getting there.Facinating learning the Rudiments, and realizing the improvement.Why E drums? Simply because of my living circumstances.
Timothy Stokes I'm almost 50 and post colon cancer so wanna do something after recovery. Thought I too old and embarrassed to be crap. After your text maybe I'll ask for a present 😂😂👍 greetings from Ireland 🇮🇪👌
@@shiftylad9938 Hi Wayne, all power to your elbow or should I say hands. „It‘s never too late“ and I must say a lot of things I started late eg Snowboarding at 42 Yacht Sailing at 50. But I‘m now a qualified Highseas Skipper. Thanks to Corona in dry Dock. I‘ve always tried not to place limitations on achievement so Drumming is a huge learning goal. But what the hell, lets see how far we can get down the path of success. Enjoyment comes first and sometimes a little frustration rises, but as always „Keep calm and Carry on. Greetings from Germany. PS beat the beast of Cancer .
I’ve given up on so many instruments in my youth and thinking back on it I was always pretty ahead of the curve. I’m studying on drum sets now as a 27 year old adult who want learn.
Hi Tim. Im nearly 72 and just bought Alesis Command Mesh set. Complete novice but loving it and enjoying Drumeo
This is awesome. I’m 41 and just got an e pad. I do kind of know how to drum since 14. I might get the e drums later. In the meanwhile I am enjoying them so much.
I appreciate you guys not demoing this with a TD-50 kit. Im tired to seeing how much money I dont have. lol
Tyler Merwin lol he has a TD-17 drum module hooked up to what looks like the TD-1 pads and cymbals
@@finnleithomczyk5292 its the td17 kl
@@finnleithomczyk5292 and the td1 pads are cymbals are cy5 not cy8
@@maziu27 I don't think so, maybe TD-15 the snare is not 12"
Hahaha
As someone who goes between electric and acoustic, I highly recommend spacing your edrums to mimic your acoustic kit. This way way your reach and flow doesn't have to change from one kit to the other.
I converted an A kit so everything matches perfectly. But, I rarely ...like never, bring out the A kit anymore.
I have two electronic kits, one is a converted acoustic and then a smaller one at home. I ended up spacing out my home ekit and I think the smaller pads help with hitting dead center on my acoustic.
but why wouldn't someone do it?
I figured i was going to see thsi comment. It makes sense to have them set as similar as possible.
Second that, the transition will be much smoother that way.
My tip: get a kit with mesh heads. Hitting these hard rubber pads will injure you sooner or later, like slapping your hand to a wall repeatedly. I also find that increasing the trigger sensitivity as much as possible (without getting false triggering) helps me practice dynamics better than if I leave the sensitivities on their default levels, since acoustic kits are much more sensitive than e-kits when playing really soft.
Try Ahead sticks with some grip tape. Been playing 35 years. Used the ball bats in the 90s and hated em. Love them now though. Went from a bag with 10 or 12 pair in it, going through 2 to 5 pair a month or so, to owning just 2 pairs of sticks, with replacing the shafts maybe 3 times in over a year. Check your tips regularly though! Or you'll lose one some day, and notice it when your 20" Paiste signature reflector crash has a 3 inch cross lathe crack in it..... And your 19" 2002, ouch!! I'm that guy.
But, my fatigue is GONE!!! ,That with a lumbar backrest retrofitted to my rock n sock, and I can go for longer than when I was a kid now!
You will only get injured if you have bad technique. I have been hitting rubber pads since the 80's (The original Simmons hexagons) to present time TD-11 pads and I have no issues.
Also, all my modules (Alesis DM5, Alesis I/o, Roland TD-11. and Roland TD-27) registered very soft hits as well as very hard hits. This is set under sensitivity and threshold settings.
Of course the old Alesis Modules didn't have as many adjustable features as the Roland and even the TD-27 doesn't have as much adjustability as the TD-50, but if you adjust all those settings, you shouldn't have to bash the pads to get them to sound the way you want.
One thing I do agree with is Mesh pads are way better than the rubber pads. if you end up upgrading later on, you can keep those and use them as extra percussion such as a tambourine or a cowbell to improve your kit. (via using splitters to use to tom rim zones, and any available extra pad inputs). (if your module supports it. The TD-11 and the TD-27 do).
The one thing that I see different is that in a acoustic kit you can make it sound bad when you hit poorly, you cannot do that in an e-kit because there are no bad samples recorded...
"If you live in an apartment..."
*This only applies if you live on the basement or ground levels, with literally no one beneath you. It doesn't matter how quiet your electronic kit is, the pedal hitting the pad and your foot hitting the hi hat pedal both produce low frequency sound waves and thumps that are just as audible to your downstairs neighbors as anything. I've lived on the third floor of an apartment for 2 years, in LA, and it was by far our biggest mistake that we didn't think through. A tennis ball riser can help, but it doesn't completely eliminate the problem.*
Also, I'm playing a full mesh set of Rolands w/ upgraded snare, TD-17 brain w/ Mac Mini, Axis-L longboard, KAT HD400 PA system, Yamaha MG10XU Mixer, Gibraltar add-ons to my rack.
Cheers.
Tyler Oiler ok 👍🏻
just put it on top of the kitchen table
Yep, i live in a house and can't really play when wife is sleeping in the next room, even if i'm on headphones. She says it sounds like someone knocking on the door.
Tyler Oiler I be use a thick carpet and curtains and it’s not loud at all. But thats for me I may have a different set that makes less noise.
it can work on a 2nd floor two i live on the 2nd floor but the room beneath my drum room is my own storage.
My tip:
• Attach the bass drum to a platform to prevent it from rocking, swaying and (or) moving. Add spikes and (or) Velcro to lock it down. I built a platform with both the drum and pedal attacked, and it made a world of difference.
• I switched to lighter sticks. Regal tip Jazz sticks are the same length as 5A, but thin like 7A (nylon)
• For some reason, there's a tendency to set up electric kits way to low, I see this in every music store. Your knees are way up in your chest. I ended up raising my kit and thrown several times and still may raise it again.
• When MIDI sequencing, I noticed that a few pads were pinning max velocity on most hits. I went through module and using the velocity meter/indicator, pulled back the sensitivity of every pad so that only a very very hard hit would max the velocity. This seemed most common on the bass and crash cymbals
*throne
Thank you, these are very useful tips!
I got an extra rack tube on eBay and put it behind the bass drum. I saw that on UA-cam somewhere. Works like a charm (I actually bought an entire rack for $50 used).
My tip : maybe try playing along to music using the kit not even turned on - It will help with your dynamics and sometimes the pads might miss notes...
Yes, this is important! Playing electronic drums gives you false feedback concerning your dynamics. Your hits will sound super consistent due to triggers, but on a real drumset your playing might sound weak, unbalanced (hihat vs. snare vs. bassdrum).
وةةزن
Great tip!
Yeah, I notice a difference between playing with drums on and drums off. Sound off definitely makes you concentrate more on your timing.
@@DrumeoOfficial Thanks it's nylon !
I've been a drummer since I was 3...I'm 52 now. Been playing electronics for over 25 years. I'm on my third kit and I LOVE THEM!!!!
I am pretty sure “Holding out for a hero” played a role.
Sorry, wish I had a suggestion for amp. I’ve played mine through just about every version of the BOSE QC headphone series...they sound INCREDIBLE. On the rare occasion that they leave the studio, I let the sound guy worry about the mix while I monitor through my BOSE QC’s.
Here are some tips I wish I knew when I started (e-)drumming!
*Drum pads acting up?* (Zones triggering poorly or over-enthusiastically) Try unplugging and re-plugging the cable on the pad. (Yes, seriously.)
*Pedalling bothering downstairs neighbor?* Buy 2-3 scatter-rug pieces (the type with a hard rubber bottom and softer, semi-rigid fuzz coating) the size of your kit's footprint and stack them soft-side-down under the kit. Easy, cheap insulation; no need for tennis-ball / plywood contraptions. Hard rubber absorbs some of the shock, and soft layer helps insulate it from the floor.
