E-drums: could they be a common thing for small bands gigs?

[2112]

If you are playing for a deaf audience, hire a professional interpreter.

In all seriousness, the season of Club Kabarett I did in New Zealand had an accessibility/inclusivity night where 2 signers came in and did the show side of stage. Pretty amazing watching them work, especially for some of the baudier parts of the show.

One of the deaf audiences members told me after the show that they love seeing live gigs because they can feel the bass and sub bass so well, and in turn feel very connected to the performance and the rest of the crowd. Pretty awesome.

 

[deathbyguitar]

Amen to that! I've been close to getting one several times in the last years. But other gear shows up when I'm about to pull the trigger xD

You can find them used for pretty cheap. They're a swiss army knife for all things MIDI, it's nuts. But I can shred on that thing, lemme tell you.

 

[DrewJD82]

I like a drummer that has a pad in addition to their acoustic kit for cool and heady sounds

Always loved Morgan Rose’s kits for this exact reason.

And just to bask in the glory of acoustic drums being played by someone who “plays drums like they’re in a street fight” as a Youtube commenter put it-

 

[spawnofthesith]

If you are playing for a deaf audience, hire a professional interpreter.

I've actually seen a fair amount of shows with interpreters


Ween was probably the most amusing to watch the signing given the vulgarity of most of their lyrics

 

[DrewJD82]

In all seriousness, the season of Club Kabarett I did in New Zealand had an accessibility/inclusivity night where 2 signers came in and did the show side of stage. Pretty amazing watching them work, especially for some of the baudier parts of the show.

One of the deaf audiences members told me after the show that they love seeing live gigs because they can feel the bass and sub bass so well, and in turn feel very connected to the performance and the rest of the crowd. Pretty awesome.

One of my favorite music experiences was teaching a deaf cousin how to play guitar about 13 years ago. We were at a family reunion and he kept putting his hand on the body of my guitar while I played it and would get all kinds of smiley. I got curious and wanted to see how much of the vibration was translating to him and knew him and his brother were huge Godsmack fans so I played the riff from “Keep Away” and he knew what it was immediately.

Then I put it in his hands, showed him how to strum and how to fret in drop D, I think it took him maybe 60-90 seconds to start playing the riff on his own and the only thing ‘wrong’ with it was the result of being the first time he ever held a guitar. He didn’t put it down for the rest of the day. What was particularly cool was that his brother used to get pretty jealous of the extra attention given to his deaf brother, but he was running around telling everyone to come watch him play and was just as overjoyed as his brother was, really endearing.

 

[EOengineer]

Always loved Morgan Rose’s kits for this exact reason.
View attachment 48263

And just to bask in the glory of acoustic drums being played by someone who “plays drums like they’re in a street fight” as a Youtube commenter put it-

I’ve always loved watching this guy play. He uses his arms like whips and it’s tons of fun to watch. Not to mention his parts are awesome.

 

[EOengineer]

I've actually seen a fair amount of shows with interpreters


Ween was probably the most amusing to watch the signing given the vulgarity of most of their lyrics

Saw snoop a couple years ago with an interpreter and I’m honestly not sure if I remember anything else from the show. It was hypnotic.

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[JiveTurkey]

Saw snoop a couple years ago with an interpreter and I’m honestly not sure if I remember anything else from the show. It was hypnotic.

We saw him back, probably 2018, pre-COVID and he was awesome. Did his own stuff obviously but a bunch of killer covers

 

[EOengineer]

We saw him back, probably 2018, pre-COVID and he was awesome. Did his own stuff obviously but a bunch of killer covers

Yup, great show!

 

[DrewJD82]

I've actually seen a fair amount of shows with interpreters


Ween was probably the most amusing to watch the signing given the vulgarity of most of their lyrics

The first time I saw an interpreter was at Rockville during Mudvayne’s set where I had to wonder how accurate the interpreter was due to how fast the words go by in “Dig”

This is pretty entertaining, I love how into it they get!

 

[OneEng]

You’ve never heard someone say drums are too loud?

Exactly! I find it hard to believe anyone who gigs at ALL has never heard this complaint.

I’m not really sure what to say here other than my experiences have been very different, particularly in the smaller > 100 capacity venues.

Larger stages with seasoned live sound guys handle things better, but unfortunately that’s not every gig.

YMMV, I guess.

I also agree with the larger stages. Acoustic drums work just fine outdoors or in a larger venue. Mostly, anytime you can get the drums away from the vocal microphones it is OK. Also, you need a big space so the acoustic level doesn't drown out the other sound sources (especially the vocals).

You've made this point about vocalists needing to cut through a lot. But did you ever stop to think that maybe those vocalists have shit technique?

There is certainly room for improvement there; however, it is difficult to keep the background singers' head directly in front of the mic when they aren't singing. Good mic technique (and good mics) help, but it doesn't get rid of the problem of the stage volume being so high that any open mic is going to pick it up.

In all my years of going to gigs I think the only time I've ever seen a band not use an acoustic kit was when I was about 14 and saw Dragonforce play some weird ass fully triggered kit and it all sounded terrible. No less than I deserved for thinking it would be a good idea to go to that gig in the first place though.

I found it funny the other day when Prodigy were playing Glastonbury and social media was full of people saying "why do they have a drummer playing an acoustic kit?". No one wants to see someone cosplaying on a MIDI kit.

Absolute non-starter, I can't believe this thread exists honestly.

... and I saw one on the 4th of July at the festival. They are quite common.

The price is a big reason for the lack of popularity.

Yes. THIS is the biggest reasons many of my friends that play drums do not use eDrums. The ones that have good feel are very expensive.

 

[EOengineer]

Exactly! I find it hard to believe anyone who gigs at ALL has never heard this complaint.

I believe he followed up later with a comment suggesting that he does not gig, so I think this is more of a situational difference than anything. A lot of this stuff is contextual and perhaps why there are mostly rational people reporting very different experiences and outcomes in this thread.

I also agree with the larger stages. Acoustic drums work just fine outdoors or in a larger venue. Mostly, anytime you can get the drums away from the vocal microphones it is OK. Also, you need a big space so the acoustic level doesn't drown out the other sound sources (especially the vocals).

I wish it was this simple or consistent. There’s one club we’ve played a number of times where we have no issues. No feedback, no volume problems, vocals cut through.

There’s another club with a similar sized stage that has been nothing but feedback and monitoring problems. In particular our drummers cymbals end up EVERYWHERE. We’re a modern rock band, he hits hard.

The obvious differences between the two are the sound crew and the acoustic properties in those venues. Those are both big variables that can be hard to control. Lowering stage volume (or killing it completely) can help a ton with the room and bleed/feedback issues, but there are obviously trade offs depending on how you do that.

 

[HotRats]

Oh which kit was that??

They are indeed extremely boring and tiring sessions.

I've done many sessions like that; drums, pianos, guitars, basses, cellos, many more. I think one of the funnest sessions I did was a waterphone, and that was because it was a very creative session with lots of experimentation.

Was for the, at the time upcoming, mark drum e-drums, a product that ended up being discontinued, as far as I know.

 

[Orvillain]

There is certainly room for improvement there; however, it is difficult to keep the background singers' head directly in front of the mic when they aren't singing. Good mic technique (and good mics) help, but it doesn't get rid of the problem of the stage volume being so high that any open mic is going to pick it up.

I was talking about good singing technique.

Yes. THIS is the biggest reasons many of my friends that play drums do not use eDrums. The ones that have good feel are very expensive.

I'm very skeptical of this claim. The uber expensive ones I've played don't feel any better than the mid-tier ones I've played. They also don't sound as good as connecting a mid-tier one to a computer and using BFD or Superior or something like that.

 

[OneEng]

I like a drummer that has a pad in addition to their acoustic kit for cool and heady sounds

Our drummer uses it for a bunch of different effects, but I seem to remember the "claps" the most .

I believe he followed up later with a comment suggesting that he does not gig, so I think this is more of a situational difference than anything. A lot of this stuff is contextual and perhaps why there are mostly rational people reporting very different experiences and outcomes in this thread.


I wish it was this simple or consistent. There’s one club we’ve played a number of times where we have no issues. No feedback, no volume problems, vocals cut through.

There’s another club with a similar sized stage that has been nothing but feedback and monitoring problems. In particular our drummers cymbals end up EVERYWHERE. We’re a modern rock band, he hits hard.

The obvious differences between the two are the sound crew and the acoustic properties in those venues. Those are both big variables that can be hard to control. Lowering stage volume (or killing it completely) can help a ton with the room and bleed/feedback issues, but there are obviously trade offs depending on how you do that.

Agree. I did say "mostly" .

I get what you are talking about. There are some venues that things are just impossible with acoustic drums while others are more manageable.

Without fail though, if the front line mics are forced to be close to the drums, it is a problem. Lots of clubs just don't put aside much room for the stage.... even decent sized ones sometimes.

 

[Orvillain]

This would've been absolute colon with an electronic drumkit, in my view.

 

[metropolis_4]

This is interesting in the context of this thread. Using acoustic drums to play electronic drum parts in ways that wouldn’t be possible to play on electronic drums

 

[OneEng]

I was talking about good singing technique.


I'm very skeptical of this claim. The uber expensive ones I've played don't feel any better than the mid-tier ones I've played. They also don't sound as good as connecting a mid-tier one to a computer and using BFD or Superior or something like that.

No one sings louder than a drum kit so singing technique can't really help you get over the problem if the vocal mic is close to the drums.

I have never played an eDrum that felt like an acoustic kit and I have played on the "uber expensive" ones as well . I think that the band sounds better with eDrums even when the eDrums themselves don't sound quite like an acoustic drum.

As an aside, with products like Superior drummer around, I think it is hard to argue that miced acoustic drums sound as good.

Despite any difference in drum sound quality, the band sounds better with even mid-tier eDrums IMO simply because of the lack of stage volume mushing up the mix and burring the vocals.... in most venues that a weekend warrior would play.

 

[EOengineer]

This is interesting in the context of this thread. Using acoustic drums to play electronic drum parts in ways that wouldn’t be possible to play on electronic drums

Toontrack has an expansion called brushes, rods, and mallets. It would be interesting to see whether any of what he’s playing in that video could be recreated.

The stuff he plays is really cool but I didn’t really see him do anything that I’d expect to be an issue for sample based drums so long as the library has captured those articulations.

Was there something specific there that you think would be problematic?

Roots SDX – Brushes, Rods & Mallets

www.toontrack.com