newbie question

[joeg]

I don't actually own a V-Drums set, nor am I a drummer. I'm a jazz pianist with a small home studio. I'd like to see if it's feasible for me to have a V-Drum setup in my studio that could be used to achieve isolation from the piano mics in my one room. Don't get me wrong; ideally, we'd mic up an acoustic drumkit, but it seems like the electronic drums would be a usefull tool in various situations.

So, my question is, can a good drummer get good brush, rim, etc. sounds from these kits such that you can play jazz on one? I'm guessing that only some of the drum pads support these kinds of techniques, but I'm confused reading the stuff on the Roland site. Can someone tell me what I should buy - I just want a very small kit, but with maximum flexibility for the drummer's technique. Thanks, and sorry for my ignorance.

[drumlogic]

if you want to use brushes yoll need mesh heads. I reccomend the v-custom. good luck

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-Drumlogic, V-session, Visulite/roland cymbals, (2)Mackie srm-450's, bbe 482 sonic maximizer,

[DJourg]

Hello Joe.

You can get brush sounds on the mesh-head snare pads on the TD-10, TD-8, and maybe the TD-6. I own a TD-10 Expanded module myself. Brush imitation is limited so you can't get too fancy with it. But you can do swishes and sweeps with actual brushes (plastic only! The Vater Polyflex brush is my favorite). There are also brush toms and brush cymbals (including sizzles).

Brush sounds on the toms and cymbals are similarly limited (you can't do any swishes on the toms, it's basically a swat sound, though you can do nice cymbal rolls and crescendos).

I would suggest you get your favorite drummer and go to a music store have him/her try out some of the brush kits on the module.

You have to do a fair amount of adjustment to the factory settings to get a nice brush sound...you have to add some ambience. It's not too difficult, and they would probably be convincing for recording situations.

I have heard each module and I have to say that the TD-10 with the expansion card is by far the best module for jazz sounds. There are a number of factory-set jazz kits which are very nice; similar kits on the TD-8 or the TD-6 for some reason are not appealing to me.

But you want a small kit...I imagine a four-piece set up? Maybe you can start collecting individual pieces on E-bay or on the Drumbalaya website. Cheapest way to go, probably.

DJourg

[joeg]

Thanks, this is very valuable input.