*Bass drum pad & pedals sliding off position over time?* Buy velcro tape and apply to bottom of pad stand, pedals and your rug. I *don't* recommend using the screws provided with the pad as they might dig through your rug(s) and into your flooring, damage it & act as vibration conduits to your downstairs neighbors' frustration.
*Want to add pads but out of cables / module jacks?* Use Y-splitter cables (and F/F adapters as necessary) and split the rim zones off tom pads.
- These new pads will likely have poorer dynamics, but work well enough for things like splashes, bells/chimes or even a china.
- Your module needs to support dual-zone tom pads for this; re-assign the rim sounds from the module.
- In my experience on a NON-Roland drum, you don't need special "Drum splitter" cables (ones with a built-in 100 Ohm resistor), unless you're splitting off a cymbal pad.
Great tip re the rug! Thx
@@alexgoraieb8339 Welcome! Of course, sound insulation depends a lot on your building, and I can't guarantee your neighbors will be happy. But mine said the noise was considerably reduced with 2 scatter rugs (and a spare exercise mat under them).
Great tips!
I’ve been playing electronic drums on stage since I got a Simmons kit in the early 90s. My number one tip: avoid thinking an electronic kit is a “substitution” for an acoustic kit. It’s a different instrument, in the same way than an electric guitar is different form an acoustic guitar. Learn your kit. Learn how it feels, how it responds, in what situations it is best suited for the job, and how to use additional electronics with it (mixers, etc.) to get the best sound, just as a guitar player learns what combination of amps and pedals make the best combination. This instrument is just as valid and useful as an acoustic kit. It’s just different.
Play the Pearl Mimic Pro. Unbelievable
So you play weddings ha?
@@SevanStick Mostly large (expensive) private functions, corporate gigs, etc.
A store employee literally tried to talk me out of buying a Simmons E kit. I only asked the price and said they weren't worth it. I wasn't going to buy anything it though, I had already committed to the Alesis kit.
@@joetroutt7425 Back in the day, Simmons drums were the best of the best, and Alesis was years from even thinking about a drum kit. My, how things have changed.
My kit is a Yamaha DT-522 with all TCS heads. They respond to changing dynamics just fine. Even the cymbals. Without having to get into the module.
Great video 👍 I’ve been playing electronic drums for a few years and it’s good to see you guys starting to recognize electronic drums more and cover them in such depth. I agree that acoustic and electronic drums are completely different instruments, but they do compliment each other. Some tips:
1. Bass drum beater - it’s true that felt beaters will eventually damage and wear through the mesh head. Some felt beaters you can simply spin around and use the reverse plastic side, or just buy a plastic beater. Alternatively, if you like the feel of felt you can just use a patch on the mesh head like those made by Evans to protect it. Either way is fine.
2. Mesh heads feel better than rubber and have less rebound. You can adjust the tension of a mesh head slightly, but not too much as this will affect the triggering of the sounds and shorten the nice of the trigger cone under the head.
3. The stock sounds and kits in the module are just that - stock sounds (templates). You need to dive and edit the sound and trigger settings to your liking. The top tier modules have huge editing capability where you can adjust things like head tuning, head type, shell size, shell depth, shell type, muffling, beater type, reverb (different room types, room size), mic positions, compression, effects - you name it.
4. If you don’t like the synth type sounds on the module, you can trigger virtual drum software (VST) via a laptop that contains actual professionals recordings of REAL acoustic drum sounds - Superior Drummer 3, Addictive Drums 2, Steven Slate Drums 5, EZ Drummer 2 to name a few.
5. You don’t have to buy electronic drums “off the shelf”. You can buy a cheap or second hand acoustic kit and convert it to electronic by installing internal or external triggers on the drums. However, you will still need either rubber e-cymbals or low volume cymbals (triggered) and a drum module to trigger the sounds. This gives you an acoustic sized electronic kit. There are also off the shelf acoustic sized kits from companies like Roland, ATV and Drum-tec etc.
Hope that helps.
thank you good sir or madam. Great advice for the VST stuff. That's exactly hat I was looking for. I just bought my first drum kit, and I'm pretty psyched
First Tip: Make an effort to set up your drum/cymbal pads as you do your acoustic drums and cymbals. The small size of the pads tends to make everyone set their pads up too close.
Second Tip: play your e-pads knowing that the stick response is noticeably different in comparison to an acoustic drum. So find a balance between practice time on e-drums and acoustic drums to keep your "acoustic touch."
Yes definitely! I came down to comment the same thing.
So true
this is something that I didnt think about but made soooo much sense when I realized it. Acoustic drummers are going to set it up like a kit with 8" snare and all 8" toms. That's why you feel cramped when playing at first.
I am getting ready to set up the acoustic and take measurements from a central point so I can replicate it on the electronic kit.
@@christopherrogalski8997 I actually did the same. It feels pretty goofy in the beginning because visually everything is spaced out too much. But after a few practice sessions, I started to imagine bigger drums and things got comfortable.
I switched to an electric kit 20 years ago when I got old, married, and had kids. I've used wood tips the whole time and never had a problem. My tip is get rid of the rubber pads and make sure you're using mesh heads. Your wrists will thank you as you get older.
Yup having new borns over the last 8 years is the only damn reason ive bought em... since my kids have gotten older, now they are great 1 gallon moonsine very dusty place holders...
Your'e right, I got rid of the rubber things, I had instant pain even knee pain now have diy acoustic e kit.(but still a wooden kit lol)
Never had a problem with wood tips on my e-kit, my 'tip' (ha!) is to have a pair of sticks that are new and never go near your acoustic kit!
Using wood or nylon tips on mesh heads no problem. But def be on mesh heads.
Am I the only one who notices the rubber pads try and pull your sticks in and can result in dropping sticks when you go to switch pads bc it’s like they stick to the rubber.
I tend to treat an electric kit vs acoustic kit like a guitarist would treat an electric guitar vs acoustic guitar. Similar instrument, idea, concept, but different technique, slightly different mechanic changes to fit the medium.
i would treat them further apart from that, as an electric guitar that is unplugged still makes guitar sounds. it's more like a digital guitar that doesn't make any sound or have any resonance of it's own, and all the sound comes from monitors or headphones. that's how i always explained it having played both instruments
@@EpicStuffMan1000 TRUE
Yes!!! Your on the right track. Now take it a step farther and start thinking more melodically and a little less rhythmically, and start actually composing music with your kit. That's where I'm heading
@@EpicStuffMan1000 yeah but that’s technical and is not helpful to someone adjusting to tonalities, nuances, and techniques.
@@Insomnia_tic it’s very helpful when you think about your touch on the instrument though. An acoustic guitar and an electric guitar have similar strings, whereas the heads on electric drums are NOTHING like acoustic drumheads.
Really appreciate you a) not talking down on electronic players like most store employees will and b) didn't go for a TD-50 or VAD-506 for this. Your setup in this video is even more humble than my own and it's really nice to watch you play on it. Please continue with this, maybe make it a series.
A great video. Most of this has been said, and is in your opening notes. A couple of comments though. 1. Use wooden sticks. How can an e-drummer break one to damage the head? 2. Mesh heads. Adjust the tension to match the rebound of acoustics. I have done tests with slo-motion video to make the stick rebound, whether hit or dropped, rebound the same as acoustics. Yes, Real Feel heads do not rebound as much, but only slightly different to Roland heads. 3. Dynamics. As mentioned in someone’s response, adjust not only the sensitivity and volume, but the dynamics curve as well. Ed at 65drums, even with all his experience criticises having to hit the bell hard with the body of the stick. By getting all the settings right, I can just let the stick drop with the tip and get a bell sound similar to the sensitivity of an acoustic. No, I do not have a TD50 USB ride with 5 digital triggers. It is a 15 year old kit with a TD20 expanded module.
Below are my tips... I play exclusively electronic - I live in a Brooklyn apartment.
I bought a roland td-25k kit so that I can still practice dynamics (as much as possible on an electric). I should note that the sound when I play is of course much quieter than an acoustic but it still makes a significant sound (someone in the next room can not understand speech on the TV unless I close the door). Given this, I can not agree more with the first tip given in the video - get a nice pair of inserts, ideally ones that reduce outside sound by as much as possible so you can filter out your smacks against the mesh heads and rubber cymbals from your 'playing sounds'.
