Best Roland Kit for Learning On?

[Dundrummiing]

Hi,

I'm aiming to buy a kit purely for developing my drumming skills.

Most people recommend the TD-12 over the new TD-9 but is it a better kit for learning on?

I've heard that the TD9 has extra features to help novice drummers but are these that useful?

Would be grateful for all advice.

Thanks,

Paul.

[Alan VEX]

For true learning, anything with mesh pads. Just IMO.

[M_C_M]

I don't know what the td9 offers but I had a td3 with what Roland call a coaching feature which does different things like tell you if your ahead or behind the beat etc, I found it more distracting than helpful. All you really need is a good old metronome and all Roland modules have one. You really get what you pay for with these kits so I'd just buy the best one you can afford but the best advise is go and try them out, if you have the means to do so.

[Dee]

I can't say i played on a TD9, i love my TD12... It's truely amazing. If you have the money, i recommend it

Good luck

[SuperPuss]

Got to agree with everyone else here. Mesh pads and TD12 or TD20 module would be my recommendations. The extra nuances available with positional detection and interval control on the TD12 and TD20 are worth the money for sure.

[saku]

I bought the td-6v as a beginner - after my inital buy, the alesis somerot, burned its circuits three times in two months..shop stopped carrying them shortly afterwards...

anyway.. i also have the hpd-10 which is great fun, but i notice that i dont use the rhythm coach at all on it, just the backing tracks. on the td-6, again, the backing tracks and the metronome were more than enough for me to learn how to play.

However, I have played a lot on the td-9 lately as I have decided to upgrade - the strobe feature on that is really good for a duff beginner like me - for one thing, it showed me how much better and more accurate my timing has become over the last year...and it allows me to see how i am doing when i try to play shuffle rhythms, or deliberately push or drag the timing.

myself, i dont need the extra features - nor can afford them - of the td-12, such as tweakability, or hyper good sounds. at my level, the td--6 and now the 9 are good enough.

just my two shillings worth!

best

saku

[V(ader)DRUMMER]

Buy what you can afford and trade up later. Good quality e-drum equipment tends to hold its value quite well, so you can sell it off and recoup some of your initial investment once you've progressed in your abilities and you're ready to step up to bigger and better things. You don't need a TD-12 or a TD-20 just to get started. You just need to start somewhere.

[saku]

when i write strobe, I was probably meaning 'scope'. in fact, i am sure i wrote scope but was gremlined....

[saku]

another thing i like about the td-6 as a learner vehicle that is even better in the td-9, and about which i have no idea of how it is handled in the 12 or 20:

You can mute the drums of the backing tracks and just play along to the melody and the bass....or not mute, and try and copy. with the 6, it is possible but bothersome to mute all the other tracks and just leave the drums, but with the 9, with its new interface, its really easy to mute the various bits and bobs...this is something i have found very helpful....

[Mr Stixx]

Going for broke and to say that there is NO best kit to learn on. If you can get a kit with a basic setup, thats all you need. Certainly mesh pads help with a more realistic feel but you can still learn without mesh. Built in learning aids can help too but playing along with your favourite band will still keep you in time and help with patterns, fills and dynamics. YouTube is full of useful stuff too.

I learned to play on an old leather office chair with a sports bag for toms and ok, when I moved to a real kit I was not amazing but I could play the drums. Kits with lots of features and lots of pads are good fun but what is needed to learn and practice on is very little and very simplistic.

Whether you buy a TD-3 or a TD-20 wont matter simply to practice stuff. Mesh and rubber have different feels but if you have the chops, simply getting use to a different feel is not a big issue, only an adjustment.

[vjboc]

I learned to play on an old leather office chair with a sports bag for toms

Mr stixx your absolutly right. My first drumset was mop pails for toms, 5 gallon bucket for a bass drum and paint lids for cymbals.

Paul no sense on spending a heap of money on a kit for learning. I would keep a lookout on ebay. You can find some great deals on a basic kit. It really comes down to your budget.

Good Luck, Let us know what you end up with.
Hopefully not a chair and mop pails. LOL!

[Colquhoun]

Agreed fully with the last 2 posts. My first drum was a simple snare and I made a kit using an old styrofoam cooler that I used to kick for a bass drum. I took lessons and played FOREVER on a practice pad before ever getting behind a real kit.
Practice is anything you can get yer sticks on...

[Herl]

My view is that the better the instrument is, the better the performer can become. However, having just had to decide between TD9, TD12, and TD20 myself, I tried them all out. The TD9 is a VERY cool kit, but I decided that I needed the TD12 as I play gigs all the time on an amateur/semi-pro level. Since I have no plans of going pro, I thought the TD20 was overkill. The TD9 was good enough although I wanted a little better and have a band to back me financially, so money wasn't an issue.

I can only say that the TD9 is a very cool kit and were I a beginner myself, I would definitely go for that one if you have the green. Look at it this way:

If the instrument sucks, you're gonna suck. The TD9 does not suck. Plus, if you are going to keep drumming, you can easily sell a TD9 and get a bigger one. If you are NOT going to keep drumming, you can sell a TD9 without any problems.

Buying the TD12 now is probably OK but I think that you are better off with the TD9. I that because by the time you decide, you really need something bigger, you can probably get a TD20 for the price of a TD12 today. It does take time to get to the point where you want to upgrade, and it takes almost no time to improve technology and drop prices.

Just a few thoughts on the matter. Hope it helps you.

[saku]

well, dundrumming hasnt said anything, but I think somepeople have been a little too ambitious when they suggested things like the 12, the 20, even the 9 which is my suggestion...

has dundrumming drummed before? will he/she like it? will she/he continue on after 12 months/weeks/days...is it her/his first kit? The post only says s/he s a novice and wants to develop skills...

if its a first-I'd-like-to-try-drumming-kit, a used 3 or a used 6 (I'm sticking to roland, i dont know the other kits except the alesis which kept frying its brain and was pulled from the market) is more than enough to see if d. will even stick to practicing. from there to go onto a 9, 12, 20, 30 etc is another matter.

for intermediate drummer, not performing for a public, then maybe 6 and 9s are sufficient. for public performance, I understand you would want at least a 12....

and when IS the 30 coming out?: