A's or E's?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Toker41
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A drums or E drums?

  • I Own and Like Both for recording

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • I Only Own A's

    Votes: 35 50.0%

  • I Only Own E's

    Votes: 7 10.0%

  • I own both, but prefer My A's for recording

    Votes: 13 18.6%

  • I own both but prefer my E's for recording

    Votes: 6 8.6%
  • Total voters
    70
T

Toker41

Better Than You
I picked up a set of V-sessions about a year and a half ago, and can't ever imagine going thru the trouble of micing "A" drums again. I run into a lot of people that bash any type of "E" drum, but find most have never played V-drums. So I'm just wondering how many are using "A"s, and how many are using "E"s? If "E"s then what kind? I haven't seen anything that even come close to the V-sessions, myself, but I'm not really a drummer, just a guy with a modest home studio that keeps instruments around that he can't really play (well not all of them, anyway). I know I prefer to record the V-sessions over A drums.
 
I use Roland V-Drums in my home demo studio. On some sessions I may use A cymbals, but much of the time I use the V-Cymbals.

I've got 3 A sets (Maple, Birch & Mahogany) and I have recorded with all of them, with good results - but I really like having the V-Drums sitting there ready to go at a moments notice (no mic'ing, etc. etc. etc).

My wife an I are planning to move into a condo soon - and the v-drums will allow me to put down drum tracks whenever I want (although the A cymbals may pose a problem).

I still use the A drums when I do sessions in other studios (that are better equipped to record live drums) but in my studio - it is always the E drums.
 
People that bash E Drums are

1. Not Drummers (Or at least they think they are)

2. Not married with children

3. Don't see past rock and roll

4. Single Homeowners


I own both a Yamaha DTX 2.0 E kit and a 1962 Slingerland Kit.

And I would say I get equal use out of them.

The situation you are put in warrants which kit to use.

No-You will never get an E kit to sound like an A kit, that is why I own them both.

And the effects I have loaded into my E kit affords me a ton of freedom when laying down tracks, be it percussion sounds or other sounds.


VI
 
I own an acoustic kit but use samples for many recordings. I would LIKE to get an electronic kit but I can't seem to decide exactly what kind I want. (So many different types out there)

The electronic kit will be necessary soon because of the volume issue of the acoustic kit. I'm not particular on soft heads or even extremely realistic samples. Midi would be important though. ;) Nice little E-kit for quiet practice.
 
Hart Dynamics

I play a set of Hart Dynamics (Studio Master 6.4) with a combination thea Ronald TD-8 and Alesis DM5 modules. These drums “feel” pretty natural when you play them. However, just like all e-drums they do have some idiosyncrasies. Most people that bash e-drums don’t know very much about them.

In the home recording environment, it is extremely difficult to get drums to sound anywhere near as good as E-drums. E-cymbals leave a little to be desired but it they’re not in your face, and with a little work, they can sound OK.

Most people on this board, when they hear the term e-drums & MIDI, they immediately jump to conclusions that tracking with e-drums sucks; yet, when they can’t get the acoustics sounding good they all hypocritely reach for something like drumagog

I also have a set of set of acoustics but they get minimal use anymore. That’s not to say that I will never track my “A” drums again since I can’t see painting myself into any one box.
 
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I own both. I have a set of Yamahas DXExpress (low end as far as E drums) and they sound great. I sold my old acoustics about 3 years ago when I bought these and use them to record with. Easy and great sounding, but...
it really made me want another acoustic set. The look, the feel, the noise..So i just got a set of Pacific LX's and some mics. Wow,does that take some time to sound good! The guys I jam with think the E-drums sound a lot better, but I think I'm slowly changing their minds as I get better with recording live drums. The only thing I had against my E set was the cymbals are not real sounding. This last weekend I combined my e set with acoustic (ala Danny Carey) and started programming the E drums with some oddball effects. Fun stuff!
Doug
 
people who defend e drums are

1. wouldn't know a good drum sound if it slapped their ass and called them sally

2. think they're too cool for practice pads

3. really like bad drum tunings

4. capable of rationalizing the holocaust if you give them enough time

5. idiots who love boring things that are easy, like tv dinners
 
I'm just a fan of real instruments. Listening to a great jazz record and the way they get so much out of their instruments. If I was a piano player would I want to record a piano or a keyboard? The real thing always takes the cake. I've never even thought about buying an "E" set. I've recorded on one a couple times, it's fun but in the end the sound just isn't what I think drums are all about. That's just my thought.
 
Bah.. Acoustic guitar players said the same thing about "Those garsh dang Electreek Geetars" back in the day.