I personally went all-out and had custom Westone monitors made. I am very happy I did this because these reduce outside sound by 40db. If I am playing at low volume, I can still hear my smacks while playing, so I usually wear home depot builders hearing protection on top (another -40db). At this point I can not hear any outside sounds at all, and this way I simulate as much as possible playing on an acoustic kit.
One other thing I should note is that if I play for a while and then take my headsets off and just practice and listen raw on the kit, I can detect that I was playing with a slight delay (I would say < 10ms response) from the point of hit to sound in my ear. This isn't an issue while playing my kit, but I can tell it would be an additional factor to dial in if I were to switch to acoustic.
I got a Simmons Titan 50 last summer. Switched the ride and 2nd crash after watching you acoustic drum set up video. I also got nylon tip sticks based on this and it sounds great
Interesting. Both for me. I play my 1986 13-piece acoustic Ludwig at band practice; at home, I play the electronic Alesis Nitro Mesh kit to learn songs, arrangements, & techniques. I like it, 'cause I hook an MP3 player into the module, & I have tracks with only the bass & guitar playing our originals, where I can play to them, learn arrangements. And I can practice on a whim -- a few minutes here, a few minutes there -- getting much accomplished. (plus it's physical therapy for my motor neuron disability).
I have the new well new to me. The Alesis Nitro. The Roland wow love it but on a buget this set is perfect. Now i did spring for another tom and cracher because of the extra channels. Now i kinda have best of both worlds. I take lessons on an acoustic set and practice on my alesis. But like you said drumming is indeed drumming. Oh yes i follow you guys on Facebook and You Tube. I hope you do a whole series on electronic drums. Happy Drumming Everyone...
The main reason I prefer acoustic kits to electronic:
With acoustics, even the cheapest sets are usually workable for simple gig.
With electronics, a lot of money would have to be spent to get one that I would feel comfortable doing a gig on.
This. The passable e-kits are always close to $1000, while a cheap kit can be made to sound decent by swapping and tunning the heads.
However, ekits give you free cymbals, while decent cymbals deserve their own budget.
Agreed, my ekit is decent but I’ve spend well over $1500 on my kit, meanwhile I bought a used $400 Yamaha and it sounds way better than my Roland kit
Yeah but try to cheaply record that acoustic kit. no microphones is a big deal.
@@user29a Especially playing live at a gig with any level of size or prestige. You're going to be mic'ing the drumkit. Especially for guys like me who do our own PA and run our own sound for every gig. Yes, E Drums can get spendy but when you consider you need at LEAST $100 per piece of kit you're going to mic, you're going to be at $600 before you even get mics and cords for any overheads or cymbals at all, not to mention the price of cymbals themselves. Plus, cheap cymbals will NEVER sound good. You can get away with a crap drumkit if you have enough gaff tape, a drum key, and some time, but no amount of technique will make a crap cymbal sound good.
@@djjazzyjeff1232 yeah i'm more of a techno guy trying to capture drummer feel/playing than sound of kit.
I've been playing the Roland TD30 for about 4 years. I've used this gigging, church worship services and let me say this; incredible piece of hardware that creates a new level of versatility for any level of player.
It is especially handy when wanting to combine with an acoustic kit for added cabilities, effects, and sound enhancements
Great video Drumeo!
So glad you and the team finally covering electronic
Good tips. I purchased a Roland TD17-kvx a few months ago and have been in love with it.You can get around the rebound issue by adjusting the mesh heads to make them rebound less. I did a lot of research before jumping in and for anyone on the fence with this model just go for it, you won't be disappointed.
I have a TD-17 (first kit) and I love it. I'm 63 and I've used Drumeo to learn how to play for the past 4 years. I can read now and I'm continually getting much better than on day one. This was a great video for perspective and thanks for giving the e-drums attention like this because I don't see myself ever owning an acoustic kit (although I'd like to play one for comparison). I know my TD-17 very well but will upgrade in the future. The Drumeo learning program is second to none and I share this with everyone I know interested in learning how to play. Thanks!
I've been playing in an electronic kit for about 7 years for practicing and drumming with friends (I lived in an apartment until 2018), and for the first time I see a publication for drummers (or channel, for that matter) giving attention to the public that uses electronic kits... Kudos for that! Cheers (btw, I have a Roland TD-4 kit)
You may have found them by now but there's there's plenty of YT channels that talk exclusively about electronic drums.
When I go to a music store and play around their E kit it sounds like I haven't played in years. My sticks hit all over each other and I'm hitting rims. I could only imagine what the store employees are thinking but on an acoustic kit I'm right on the money never once crossing my sticks or slapping rims or even losing sticks. Definitely a learning curve from one to another.
a 42 yr. drumming vet and over the past 2 yrs I’ve converted to an eDrummer. Acoustics and electronics are similar instruments but unique in their own ways. Both my ears and my wallet love the versatility of modern eKits! My tip is to woodshed: spend significant time just learning the subtleties of striking the various types of pads and developing your new (albeit similar) skillset to playing acoustic drums/cymbals.
The alesis commander that I'm using is really great. I get to record and when I listen back to my practicing or something I've played on my own account. Say I'm in another kit sound and it's got bells or something played on the rim.. Well! I've been able to edit it and change it from drums all together so it's like an bigger midi if you think. And using that all together helps me observe More authentication over my compositions. I'm a composer first, a guitarist second and a drummer for life.
Tip1: I have found that gaming headphones are a solid choice as drumming headphones. I use AstrosA10s and they work really well. Just watch where the cord is so you don't break it.
Tip2: Sticks do make a difference in sound.
Lighter sticks make the sound lighter and heavier sticks don't. My fam didn't like it when I played because the sticks I was using made the set sound super loud. Switched to a lighter pair and now they don't care if I play or not because they can't hear me across the house anymore.
That's all I have for right now.
Thanks a lot!!
Have to disagree about the gaming headphones. You are paying extra for the gaming aesthetic and the microphone that you could be spending on better sound quality. If you're on a budget, I highly recommend Beyerdynamic DT770 (32 or 80 Ohm versions). They are possibly the most common pair of studio headphones in the industry and have excellent low end reproduction.
Thank you Drumeo for the great tips! Below are some of my tips.
My church has a Roland VAD306 (TD-17 module). I use nylon tip sticks and I have a felt beater that I wrapped in it duct tape and they work great. I have recently spaced the toms further apart to better match my acoustic kit. This gives me better fluidity. I picked 4-6 kits that sound good with the church piano and acoustic guitar. Then I went in an adjusted the pad EQ, muffling and tuning to make it sound more acoustic. One thing I've noticed I really needed to tune down tom 1 on some kits in order to get it to bark the way I wanted it. On one of my kits, I changed the floor tom (tom 3) from maple to beech or birch for a warmer/fatter sound. Since the church I play at is more conservative it is best that I don't overplay and sink in the pocket as best as possible.
Around a year ago, I added a TD-50 to my collection so that I could play weddings more comfortably. It quickly became my drum set of choice. Sound quality, feel, and reaction time are great. My Soundman loves them as well. The only important tip I would add- be mindful of your in-ear monitors. Now that every drum and cymbal is a direct feed into my ears, it is easier to damage yourself without realizing it. I love that snappy snare sound, but find myself turning things down as the gig progresses to minimize ear ring at the end of the show.
@LCort101 dont know what desk your sound guy is using but have a look at the behringer X32. You can get your own personal mix setup, and using the TD50s 10 outputs can set levels individually across a good range of pads. This is a different mix to what goes to main stereo and can bring in other band members. You can set the mix yourself with a remote ipad linked over wifi or a PC and behringer sell a remote P16 remote personal monitor. I'm still learning on a TD-12 and once my playing improves enough to justify will upgrade the module specifically to be able to do that. Already have the X32 for studio work where I can do as many takes as I need ;)
If you are hearing ringing them it is already too late as the damage is done. The ringing is a reminder that you are now on your way to hearing loss. How do i know this? Because i have tinitus. Enjoy the ringing. Its the last sound you hear before it is all gone.
