My eight grade summer, I learned the basic beat by tapping my feet and keeping time with my hands on my knees. Then once I entered high school, I was able to use the high school's set at home. So, if you want to start with an electronic drum set, I say do it, others have started out with much less. I also live in an apt. complex so I'm doing some research for an electronic drum set. Anyone have any good input on just a set to practice on for a broke college student, let me know. Semper Fi Thurston








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DrummerZ wrote:

i_love_freefall wrote:

Are electronic drums good to learn on? I am wanting to learn the drums (aged 23 late starter I know) and thought maybe an electronic set would be good as they'd be quiet so I don't annoy the hell out of my housemates and thought it would be cool to have different sounds on them. I also like the way you can plug in your mp3 some claim to play along easily to your favourite tracks.
Any advice from you experinced people would be very much appreciated.

Nic

Hey, some people start at 50.
I haven't got much expirience with eKits but they are good found very little sound.

I'll second that (the 50 thing that is) never to late

Okay, my two cents worth. For your situation, keeping the noise level down, electronic drums are great. Roland makes a kit "HD-1", that is geared to a beginner. It takes up very little room, is inexpensive for an electronic kit, and has the mp3 feature you were speaking of. On the flipside, you really don't have many options on how the kit is set up. I own a set, and for what it is, it works well, but if you want to experiment with where you set your ride cymbal for example, you are limited; at least with the HD-1. When I first started playing, I didn't own a drum....it was a practice pad made of wood with a piece of rubber glued to it. It worked, it was quiet enough, and I could practice. It was several years before I owned a kit. It all boils down to money, and volume, and can you learn on it? Absolutley you can learn on an electronic kit; will it be the same as an acoustic, no, but you can learn and build up some chops until you take that next step. Everyone has there take or opinion, this is mine, and I hope that it helps. Oh yeah, go to the store and try them both out,acoustic an electronic, if you haven't already done so already, then you have a feel for what others here have expressed.








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"How much for your women?"
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I think the only advantage to edrums is coordination and dexterity development. I learned to play on the dashboard of cars and school desks, until I bought my first set. Luckily, by then, I wasn't completely annoying everyone, cuz I had a little skill. I could at least kick a beat or two. I sure didn't know anything about feel and acoustics and all that.

So, maybe learn on an electric kit - which will be very quiet - and see how coordinated you really are. You can easily learn independence of the hands and feet and have a simulated sound to hear what it sounds like. Then, move to an acoustic kit for further development - learning the feel and sound variations, etc.

Or, if you can make some noise and not bother the neighbors, just get the good old acoustic set right off the bat.

i think that acoustic kits r the best to learn on cos of the rebound and stuff like that, my electrics r spot on to just stuff around and figure out some thing, but i like acoustics beter, mainly cos i use them live

electrics r good to practice on, but i wouldlnt say get em first, get a proper kit first (now i know some of u will get there and b 'electrics r proper') acoustic kits i find are better, but thats me








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Everybody agrees...E-Kits and acoustic kits are verymuch different, we all know that. Lets get to the core of the question that was asked; are e-kits good to learn on? Yes. What you need to ask yourself before choosing an e-kit vs. acoustic is this:
When I want to practice everyday, will people bitch about the noise?
How much can I invest on something thats big enough to play (5 pc kit w/ cymbols?)
( 5 pc e-kit...$700.00-1000.00 / 5 pc acoustic w/cymbols...$400.00-700.00)
How much room do I have availiable?
Which kit is better suited for set-up/teardown, from home to practice to gigs?
Cover all the basics that come with drumming so you end up buying what you need...not what you want...that'l come later, trust me. As for me, I own an acoustic practice kit for band practice, another acoustic kit for gigs, and my roland e-kit for practice at home. I love my e-kit. I can practice any time of day or night and not bother anyone, so I usually average about 10-12 hrs of practice a week, which has increased my drumming skills tremendously. Either kit will plant a drummers seed in you, so plan your moves (and your money) wisely.








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One thing that people seem to overlook, is that if you plan on jamming out with other musicians in the near future, which you WILL want to do, an electronic kit would require speakers and cables at an added expense. The cheapest monitors i have seen retail for around $150 ea. Also, if the musicians turn up, it may not be loud enough without the use of an external amplifier. But i guess this is a little off topic, considering this thread is about weather or not they're good to learn on, but i hope this information is helpful.

Hey don’t knock the age thing I am 38 and have only been playing the drums for about 18 months and I have a Roland TD 6V. The main advantage is that it is silent practice I don’t disturb the neighbours and I don’t disturb my Wife, and it’s not just the volume but if you are learning a new rhythm or just practicing your rudiments the repetitiveness can be very tedious for people around you very quickly. I have just got an acoustic set (PDP X7) the main difference at first was the size of the drums (sounds obvious I know, but they take up a lot more room than the electronic kits each drum is just so much bigger than an electronic pad) you are hitting a lot larger area and the tone changes depending on where you hit them this can be a bit off putting at first but I have quickly got used to this and have not had many difficulties in adapting. I still use my electric most of the time and my drum tutor also uses an electronic kit for all his pupils as he has more control over the volume. To sum it up I think that electronic kits are great to learn on and enable you to practice whenever you want and not worry about disturbing others, unless of course you have no neighbours and live on your own in which case I’d suggest you go out and buy what ever kit sounds best to you.