Live Playing

[Racman]

I am thinking about purchasing the V Drum Session kit ( if I can come up with enough cash ) and was wondering how do these drums sound Live? Are there alot of problems when you use them live? Etc. Etc. I know they seem to be great in the studio but I do not do alot of studio work but I do some. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Rich

[Sim]

I've used mine live for over a year now and I absolutely love them, as do my bandmates.

It is essential, in my opinion, that you edit the patches, as the factory presets are best for practicing, etc. My band recently made a live DAT recording straight off of the board and the Vdrums sound fantastic. They really are state of the art. If you have any other questions, feel free to email and I'll do my best to answer.

Sim

[puttenvr]

I played them live and was never able to get a good sound. There are many other posts on this board who talk about lame snare sounds, weak cymbals, bleeding outputs, too much noise etc. too

I discovered that you need a huge sound system for reproducing the processed Vdrum sound. See also: the sound processing topic.
If you can afford a decent sound system, you can give the V's a try. Otherwise: buy an e-drum without all those bells and whistles.

[mcconaghy]

Rich,
I've been using mine live for quite a while as well, and I have no problems with it. You have to tweak the sounds for the setting, be it live or studio, but I found that to be true with my old Ddrum3 as well, I'm thinking the new Yamaha DTXtreme and the Ddrum 4 are no different. Keep in mind that you should invest in your own mixer, a BBE 482 Sonic Enhancer, and a multi-effect processor of your choice to get more than a satisfactory result.
You can play live just using the V-Sessions, and the built-in effects in a pinch, it just isn't as good as when you use some outboard equipment. It's worth spending that grand more. and getting maybe a Spirit, Allen & Heath or Mackie rack mixer, the BBE and a Lexicon MPX100 or something similar along with an SKB rack. You'll be glad you did, trust me, no matter what kind of system you go with (Roland, Yamaha. Ddrum).
Keep in mind that all built-in effects in all electronic drum systems are more or less gimmicks for giving you a nicer practice sound through your headphones.

Stu

P.S. Rob could't get a good sound out of them cause he's a constantly drunk Dutchman! ;-)

[puttenvr]

Originally posted by mcconaghy:
P.S. Rob could't get a good sound out of them cause he's a constantly drunk Dutchman! ;-)

To tell you the truth: i am a total abstainer

But back to the topic: you understate that you do need a huge amount of equipment for Vdrums. All those mixers, effect processors, enhancers.... Pffff. I don't need them and I don't want them. I am just a drummer

[This message has been edited by puttenvr (edited April 03, 2001).]

[Racman]

Thanks guys for the response, I appreciate it. Sounds like I need to spend even more money to get them to sound good live.

If you have a decent PA would you still need your own mixer and processer? Do the V drums need alot of power to sound right?

Would I be better buying the V Customs and buy a good PA, even though I hear the V Customs do not have enough outputs for the studio.

Again thanks!I am still not sure I want to spend 6 or 7 grand to get a decent sound.

PS Sim what do you use live? Do you have a mixer just for the drums or just the Main board.

Rich

[Blades]

I play in a cover band occassionally with my v-pro kit and I have to say that, although I'm sure anything else added could make them sound better, even with a single out going mono, with a decent PA they sound great. Untouchable with acoustics unless you spend a TON on outboard stuff and mics and a completly controllable STAGE VOLUME, which makes the acoustics so difficult to manage, especially in an ill-behaved room.

We have some OAP subs and some other speaker (PA is not mine) with like 12+horn on each side, using crossovers to seperate the signal from bass to tops.

I have always gotten great compliments about the sound live.

Also, I don't understand this thing about the effects not being good enough. Although they may not be "studio" quality, they are MORE THAN SUFFICIENT for live playing. Are you serious that you can tell much difference in a noisy bar between the Roland verb and a Lexicon?

The sound in headphones vs. live is definitely different, just as it is with ANY drum system. To me, my feedback through phones (for monitoring) sounds 100% better than the acoustics ever did, especially the blend with the rest of the band. Again, unless you spend a lot of time and money, the vdrums sound will beat acoustics live...plus you have all the flexibility.

Hope that helps.
redbrick

[szvook]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by redbrick:


"Also, I don't understand this thing about the effects not being good enough. Although they may not be "studio" quality, they are MORE THAN SUFFICIENT for live playing." -

Your style of music might not require professional effects, so to you the Roland internal effects are good enough and that is what counts the most.

