Drum newb shopping for a first kit
- Thread starter Tadpui
- Start date
Cool thanks. I'm gonna start planning this out.
jimistone
long standing member
Congrats Tad!!
I'm late to this thread, but I know you are going to have a blast with your new drums. I was gonna suggest that you ask all of your local musician friends if the known of any drums for s.ale. That's how I found my kit for a very good price. But, I see that you already got a set. That's awesome man!
I'm late to this thread, but I know you are going to have a blast with your new drums. I was gonna suggest that you ask all of your local musician friends if the known of any drums for s.ale. That's how I found my kit for a very good price. But, I see that you already got a set. That's awesome man!
Tadpui
Well-known member
Thanks! I combed through the local Craigslist and Reverb listings. Reverb had some good deals, but it costs a shit-ton to ship a set of drums as a regular Joe Schmoe. So that blew most of the good deals out of the water. Local Craigslist was mainly parents selling off their kids' crappy sets or newly married guys dismantling their man caves. Good prices, but bad/unknown quality. I never found that one "oh snap!" kind of deal. Although I got a great Acrolite for a great price from a local collector/enthusiast.
And an update from the total drum newb:
I've spent the last 3 nights tuning and retuning every shell of this kit. Tonight was the first night that I actually started to make progress, after 2 nights of utter shit. I've probably tuned the heads on each shell 10 times by now. I'm considering it practice. I want to become at least competent when it comes to tuning an instrument that I own. I feel like I'm about 1/2 way to getting them tuned properly.
My main achievement was tuning the birch snare that came with the kit. I finally found a YouTube video that spoke to me. Steven Chen (not sure who he is, but he apparently plays metal) made a near-perfect video for snare setup, and it was my tipping point to getting that wood snare to just snap and sing. I put a moongel on the batter head tonight and it was like icing on the cake. I really like it, much more than I thought I would. I will conquer the Acrolite at a later time.
The toms continue to be problematic. I think that I'm fighting their smaller sizes too much. I tried tuning them as low as I could get away with, but they didn't like it. Tonight I tuned them (yet) again. I ended up tuning the resonant heads above where I'd been shooting for, and slightly tuning the batter heads down. They now do the "doppler" thing now, but their resonances are pretty annoying.
I even tried my first Glyn Johns 3-mic setup (overhead condenser, another outside of the low tom, and a LDD inside the kick) and it turned out pretty well for a first-timer SWAG setup. The toms are the problem when the kit is miked. They're too boingy. I'll experiment more now that the weekend is almost here. I'm armed with a tuning key, moongels, and internet access. Surely I can work something out
Overall, I feel good about it. I still suck at playing the drums, especially REAL drums where I can't cheat and cut/paste wrong notes, stick collisions, accidental side-sticks, and outright indecision. But I'm really excited about getting better. I wouldn't have taken this plunge if I didn't think that I could do it. It's just gonna be some work to get there. And I wouldn't have made it this far if it weren't for you fellas. Thanks a ton!
jimmys69
MOODerator
HA! Yeah, actually I have to do that shit way too often...
I am getting tired of doing that actually. Maybe I need to change my clients?...
Tadpui
Well-known member
Hahaha, believe me, I've been thinking about how I could do it! And I agree, it seems hard
Well, here is a quickie recording of the kit as it stands. I thumbed through my old scratch ideas folder and found something from about 18 months ago that had an easy, steady beat. So I kept the kit miked up with my best guess at a first-time Glyn Johns 3-mic setup and played along to a guitar and bass track that was already struggling for tempo and conviction. Nothing pretty about the guitar and bass timing, even though they were recorded to a click. It was late. That's my excuse. And my current drumming skills don't exactly add to the synergy...
jimmys69
MOODerator
Hahaha, believe me, I've been thinking about how I could do it! And I agree, it seems hard
Well, here is a quickie recording of the kit as it stands. I thumbed through my old scratch ideas folder and found something from about 18 months ago that had an easy, steady beat. So I kept the kit miked up with my best guess at a first-time Glyn Johns 3-mic setup and played along to a guitar and bass track that was already struggling for tempo and conviction. Nothing pretty about the guitar and bass timing, even though they were recorded to a click. It was late. That's my excuse. And my current drumming skills don't exactly add to the synergy...
