Anyone else find Electronic Drums weird?

[tony_m]

Just to complete the picture following on from last night's post, the main problem we (Mr Drums in particular) had in coming to terms with the V-drums was how they sounded in the monitors.

 

We were using a set of four SubZero 12" powered monitors which seemed to struggle with low frequencies at the best of times (especially if we had to turn them up to compete with a noisy crowd), and so simply didn't / couldn't replicate what was going out through the PA. Mr Drums was forever concerned that the drums weren't sounding right, despite us and other folks assuring him that they sounded great out front through the PA, and was spending all his time fretting and fiddling with things (including trying IEMs) and tweaking his technique to try and make it sound "right" to him, to the detriment of his actual playing, until in desperation he sprung for the Alesis drum amp/monitor.

 

Coincidentally, at the same time Mr Lead Guitar also sprung for an HH Tessen monitor, which is basically the equivalent of the older HH's we use as mains. This replaced the SubZero he and our frontman were sharing, and I found I could hear enough from it that I could also ditch my SubZero. Between the Alesis and the HH, we reckon the onstage sound is now as close to the FOH as we can get it, just at a lower volume, while my amp provides my personal monitoring plus the onstage bass thump that both Mr Lead Guitar and Mr Drums like to hear and feel. Mr Rhythm Guitar still uses the one remaining SubZero, but this doesn't seem to cause any issues as long as he doesn't inadvertently turn up the lows on it - any onstage boominess is now invariably his fault, not mine, so he gets The Look instead! 😁

 

Overall, it's taken a while (and no little expenditure) to get to the point where we're all happy, but we got there in the end. Mr Drums has even flogged off his remaining acoustic kit, so there's no going back now... 

[miles'tone]

Weird? Depends who's using them I suppose. 

Once they're dialled in with the band/room they can be a real inspiration. 

[snorkie635]

Jury is out for me.

[nilorius]

52 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Jury is out for me.

Who is Jury?🤩

[xgsjx]

I joined a jazz/triphop band a little over a year ago. Drummer has both acoustic & electronic drums. Most of the time he could do everything on his SPDX pads with a couple of pedals added. 
His stuff sounds amazing & I preferred it to the acoustic kit. 
 

Me & the drummer have just started a side project doing chillout electronica. His kit is going to be the SPDX, his Vdrum module with just a couple of pads, a control surface to trigger loops & a monosynth. 
Probably the only instance where the bassist has more kit than the drummer! 🤣

[snorkie635]

1 hour ago, nilorius said:

Who is Jury?🤩

Ian Jury and the Blockheads - check them out. @Frank Blank was their drummer until his fall from a penny-farthing whilst recreating the whistling solo from his considerable collection of Roger Whitaker 78's.

[Rich]

9 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Ian Jury and the Blockheads - check them out. @Frank Blank was their drummer until his fall from a penny-farthing whilst recreating the whistling solo from his considerable collection of Roger Whitaker 78's.

 

Wrong thread. You should be here:

 

[AndyTravis]

New band I’ve recently joined have some Roland TD-18/20KV thing.

 

it works.

 

but there’s definitely a keyboard drums vibe still lingering and it doesn’t sit well with me, or the drummer who I’ve drafted in.

 

anyhow. 
 

tomorrow is real kit central. Thank god.

[Frank Blank]

18 minutes ago, Rich said:

Wrong thread. You should be here:

Ah, except I was the drummer for Ian Jury and the Blockheads along with Roy What? Normandy on bass.

[Doctor J]

I've only ever played acoustic drums, myself, and part of the appeal is the visceral experience of making noise. They're a pain in the hole to record but, overall, that's part of the charm, part of the challenge, I like it in a wierd way. I've been in a band where the (very loud) drummer sometimes brought in his electronic drums and, yeah, it made the volume levels manageable but there was definitely something missing, particularly going from loud to quiet and back again, it didn't track changes in dynamics as naturally sounding as you would get with an acoustic kit. You don't see many jazz cats playing them. That being said, they're grand for 95% regular playing.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Doctor J

[xgsjx]

47 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

Ah, except I was the drummer for Ian Jury and the Blockheads along with Roy What? Normandy on bass.