"Are you serious that you can tell much difference in a noisy bar between the Roland verb and a Lexicon?" - YEP !!!!


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szvook

[szvook]

Actually, my Alesis 3630 compressor is only used on one side to compress the hats. It has been tweaked internally (some of the internal components have been rewired) to eliminate noise. As far as poor compression, this was the first unit I got for almost nothing and I had a friend of mine work on it and modified it a bit so I could use it without spending the dough at that time. It still works quite well after many years and it’s being used for one application only - to the hats. I still use it for live events and in the studio for recordings.

My Focusrite Platinum Range Compounder is where I get my compression from and that monster can produce some of the sweetest effects on the market. Plus I will be getting the Drawmer DL441 soon for a partner to the Focusrite unit. I will be keeping the Alesis 3630 as well. I have had a very good response from it and I will find a place for it in my rack.

I still like to get equipment that might not be the best out there and have my trusty friend tweak it to suit my needs and I get crappy equipment to live another life and get used for professional applications.

I do get and have the best stuff always, but I still like to play with the equipment that has put to rest – after some modifications to them.





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szvook

[Racman]

Thanks Guys!I do appreciate all of you guys taking time to respond and with your input I hope I can make a sound decision in purchasing the VDrums.

Rich

[mfmia]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Racman:
Would I be better buying the V Customs and buy a good PA, even though I hear the V Customs do not have enough outputs for the studio.


I have a set of customs running through a mixer and I seperate SD, Kick,toms and cym. with the 4 outputs and I've always been happy
I do a fair share of recording and live playing - always with quality results. Also just got a sdp20 and now have even more options, I'm very happy with both. I run them through JBL Enon's

[Sim]

I really do disagree with Putt about weak sounds. While you'll never use some of the sounds in the brain, there are many very good sounds (especially with tweaking) that are as good or better than any other brain on the market, Ddrum included.

You do not need tons of equipment either. As far as a monitor, look into something like the Mackies or JBL's which are both self-powered. I don't know what kind of sound system your band uses for the mains, but I've used everything from an extremely small Mackie system to giant club systems. The V's always sounded great and I never had a complaint from a soundman.

I agree with someone who posted that the effects are absolutely fine for live use. Most live engineers I've seen are not using the state of the art studio processors, because you can't hear the difference in a club.

[MPCman]

Racman> I think you should always TRY BEFORE BUY. Not only the V-drums, but the Yamaha DTXtreme and Clavia Ddrum4 as well. Some people absolutely love the V's and some find out after some time that they should have bought a ddrum4 system.

[puttenvr]

Originally posted by Sim:
I really do disagree with Putt about weak sounds.

I wrote There are many other posts ....

So it wasn't me who said 'weak sounds' and even if it was me, I said 'the sounds can be weak when you play them live' due to the fact that you perhaps don't have the proper sound system. I always said that I liked the Vdrum sound on my headphones, but that's not the subject about we currently talk.

Again: all the answer here in this topic subscribe the fact that you do need a huge sound system even with some outboard gear. Perhaps you have some good results with a powered amp but many other people don't have the same success or say that they needed several powered amps with sub monitors, et cetera. This is almost the same as buying a small public address system.

And apart from the Vdrum vs ddrum discussion, I can connect my ddrum4 to a simple monitor and have a good sound. This is a fact and not just an opinion.

[sepdrums]

Well, as with any drum set - electronic or acoustic - you will run it through the mains at a gig... Whether it is mic'd or triggered really doesn't have an impact on the need for a system or not... If you are in a small bar obviously you might get away with just a small pa for vocals, some guitar cabs, and thats it..but your sound will be uncontrolled & not very punchy.
I just had to go buy a pa for our band... It has (2) 18" sub cabs, (2) 15" mids w/ horns, x-over, (2) Crest 1000w power amps, 13 mic's, etc... It is being delivered via a freight carrier tomorrow....cool. We are using a Behringer mixer with no efx...anyone know of a good vocal/rack efx??? I am very anxious to hear my electronics through this system considering I have been using a small Crate 8ch. self powered system.

Erik

[This message has been edited by sepdrums (edited April 05, 2001).]