Most electronic drumsets will run you $1,000+. The Roland TD-20, for example, costs $7,000. And they’re big. Not acoustic set big, but big enough that they’ll eat up a lot of valuable space in your typical bedroom studio.
Roland TD-4SX V-Compact Electronic Drum Set
Roland TD-20SX V-Pro Electronic Drum Set
I should know. I had a Roland TD3 drumset and actually never set it up in my studio for a lack of space. So I decided to sell it and take the proceeds to fund a smaller, cheaper drum setup using a table-top module.
Roland SPD-S Sampling Percussion Pad
The best part about the pads above is that you can put these drumsets pretty much anywhere. I have mine on a little IKEA laptop stand that I got for $20 or so. A small desk also works well. Just remember that you need something with enough room under it for you to use pedals.
Most of the sets I looked at give you two footswitch inputs — one for a kick drum and the other to control the hi-hat (open/closed). This is key to giving you the feel of a real drumset.
Roland FD-8 Hi-Hat Control Pedal
Drum software has come a long way in the past couple years and has gotten to the point where the best of them are nearly indistinguishable from acoustic recordings — and are definitely better than anything you could do in a bedroom studio.
Since the sounds in these table-top sets are fairly lousy, you’ll be using the built in sounds (if any) to listen to while you’re playing and recording the midi for playback later. In addition to acoustic drum sounds, there are also plenty of sample libraries of electronic drum sounds that you can load into your favorite sampler.
Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0
Fxpansion BFD 2.0 Acoustic Drums Module
Native Instruments BATTERY 3 Drum Sampling Software
iZotope iDrum Version 1.7 Drum Machine Software
If you’re not one for sticks, you can also try your hands at finger drumming. I used to have a KORG padKONTROL, and while I thought it was a great piece of hardware, I never got into it. That said, the MPC-style pads are a lot more portable, and if you’ve never played a vdrum or acoustic set you may want to try these first.
Akai MPC500 Portable Music Production Center
Native Instruments MASCHINE Groove Production Studio
So there you have it. A smaller, cheaper electronic drumset. Vdrums and the like are better any day of the week, but if you don’t have the budget or the space, these are the next best thing.
Awesome, great post!
I’m actually in the same boat. I have/had a huge 12 piece electronic kit, but I rarely used it b/c it was too much of a pain in the butt to set up and it took up way too much space in the studio.
So I’m selling my electronic set and I’m purchased a Yamaha DD-65 Digital Drum from my friend for $50. I’m so pumped. I’ve had way more fun in a week of playing my DD65 than I have from 2 years with my huge set. It’s a ton of fun to use playing melodic ideas as well. Set up a pentatonic template with bells and synths and it was really fun.
With Addictive Drums, I’m just loving the new setup, and much more space friendly.
Note: I have a Roland DP-2 damper pedal as my hi hat on my electronic set and it’s not the greatest. It’s also –literally –10% of the price of the Roland FD-8.
Also, I’ve thought about getting the Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite Electronic Drums. They are $600 and seem like a good way to get the feel of an actual set, with much less cash and room.
What setup did you eventually purchase/use?
Keats' Handwriting — August 9, 2010 #
Joel! I think you’re the only one that actually reads these… ha!
I’ve never used the DD-65 but it looks pretty sweet. I ended up getting an old Roland SPD8 off eBay. The SPD-30 and SPD-S were a bit more than I wanted to spend at this point, but I’m sure I’ll probably upgrade to one of those down the line.
I also picked up two DP-2s for $10 each. It’s better than shelling out $100, but the pedals are pretty crappy, especially for hi-hat. They’re also super light and like to jump around a lot. I solved that by anchoring them to a board.
Let me know how the DD-65 works out. I like the way the pads are set up and the price isn’t bad, but the thing just looks so cheesy.
Dustin — August 11, 2010 #
When I went upstairs, I just found out that I actually have a DD-55. I really like it. I’ll email you about it, and more.
Keats' Handwriting — August 13, 2010 #