Quick Question

[p1tst0p]

Hey,

Currently i have an Electric Drum kit ( Yamaha DTXpress II ) i purchased this kit due to the fact that i was living in a terrace house, and i dont think the neighbours would have apreiciated a fat accoustic kit

But, my curcumstances have now changed, and i am moving into a new house, which has a workshop in the back garden.... this is going to be changed into my "ROCK" room its not a massive room, but its big enought for me and my guitarist to lay some tracks down on my Zoom MRS1266 digital recorder..

Now, i want to change back to an Accoustic kit.. but im unsure what to do..

I want to sell the electric kit.. and put some money together to get a kit, some mic's and a small mixer to output into 1 channel on the Digital studio..

Problem i have is, do i get a really good Maple kit, and not so good Mic's and mixer.. or do i get a cheeper ( birch ? ) kit and some better mic's and mixer ? i guess its all swings and roundabouts..

If the option is a cheeper kit, what kits would you guys reccomend ? i have only ever owned a cheep Pearl Export kit, and a nice Tama Starclassic Performer ( Birch ).. the tama was obviousley much better ( in my opinion ) than the Pearl kit.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

my playing style is heavy rock ( lots of double bass )

Thanks again.

Will M

[mikeh]

Although many people consider maple the preferred wood, I actually like the way birch records (a more focused attack). I own both a maple kit and a birch kit and I prefer the birch the maple has more fundamental low end "warmth" but the birch has such focussed attacke that it requires very little eq , etc to fit in the mix).

In any case, I would suggest spend money on a good kit, since that is your main axe. The sound (and the joy of playing) comes from the drums, the mic's simply capture the sound.

You don't indicate a budget, but there are many very decent low cost mic's on the market and several decent low cost mixers. I would think with some good selection you can good drums and decent mic's/mixer

[p1tst0p]

Hi mikeh thanks for your reply.

Unfortuanatley i havent played on a maple kit.. but the Tama birch kit i had before the DTXpress was great ( should never have got rid of it ! ).. so maybe ill check out some more birch kits...

In response to budget, i dont currently have one yet, as i need to also budget for sound proofing this workshop in the back garden... and also sell the DTXpress ( unsure what that will bring, probably not that much ).. i was thinking around 2k for the drums/mic/mixer... unsure if this is resonable or not..

I guess i need to try out some birch kits then.. see which sounds good.. any suggestions ?

Thanks again

Will M

[mikeh]

Suggestions - It's always hard to suggest specific gear. I play a Premier birch kit. I think Yamaha makes very good drums. Clearly you liked your Tama.

The only drums I have a hard time suggesting are DW. They are fine drums but the hype has made them too overpriced (in my humble opinion).

Slingerland and Ludwig can be hit or miss. I think Mapex makes better drums than tey get credit for. There are also so many smaller companies - GMS, OC, Baltimore, etc. etc. who all make very good drums. Ultimately you have to trust your ears.

For recording, make sure you get good cymbals. Drum sounds can be improved with different heads, better tuning, etc. but cymblas is what they is. I prefer smaller, thinner crashes that make a quick statement (larger cymbals that resonate too long are hard to tame in a studio).