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Background Information:
I'll try to keep this short but I'll start by saying I have liked the sound and versatility of electronic drums for quite some time, but never really had a reason to use them. I've been playing acoustics for about 12 years.
I am finally starting a new band and really want some retro-type sounds (like the 80's song "Always Something There to Remind Me" or Def Leppard's Hysteria album). I would also like to have some really fast double bass that cuts through the music, but still want to avoid that card-board clicky sound so prevalent with triggers (Perhaps it's the equalizer setting death metal drummers use?).
Furthermore, I am playing in an 80's metal tribute at a club every saturday. We play 80's metal like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Etc... There's been some complaints at the club that the drums are too loud, especially because the club was not originally built to handle concerts... it's more of a typical dance club. I'm used to playing very hard, and have softened my playing considerably. However, it is still too loud. I have been entertaining the idea of either switching to an electronic kit or stuffing my drums full of padding and triggering them, to get a similar effect. I would also like the ability to sample sound bits during our show and to get sounds like the "reverse snare" popular in the 80's.
As far as I see it, there are about 5 options for me when it comes to electronic drums:
1) Buy an electronic kit, keep it completely separate from acoustics
2) Trigger my acoustic set
3) Buy an electronic kit, use the module for both the electronic and acoustic kit (with triggers)
4) Buy a few electronic pads to use on my acoustic kit, plus a modulator (similar to danny carey?)
5) Convert my extra acoustic into an electric
So here's what I understand (and don't understand) about each option
Electronic Kits:
The first option for me it seems would be to buy an electronic kit. I don't really know where to start, but I've played on them at guitar center for years. I know the high end Roland kit costs about $6000 and has the mesh heads. I don't think I need anything that fancy, because I already have 2 acoustic kits. However, I want something that I could use for semi-professional recordings if need be. Please let me know what to look for and what to avoid. Keep in mind I have been drumming for 12 years and have recorded professionally. However, budget definitely is an issue. I assume the TD-3 might not be good enough for what I'm looking for? Even the price of the TD-9 scares me but I'd wait a few months to buy it if worth the extra $.
Triggers:
I understand the issues with triggers that people have, and I would like to say I've spent years building up my double bass power and have no intention of losing it. However, the ease and possibilities of triggers really appeals to me. As most of you know, sound guys at small clubs are often terrible... if the club even decides to provide one.
I am a little bit in the dark about triggers. As I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), a small sensor is placed on top of or below the drum head, that 'triggers' a sound when it is vibrated by the stick hitting the drum head. The sound is triggered from a module that has the sounds programmed individually for each drum head. So if you wanted to, you could get the snare to sound like a bass drum or a chicken or sam kinison or whatever. Obviously, the ACTUAL sound of the snare is still there, but the trigger just plays on top of the acoustic sound.
So in theory, I could quiet my drums down with various muffling and would have in essence an 'electronic' kit that looked like an acoustic? If I were to buy an electronic kit, would I be able to use the same module that came with the electronic kit for my acoustic 'triggered' kit? Or are they two separate entities and need to be purchased separately?
Also with modulators, are they programmable in the sense that I can input my own sounds into them? for instance if I wanted to hit my snare and have it sound like a recording of my dog barking or something could i do that? If so, how would I go about doing it?
Hybrid Kit:
How would I go about adding a few electronic 'pads' to an acoustic kit? my understanding is that I'd need a module plugged into the pads, which would program their sound accordingly. I would need some sort of mounting hardware to incorporate them with my drumset.
General Questions:
Are electonic drums changeable mid song? For instance what if I want my snare to sound like a piccolo for most of a song, but at the bridge I want it to sound like a drum corp snare?
What do I need in a module? I am not overly concerned with dynamics as I am not trying to hide the fact that I am triggering electronic sounds.
Can I both mic and trigger the drums? It seems like a good option for the bass drums, as very fast sections will rely mostly on the triggers and will sound clear, where slower sections the mic will pick up alot of boominess and sound big. Is this within reason? I'm in a difficult position because I like a lot of very fast metal, where drummers sometimes play 20" kick drums... but I'm also a huge arena rock fan, where drummers can play 30" kick drums sometimes. I'd like to find a way for my drums to sound epic at some parts and quick and responsive at others. The drummer from Arch Enemy seems to accomplish this and I know he uses triggers.
I have seen several places that some modules can have .wav files downloaded to them, but I have also seen posts that say Roland modules cannot have user sounds put on them. How does a recording of my dog barking for instance differ from the VExpression packs sold online?
Is it easy to have your own e-kit that sounds unique? or are all of you easily able to identify a recording when a drummer has used an e-kit on the recording and know what samples they used?
What about adding extra toms? If you were to add a tom and wanted it to sound like a 10" tom for example, would the kits included with the module be able to have this? or are all of them set up for the standard 12" 13" 16" acoustic kit? This is important because I like larger kits.
Sorry bout all the questions I'm sure some have been asked a million times but I went through ten pages here and am still not clear on everything. Thank you all so much for reading... and answering.
