Electronic drum kits?

[Scott Dolan]

I'm in the market for an electronic drum kit since I've been itching to play again.

I think I've narrowed it down to the Alesis DM10 Studio Kit. http://www.alesis.com/dm10studiokit

Does anyone here have experience with this particular kit, or have suggestions otherwise? My budget is a strict $1,000.

[jazzbo]

I don't have experience with the Alesis, but have had electronic kits from Simmons ('eighties) and currently have a Roland. The Roland is a very nice kit and the companion amplifier (sold separately) is the very best I've ever used with a drumkit.

Electronic drumkit drumming is very different from acoustic kit drumming. (I've had Ludwig in the past, have had a Sonor kit for over 25 years now, not used much the last decade.)

Edited August 30, 2014 by jazzbo

[Scott Dolan]

Yep, the Roland TD-11K V-Compact was the last one to be cut from the list. I really liked it except for the "compact" part. I prefer my kit be a bit more spread out. I was also somewhat disappointed they had no dedicated ride, which is a huge sticking point for me.

It was close, and I'd love to hear their SuperNATURAL engine, but the Alesis module has received high praise and their proprietary Dynamic Articulation is intriguing.

I actually wish I had a store within reasonable driving distance so I could demo both. I still think the compact kit would lose out, and likely only due to the size.

Which Roland kit do you have? Roland is as rock solid a company you'll find in the music business, IMO.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[jazzbo]

Mine is no longer made, it's a Roland TD9-S set.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLTD9S

Edited August 30, 2014 by jazzbo

[Scott Dolan]

Looks like an outstanding set. Did that module come with the SuperNATURAL engine, or was that set built before they released it?

If it has it, what are your thoughts on the samples? I've heard some HD samples of both the Alesis and Roland modules, but can't decide which sounds the best. They're both lightyears beyond the last stone age electronic kit I played for a hot minute. (didn't own it)

Edited August 30, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[jazzbo]

No don't believe it has that. I'm in another state at the moment and for a few more days (wedding of one of my girl friend's nieces) and won't be able to check for a while, but I'm pretty sure the answer is no. But the sounds on this set are really nice and you can adjust the sounds quite easily and extensively, it's a very good set.

[Scott Dolan]

Yeah, I'd think you'd have to go back a decade or more to find lesser quality modules. Hell, even MIDI was getting pretty advanced by then.

Though, one of the kits that was on my list was the Kat Percussion KT3. Very similar in setup to the Alesis kit, and got decent reviews. But the one con that kept coming up was the sound module. I caught a few videos of people demoing the set and it sounded bad compared to what I've heard from the current Alesis, Yamaha, and Roland modules.

[jazzbo]

I wouldn't get too hung up on sound module differences. My guess is these days most all would be sufficient, I would look myself more at the playability and expressiveness of the pads and the sturdiness and ease of setup. These were the key features I liked about the Roland.

[Scott Dolan]

Yeah, that's a great point. That's why it was so hard choosing between the Yamaha, Roland, and Alesis. There are no substantial differences between them.

Thank you for all of your comments.

[Scott Dolan]

Welp, I did indeed end up going with the Alesis. The set is currently sitting in the drum room awaiting christmas morning. I wanted to purchase them through Musician's Friend since I've always had good luck with them, but they couldn't ship until next month. So, I ended up goings through zzounds, and would just like to say that if anyone is in the market for gear, I could not praise zzounds enough. No tax, $4.99 for 3-5 day shipping, and the kit was on my doorstep in two days. Very impressive!

Only downside is that my drum throne will not be shipped until January 5th, but I have a folding chair that should be the perfect height and should suffice in the meantime.

The itch continues to grow. Been air drumming my heart out every afternoon when I get home to try to get myself back into the groove. Been trying to teach my son a basic Rock beat, and never realized just how much coordination went into playing. He's really struggling with it, but he's really excited to learn how to play.

[jazzbo]

That's cool, I know you'll have a nice Xmas.

[Scott Dolan]

Thanks, Lon!

I really appreciate all of the input you provided.

I think I'm going to have more fun teaching my son to play!

Here's hoping that you also have an excellent holiday. I know it will be with heavy heart, but I hope not too heavy. If there is a heaven, you've earned your own private wing. I wish you and your father peace and joy.

[jazzbo]

Thanks, hope you have a great one and yes it will be fun to teach your son. Don't believe in heaven and not looking for rewards, just now trying to keep my father moving forward. He is, baby steps. I'm hoping I get a bit more extra time with my gal . . . my sister and her husband and daughter are coming up by Christmas Eve and that will be a big help.

I'm hoping to move fifty miles away and in with my gal in the summer, and if so I may be able to set up one of my drum kits again, she owns a home oust in the woods, I can't play here at my Dad's or my town home, even if I had the time. But I'd like to bang the drums a bit again for the exercise mainly.