@@suminshizzles6951you’re probably fun at parties
I play electronic only both in rehearsal and live.
For people who are only playing electronic drums, I would recommend that they take the time to set up their kit to suit them best remembering that there's less real estate used by each component so there's more flexibility.
For example, instead of playing traditionally crossed on the hi hat (as a righty) I have my hi hat setup where I can play more open handed which frees up access to other components and allows for smoother playing overall whilst making long sets and shows much more comfortable to play.
What a great idea.
For those who started out on electronic drums and are now exploring acoustic drums: Learn to develop a lighter touch when playing electronic drums. Even when playing heavier stuff, you don't have to lay in so hard into those pads. That way, you develop a better touch and tone on the acoustic drums.
Yep. It's also easier on the pads.
With dynamics I often play with the kit turned off, so I can hear how hard I actually hit each surface. It also gives me a way to analyze where I'm striking, cause I've noticed a lot of people care less about playing zones on electric kits.
I've pretty much only been playing electronic drums. A proper drum VST like Superior drummer 3 in combination with a good e-kit is one of the best investments i've ever made!
I wonder if you'd not like the feel of "real" drums if you have always played electric. I always played acoustic, and I never feel quite as inspired behind an electronic kit, despite how good they are nowadays (and I will use them happily when I need to).
@@EpicStuffMan1000 that's the thing with programs like superior drummer, the edrumkit gets more dynamic and then sound more realistic. It is also very cool to setup the same drumkit and cymbals as your favourite drummers.
What álvaro says, SD3 is so realistic you forget that you banging on rubber and the best part you can customise the kit so you get just the sound you want, finally got my dd65 and SD3 to work together today and I’m not disappointed, I would like better heads like mesh heads but I simply don’t have the space for a full size e kit and if I did I still don’t have the money for a full mesh head kit so I think I will live with the dd65 for a long time still!
Did you still have latency issues.?
I'm living in an apartment building and have a full size electronic drumkit that I brought all the way from China. I had mulitiple complains from my neighbors about the noise the drums were making. I tried to play quietly but the neighbors were still complaining. So I've built the drum riser made of mdf boards and tennis balls (there are tonns of videos on UA-cam how to make it) and I've never had complaints since. Hopefullysomeone will use this tip as well, it really worked for me. Thanks, everyone.
Get some light weight sticks too. That will keep the banging volume down for the neighbours. You could even use timbale sticks at night.
I have used my Roland TD25kv in theatres, perfect for sound techs to level out. i last used the full part of kit with acoustic bass drum and the sound and feel of it all worked really well, My Tip: when playing live with electric kits make sure you have a really good monitor mix to have the sound and fill of a live kit coming back to you. i use both Electric and live kits
I had considered this. I am not the drummer, but I am the overall production and bandleader, and I'm fortunate enough that my drummer is super open to trying things and making changes that I think will give us an overall better show. The way we use the kick now is already a pseudo-triggered thing. I use a sine-wave generator to generate a nice low tone (I live 56hz) and the put a gate on it, and side-chain the gate to the kick mic, allowing a short burst of that 56hz tone to come through, and I blend that in to the subs to have a ton of control over the kick drum low end without having to get into EQ and potential low-end feedback issues.
But anyway, I am already doing this trick, and I've heard that the kick pedal and the kick drum sounds can be a bit lackluster, perhaps the weakest element of an E kit. Also the kick is never a problem in a small, overly reflective room where you may want to use E drums instead, that's namely the snare and/or cymbals. So my plan is to get a good module, top of the line snare and hats, decent cymbals and toms, and then forego the kick altogether and continue using the acoustic kick. You're saying you WOULD recommend trying this setup, yes?
I have a tama acoustic kit converted to a hybrid kit.
Mesh heads roland td50 module and external triggers.
Mesh heads are fully adjustable tension wise.
Great dynamics.
Realistic rebound.
Real kit ergonomics.
I find setting the volume to match an acoustic kit with microphones and then adjusting playing to match works a treat.
I call my kit my gym, has been a saviour during the lockdown.
Interesting what you say about dynamics, when I first used an electronic kit I used to struggle with it because I was so used to just hitting harder to get volume. My advice when playing in a band environment is to set the master volume loud to keep enough dynamic range to always be able to keep up with the band.
The first kit I owned had the hard rubber pads, and I struggled with dynamics and always ended up hitting them really hard leading to sore wrists and hands after extended jams. My newer kit (Roland TD-17) with all mesh heads is much easier on the wrists.
Relatively new user here (3 months and counting - Alesis Sample pad pro). My take on E- percussion is very different.
I have always considered it to be a percussive way of triggering sounds that are considered to be rythmically biased.
This means that bass tones, tuned percussion (including piano tones - as it's still a percussive instrument) are all on the menu.
Added to the fact you can set up a pad to loop a sound, and have variations of that loop on other pads all set in one group so they will 'stop' each other this adds some exciting and dynamic way of doing things that would usually be done in a visually understated way, either with a button press or with computer based sequencers...
Don't get me wrong - I'm not making the wheel in a new way here (listen to Grandmaster flash - White Lines the outro especially), but it is definitely a very different way of sample triggering
Another tip that I would recommend is that when you want to do rim clicks on the snare drum, make sure that both ends of the stick are on either ends of the rim because the drums will most likely register it as a snare head hit.
I've got an A2E converted Tama Superstar (Destroyer) Classic with Pintech heads, Roland cymbals, and a mix of triggers from Wronka, R-drums, and Jobeky. DDrum DDTI chained into a Roland TD-20, running into Superior Drummer 3. I'd still rather play acoustic, but it's worked well for me for the last couple years.
I'm new to drums, been playing for under 6 months. I got my alesis nitro mesh kit for around 400€ and pretty soon felt like it's kind of small and limited. For that price you get a pretty decent kit but lacks zones in cymbals (hi hat and ride is one zone, so no bell or edge to the ride etc.)
I'm playing exclusively sounds from my macbook, i got ezdrummer 2 and as a music producer i love tweaking my kits and sounds from there, and not my nitro module so the sounds themselves won't matter. The only downsides are the small cymbals and small pads, so i figured i'll upgrade at some point.
I just purchased an old acoustic kit which i intend to turn into an electronic kit. To get a better feel, more responsive drums and triggers and in general make the kit better, combining some of my existing gear and new gear.
I have no intention of playing a fully acoustic kit as A) i will probably have to practice in an apartment building B) i have full control of production while recording drums to a song (and even more when i upgrade to superior drummer 3) and C) Most of the projects i would think of playing in live, would more or less benefit from my electric drums and sounds than from a traditional acoustic kit.
I don't see electric drums in any way inferior to an acoustic set, if you know what you'll use it for and realize you can't just transform your playing directly to an acoustic kit. Many people roll their eyes when i mention electric drums, but the tech has gone sooo far in the past years that it should be viewed as it's own instrument instead of a plan b for drummers who play acoustic kits.
The pros can 1000% outweigh the cons. Just have to keep in mind that they're different animals and there will always be pros and cons and compromise in some things in life.
I use both an acoustic kit and an electronic kit for gigs depending on the environment and the requirements of the gig, I practise exclusively on an electronic kit. Few points about the electronics:
1) Your kit will sound way different through a PA as opposed to headphones. Spend time setting all the virtual kits you use in a gig to sound right through your board and PA speakers,
2) You need to consider stage monitoring for live gigs, the rest of your band needs to hear/ feel what you are playing
3) Electronic kits are great for doing theatre work (musicals) in smaller theatres. Your MD will thank you for the volume control and you can assign all sorts of exotic percussion to pads if a song calls for it - space saving in the pit.
4) Singers will love your lower stage volume if they often struggle to hear themselves in front of 115dB of acoustic kit in a smaller venue. Your band mates ears will thank you as well - especially if they are professional musicians who rely on good hearing. If you play in a metal type band this may not matter, in my experience, they like it LOUD:)
5) If you an afford it, go for an A2E conversion or a purpose made acoustic design kit, they solve the problem of drum "layout" issues when switching between acoustic and electronic and they look great on stage.
