Talk to me about drums..

grappagreen · November 2021

I've wanted to learn to drum for a long time so fuck it let's have a go..

I'm happy to spend a few quid wisely and my preference is a conventional rather than electronic drum kit. If it doesn't work out I can always move it on and not take too much of a bath hopefully.

My only real concern is volume levels. I'm lucky to be able to make a fair bit of noise but should I be considering mesh heads (he says like he knows what he's talking about) and those cymbals full of holes?

Any other considerations other than the obvious like lessons?

Si

mrkb · November 2021

Si, If you are coming to herts jam next weekend, you could compare the feel of my my std setup with a quiet/holed cymbal and mesh head snare from @idiotwind ;

Mesh heads and quiet cymbals are a good compromise. Where are you planning to set the kit up? The kick pedal still puts a loud thud through a floating wood floor.

stickyfiddle · November 2021

Drumming is ace and I wish I'd started when I was a teenager

I have a Roland TD17 KVX which is great, but electric, obvs. I'm sure others can advise better

I'd say a handful of lessons will pay dividends to get you started. Beyond that it would depend on how good you are at teaching yourself. A good run of lessons from a decent teacher is never a bad thing imo; I'm mostly self taught after the initial few weeks and generally good at teaching myself to do things, but I'm wondering about getting another run of teaching to push me to the next stage.

blobb · November 2021

Acoustic kit, convert to electric with mesh heads and triggers, any old module with midi out and superior drummer on your laptop. Real acoustic kit - you will spend longer trying to tune it than playing it. And they are really loud. There are loads of drum shells out there prime for conversion.

Technique - learn how to sit at the kit and hold sticks properly then put your favourite album on and play along. Do an hour at a time. Every time you sit back on the throne you will be better than last time. Learn to be efficient, if you're not dancing, you're not drumming.

Learn to count.

grappagreen · November 2021

Thanks for the input folks.. appreciated as always.

mrkb said:

Si, If you are coming to herts jam next weekend, you could compare the feel of my my std setup with a quiet/holed cymbal and mesh head snare from @idiotwind ;

Mesh heads and quiet cymbals are a good compromise. Where are you planning to set the kit up? The kick pedal still puts a loud thud through a floating wood floor.

I will be there so will defo have a try... appreciate it! Kit will be downstairs in my music room (read that as dump full of music shit) but at least it's a bit away from the troops..

Si

idiotwind · November 2021

Yes, I can bring my L80 cymbals and snare with 3-ply mesh head so we can do a quick comparison. I'm certainly happy with the volume for home playing. It's sort of acoustic guitar volume, fine for playing along with backing tracks. With the door closed then as Mark says, it's really the kick pedal that puts out the sound that travels most. I have mine on a drum rug to cut it out a bit, but if you're ground floor then it won't be as much of an issue.

PolarityMan · November 2021

I ahve the cymbals ffull of holes...I lvoe them. Really transforms the ekit.

grappagreen · November 2021

idiotwind said:

Yes, I can bring my L80 cymbals and snare with 3-ply mesh head so we can do a quick comparison. I'm certainly happy with the volume for home playing. It's sort of acoustic guitar volume, fine for playing along with backing tracks. With the door closed then as Mark says, it's really the kick pedal that puts out the sound that travels most. I have mine on a drum rug to cut it out a bit, but if you're ground floor then it won't be as much of an issue.

Brill - many thanks!

Si

personalnadir · November 2021

I picked up a Traps drum kit for very little secondhand.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/traps_a400_acoustic_drumset.htm

Super useful for packing away and transport.

Stuck Zildjan Low volume symbols and Evans Soundoff skins. Works really well for playing at home, though I find the kick drum went to mud with a mesh.

DrumBob · November 2021

I would recommend some lessons from a good teacher who will understand where you want to take it. Obviously, you're not going to make a living reading rudimental drum charts, so tell him your goals, and make sure, he gets it. A qualified teacher will get you off on the right foot in terms of basics. If a teacher tells you you'll need years of lessons, go elsewhere. Drum teachers today are usually a lot more flexible than when I studied drumming. Taking lessons as a teenager was the best thing I ever did, but my teacher was old school. You studied his methods and that was it. He didn't teach rock drumming. I learned that from every record I ever played along with. .

I would look on Ebay UK for a good quality used kit. I go there occasionally and see lots of midline sets for reasonable money. You can always add the mesh heads and quiet cymbals later. You Brits have access to lots of used Premier kits, as well as Asian brands. There are always used kits for sale. Buy the best used cymbals you can afford. PM me if you have questions.

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Talk to me about drums..

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