Playing Electronic Drums

[Frank Sanchez]

Hey Folks-

Been playing a V-Drum kit lately and really been liking it. Unfortunately, I have little time to make tweaks that would personalize what I'd like to sound like. First, are there any here who play the V-Drums regularly and second, what are the little cheats that will help me have a better experience sound wise?

I have learned to get the volume that I want from the sound guy while the volume is at 5, so that when the band really cranks it up for the set, I am able to have a gain threshold. Any other tricks/suggestions/shortcuts/augmentations that you can offer would be appreciated.

[DeeP_FRieD]

I have a set of V's. If you want get a great live sound with lots of control, leave them at home and bring your real drums.

I have heard the v's evolve since they first came out, and after all the improvements, I still do not think they are good enough to be used in a performance situation except for electro/sound effect stuff.

If you have to use them, make your own patches that use what you see to be the best mix of sounds. Also, messing with the pad sensitivity and level will help to minimize weird things from happening.

I honestly would walk out of a show if someone was setting up electronic drums and was planning on using them as a normal drum set. I've seen cats try to do this many times, and even great players can't bring them out without sounding bad. It's just an aesthetic thing, but real drums (of decent quality and tuning) and real cymbals (that aren't B8's, zbts, etc.) sound so awesome.

[cristaples]

I use V-expressions kits that I have modified to make my own, I trigger from my toms and kick to get the sound to the audience on bigger gigs, and they blend well with my real kit....Also using them as the pure TD-12 on recordings for local musicians and they love them, I don't really use them live without having the real kit to trigger from, but I can say that V-expressions did make it possible to get great sounds, the pre-programmed kits are wank IMHO.

[MRhet]

I honestly would walk out of a show if someone was setting up electronic drums and was planning on using them as a normal drum set. I've seen cats try to do this many times, and even great players can't bring them out without sounding bad. It's just an aesthetic thing, but real drums (of decent quality and tuning) and real cymbals (that aren't B8's, zbts, etc.) sound so awesome.

Hmm, well I wouldn't say that. I think there are a lot of "ifs" to consider. I've used electronic drums in a couple of situations -- I certainly prefer (way understatement) my acoustic drums, but the electronics have their place. I've used them in very small setting where we want to still play relatively fast and furious but know we'll get grief from the owner if we're too loud (dinner places, etc). We've had good success that way, and the audience sits close and enjoys the show. Of course, if I can (and this is normally the case) I bring my regular drums and cymbals. Last weekend we were playing a private party/fundraiser and I thought at first we'd be set up in a small bouncy room. Thinking that was the case I considered the electronics for a bit, but then as soon as I learned we were outside -- case closed -- I brought my regular drums.

(Speaking of cymbals -- I'm looking forward to hearing the new Zildjian Acoustic Electronic Cymbals. Anybody heard them live?)

BTW, I've heard lots of guys on acoustic sets that weren't any good, and I've heard guys on electronics who were quite skilled. If we're going to walk out on people -- that, to me, might be a better standard.

[bstocky]

I've owned every version of Yamaha's best ekits except for their latest. They all suck. V-drums suck too. Seriously they do. They're awesome for home recording and practicing if you can't play real drums but they're terrible if you're using them live, especially if you're playing traditional sounds/music on them. If you were doing drum&bass, trip hop, electronica... nah, they still suck. Even if they did respond like an acoustic instrument it's so lame to watch a guy play an ekit.
I have a King Crimson dvd. One tour Pat Mastellotto plays an ekit, the next tour he plays a hybrid. The ekit tour is so hard to enjoy. It sounds lame and looks even worse. Pat is a master at electronics and has the best gear in the world and it's still lame.

[YamahaPlayer]

I recommend them to churches when I do consults, they are great for situations that need extreme volume control without driving the drummer crazy.

As to the sounds, they have a fairly powerful brain. A little reverb, compression and creativity can go a long way. I've heard some great sounds out of them. Experiment and see what you can find - also remember what you hear in your headphones is drastically different then what comes out of a large PA in a venue/room.

I believe as well you can change the samples, check up on the manual or such. If so, then find some great samples (plenty of them available) and load that baby up.

[littlegrooves]

The only time that I've used them and have been happy is when doing musical theater gigs.

I actually prefer them in that setting for two reasons:

1.) Better balance in the pit-- the other musicians love me for it.

2.) It is very nice to have such a wide array of sounds at my disposal-- it is wonderful if you spend the time dialing in sounds for each tune.

I actually got the idea from the drummer who came through town with Jesus Christ Superstar. He and I had a long talk after a show and he gave me the rundown of his set up. It really seemed pretty advantageous for his purposes, and it turned out to be a very great suggestion.

However, all that being said, there is no way in hell I would use them in any other setting. There are a multitude of reasons that I could offer, but the main anecdotal one that comes to mind is that the band always gives you a weird vibe-- they look you like you farted or something... hard to explain

Then there is also this kinda beat-around-the-bush thing from the band about how they can hear you but can't feel you... takes a while for them to tell you they hate your gear. Not to mention if you lay into the drums, the audience can actually sometimes hear the tapping of the sticks on the V-Drums, which is really weird when there is a huge floor tom sound coming out of the mains.

I know you're a pro, so I hope you know I'm not trying to tell you something that you may not already know-- I'm more just using this as an opportunity to get tangential

[Gaddabout]

I recommend them to churches when I do consults, they are great for situations that need extreme volume control without driving the drummer crazy.

So YOU'RE the guy I want to strangle.

LOL

/begin rant

Nothing more epic than a battle between the church drummer and the church sound guy. It's like God vs. Satan. Guess who's on the good side. I've battled the church board over electronics for 20 years now. Haven't lost yet. I almost lost back when we had six drummers, and three of them were extraordinarily loud. One of them had spent 15 years straight on the road playing arenas. They were good, but I literally had to retrain them about how to play with that kind of ensemble in that kind of room (awful, awful acoustics ... needs about 20K in baffling because it's so square with odd angle ceilings). The church has almost $5k invested in the acoustic kit. I've worked hard to get them to buy quality gear. I'm not going to let them throw it all away because the sound board guy has control issues.

/end rant

I had a church gig awhile back that required me to play a Yamaha with TD-20. Church spent bucks on the set up, but it was a bear to get dialed in each service. We spent far more time working on that than if I'd had a mic'd acoustic kit. Even working with custom patches with preset volume settings, it would somehow always be a little different each service (because the band members changes quite a bit). It wasn't fun and I couldn't imagine using it for a club or bar gig where volume needs vary throughout the night.

[Pocketplayer]

I recommend them to churches when I do consults, they are great for situations
that need extreme volume control without driving the drummer crazy.

Yes Gadd...agreed! Last church I was in back in the States in TN had a guy playing a
Yamaha kit. Soundboard guy was clueless and drums were too loud...on top of this,
young drum guy wanted to play like his hero, Carter Beauford...not a great style
for a Baptist morning service on Sunday.

Wait...it gets worse!

The hats did not trigger on every hit, so the playing was insanely syncopated. Before
I knew about the problem, I thought this drummer was a real talent, but a goof to play
this at church. Sadly, neither the drummer nor the sound guy knew about the hats until
I mentioned his groove seemed a bit...misguided. After this news, his playing style did
not change...the groove was horrible, and the hats more than an annoyance.

At least the pastor demanded he be turned down...and they turned him WAY down.

[MRhet]

You know what made me mad -- Dylan at Newport.