Edited December 18, 2014 by jazzbo

[Scott Dolan]

Exercise!

You know, as much as I love music, and playing drums, THAT was the main emphasis of mine in getting back into them. It's the perfect storm, isn't it? Pleasurable experience, perfect way to blow off steam, AND a great cardiovascular workout.

Not surprised that you mentioned that angle, but glad that you did, as I should have earlier.

I spend a half hour going through the motions each afternoon, and build up quite a sweat doing so. Great feeling!

What are some of your favorite tunes to play along to?

Edited December 18, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[jazzbo]

I don't play along to tunes I'm afraid. I used to practice what few rudiments I do a bit and then just sort of putter about with patterns and weird things. It's been years and years since I did this regularly. I spent about four years rehearsing with a few bands more than we performed, and then I got married and all that fell apart, and that was over twenty three years ago. About six years ago I bought the Roland kit and fooled around some but guitars and basses and even piano have taken more of my time. So if I do get to set up a kit (I'm thinking the Sonor) it will be a whole new thing for the most part. Haven't had a kit set up in over a year and a half.

Edited December 18, 2014 by jazzbo

[Scott Dolan]

Do you know of any solid limb independence exercises? It's still my weakest aspect. I've found some decent ones online, but nothing that has completely unlocked it.

[jazzbo]

No, I don't roll that way, I just teach myself and that's that. Worked for me in the rock and blues/rock bands I played in, and I added some Kenny Clarke like jazz features as I went along which I think helped that music out. So I haven't searched for anything of a formal exercise nature.

[Scott Dolan]

Oh, I'm 100% self taught. Just wouldn't mind moving to the next level more quickly.

[jazzbo]

Understood. I've no ambitions and will probably have to spend many many hours just recouping and regrouping to somewhere near what I was.

[disaac]

Scott,

You'll have to write about your impressions of the Alesis once you break them out (and in, I suppose). I'm itching to play again and our home will only accommodate a small electronic kit.

[Scott Dolan]

My initial impressions are a bit mixed.

The setup instructions for the kit are sheer insanity. There were curved parts that they gave no hint as to which way the curve went. They had two mounts listed as going on the exact opposite sides of where they were supposed to go. After the mount was together, it all became pretty intuitive at that point and I tossed the laughable instructions.

I probably spent an hour simply adjusting it to my liking once I got it together, which was actually kind of fun. The one thing I neglected to do was check the heads before I started playing. They needed to be tightened down, so I dented my snare and one of my toms. Nothing huge, and being electronic it shouldn't affect the tuning. But, I'm pretty sure the thin little mylar heads aren't going to hold up well with a tree swinging ogre like me pounding on them. So I'll probably switch to a two-ply head sooner rather than later anyway.

Back to the instructions I'm not sure why they even bothered with, the wiring was fairly intuitive, and all wires were nicely marked on each end. They have them harnessed and taped together, so it's really just one big bundle of wires with 1/4" terminations. Problem 1: the module had three tom inputs marked, and my kit has four toms and four cables for them. There were empty generic plugins, so I simply plugged it into one. It ended up being a crash cymbal trigger. And yes, you can customize all the triggers, but I really wasn't prepared to sit around figuring out how to do that last night. Through process of elimination, I finally found the correct plugin. Unfortunately, my floor toms now sounded like a hi-hat tom, and vice versa. So my son rearranged the wires until we got the proper left to right progression. Very odd, but whatever.

Problem 2: I had an extra wire labelled "ride 2". But only have one ride cymbal. Couldn't figure it out, so just said fuck it and left it unplugged. Everything sounded pretty good, though I still need to sit down and carefully calibrate it to my liking. But the ride cymbal was very weak. Even with its slider cranked all the way up and every other piece all the way down. Went back through and checked everything. Yep, it was good. The bell would play, but the rest of it was nearly inaudible. Well, I guess because it"s a three zone pad, it takes two cables.

Duh...

Plugged the mystery "ride 2" cable in and everything is fine now. Played for a couple of hours with my son and I taking turns. Rusty as all hell, but had fun. He did one hell of a job for it being the first time he ever played. I'm thinking he'll end up being better than me. Though, I suppose that's not setting the bar very high.

But, I will say that it's a beautiful set, that feels great, plays very nicely, and sounds superb. No issues with how it functions, just felt like a trial by fire to get to that point.

More later.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[Scott Dolan]

Well, since the minor initial annoyances, I can report that this kit is really the shit! After getting each piece properly calibrated (a process that was actually quite quick and easy), it now sounds absolutely wonderful.

I think as time goes on I will eventually switch all my toms to 10" pads. The current 8" pads can make rolls a bit awkward at times, although the more I play, the easier it gets. But, I'd still rather have the larger heads.

Aside from the setup issues, all of which are completely resolved, I have nothing negative to say about this kit at all. Very, very happy with it so far.