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sandoz06

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Hey everyone. I'm new to this forum and to recording so bare with me here.

I'll keep it short - For the achieving a versatile drum sound when recording at home on my computer is it best to go towards software drums with triggers or an electronic drum kit? (or can i use both?!) I'm on a bit of a budget and i'm totally clueless as to which would be better...

Any help...?
 
You're not interested in micing up an accoustic kit?
 
sandoz06 said:
Hey everyone. I'm new to this forum and to recording so bare with me here.

I'll keep it short - For the achieving a versatile drum sound when recording at home on my computer is it best to go towards software drums with triggers or an electronic drum kit? (or can i use both?!) I'm on a bit of a budget and i'm totally clueless as to which would be better...

Any help...?
Click to expand...

Since I’ll assume that you’ve decided to go the electronic route, I'd suggest recording MIDI. Using an "electronic kit (w/MIDI out)" or drum software & triggers gives you effectively the same thing. If you physically play the drum parts, you will get a more humanistic feel to the track. Trying to program the drum parts is a pain in the ass. :D

Once you have the MIDI information, you can use it to trigger any software samples you want/have. The best part about this is as you get additional money, you can always buy better samples and go back and re-track the drum parts using the better samples (providing you save the MIDI information in your project).

I use a Hart Dynamic kit w/TD-8 to trigger DFHS C&V (IMO-best samples) & BFD samples and it works great. A down side to this is the software/samples are costly and you'll need a killer computer; especially, if you want to trigger the samples in real time (as you play). This setup has produced the closest thing I've heard to actually micing acustic drums (which I do like to do as well).

However, I contend if you want to mic a set of acoustic drums you'll need a good signal chain (i.e., mics, good pres) and that can cost considerably more money. In addition, you will still need a well treated room if you want to produce truly quality sounding drums, not to mention forgiving neighbors. :)
 
i have had both an electronic kit at one time and my programmable drum kit i call ralph. (he may not be the greatest drummer but he's quiet and he does what he's told lol). the programmable drum can be programmed without being able to play what you program, but the electronic kit has to be properly played. the kit gives you more freedom, but the programmed drums free you from having to drum it. depends on you i would say. what your preferences are. neither is as good as the real thing, but i can't record an acoustic set so i understand the need.
 
I also play a Hart Dynamics kit, with a Roland V-Drum Module. I have Gigastudio, and have some great sounding samples of some world class kits. I usually record the audio out live while playing, and also capture the midi stream. If all goes well, I use the real time audio tracks, but if it's not just right I can use the midi track to switch kits, or parts of a kit, as well as fix timing issues. If you don't want to spend a lot of dough, and don't need road-rugged, the Hart Dynamics Prodigy kit is a good buy.
 
Personally, the next item(s) on my buy list are a Hart Dynamics kit with a Roland TD-12 module. After experiencing the pain in the ass it is to manually program drums....ugh. I lust for an electronic kit to trigger my BFD samples.
 
Has anyone used the alesis dm5 or the ion iDM01 kit? i'm looking for something pretty cheap here but does it matter? (i know it does but i'm speaking in terms of amateur home recording).

If i spent good money on something like EZ Drummer or BFD would it make much of a difference that the kit is a cheapo one (and i do want a kit).
 
Nearly forgot...Thanks to everyone who's posted! Its really helping me out here. I had it in my head that if i bought a kit i would be stuck with recording audio tracks consisting of the samples used in the drum module with the kit. Thought that'd be okay but maybe it'd be better using a keyboard and some more expensive samples but now (like i posted) i don't know whether a cheap kit will make a difference when using good samples...

But yeah! thanks everyone!!
 
If it's of any interest to you I use Roland TD-3's...you can hear em' on my soundclick link below.
 
sandoz06 said:
Has anyone used the alesis dm5 or the ion iDM01 kit? i'm looking for something pretty cheap here but does it matter? (i know it does but i'm speaking in terms of amateur home recording).

If i spent good money on something like EZ Drummer or BFD would it make much of a difference that the kit is a cheapo one (and i do want a kit).
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I have a DM5 stuffed in a rack somewhere :rolleyes: but, it really doesn't matter. You are not using the audio outs just the MIDI. If you never intend on using the drum module for its internal sound, I'd look for something like a Roland TD-3; they're inexpensive and work well for your application.
 
I intend eventually to to the whole midi thing ... but midi still scares me.

but for right now, I have the Roland TD-3 v-drum kit. What i do, is I took the cymbal pads off and set up my real cymbals around the rest of the kit. I mic those with two overheads (Rode Nt5s) and unplug the kick pad. I get a good stereo mix in the module (easier SAID than DONE at times) and record myself playing like that - I then have two tracks of toms/snare, and two tracks of real overhead. Then, i hook up JUST the kick, and play along with the drums i just recorded. (uber important to have independently workable kick)

The thing i love about this method/the reason i do it is because afterwards i can run my auto-tune plugin over the tom/snare tracks at whatever key the actual song is played in. This has tightened up my drum tracks amazingly
(i have all the mics to mic up my real kit, including a beta 52, the nt5s, and five 57s ... but i'm the worlds worst drum tuner and those mics are basically for recording people with better quality and better tuned acoustic kits)

as a side note - has ANYONE ever been satisfied with the module sounds of the yamaha kits?!?! i played everything in the store before i went with the td-3 .. and even the higher-end yamahas just sounded .. bad to me.
 
sandoz06 said:
I had it in my head that if i bought a kit i would be stuck with recording audio tracks consisting of the samples used in the drum module with the kit. Thought that'd be okay but maybe it'd be better using a keyboard and some more expensive samples but now (like i posted) i don't know whether a cheap kit will make a difference when using good samples...

But yeah! thanks everyone!!
Click to expand...

You're other option is to mic up a basic accoustic kit and trigger drumagog samples. That way you don't even need to tune the heads if you don't want to. However you would want decent hats and at least 1 good crash
 
I'd suggest using Reason ReWired through your DAW if you want electronic drums, it's far superior to any other drum sequencing method I've tried, and cheaper than buying an electric kit.
 
What does anyone know about something like the yamaha dd 55? Since I am living in a house with 7 other people I will not be micing up an acoustic kit and not being a drummer I want tsomething to learn a little bit on. THis seams like a good option and while I know it isnt even close to a substitute I am just wondering if it is worth the 100-150 bucks on ebay.
 
Lexus507 said:
What does anyone know about something like the yamaha dd 55? Since I am living in a house with 7 other people I will not be micing up an acoustic kit and not being a drummer I want tsomething to learn a little bit on. THis seams like a good option and while I know it isnt even close to a substitute I am just wondering if it is worth the 100-150 bucks on ebay.
Click to expand...


I have the Yamaha dd 55. I love it but it has its problems. The foot pedals are horrible. They have a small button on them about the size of a half dollar and they dont go off when to step on them a lot of the time. You can upgrade to a better yamaha trigger and use a real kick pedal but this is not cheap. We usually just do two different tracks, and do the kick drum alone with a stick assigned to another pad. It isnt perfect but if you have roommates or close neighbors it is awesome for what it costs and the small amount of space it takes up.
 
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