5) I your band mates get "snobby" about you using electronics, ask them if they would like to mess about with acoustic double bass, full size acoustic pianos and only use acoustic guitars with all sorts of messing with mics, although if you are in a lounge volume jazz outfit that is probably what they do anyway:)
Soz if any of this has been covered further down in the comments.
You should be adjusting each pad's sensitivity such that only your strongest hit yields the strongest signal (the module should tell you the signal strength in real time), otherwise you will be limiting the dynamic potential..
Actually. Logically this seems sound, but in reality, "may" have a flaw, depending on the brain.
You'd think, my lightest hit producing the smallest velocity matched with my hardest hit producing the largest velocity possible means my dynamics are the same on my reg and e kits. Nope, imagine there's a fader the distance between the bottom and top is going to be much shorter on that drum brain, than the fader representative of your actual body's arm and feet which will throw off your internal estimates of how much you need to lay off to hit a 75% hit for instance. On your accoustic kit, you reduce you force an momentum by "this" much, but do the same on your ekit and you'll discover you've actually hit the drum much harder or lighter than the same "muscle memory" hit on your old luddys, so. This is actually NOT the best advice. What is? I've no idea lol, but think it through. I was very long winded about it, but it is a good thing to take into account. Full disclosure, I read your comment, and came up with this idea on the spot, so it's only theoretical at this point, but in my mind seems to make sense. Whether my words made it make sense to anyone else or not is another story lmao. Have a good one, and a ponder. I'ma experiment.
@@publicprofilename4273 sounds like you're describing the velocity curve... you can set it to linear/exponential/logarithmic as well as the for cf e required for max/min volume (probably depends on the drum brain)
Great tips Jared... as someone who regularly transitions between an e-kit & an acoustic kit... I concur with all the points you just made... couple of comments:
1- Dynamics are vastly different & the distance between drums/ cymbals is as well... first time I transitioned between the 2 ... I sounded awful... had to re-learn my dynamics... my tip is to ensure you have a couple of hours of re-adjustment practice on an acoustic drum kit before a gig to ‘re-aclimatize’... and not go too long without playing an acoustic kit so you don’t lose your acoustic muscle memory.
2- Investing a good amount of time understanding your module is key... depending on what module you have you can control just about everything including the environment you’re playing in ... tuning the heads, materials they are made off, depth, size, sustain... list is endless... spend the time & you can get them to sound & play pretty close to your actually acoustic kit... and to your style of play... some modules will let you download kits from the net where you can ‘borrow sounds’ & experiment/ discover... this is one part of an e-kit you want to get right.
3- Mesh heads are a must... you can tighten/ slacken them up to improve the rebound ... they feel better... some of the new mesh heads are really close to the real experience including the rim shots.
In short... invest the time on set-up & you’ll see a return... E-drums still give me a whole lot more practice time that I would ever have otherwise, given I live in Central London...
RE : Learning the module. First thing I did was learn everything the kit could do and dialled in my own personal User kit. Because the kit only has two cymbals - I assigned a crash to my Left Tom Rim... A Cymbal Bell to my Right Tom Rim and a ride cymbal to my floor tom Rim... It's great...Plus you can *pan* every drum so not every thing is in the middle and you get more separation and can hear the drums better over the music.
Kotow Boy oh shit, the pan option... never thought about that... u just opened a world to me xD
@@FreemitiveD What e-kit you got ? I've got the Tourtech TT22M :-)
I have a Simmons SD1500. (It's an SD1000 with an extra tom and crash cymbal). My tips in no particular order: 1) Add a second kick pedal- I've added a second kick drum pad unit with a second kick drum pedal. I simply use a quarter inch cable splitter and a quarter inch guitar cable to plug in the new kick. Both signals run into the same kick input cable via the splitter and it works great. 2) Customize and take advantage of the sounds. (I only use the preset kits as starting points to customize). Two advantages electronic kits have over acoustic kits are low stage volume and the ability to have many different kit sounds at your fingertips. Customize, save and use different kit sounds for different styles and even different songs throughout the night. Think about the best kit sound for the song- slow, rock, jazz etc. 3) Save the custom kits in the computer in the same song order as the set list so it's easy to jump to the next tune during the gig. 4) Type up and print out your custom kit list so you have it handy. 5) If you're gigging with the kit, it's worth investing in a spare 2 zone cymbal pad to keep with you. (about $99 to 350). If for some reason a cymbal pad craps out on you, it makes it a long night. You'll be glad you have a spare.
I started practicing in a electronic kit, and it helped me a lot learning and putting all I got in the accoustic kit
That's great! How did you find it switching between the two instruments?
@@DrumeoOfficial It was really interesting, because I felt the difference in the dynamics, and the force that I needed to put in the kick. I can tell this were very accurate tips haha. Although, I love the sound of both.
I have been playing a TD-12 for 10 years and then bought a TD-50 a couple of years ago for gigs. I love the versatility, sound and the right out of the box set up and go! You get all kinds of questions, comments, hate and likes. For me getting older, I find the mesh heads and rubber coated cymbals feel like they have less impact on my hands and wrists. One big upside, (besides them being quiet), is all of the drum-less music that you can download and play along with. It's highly motivating and now I am incorporating sampled parts into our gigs. Very fun stuff!
Hi, first of all sorry for my not so perfect english, I'm Italian.. Anyway, I'm playing an e-drums Roland TD11K (mash snare, rubber toms) since 5/6 years now. Most bad thing for me is the hi hat.. without the real dynamic of opening and closing it and the feeling with the pedal, completely different. Mainly for this reason I'm seriously evaluating to buy and higher level e-drum kit or, better an acoustic one. I'd prefer to play acoustic also to be more concentrated on playing instead of being distracted to play with the module, set the sounds etc. etc. I think the acoustic or an high level electronic kit are really better than the low-intermediate ones because changing the set up it's easier. Set up my kit for a left handed (my daughter) it was a very boring and long job.
Frankly speaking, despite what I was thinking, it is not really quiet and silent.. Anyway, it is good for practicing and playing, even if when you play the acoustic you find many difference
Unfortunately right now I cannot move for an acoustic due space, noise problems etc. so I think that I'll try to buy a more advanced edrum but for the moment I'm looking to buy better headphones and a monitor to play and ear the drum without headphones. Would anyone please be so kind to give me some suggestions for both?
For the monitor my main scare is to buy something that will be.enough powerful to be able to not ear the noise produced by the sticks hitting the toms and cymbals..
Thank you all in advance. Stay safe at home. Greetings from Italy
NiCoLoCor stay safe too!
Get the VH-10 hi-hat pad if your module supports it. Mounts on a real stand, moves up and down, and has 1000x better rebound. My ability to play faster went up the instant I plugged mine in. The Gibralter hi-hat stand is also a really nice inexpensive stand.
NiCoLoCor I own both a Roland TD17KVX and a Yamaha acoustic set. They do play differently - especially the cymbals which frankly I find can be a bit frustrating at times. That said the Roland kit is great, and using the hi-hat on a Roland ‘noise eater’ stand gives a very similar feel to an acoustic hihat. One of the big advantages of the Roland, aside from being quiet when you need it, is the ability to customize the tone and loudness of each cymbal and drumhead to suit your personal preference. It is well worth the time spent to learn how to get the most from the TD17 module. I would also recommend a Roland PM100 monitor for when you do want sound. Pay attention to the height - it is heavy on bass and light on cymbals if you place it on the ground. I like it much better keeping it elevated on a chair. Enjoy! Ciao
I got a Roland TD-25kv. Added another cymbal, replaced both 8" toms with 10" toms. Smaller ones I kept missing doing fills. I use felt drum beaters, mainly to reduce noise, but on the drum pad I added a double pedal Remo Falam Slam patch to protect the mesh. Still using the original mesh head on the bass drum.
Great video but I think that a few key points are missing.
Even with a top end drum module you are always going to get better sounds using a library on your computer. Drum sample libraries are much karger than the memory space on these drum brains, even the top of the range.