Dood? Not bad at all!
I'm going to leave it to those with better grasp on tone, but I find that really workable. Don't tell me you don't drum everyday in your car...
Tadpui
Well-known member
Hey thanks Jim! Well, maybe I do drum on the steering wheel a lot. And I sometimes accidentally goose the gas pedal when a great kick line comes on
Oh, I took a picture and forgot to attach it to my last post:
jimmys69
MOODerator
Hey thanks Jim! Well, maybe I do drum on the steering wheel a lot. And I sometimes accidentally goose the gas pedal when a great kick line comes on
Oh, I took a picture and forgot to attach it to my last post:
View attachment 97736
Get a van man! Best kick drum ever is a GMC Safari. I actually sampled the doghouse once as a kick drum. It sucked but it sounds good in the van! lol!
Room looks nice and you are doing well man. Props!
Farview
Well-known member
The toms sound fine. Remember, what the drums sound like sitting behind them is really different than what gets recorded. I didn't hear any annoying resonance at all. It sounds like a decently tuned kit.
I would maybe add some smack to the kick, or maybe just hit it harder
I would maybe add some smack to the kick, or maybe just hit it harder
jimmys69
MOODerator
Are you somehow affiliated with Sound on Sound? lol!
Just kidding man.
Where is the link?
Never mind. I'm a member now. Strangely nice over there....
Last edited:
Are you somehow affiliated with Sound on Sound? lol!
Just kidding man.
Where is the link?
Never mind. I'm a member now. Strangely nice over there....
No Jim, I have no connection to any company whatsoever. I just thought peeps might be interested? Don't folks READ anymore!
The vid link is in the book. Buy it!
Dave.
jimmys69
MOODerator
Hahaha, believe me, I've been thinking about how I could do it! And I agree, it seems hard
Well, here is a quickie recording of the kit as it stands. I thumbed through my old scratch ideas folder and found something from about 18 months ago that had an easy, steady beat. So I kept the kit miked up with my best guess at a first-time Glyn Johns 3-mic setup and played along to a guitar and bass track that was already struggling for tempo and conviction. Nothing pretty about the guitar and bass timing, even though they were recorded to a click. It was late. That's my excuse. And my current drumming skills don't exactly add to the synergy...
That's not too bad. Toms sound good. Good tone to the toms, and good intervals. You've got a LOT of snare wire snap from just the overheads, which is pretty good. The immediate problem that I hear, well it's usually a problem unless you want it this way, the problem is the whole drum image leans to the right and the snare seems to have some phasing going on. It doesn't sound bad in a sparse mini-mix like this one, but in a busier mix those drum tracks would virtually disappear. You'd really struggle with it. But for a first effort I'd say you're ahead of the curve. The drum tuning seems good. I'd think you could probably tune the floor tom lower, but that's up to you.
If you want that dull flat tom sound, you got the wrong heads. But you can moongel the shit out of them to dampen them some if you want. I'm not a fan of excessive drum dampening, but you do what you gotta do.
Tadpui
Well-known member
Thanks! I think that I'm getting close with the tuning, just not quite there yet. I agree about the kick, I'm used to my e-kit where I can adjust the sensitivity. Now I've gotta adjust my foot instead
Thanks Dave, I'll give a look on their website and see if they have it up there.
Thanks Greg. This was adjustment #3 of the right-hand mic (looking at the snare, over the floor tom) after trying a couple other positions. This position gave a better balance to the kit, but it sounds like I need to pull it a little farther away so the image doesn't lean that way. I was just trying to avoid it being too roomy.
I can definitely tune the floor tom down a bit more. I'd love that thing to be as low as it'll go without sounding weird. I've already put 2 moongels on the batter and one on the reso just to get what you hear here. That thing just wants to sing and ring.
What heads would you recommend for more of a thud and less of a boing? I'm using Evans G2, which are 2-ply coated. In all of the demos and shootouts that I listened to, they seemed to yield the best warm attack and fewer overtones. But I'm open to suggestions. Especially considering that my technique sucks and I'll be playing a lot, so I'll most likely wear out these heads in a hurry.