Nothing much to add except that I have an inexpensive Alesis e-kit I use just for practicing with headphones on. I would never use it for performance. Despite the ease of recording as described by the studio guys here, no amount of sampling on an e-kit can duplicate the subtle tonal and dynamic qualities of an acoustic set, no more than a Fender Strat will ever sound like an Martin acoustic guitar. I need the response on my snare to range from [FONT="Times New Roman"]pianissimo[/FONT] to [FONT="Times New Roman"]fortissimo[/FONT], and my Alesis kit just can't do that. And just try playing brushes on an e-kit. It ain't gonna' happen.

So electonic drums have their place just as electric guitars, keyboards, and violins have their place among their acoustic counterparts, but one is not a substitute for the other. Just my :2Cents:

Mike

Interesting to hear from a number of vintage guys who have worked e-drums into their quiver. I bought a set of Roland V-Drums a while back when I had some sound issues at home. With headphones, they are great for practicing and a lot of fun to play. I've also used them in a duo with an acoustic guitarist and the volume control and range of percussion is really handy. One thing I found after playing them exclusively for about a month (with no playing on an acoustic) is that the transition back was stark. Because of the action of the mesh heads, going back to my acoustic felt really different - and loud. The mesh heads are really responsive and bouncy; I tune my acoustics a lot looser so initially it felt slow and a little mushy. Of course, I recovered but after that, I swore to mix it up and not go exclusively electric for too long.

As I don't play Semi-Professionally anymore I have a set of Roland TD-9's set up in my music room. I love to put on the headphones and play to the Ipod for hours. If you play around you can get some real good sounding kits out of it. But, across the room I have my '65 Downbeat kit set up that I played regularly for nearly 30 years, and would never trade those for the biggest and best set of Electronics. Like was said above they have their place and jammin' out while the wife is watching TV is one of those places....:)

Agree with the above...all in it's place but live performance should be drums. I have a hybred of the two worlds which I am surprised wasn't a little more popular. A British company, Arbiter, marketed a line called Flats. The line has been discontinued for many years.

The Flats Lite line was pretty flimsy and the cymbals were very poor, but the Flats Pro series were (are) pretty stout and surprisingly not bad sounding. They are a very short resin shell that uses a real, normal drum head. The feel is the same as a regular drum with kind of a muted tone of a regular drum.

They could be mic'd with "ok" results, but I went a step further and triggered them. As a singing drummer, I appreciated the lower volume while sitting behind the kit, and for the 80's songs, dialing in a different sound was not problematic thanks to the triggers. Also had a consistent feel when switching back to another 'regular' kit, and spare drum heads are no more expensive than any other.

I didn't play it out for too many years and now it serves as a practice kit in my home using the triggers, offering lower rehearsal volumes (with small, thin cymbals) but still giving a nice full sound.

I know, not for the purists, but I think it is a good compromise, and I am surprised the idea never caught on.

I attached a couple of pics of my kit without the triggers in place.

Interesting thread.

No disrespect in tended but electric drums are one of the main problems with music todat they have no soul no feel and sound like poop!

YUCK!!!!

ANTI DRUMS!!!

I'd rather play on a coffee tin, a pie plate and some tupperware with beans in it than play an e kit.

Hahaha.... I saw just that last year! I believe it was at a Bryan Adams show last year when he was touring with his regular rock band. Or maybe it was two years ago. Anyway, the show contained an acoustic breakout and the drummer came out from behind the regular kit and the stage hands pulled out a set of pails and cans, rattles and such. The next couple of songs provided great percussion from these unlikely instruments, and then he did about a 5 minute drum solo on the pails! Very enjoyable and unexpected.

I have noticed that some of the biggest names in drums have used electonics somewhere in their kits at some point, so I think they have a place. I mean where would Def Leppard be if not for electronics?

Your comment also reminded me of my very early days before I could afford to buy any drums, probably about 1972, and that is exactly what I played on....basically anything that would last for at least 5 minutes.... cardboard containers, pie plates..... good times.... I'm gonna try to find a picture of that set, I think I have one....

Bryan

I think Tnsquint said it best. I was told this very thing by a teacher who was a Roland endorser/clinician when the first mesh-head V-drums came out. A powerful tool for use when it is called for. You definitely have to change your approach to some techniques if you are trying to emulate real drums.

Riding on a floor tom doesn't work well on an e-kit. A train beat takes some doin... :D

To the OP, don't sell your acoustic kit. Add an electronic one to the stable.

For things that are not practical to lug around like timpani OR for special sounds like backwards cymbal crashes, I can see a use for triggers but to use them in place of a kit at a gig???

Lame

....unless you're Rick Allen(and even he uses real cymbals).