This means more velocity level samples and more round robins. This becomes really evident on the high hat, during fills and rolls.
This leads to a second point regarding electronic kits. You essentially have access to any drum kit in the world. Just buy the appropriate library. From 60s rock to modern metal. With a decent app like Superior Drummer you can mix and match anything you want.
There is also a very real issue regarding sound quality. What sounds better, a cheap acoustic kit that's badly miced or a sample library of a top notch kit recorded by a pro in a world class studio and triggered off an electronic kit?
There's no doubt that the experience of playing is just not the same on an electronic kit but there are some serious sound advantages.
Keep in mind that you can also use an electronic kit to trigger any sound you want... Steel drums, marimbas, tubular bells, latin hand percussion.
If you are a composer or engineer who also plays the drums, and decent set of pads triggering a good sample library collection, is probably going to get you a lot further.
We've been using an expanded Roland TD-9 kit as a MIDI controller for drum parts for years now. We just purchased a Yamaha DTX 12 for hand percussion... Congas, bongos and tablas etc as the playing experience is closer than using kit pads. Again, the sounds on the DTX 12 are OK and can be used live if you are in a fix. Plugging the DTX 12 into a good hand percussion library is a completely different story. With this one unit as a hand percussion midi controller and some good libraries you can play a plethora regional or historical skin instruments that would cost a fortune to collect... Not to mention the space.
Electronic pads and drum libraries have come a long way over the last 20 years. Because of the nature of how they are played, as opposed to a wind or string instrument, a very good approximation can be recreated using the current technology. Not the same can be said of a MIDI guitar, for example.
For recording purposes, nobody except a drummer or engineer, will recognise a drum part that has been played on an electronic kit onto a decent library from a real kit.
It really comes down to the drumming experience. Do you like playing an acoustic kit?
Completely agree! SD3 and every addon kit = AMAZING
Thank you for treating the edrums as its own instrument. No one thinks of an electric/midi/synthesizer keyboard as a "practice grand piano".
I have both acoustic and electronic. I rarely play my acoustic anymore. I play my electronic kit (Alesis Command X). The versatility is insane. It directed me to play other styles because of the programming. Having 600 plus sounds - it's endless on what I can do. The the adjustments, tweaking, enhancing, and sensitivity was all within reach on the module. And way easier on the ears!
I played acoustic for so long. Now I'm on a Strike Pro. I actually loosened the heads to almost match what my old acoustic heads felt like. For strictly a rock stand point this really works well.
I am using a Yamaha DTX 532K and I have 2 tips for people who want to buy an e-kit; or bought one but it's not as quiet as they thought and it bothers their neighbours.Also the ones who bought a kit but are not happy about the size of it.
1-) If you live in an apartment, don't buy the kits with kick drum towers because they are extremely loud for your neighbours.But if your apartment has 2 floors you can set your drums upstairs, find some knee protection(yeah like the ones for cycling, but the ones that have foam not the plastic ones.), put it over your kick pad and play much quieter. It sometimes causes your module to skip your kicks so you have to hit it a little bit hard.Although you still don't get enough kick drum sound. To solve that problem I make some adjustments to my kick drum trigger and raise the min volume of my kicks when my kick drum is triggered. So even when your kick drum doesn't get much power from your hits, your module acts as if it does. It may cause you to play your kicks way too quiet on accoustic kits so make sure that you practice on an accoustic kit for at least a week before you go on stage with an accoustic kit.
2-) The kits that are relatively affordable are actually way too smaller than accoustic kits. So when you go and try to play an accoustic kit you won't be able to perform your fills in time because your toms and floor tom would be much further away from you compared to your accoustic kit.I turned my tom pads away from me, not to my face (the YAMAHA labels on them look upside down) and I turned my floor tom pad to my riight and slided it all the way to the edge of the rack. That way you can maximise the size you get out of your kit to make it feel more accoustic-like. By doing so, it would take much less effort to adjust your limbs to a bigger, accoustic kit.
Jared, glad to see you playing and demonstrating an e-kit, well done! I mostly practice on an Alesis "rubber" head kit. I've no place to play "quietly" on my acoustic. Tip #1 Use Zildjian's anti-vibe "limb-saver" sticks. They keep your hands, wrists and forearms from tiring (rebound vibrations) while beating on hard rubber pads. #2 Practice more with an acoustic HH because the e hats can't match the sound and feel of metal hats. #3 Since kick towers are mounted on the floor, that's the loudest sound neighbors & family hear. A non-commercial (and cost effective) solution, place a towel over an acoustic foam panel under the pedal & tower. #4 If your single kick tower head size (circumference) has no room for two beaters, set up a second kick tower with its pedal line going into a tom port. #5 And, kick towers with rubber heads cause a vibrating hit response. Solution, buy a beater with padded head, or wrap a thick cloth over the one you have. #6 Regularly play with the module's click and use its "record" feature. Thank-you and look forward to more e-drumming from Drumeo.
Good video. I’ve been playing a Roland TD-50KV KIT for about 2 years now and i love it. I know it’s expensive but i use all zildjians not the Roland cymbals and i sold all the cymbals the kit came with and made some of the money back. I practice and play live shows. I play it through a bose L1 model 2. Sounds amazing. I have the 22 inch kick and the 14. People used to say oh you play electronic kit. My answer is I still have to play it. It doesn’t play itself.
Says specifically in the Roland TD-50 instructions NOT to use the felt side
I have both an acoustic and electronic kit and will say that your observations are spot on. The bounce, the tones, and the overall feel is entirely different as you go from one to the other. BEST ADVICE I can offer is to get an electronic kit that has a REAL HIGH HAT (though still rubberized). Yes this will cost a bit more, but will be worth it I think. The single pad hi hat is the WORST feature on an electric kit.
08:06 I have a way better solution for dynamics control :
if you wanna learn to hit cymbals (including hihat) softer and shells harder on an ACOUSTIC kit, then on your ELECTRONIC kit crank the volume of the cymbals and lower the volume of the shells, which will force you to exagerate softening your hits on cymbals and playing harder on shells.
Taking one earbud of is definitely not a good solution, considering how awful electronic drums sound acoustically in the room (not to mention the fact that you're loosing the isolation of the IEMs from the room, and don't hear what's in your IEM much anymore).
In other words : set up your electronic kit so that it doesn't flatter your playing, but so that it makes you PRACTICE and improve (and sound better on an acoustic kit) instead.
Or just, you know, play an electric kit for what it is and stop trying to compare between electric and acoustic.
@@looksirdroids9134 Depends what your goal is : playing an electronic kit for what it is, or practicing to play better on acoustic drums. My goal is the second one, so i play my e-kit accordingly.
@@looksirdroids9134 Will you adopted the Electric, or stick with the Acoustic? The choice is yours.
I have 2 Roland TD20s, the first is the standard TD20 flight cased ready for clients who
want electronic drum sounds, my on stage amplification consists of 2 Roland TDA-700s
to achieve that stereo sound on stage for myself & band musicians. All of the above gear
has no lock down restrictions, its all used everywhere but home, its me who's on lock down.
My 2nd Roland TD20 is again the standard TD20 but with lots of extra's, the Roland TMC6
allows for 5/6 extra inputs via midi. If you take a look at Dave Weckl's acoustic set up with
percussion including Bongo's, Djembe, high & low Cowbells etc, this TD20 is a carbon copy
of that set up Dave was using for his "Transition" CD. I also use the Roland PM-3 Monitor
System with the 2 Satalites Speakers for home use including for practice & home recording
in conjunction with the Tascam DP-01 or the Tascam 2488. This equipment has always been
subject to a lock down as it helps the equipment stay in good shape.
I use acoustic drums to, Yamaha Zildjian, with real percussion as I mentioned above.
Sometimes a combination of acoustic & electronic combined.
Since Roland introduced the TD20 I've never looked back, a Drummers Paradise.
Tell you what, I will upload some Roland TD20 recordings to backing tracks I've made.
