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BEFORE YOU CAN choose the electronic drum kit that is right for you, you should consider several things. First, you need to determine your budget. Electronic drum kits can range in price from around $500 up to $10,000. Note: I am not talking about toys here - there are many toys out on the market. I am talking about electronic drum kits that can be purchased at music retail stores. Second, you must determine what you will need from your electronic drum kit. There are many uses for electronic drum kits that we will take a look at later in this article.
A little background
Electronic drums have been available since the 1970s. What was once a very crude instrument has now evolved into a very sophisticated, easy-to-use tool. This is true for both the beginner and seasoned professional.
Advantages of e-drums
There are many advantages to using a full electronic drum kit. These include controlling volume, having multiple drum sound and instrument options, as well as the ability to produce high quality recorded drum sounds (regardless of your studio environment). In addition, there are many practice tools included within today’s modules – such as an on-board metronome and software features that can analyse the timing of your grooves, fills and overall beat placement.
Volume: The most obvious (and popular) advantage of the electronic kit is the ability to control the output performance volume. The ability to play with headphones or “turn down” an amplifier is a serious plus for practising drummers who live in apartments. It is even more critical for performing drummers who regularly play in volume-controlled venues like churches, houses of worship, casinos and restaurants. Furthermore, many high-profile touring drummers work for leaders who prefer in-ear monitors and a low stage volume. The full electronic kit works perfectly in this situation. Practice tools: Many electronic drum kits are packaged with an on‐board metronome (click track) that can help you to practise and play in time. Not only can you set this to a specific tempo, but you can also assign it to a wood block, cowbell, or shaker sound too. Most models also contain a type of “Groove Check”
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or “Rhythm Coach” that is able to analyse how steadily you are playing - alongside a metronome or sequenced song. Some advanced modules also feature a sophisticated ”Rhythm Gate” which cancels out (stops the playback) of any stroke that you play out of time. Together, these practice tools function as an on-board drum instructor, which can help you progress in a systematic (and analytical) manner.
Instrument options: Electronic drums also have the ability to produce many different drum kit sounds. For example, many modules allow you to choose any shell type used in acoustic drum manufacturing, such as oak, maple or birch. Additionally, these kits also utilise various presets tuned for each music style. These usually include rock, pop, metal, jazz, studio, arena and more. Other presets focus on world percussion instruments, such as congas, bongos, timbales, triangles, wood blocks and maracas. Specialised (and often expensive) modules also offer various chromatically tuned timpanis, marimbas, xylophones and vibraphones. You can also add “on-board” effects (compression, reverb, flange) to each of your drum sounds, preset kits and percussion instruments. As if this was not enough, today’s modules allow you to tweak each sound, re-map any sound to any pad and save them as your own custom kits. Recording in the module: Many kits allow you to record your drumming performance within (and on) the module itself. This is a great feature for creating loops or patterns. You can play these back on stage during performances or use them as entertaining practice tools.
Studio replacement: Most of us do not own (or have regular access to) an expensive and finely tuned recording studio. With today’s technology, you do not need one! With today’s crop of electronic drum kits, you can make a high quality drum set recording in your bedroom, garage, living room or basement. All you will need is your electronic set, a computer and DAW recording software such as Cubase, Pro Tools, Logic or Ableton Live. Many pro drummers have set up this kind of home studio. They record their electronic kit into the computer and upload tracks via the Internet to their clients (who can be anywhere in the world). 7