I'll try to keep this short but I'll start by saying I have liked the sound and versatility of electronic drums for quite some time, but never really had a reason to use them. I've been playing acoustics for about 12 years.
I am finally starting a new band and really want some retro-type sounds (like the 80's song "Always Something There to Remind Me" or Def Leppard's Hysteria album). I would also like to have some really fast double bass that cuts through the music, but still want to avoid that card-board clicky sound so prevalent with triggers (Perhaps it's the equalizer setting death metal drummers use?).
Furthermore, I am playing in an 80's metal tribute at a club every saturday. We play 80's metal like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Etc... There's been some complaints at the club that the drums are too loud, especially because the club was not originally built to handle concerts... it's more of a typical dance club. I'm used to playing very hard, and have softened my playing considerably. However, it is still too loud. I have been entertaining the idea of either switching to an electronic kit or stuffing my drums full of padding and triggering them, to get a similar effect. I would also like the ability to sample sound bits during our show and to get sounds like the "reverse snare" popular in the 80's.
As far as I see it, there are about 5 options for me when it comes to electronic drums:
1) Buy an electronic kit, keep it completely separate from acoustics
2) Trigger my acoustic set
3) Buy an electronic kit, use the module for both the electronic and acoustic kit (with triggers)
4) Buy a few electronic pads to use on my acoustic kit, plus a modulator (similar to danny carey?)
5) Convert my extra acoustic into an electric
So here's what I understand (and don't understand) about each option
Electronic Kits:
The first option for me it seems would be to buy an electronic kit. I don't really know where to start, but I've played on them at guitar center for years. I know the high end Roland kit costs about $6000 and has the mesh heads. I don't think I need anything that fancy, because I already have 2 acoustic kits. However, I want something that I could use for semi-professional recordings if need be. Please let me know what to look for and what to avoid. Keep in mind I have been drumming for 12 years and have recorded professionally. However, budget definitely is an issue. I assume the TD-3 might not be good enough for what I'm looking for? Even the price of the TD-9 scares me but I'd wait a few months to buy it if worth the extra $.
Triggers:
I understand the issues with triggers that people have, and I would like to say I've spent years building up my double bass power and have no intention of losing it. However, the ease and possibilities of triggers really appeals to me. As most of you know, sound guys at small clubs are often terrible... if the club even decides to provide one.
I am a little bit in the dark about triggers. As I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), a small sensor is placed on top of or below the drum head, that 'triggers' a sound when it is vibrated by the stick hitting the drum head. The sound is triggered from a module that has the sounds programmed individually for each drum head. So if you wanted to, you could get the snare to sound like a bass drum or a chicken or sam kinison or whatever. Obviously, the ACTUAL sound of the snare is still there, but the trigger just plays on top of the acoustic sound.
So in theory, I could quiet my drums down with various muffling and would have in essence an 'electronic' kit that looked like an acoustic? If I were to buy an electronic kit, would I be able to use the same module that came with the electronic kit for my acoustic 'triggered' kit? Or are they two separate entities and need to be purchased separately?
Also with modulators, are they programmable in the sense that I can input my own sounds into them? for instance if I wanted to hit my snare and have it sound like a recording of my dog barking or something could i do that? If so, how would I go about doing it?
Hybrid Kit:
How would I go about adding a few electronic 'pads' to an acoustic kit? my understanding is that I'd need a module plugged into the pads, which would program their sound accordingly. I would need some sort of mounting hardware to incorporate them with my drumset.
General Questions:
Are electonic drums changeable mid song? For instance what if I want my snare to sound like a piccolo for most of a song, but at the bridge I want it to sound like a drum corp snare?
What do I need in a module? I am not overly concerned with dynamics as I am not trying to hide the fact that I am triggering electronic sounds.
Can I both mic and trigger the drums? It seems like a good option for the bass drums, as very fast sections will rely mostly on the triggers and will sound clear, where slower sections the mic will pick up alot of boominess and sound big. Is this within reason? I'm in a difficult position because I like a lot of very fast metal, where drummers sometimes play 20" kick drums... but I'm also a huge arena rock fan, where drummers can play 30" kick drums sometimes. I'd like to find a way for my drums to sound epic at some parts and quick and responsive at others. The drummer from Arch Enemy seems to accomplish this and I know he uses triggers.
I have seen several places that some modules can have .wav files downloaded to them, but I have also seen posts that say Roland modules cannot have user sounds put on them. How does a recording of my dog barking for instance differ from the VExpression packs sold online?
Is it easy to have your own e-kit that sounds unique? or are all of you easily able to identify a recording when a drummer has used an e-kit on the recording and know what samples they used?
What about adding extra toms? If you were to add a tom and wanted it to sound like a 10" tom for example, would the kits included with the module be able to have this? or are all of them set up for the standard 12" 13" 16" acoustic kit? This is important because I like larger kits.
Sorry bout all the questions I'm sure some have been asked a million times but I went through ten pages here and am still not clear on everything. Thank you all so much for reading... and answering.
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