Digital Drum Kits: Playing with Power
by Rick Kornak
For a long time, drumming was a shared experience; that is, anyone within earshot would need to tolerate the sound of your playing. This becomes complicated when you live with others, have a baby, play at odd hours of the day, or if you are just starting to learn and have little skill.
Space is another concern, and limited space can limit your creativity. You don’t always have room for all the additional toms, cymbals, and other accessories you’d like to include in your sprawling acoustic set. Also, affording upkeep of such an enormity is a separate burden to consider. Electronic drums remedy several of these issues.
Using electronic percussion allows you to practice without embarrassing yourself, waking your children, or disrupting the neighborhood, and enables you to play a wide range of sounds with minimal equipment. Innovative advances, such as high-quality digital sound and multiple outputs, make electronic drums an essential tool in experimentation. Their ability to be silenced through the use of headphones make them a priceless gift to those around you.
Let’s Get Digital
The first commercial electronic drum sets went on the market during the middle of the revolution-prone ’70s, and they used sampling to reproduce the sound of acoustic drums. These shouldn’t be confused with drum machines, which simply serve as accompaniments, or stand-in drummers. Electronic drum sets require someone to physically play them. Much of the pop music of the ’80s was influenced by synthesizers and electronics, and made such a sound acceptable to a large audience, paving the way for the explosion of dance and hip-hop music in the ’90s.
But electronic percussion also exists outside the realm of dance music, and many serious percussionists choose to incorporate electronic drums into their style of play (check out any of Neal Peart’s recent drum solos on YouTube). In 1997, Roland released the TD-10 model, which used mathematical models rather than samples to generate sound, thus improving the quality of replication. This model also featured mesh heads rather than rubber, which helped produce a more realistic feel.
The two main concerns of every electronic drum manufacturer are accuracy of sound and feel. Ideally, a drummer would be able to make a smooth transition from an acoustic set to an electronic. However, many critics of electronic percussion claim that a gap exists, that one cannot play both types interchangeably, thereby making the electronic set more an entity all its own, rather than a substitute or practice equipment for an acoustic set.
Innovation in Syncopation
Obviously, the quality of an electronic set is directly related to how much you are willing to spend. You can spend thousands on a large set with top-of-the-line peripherals and cutting-edge technologies, or you can test the waters of electronic percussion by purchasing a basic electronic drum pad for less than $100. The point is, you don’t need to worry about discourteous percussion or the embarrassment of your novice playing. Just put on headphones and it’s as though the music is still in your head.
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Roland TD-9KX2 Electronic Drum Set Play along to your favorite songs with more than 550 sounds, 99 kits, and MP3/WAV playback via USB. This popular model has high-quality V-cymbals and V-pads with mesh heads that deliver an accurate, acoustic-like feel. www.roland.com/vdrums |
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Performance PadPro With inputs for kick and hi-hat triggers, this velocity-sensitive, tabletop practice pad features more than 500 dynamic articulation sounds for wide-ranging options. Use it as a MIDI controller for playing virtually any sound module, synth, or software. Its powerful Alesis studio effects include reverb, EQ, and compression for customizing sounds to suit your taste. www.alesis.com |
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Roland RMP-5 Rhythm Coach With 40-plus onboard drum, cymbal, and percussion sounds, and a tunable mesh head, you’ll be able to practice almost anywhere. If you want to expand your practice capabilities, external dual trigger input allows connection of a kick and cymbal pad. Metronome-based exercises develop drum skills, while its accuracy score and stroke balance ensure you are getting the most out of your practice. www.roland.com/vdrums |
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ION Audio Tabletop Electronic Drum Set Fifty drum, cymbal, percussion, and other sounds help you practice meaningfully. The built-in learning features include a follow-the-lights exercise, which helps simplify beats for you, and 50 play-along patterns. For convenience, it is powered by the included AC adapter or batteries. www.ionaudio.com |
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Yamaha DTX700SP Electronic Drum Set Offers 1,268 percussive sounds and instrument voices, as well as 64 MB of Flash-ROM for uploading new sounds. The snare features three zones for dynamic head, rimshot, and cross-stick play. It is designed for use with traditional or alternative cymbals (not included). |