I learned on a TD11 electronic kit for 3-4 years, only playing on an acoustic kit for my Trinity exams (that was a scary transition I can tell you!). The experience convinced me that I had to get an acoustic kit, which led me to my current DW collectors Birch and Black Beauty which I absolutely love. The biggest change for me was learning to hit the snare properly, as rim shots were so easily available on the electronic kit, but I didn’t really realise how important stick position was… they just came by hitting the rim. This has been a big transition. I also realised that I had simply been playing too hard with the electronic kit, because I would always just set the volume to the appropriate level and not really worry about how hard I was hitting the pads. It obviously led to some nonhelpful muscle memory, which I had to undo when I finally got the acoustic kit. Now very happy playing on both, although acoustic kit does get 90% of attention if I’m honest - can’t beat the feeling of that air moving :-)
Recently added a TD25KV that I snagged from Guitar Center for a STEAL at 1699! We moved into a new place with a basement finally so we could setup our music room but playing my acoustic kit still didn’t work as it was so loud through the house (wood floors). I love this kit as it’s my primary now and I’ve gone through and setup and tuned each instrument to sound almost identical to my acoustic kit setup. So many great videos on here about really honing the electric kit sounds (tuning, change sizes of each piece, change instruments, mix your levels, etc). It’s also such a great tool for recording covers and practicing with drum less tracks you can find on YT. You can load them directly into the module super easy with a flash drive.
Most tips start with: ... when you go to an acoustic kit ... ;-) I‘m a beginner and bought my first E-Drum Set (Millenium MPS-850). Thanks for the tips. It will be interesting to read other tips, if you definitely don’t switch to an acoustic kit.
Yes I just bought mine to get back into drumming after leaving it behind while going to college for 4 years. Now that I’m out of college , got a job and have some stability. I can focus on drumming again. Thank you for this video!
Addition: Don´t use bluetooth earphones. Their signal delay is too high for the purpose of time synchronizing your play with the sound you hear.
ok
i think everyone knew that already
@@marcelszekowski315 There are so many things to consider, some people just don't think of EVERYthing. Some stuff slips through the cracks.
Spot on! I just got an electric kit about a month ago and every difference Jared noted is how I feel about it. I find the e- kit way easier to play ( distance between drums, bounce and of course tuning), but I it’s very tough to beat the nuances that an acoustic kit it is capable of. Apples and oranges, both with their advantages and both are awesome to rip up!!
On sticks: I've been playing on a Roland e-kit for the past five years or so. The extra bounce and vibration through the sticks were killing my wrists. Particularly from the heavier cymbal pads. I switched over to Ahead sticks which inherently reduce vibration and, in my opinion, are significantly more comfortable to play with.
Which Ahead sticks did you choose to relieve the vibration shock for arms and wrists?
Ahead 7a's are great for this. Hope that helps you? Even better are the Matt sprung signature Ahead 7a's good luck!
My aunt is giving me her electronic drum kit tomorrow and I'm super excited! The tips in the video and comment section are definitely helpful.
Great tips! I love my Roland. It helps me practice and not bother the whole house😘
Well, I'm 64 I have just bought an Alessis mesh. My 1st. Drum set in which I am learning. I play congas as well. For me it's the best, cause I do a lot of noise with my congas. But now I can learn and have fun learning drumming without disturbing the peace of the neighborhood, nore in my own house.
Hi Jared. My new Tourtech TT22M is my 4th ever kit because I live in a block of flats. It's mesh heads and velocity sensitive and the heads are "tightenable" to get the feel you want. Because i've experience on acoustic kits - i still practice like its an acoustic kit with the dynamics etc. It gets *pretty* close ! Also it has an actual bass drum - which is a huge plus.
How was it 3 years on?
After way too long away from my acoustic kit [cuz neighbors] I jumped into the E pool a year ago. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in drumming. I can play whenever I get the urge and I get it ALOT! Ya can't argue with that. I have a middle of the road kit from the best name in E-drums and one of the many things I dig about em is i have the snare head tight and the floor tom loose. It is possible to reduce the acoustic/mesh head rebound continuum. 😝🤘Thank you drumeo, keep up the good work.
I'm so proud we have exactly the same drum set xD
Aaron Acosta What’s this model name?
芷平 As far as I can remember it's Roland TD-11K
@@avlagamer It's a TD17 KL
😃
Kai Ohcar yeahyeah that's it sorry
My tip for anyone who has played/does play/is planning on playing acoustic kits and is using an ekit for quieter practicing: ditch the stock rack. There are plenty of ways to "convert" an ekit setup to be almost identical to an acoustic setup. The biggest challenge is the hi/mid tom since you don't have a kick to mount them to, but there are all types of different individual stands that allow you more freedom of arrangement. It does increase the cost, but i think it's worth it for anyone who wants the acoustic kit feel. Also, try to get the same cymbal sway. I have a Yamaha ekit, and the cymbals actually have a little hole that a pin on the stand goes into, and it allows the rubber cymbals to actually sway/bounce like metal cymbals. I'm not sure if all brands have that, but it's my favorite part of the ekit i have.
With the nylon tip stick tip, I’ve never found wood tips to create damage. I’ve been playing mesh head kits for nearly 10 years. Where I think damage could happen though,
is those occasions where the nylon tip comes unglued and leaves just the stick tip to strike the mesh.
The nylon tipped sticks I bought had a little burr in the seam and it snagged the mesh. I went back to wooden tips.
I think wood tips can be fine as long as use them exclusively for the E kit. Soon as you introduce real cymbals that's where you can run in to issues with chipped tips destroying your heads. But then again, you can also run in to that destroying your real drum heads too if you're unobservant. I like nylon tips regardless for those reasons. They basically don't come off, and IF they do, and you don't notice, what are you doing. Lol. Might wanna lay off the Jack n Cokes at the gig in which case.
I started playing electronic drums around 5 years ago, without having the opportunity to play an acoustic kit at all. I played a real acoustic drumkit a few months ago and realized that I could not play anything on it ! The feel is extremely important with drums ...
I knew this topic may be brought up.
I got my all mesh TD9's a few years ago after playing acoustic for 30ish years.
After a few months of neglecting my TAMA's I realized I sounded like an amateur when I sat at them.
COMPLETELY lost my touch/feel.
That was a few years back. My TAMA'S have since been sold.
@@JacksonAxe my problem is my acoustics just sound so freaking loud now! Im just able to play my td-10 so much more that the acoustics arent used much.
Been playing for 25 years. E-kit in apartments since early 2000s. Currently on the latest high-end from Yamaha, which I much prefer instead of Roland due to Yamaha's proprietary TCS heads.
- Tactile feel. Already discussed in video. The physical sensation of hitting your pad in order to not having to be surprised when moving to an acoustic.
- Sensitivity, i.e. module adjustment. Linear trigger envelopes mostly so you run from 1 to 127 and back. Keeping the dynamics in check.
- The hi-hat has always been the most difficult to carry over to an e-kit. Snare work may not suffer, but hat work could. The same applies to the ride.
Having a riser/drum podium is a necessity because of the kick drum noise travelling to the building's structure. Unless you live in a house. Where you'd probably have an acoustic kit anyway.
Build my own before, but bought a tailormade one a decade ago. Much better.
For obvious reasons most of us using e-kits prefer to trigger various VSTi:s (no names mentioned). Ear training and tuning already mentioned, but most people have a preconceived notion of how drums "should" sound like, from listening to all the hits, regardless of genre. Don't be disappointed. An e-kit is a confined space between your ears, while an acoustic is the kit + the room in which it is being played.
Watching from Singapore....thanks for the shoutout! You're right, almost everyone here lives in an apartment, and even houses are really close to one another.
Wow, I actually just ordered an electronic drumset this morning.
Awesome! Enjoy 🙂
@@DrumeoOfficial Thank you! I'm a complete beginner and I'll check out Drumeo Edge. Excited to start this journey.
Le Guitariste Autodidacte - MattyPS nice what did you get?
Quelle synchro parfaite ! Quel kit electronique ?
