Any drummers? Electronic kits?

My Alesis DM5 kit did not come with a kick pedal.

foxwolfen


If I recall, Alesis had some nice cymbal tech

Yeah, the Surge cymbals. I have them. Actually I have 5 plus the hi-hat.


Funny though. They stopped making the Surge Cymbals. Not sure if it was a quality or low demand issue. I've had no problems with them . But they do not get big-big use as I am not a drummer. I've only had one drummer play on them and his only complaint was with the Hi-Hats. I've since remedied that by buying the Gen-16 AE system.

Go for it, and post some samples!

I have delivered pizza before and I am a drummer who enjoys playing on electronic kits.  The kits you're looking at are fine to get started.  You can pick up an ordinary kick pedal and add a bass trigger.  It's not ideal, but I've used a simple keyboard footswitch as a hi-hat pedal before.  (That will give you open and closed, but nothing in between.  I don't recommend it as Option A.)  Some kits are expandable, where you can plug addtional triggers into them, and some are not.  If you (and she) like the sounds that come with that particular unit, then that's great.  If not, the sound libraries can be drastically expanded using software. 

Don't forget that, unless she loves the sounds of sticks hitting pads (and who doesn't?), you'll probably want to add a practice amp or some headphones.  It's funny how often this is overlooked.

Anyway, it may be a good idea to narrow down the list to what your budget can support, then bring her to the store to check them out with you.  Different people like different things about these kits, their sound and the feel of the pads.  Once you/she settle on what you want, you can shop like a madman across the Internet.

You can also order pizza.  Don't forget to tip the driver.  He needs money for new sticks.

Electronic Kits?

What will they think of next?

I've demoed a few but I'd have no idea what to suggest.  They've given me cue sheets to describe what I'm playing to the punters but I never took much notice, I just did my bit and said what I was supposed to.

The last demo I did was a few years ago now anyway.  IIRC I posted some of the results of that in the Songs forum awhile back.

I still prefer the wooden ones that you beat the crap out of.

And anyway I am angry at the Industry for cutting the width of piano or synth keys to 1" instead of what I learned on - a real piano which I think has 1-1/4" keys. Tell me how you stick your fingers on a white key between two black keys, unless you have such small hands, that don't actually fit with most piano players who actually played a real piano. Blah!

Mooch4056

bapu


My Alesis DM5 kit did not come with a kick pedal.

does it matter? With or with out the kick pedal you don't know how to play it. It sounds better with out it when your the one playing it - IMHO

You have not heard my "free form" blues yet, have you?


On second thought, I just realized that I don't have a "free form" blues song. Bugger!!!


BTW, Mooch, the drums are not for me, it's for whenever I have a real drummer over. So when/if you ever get into my studio, the drums are off limits to you.

Jonbouy


Ja Mooch

Bapu has them for when I visit after I get my wedding invite.

Got it?

Not only wood you be the mostest real drummer in my studio ever, you'd be the mostest surreal one too.

he said mostest..he,ha  ,he,ha ,he,ha..thas cool.

Julien,
I have had the DM6 Kit for over a year, and I am pretty happy with it. Yes, it comes with a kick and a hi-hat pedal.
Be careful of the variants. The version I have (now known as the DM6 USB) has a more robust kick pedal assembly than the DM6 Session Kit.
One big plus is that it is GM mapped, so it is directly compatible with EZDrummer, Session Drummer 2, and Studio Instruments Drums.
The included sounds are ok, but it really shines as a trigger for VST drums.
The sticks that come with it are marginal at best. I highly recomend these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/zildjian-anti-vibe-drumstickshttp://www.musiciansfrien...n-anti-vibe-drumsticks
They are really good with the rubber heads.
This track was recorded live with the DM6 triggering EZ Drummer and Session Drummer2:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11243952
hth

I have a roland TD 9 and as triggers have broken I have been replacing them with Pintech stuff.  Great gear for like half the dough.  If I had it to do over again I would buy a pintch kit and maybe a roland brain module.
http://pintechworld.com/  Check em out if you feel like it.

Karyn


But...  I can't find a seperate HiHat system...  can anyone help?  Either a nice 'fake' HiHat wiv moving bits that go up and down... or just a pedal that gives continuous control...

I have the DM5 Pro kit too. I really use two Alesis IO units. As well, I've actually have this now ---->   Gen-16 AE system. 


Pricey? Yes, but totally effective. It's real cymbals with mics (under the bell) that feed a unit where you control the type of cymbal sound. It's not MIDI, it's real audio. I demoed it at the local music shop and was blown away.


I have the 14" HiHat, 18" Crash and 20" ride version. I may add a 16" crash later if I'm really happy with the results. So these will be my "main" audio cymbals but my Surge cymbals will be MIDI crashes, chinas and splashes (I have 4 Surge crashes and one Ride).

Jonbouy


I'm toying with the idea of using my acoustic hi-hats as it probably would go un-noticed by the neighbours if I chose the right moment to do it and a single condenser mic would be enough do the job it just seems a simpler task to me than trying to get various articulations sounding right by using midi triggers.

It seems like the sound of the pads being triggered bleeding into the mic would be negligible anyway given that those are going to be masked by the eventual drum sounds anyway.

Just a thought if you are after that much control, I'm thinking it is worth an experiment.

I actually did that one night here with a drummer. The song required heavily articulated 16th note patterns that came out like doo-doo on the MIDI HiHats. Worked out well. Ya, the pad hits bled into the HH mic but I was able to EQ out much of it (just as an exercise, it was not really needed).

Good call Jon.

Man you beat them things.