Do you play the drums? Advice needed

I havent played a musical instrument since I murderd Frère Jacques on the recorder in junior school.

The one instrument I have always fancied learning to play is the drums, so I have decided to look at buying a full size set of electronic drums - They need to be electronic so I can turn the volumne down so I dont keep the grand kids awake when they are napping and I dont upset the neighbours.

Can anyone recomend a good starters set for less than £500. I have seen a few sets around the £300-£350 mark and then the next pricing band seems to be £800+. So I'm a little worried the £300 sets will fall apart very quickly

Have you seen this post today by Mark Smith -- http://www.4networking.biz/Forum/ViewTopic/122482#p931055 it is about drums so he may be able to advice?

Haaay Carl!  Nice one,  my husband started playing the drums then joined a band when he hit the big 40!  My little girl used to sleep through it actually, but she's been playing them too for a few years now - I wish he had bought some electric kit, they have both been moved to the shed in the bottom of the garden.  Martin Byrne manages rock bands - so I am sure he will know.  He helped us out with some advice on drum kits in the past.

Michelle

Hi Carl

Just do it - it's the best fun you can have with your clothes on (or not, the choice is yours ), although it does look funny to the casual bystander!

I recently treated myself to a budget Roland HD3 v-drum kit as I'd harboured a desire to play the drums since I was knee-high to a hi-hat. It's pretty much the best thing I've ever bought. Admittedly it's a shade over your £500 budget, but I reckon it's worth spending the extra to get something that will withstand a good pounding - it's sturdy and well-made, unlike some of the other budget kits I've seen reviewed. Also, a lot of retailers are doing deals with (admittedly cheap) headphones, drum stools and sticks thrown in.

I did quite a bit of research and quickly realised that in the budget market whatever I got was going to be a compromise in some way. The main trade-off is between quality (sounds/build/quietness) and features/expandability.

Most kits have a pretty much full-size configuration - the HD3, however, is compact, all folding out from one stand, so whilst it won't impress size-wise it's incredibly quick to set up and takes up very little room. The pads are all relatively quiet and are dual-zone (you can trigger more than one sound depending on where you hit it), and are excellent quality for the money. The snare has quite a realistic feel and the cymbals are chokable (if that matters to you).

One drawback is that you can't program kits - you have to rely on one of the 20 presets - but for a beginner it's easy to find one or two you like the sound of, and the sounds are generally pretty bloody good, changing timbre the harder you hit. If you really want a customised kit you can connect the HD3 via midi to a computer and trigger any sounds you want that way through music software.

One great thing that this and most other kits have is an aux in jack so you can plug your MP3 or CD player into it and play along - great fun.

In terms of mechanical sound transfer the HD3 seems to be one of the quieter budget kits. Rather than a mechanical kick-drum pedal hitting a pad it has an integral pedal with a padless trigger - this still feels pretty realistic though and does cut down on the mechanical thud thud thud of your usual bass drum pedal set-up.

I'm sure others with more experience will be along with their own recommendations, but hope this helps!

Ahhhh 3 years ago I went through the exact same thing.

I took a few lessons first to make sure I would enjoy it and when the time was right I went looking for a decent electronic kit. A lot of the cheaper kits I saw were just that cheap and gimicky. Having now used a Roland TD4 Im glad I got this model, full mesh heads do make a difference to the feelagainst pads, its more realistic. 

One thing that also swayed me away from the base model was the ability to plug in my ipod and look the track through the kit, so I can now play along with tracks at the same time as drumming.

One thing I have noticed over the years is that you can pick up decent 2nd hand Roland kits on ebay for a good price. have a look round on there, most are collection only so if you find somewhere close to you, you can see them before you buy

Let me know how you get on.

Hi Carl,

I have been playing drums for over 40 yrs!!

and went through the electronic stage around 5 yrs ago with a a set of Roland V drums, great sounding but when you are gigging you still require a good amp and speaker to cope with that kick drum!! and they dont, in my opinion, look as good as an acoustic kit, but need must

A visit to you local music shop is the best option and have a trial run on a couple of sets, but generaly you wont go far wrong with Yamaha or Roland  

Good luck with it

Mike