I'm trying to improve my drumming in a vaguely methodical way as part of my midlife crisis.
I have an acoustic kit, and an electric kit (roland). Can't use the acoustic kit as much as I'd like due to NOISE.
I'm trying to establish whether the electric kit is even worth using for practice, or if I'd be better off buying some posh practice pads for the acoustic kit.
Any hints would be great.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 7:08 am
by penningtron
What's the issue with the electric kit? Are you looking for something more realistic?
I've been covering my drums with old tshirts (and pillows for the kick) lately when I need to be quieter, which works but then feels like hitting pillows. I'm a little bit curious about mesh heads and low volume cymbals, but am hesitant to devote a whole kit to it (plus buying a couple hundred bucks worth of basically worthless cymbals). Steve Smith can afford to do it on his spare $2,500 kit..
In a separate video he talks about filling the toms with bubble packing material which lowers the volume without effecting feel too much.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 9:16 am
by Adam_I_III
Have you played an electric kit? If not, it is quite a frustrating thing; it is sort of like a real kit, but different enough to feel like bad habits are forming. I have a mesh head snare, and the kit uses a real kick beater but still...
The bubble wrap thing sounds interesting, but I use the kit for recording all the time so it would be a pain.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 11:59 am
by ErickC
penningtron wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 7:08 am
What's the issue with the electric kit? Are you looking for something more realistic?
I've been covering my drums with old tshirts (and pillows for the kick) lately when I need to be quieter, which works but then feels like hitting pillows. I'm a little bit curious about mesh heads and low volume cymbals, but am hesitant to devote a whole kit to it (plus buying a couple hundred bucks worth of basically worthless cymbals). Steve Smith can afford to do it on his spare $2,500 kit..
In a separate video he talks about filling the toms with bubble packing material which lowers the volume without effecting feel too much.
The pillow thing worked out pretty well for Dave Grohl. I see it more as a feature.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 1:54 pm
by akosinski
before i had a house again, i started looking into getting an electric kit. i played a few at GC and holy shit, they are uncomfortable. i could not get them set up to my liking, nothing about it actually felt like a real kit and the price range was insane.
honestly, may be best to just find some form of a practice space.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 2:14 pm
by zircona1
On my kit, I put a practice pad over my snare and then turn off the springs, that works for me. Also gives you the 'feel' of playing on your kit even when you're not making much noise.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 4:16 pm
by twelvepoint
I use the “Soundoff” neoprene discs on my drums and cymbals. I also load up my kick with pillows. That gets my volume to a point where my neighbors won’t really notice. The downside is the kit feels a bit spongy. It’s usually ok though if I just have the headphones and an jamming along to some dumb rock or whatever. I dunno, they’re cheap and super easy to add and remove. I’d prefer vdrums but I can’t really justify the several grand price.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 3:00 am
by Adam_I_III
twelvepoint wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 4:16 pm
I use the “Soundoff” neoprene discs on my drums and cymbals. I also load up my kick with pillows. That gets my volume to a point where my neighbors won’t really notice. The downside is the kit feels a bit spongy. It’s usually ok though if I just have the headphones and an jamming along to some dumb rock or whatever. I dunno, they’re cheap and super easy to add and remove. I’d prefer vdrums but I can’t really justify the several grand price.
Thanks for that; I've been looking at these and also the Vic Firth ones that basically seem to be identical. I've had a set before (years ago) and I reckon I might try this route again.
The kick seems the biggest issue with the setup I guess.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 4:50 am
by twelvepoint
My 20” kick, loaded with pillows, is like half the volume it would normally be, and still audible outside the house. I have one of those kick practice pad, but it’s just irritating enough to set up that I don’t bother. It does feel ok though, and brings the volume way down.
Basically my deal is that moderate volume acoustic drums for 30 minutes during the day won’t kill the neighbors, but if I wanna play along to Poison Idea or Plastic Surgery Disasters for an hour and get some cardio out of it, it’s too loud for them. I’m playing on the second floor, in a single family house with neighbors somewhat close.
Hope that helps? I think some definitions of “quiet drums” are different than others. My volume deal is looser for sure than someone with neighbors below them.
Re: Anybody use an electric drum kit for practice?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 7:58 am
by Adam_I_III
twelvepoint wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 4:50 am
My 20” kick, loaded with pillows, is like half the volume it would normally be, and still audible outside the house. I have one of those kick practice pad, but it’s just irritating enough to set up that I don’t bother. It does feel ok though, and brings the volume way down.
Basically my deal is that moderate volume acoustic drums for 30 minutes during the day won’t kill the neighbors, but if I wanna play along to Poison Idea or Plastic Surgery Disasters for an hour and get some cardio out of it, it’s too loud for them. I’m playing on the second floor, in a single family house with neighbors somewhat close.
Hope that helps? I think some definitions of “quiet drums” are different than others. My volume deal is looser for sure than someone with neighbors below them.
That's super helpful, thanks! I'm in a garage attached to our house (which is detached). obviously the garage door isn't very (at all) good at isolation. I can get away with 30 minutes I reckon, but I tend to you that for recording rather than practice. Silent pads seem like the answer.