First let me preface this post with my background. I have been playing percussion for over 15 years, and drum set for around 6 years. Up until about a year ago, I had only dealt strictly with acoustic drums. My journey began into the world of electronics by starting out with triggering my bass drums.
In the past few months, I have been struggling with properly micing my acoustic drums. There always seems to be something off with the sound. Too boomy, too much resonance, too much bleed from other instruments, etc. I started looking into compressors, limiters, and all those expensive things and got very frustrated. Last weekend I added internal triggers to my acoustic drums (I am sticking with standard metal cymbals). The batter and resonant heads are both muted by Remo Muffls. They trigger quite well, but I have now sacrificed my entire acoustic sound. The raw drums sound something similar to cardboard. I’ve essentially made myself a very over-weight electronic kit, when it all boils down. This has led me to an internal conflict, one that I have been trying to find the answer to.
Part of me has always had something feel “off” about electronic drums. It’s something about the visual perception that I find less appealing than that of an acoustic kit. Over the past few days, I have been asking musical and non-musical people about their general opinion on electronic drums. I find that much more often than not, they too prefer acoustic kits based solely on visual ascetics alone. I have been trying to figure out where my, and apparently a lot of other people’s, prejudice against the perception of e-drums comes from. Others have also stated that they feel e-drums are “easier” to play, taking less “skill”. I think we can ALL agree that this notion is grossly mistaken.
I could easily stick with what I have going now (a hybrid), triggered acoustics; but, what is the point of breaking my back hauling around a 7 piece kit that could be easily ¼ the size and weight? I believe that part of this divide comes from e-drums being “too perfect”. They lack the sometimes inconsistent nature of acoustic drums that can be an integral part of their sound. A very good correlation that I can make is the comparison of a grand piano to an electronic keyboard. This holds an almost identical situation as the drums. For whatever reason, my psyche has an easier time accepting the pianos than the drums, though.
Can anyone help me to understand where this generalized perception of e-drums comes from?
In the past few months, I have been struggling with properly micing my acoustic drums. There always seems to be something off with the sound. Too boomy, too much resonance, too much bleed from other instruments, etc. I started looking into compressors, limiters, and all those expensive things and got very frustrated. Last weekend I added internal triggers to my acoustic drums (I am sticking with standard metal cymbals). The batter and resonant heads are both muted by Remo Muffls. They trigger quite well, but I have now sacrificed my entire acoustic sound. The raw drums sound something similar to cardboard. I’ve essentially made myself a very over-weight electronic kit, when it all boils down. This has led me to an internal conflict, one that I have been trying to find the answer to.
Part of me has always had something feel “off” about electronic drums. It’s something about the visual perception that I find less appealing than that of an acoustic kit. Over the past few days, I have been asking musical and non-musical people about their general opinion on electronic drums. I find that much more often than not, they too prefer acoustic kits based solely on visual ascetics alone. I have been trying to figure out where my, and apparently a lot of other people’s, prejudice against the perception of e-drums comes from. Others have also stated that they feel e-drums are “easier” to play, taking less “skill”. I think we can ALL agree that this notion is grossly mistaken.
I could easily stick with what I have going now (a hybrid), triggered acoustics; but, what is the point of breaking my back hauling around a 7 piece kit that could be easily ¼ the size and weight? I believe that part of this divide comes from e-drums being “too perfect”. They lack the sometimes inconsistent nature of acoustic drums that can be an integral part of their sound. A very good correlation that I can make is the comparison of a grand piano to an electronic keyboard. This holds an almost identical situation as the drums. For whatever reason, my psyche has an easier time accepting the pianos than the drums, though.
Can anyone help me to understand where this generalized perception of e-drums comes from?
Comment