@@thewomanwithnohead Oooh some baguette here ! I think il can pas comprendre though
You can use a felt beater on the mesh head if you put a drum patch on the mesh head. Thats what I did and the felt is quieter and the mesh head does not get damaged . I have had that patch on for two years now and it is still in great shape. I have a Roland TD17-KVX. A good practice kit.
Guys here the trick is simple: unfortunately with e-drum, the more you spend, the better feeling/sound you receive from the instrument. Another thing: don't believe they're so silent!!! I had a lot of troubles with my neighbours about that...the kick pedal makes a lot of noise; for solution i advice to mount the drum on a rubber base, that helps a lot.
Here's a video i made with my Yamaha dtx750 (a really good instrument): ua-cam.com/video/fFSJKomcdMw/v-deo.html
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I used acoustic foam under my kick pedals. Really helped.
I have been playing Electronic drums exclusively since 1998 starting with a Roland TD-7. It just happens to be my instrument of choice. When I was playing out all the time it was the best choice for me to play in the environments I was playing in. I played in a Christian Hard rock band that played church's and small coffee house's where acoustic drums just did not work. I use nylon tips on the electronics because it helps keep the rubber pads or cymbals cleaner the wood tips build up on the rubber. My best piece of advise would be spread out the pads, with the smaller pads people tend to move the pads in really tight which actually does not benefit you as much as you think. They best part about an electronic kit live is you hear all the drum sounds especially in mid size rooms where you can't mic all the acoustic drums. I use 8 direct outs live so the sound guy has full control over the sound and can EQ and adjust the volume from the front of house. With a gigging band not using in ears you may need some additional monitors for the drums because you might not get enough of the drums on stage. When I went to in ears for the drums live the drums in the front monitors made it hard for the band to hear vocals, so we went from a 2 monitor set up to a 3 monitor setup and it fixed the issue (4 piece band). I now play a Roland TD-50 and still have a couple of PD-7 pads from the original TD-7 kit that still trigger flawlessly. Another benefit of using electronic drums is you don't break drum sticks or replace drum heads that often any more. When I was using an acoustic kit I would break a drum stick a week at least, since play the electronic kit I might have broken 5 stick since 1998 (Promark 747, I now use Promark 727 to keep pad noise down).
I just wish they made a taller or adjustable rack. Im fairly tall and every electronic kit ive looked at is either at or below knee level.
I put my rack on a course of breeze blocks ha ha. Problem solved.
I'm 6 foot 2. We use a Roland rack and don't have much of a problem. Pretty sturdy too.
i just put my kit on risers
Wow great video! I recently purchased an Alesis Nitro mesh kit for practicing because I have a small apartment. And I got to say during this time of shelter in place I've been practicing on this thing a couple hours a day and it is so much fun! I don't think it will ever replace an acoustic kit but there are things that you can do with electronics that you cannot do with acoustics. Anyway thanks for the video!
This was more of a "Things to beware of when you go back to an acoustic set" video than edrum tips.
coz he's mainly a traditional drummer and doesn't play a lot of e-drums, however check 65 drums if you want specific e-drum tips...
totally agree.
the best tip is to google tips in your own.
Very true. I think he should have had another drummer there who is mainly an electronic drummer so they could each give their own perspectives
Especially after saying “we should treat this as its own instrument” at the start of the video. Lol. 😟
I practice on a e-kit. For most of my gigs, I use this kit with Sabian cymbals. It gives you the dynamics of real cymbals and is still easier to carry and send the signal to the mixer.
The best tip it will be: get an acoustic kit or a e-kit with a good dynamic range
Apollo Creed proper trigger settings can help with dynamics on an e-kit, might not be exactly like an acoustic but some modules can get pretty close
@@jadonchacon4914 yes, but if i had an acoustic kit wouldn't think much in what to choose between them :)))
Apollo Creed true, I have both an acoustic and electric and while the electric can be fun, I’ll take acoustic any day
@@jadonchacon4914 i play electric on my church and it is ok but when i played on my friends acoustic kit at another church it felt like another thing it was just masive and very nice sounding kit
I have a tama acoustic kit with real feel mesh heads and surface mounted triggers.
No issue with dynamics or rebound.
As the kit is a fully acoustic kit the distances are identical.
Only issue is rubber Cymbals which are harder to play than acoustic ones which makes life easier when going back to an acoustic kit.
Having saud that there are after market metal cymbals with triggers for e drum use.
Great tips! I've drummed in bands for over 30 years and stopped playing when I got hearing aids. Just bought an Alesis Command kit so I can play again without the volume.
Just reading through the comment section- many seem to be overly concerned about getting the E-kit to 'feel' like your acoustic kit. I wonder if guitar players spend time worrying about getting their Strat to 'feel' like an acoustic. How long will it be before we break into camps of electric players vs. acoustic and accept it as a similar yet separate instrument?
fileditview it makes sense though. I had various e-kits for my whole drumming life because I simply had no space or realistic sonic environment to have an acoustic, but it never felt acoustic enough. This was important seeing as I was studying music and drums at university for 4 years where all other drummers had acoustic kits and practice rooms were hard to come by unless you went in overnight.
Idk, i usually go for all electric instruments solely cause i dont want anyone hearing my trash playing
fileditview, that’s why they made the acoustonic guitars
Couldn't agree more. I learned to play the drums on acoustic sets, and now I play more electronic kits. I love both.
I strongly disagree with the mindset, "E-drums feel different, therefore, they suck." They are 2 different animals; of course they are going to feel different. E-drums are as real as electric guitars and keyboards. They need to be marketed as such and players need to take advantage of the features the e-kits bring.
Oh I got a good one!
Best tip ever!
If you want to do the Bernard Purdy tom switch thing where the high tom and middle are switched, you don't have to go into the module on every channel and switch the toms. You just unplug the wires out the back of the pad and switch them.
I will accept praise now
And as always
I was entertained
having also some nice amplificator helps when it comes to share with others !
I know NOTHING about drumming, but I literally just bought a Simmons Titan 20 just so I can learn and have a buddy drum along with me while I play my bass or guitar, nothing too serious. Found it for $180 bucks, so I jumped on it. I can’t wait to try it out and have it in my room whenever I want to jam or even write.
Couple things...take advantage of the metronome in your module. Also think about getting drum software, for much better sample quality and multitrack recording with any ekit.
I'm gonna plug mine into my computer and record the midi. Then move some hits to different samples, like two different sounding crashes
The best advice I can give to eDrum players is that acoustic and electronic are completely different instruments. I played acoustic for years and never really had an issue. I bought a TD17 KVX last year due to playing constraints (small house, many family members who don't like loud noises) and it has been a damn journey. I have played acoustic for hours and been fine, but the first 3 hour-long session I had on the TD17 left me with pretty bad wrist pain. It is important to note that mesh pads are not the same as drum heads. They may be more bouncy, but they do not function the same and I have personally noticed that a lot more control is required to stop the shock of a stroke from going right back up your stick and into your hand. That being said, the mesh heads are not as bad as the cymbals. Just try to remember that you are striking a piece of plastic wrapped in thin rubber, not a regular cymbal. As far as I am aware, these things may not be as big an issue if you have really good technique, but I just thought I would mention it because I don't want anyone to hurt themselves. I seriously do not recommend hitting them as hard as you would hit an acoustic drum (granted, you probably shouldn't be whomping either that hard). Please be careful, work on perfecting your technique (I try to play as loosey-goosey as possible. that includes grip and not tensing up [I have a bad habit of tensing my shoulders lol]), and if you start feeling pain stop playing! P.S. I would recommend looking into Zildjian Anti-Vibe sticks for edrummers. I haven't personally used them, but I have great things from other people who dealt with the same issue. Good luck, stay safe and happy drumming!
My biggest tip for any kind of drum set is, if you have cats, keep the seat away from the drums when not in use. This keeps the cats from trying to lounge on the drums and although the seat might become a scratching post, the drums will not.
Do you realise that cats can jump and climb? Removing the throne, it's called a throne not a seat, will not stop cats from climbing and lounging all over.
Or just condition the cat to do what you want and not the other way around. They will learn quickly enough not to do it as there will be consequences. Not pain, not food. There are other ways.