Acoustic drums are simply acoustic drums.. and have pretty much stayed the same. E-drum technology is getting better and better with upgrades and new designs year after year.


Sure, comparing acoustic drumsound to electric drumsounds is like comparing a real person playing guitar and a guy playing guitar patches on a keyboard.

However, my point is that the technology is only getting better.
 
they don't sound real.

while separating the player from the tone isn't all that easy, in htis case if you listen to the tone with which these great players are playing, it is nowhere near as expressive as their other work. that could be a symptom of mp-3 distirbution or it could be that the things they're playing suck

as for being abloe to do all kinds of inventive things with edrums-sure. i know won guy who uses them to trigger various loops in a life situation. he's playing bass drumm snare and hi hat that are real and all the toms trigger various loops. it's awesome, but nothing that really couldn't be done with a sequencer or computer

an electric guitar doesn't sound anything like an acoustic guitar. they are different animals that can be operated in a similar fashion. if e drums are supposed to be a different animal operated in a similar fashion as real drums how come they keep trying to tell ne that the edrums sound just like real drums? I don't get it
 
I realize I have not been playing drums for a week yet, but I have been playing guitars and gigging for 30 years. In that time I have seen one drummer who liked the sound of his cooking pot, so he mounted to his kit. I have seen wood blocks, pieces of tin and many other things. The one nice thing about the drums, is that there isn't much you can't beat on and get some other unique sound. So why not just add the e-drums to your accoustic kit to expand it more. Anotherwise, why simulate a ride symbol when you have the real thing there and why give up the electric toms, just because they are not accoustic. Now I don't like the sound of a lot of the sims for quitar, but I think the drums are a different story, because it's and addition to the set rather than a replacement.

I can see me adding some e-pads to my kit once I get settled in a bit more, or maybe even a pot!!
 
When I was coming up as a young session player (back in the late 60's) we did not have access to all the percussion toys that are now added to kits (jam blocks, etc.) There where wood blocks, cowbells and the very rarel tempo blocks.

As part of my "studio kit" I had saw blades, a brake drum, a few pots & pans, a cardboard box (works great with brushes), glass bottles and just about any other item you could hit, slap or kick.

Now I can trigger and/or tweak thousands of sounds and samples.
 
I own a Tama Rockstar with Zildjian and Wuhan cymbals, as well as an extensive electronic kit (Roland, Akai, and Simmons; also with Zildjian and Wuhan cymbals). I have them back to back, like Neil Peart.

There's some pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/kuzinrob/

I use the electronics for sounds that aren't possible with acoustics, or easily accessible without a million drums, like the Simmons sound, congas, bongos, woodblocks, chimes, various other noises, and custom samples on the Akai S2000 sampler.
 
E drums have their place. But you cant compair E drums to a electric guitar, thats just not right. E drums have been around for awhile and have made a stance in music today, but A drums will never become a acoustic guitar.
 
This Rocks

I'm tyring to hear the K's.....Custom A's I don't know which?
 
E drums have been trying and trying to sound like acoustic drums for years....and they're getting better, but the cymbal sounds are sadly lacking. Also, if you are playing subtle touches and effects on cymbals, don't even try E drums, the cymbals are SO bad they'll make you cry. I'm sure there is a place for E drums,.....just not in any of the music that I like to play
Interestingly though, you never here of acoustic drums trying to sound like E drums. Why is that ya think?
 
I owned a TD-10 kit 2 yrs ago, tried record them, and they just dont have the power and dont sound like real at all. and I finally I sold the kit and buy some keller maple shell to make a kit, seems sound much better.

If I need to record drums, I will go with a good A kit with proper head and tuning.

I havent tried the new TD-20, they may be much better.
 
To me, electronic drums can sound very good in headphones and I can imagine it works well in a live situation, but you can't IMO record with them. They sound lifeless and twodimensional compared to the real thing.

And yes, I've owned and recorded both. Now I stick to my acoustic Pearl set and am happy that I sold my Rolands.
 
The drumset is just that - a set. With good recording technique, there's just no comparison. Yeah, you can fiddle with, or replace, the signals from an e-set but why? There is a reason the pros use a-drums as a vast majority. When someone can recreate Copeland's "Walking on the Moon" or a thousand other examples I can think of - I'll be a believer. I've played V drums in a band because the guitar player had a set at our practice space. Played 'em for over a year and could never get it to sound like a set of a-drums.

E drums have there place as a practice tool for drummers or for that techno feel, but for certain types of music they just simply SUCK.
 
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