You’re getting the original band mixed up with the tribute act - Ian Jury and the Blackheads. 
Im sure they covered a couple of songs by Squeeze too. 

[Doctor J]

Up the Dunction?

[Rich]

Boules for Bats

[Rib13Bass]

Depends on the music: in blues or rootsier styles of bands in a live situation, Yes.....in a hi-nrg dance band, no.......yes they have different stage dynamics and lack of moving air but, for certain clubs and stages, sometimes thats a good thing

Edited December 9, 2023 by Rib13Bass

[MrDaveTheBass]

When I played with a drummer with an e-kit, I couldn't get used to not feeling the thump of the bass drum through the soles of my feet. I used to have to watch his right foot to try and guess where "One" was. I much preferred it when he played his acoustic kit, though that was much more of a pain in the donkey to lug about. Mind you, this was 20 years ago, so I would hope that e-kits have improved since then. 

[casapete]

56 minutes ago, MrDaveTheBass said:

When I played with a drummer with an e-kit, I couldn't get used to not feeling the thump of the bass drum through the soles of my feet. I used to have to watch his right foot to try and guess where "One" was. I much preferred it when he played his acoustic kit, though that was much more of a pain in the donkey to lug about. Mind you, this was 20 years ago, so I would hope that e-kits have improved since then. 

With me it’s that thing of when I move nearer to the drummer onstage, the drums get quieter! Still

not got quite used to it yet after a number of years. 
(I’m the only dinosaur left in my band who still uses a wedge monitor, everyone else on IEMs….)

 

I’ve spent all my previous time in bands with acoustic drums. I’m not wholly convinced by e-kits, but

must admit they’ve got to a point where the difference is minimal. Our singer did insist on e-drums,

and for our band the different sounds that can be had are an essential part of how we do stuff.

I do like the fact that some gigs I can have the drums kicking if I want, then other nights just have

a quieter stage level to suit me. ( Never got on with IEMs, and am leaving the band in Spring 2024 so

whoever takes over from me will make the band 100% wedge monitor free.)

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 08/12/2023 at 15:28, miles'tone said:

Weird? Depends who's using them I suppose. 

Once they're dialled in with the band/room they can be a real inspiration. 

 

Truer than I thought. 

I've let other people listen to rehearsal recordings,  and have had some interesting feedback.

It's not the kit particularly,  more the way it's so mechanically, insistently and persistently played. 

There's no space. It's all filled up. Every beat.

He's a good drummer, really consistent and a great timekeeper. 

But nothing has room to breathe.

 

Edit- I'm assuming he has zillions of sounds available.  But he only ever uses just the one.

One of my third-party listeners said;

 

"How many damn cymbals is he going to use?"

 

"Lots" 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Lfalex v1.1

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

 

Truer than I thought. 

I've let other people listen to rehearsal recordings,  and have had some interesting feedback.

It's not the kit particularly,  more the way it's so mechanically, insistently and persistently played. 

There's no space. It's all filled up. Every beat.

He's a good drummer, really consistent and a great timekeeper. 

But nothing has room to breathe.

 

Edit- I'm assuming he has zillions of sounds available.  But he only ever uses just the one.

One of my third-party listeners said;

 

"How many damn cymbals is he going to use?"

 

"Lots" 

No room to breathe sounds like a drummer issue rather than an e-kit issue. Having said that, even with modern ekits it’s easy to get the ‘machine gun’ effect and get carried away. 

[fleabag]

AS someone that used to be a drummer and gigged extensively with a Roland V kit, i can say most of the problems are down to user input / output.

 

Having said that, E drum kits were not that brilliant when they first emerged.  But improvemenst are always made in any tech every year, so today they're pretty fabulous, as long as the drummer bothers to go into the brain and tweak.  They certainly dont sound good if they're swamped in reverb.  The only drum that possibly needs reverb is the snare, and even then, a short gated reverb is all thats required. Subtlety is everything.  EQ ing BD , Toms, and Snare takes time but the balance that can be achieved over acoustic kits is way superior, and no mics required, which saves a LOAD of hassle

 

I loved  my Roland , but i would love todays kits even more if i was still playing drums.  I wouldn't hesitate to use another.  But bass has been my wepaon for over 20 years now.