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

[ragingplatypi]

I've done gigs where our drummer uses an SPDS rigged up as an e-kit and it's been very fun, albeit very different to a regular gig. Great for small trio gigs in cafe's & pubs where the band is not the center of attention. Even better if the drummer leans into it and stands up

Agreed about getting drummers to embrace electronic kits/devices as a different instrument experience and lean into it.

 

[OneEng]

That's cool for you like, but it isn't something I'd ever sanction in any of my bands - and I have/had a vested interest in people using the damn stuff!!!

I just think there is a time and a place for everything - for me, I love ekits and drum samples in terms of composition and production work. I don't think they're necessary or even that great for live work - well... rock music anyway. Plenty of electronic bands where it does work.

You do you, and I'll do me.

I am done dealing with impossibly loud stage noise from drummers and the huge mic kit needed to make the acoustic drums sound decent. Been done for quite some time in fact.

Also, the examples given show HUGE stage layouts with the drums 10 ft behind the vocal mic's (or more). On such large venues acoustic drums are just fine.

Agreed about getting drummers to embrace electronic kits/devices as a different instrument experience and lean into it.

It's funny, my current drummer would never go back to acoustic drums. My previous one could swing either way. I know plenty of drummers that would rather eat dirt than use an eDrum kit .

Of course, I know plenty of musicians that feel the same way about IEMs!

 

[Orvillain]

I am done dealing with impossibly loud stage noise from drummers and the huge mic kit needed to make the acoustic drums sound decent. Been done for quite some time in fact.

Not me. I love it. I think it is one of the fundamental reasons to even go to a live show. Live drums with modernized dead-animal-flesh stretched across some bones, is the ultimate expression of our inner animal nature, and brings us closer to Godhood.

... or grab a Roland TDwhatever and sound like cowboy farts.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Having recorded a bunch of real drums in the past, I’m also dumbfounded about what we consider a natural drum sound on recordings. No drum recording, or kit through a PA, has ever sounded like what I hear in a room.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Music is visceral. Even Love Shack covers. E-drums are not.

 

[metropolis_4]

We should probably just give up instruments altogether and all just play Launchpads and MacBooks live. Maybe pre-record the parts as loops… then we could just have one person show up to hit PLAY.

Imagine the possibilities. No stage volume! No mic bleed! The perfect FOH mix!

 

[Sleezy E]

Drummers: They're Just Like Us™

Some drummers embrace digital, some don't.

The drummer in the last band I was in got a high end e-kit and we went all in on silent rehearsals. It is phenomenal for being able to hear everyone and our vocal harmonies got WAAAYYYY tighter as a result. He still used a real kit for shows.

I got together with a group of friends from various projects a couple weeks ago. We setup an e-kit and took turns playing bass, guitar, and drums.

I told one of my old drummers we had an e-kit so he just brought cymbals and his high hat. His only complaint with the e-kit was that the Tom's (especially the floor) don't bounce back like an acoustic set.

We ran it through the pa with the vocal mics and it was good enough for rock an roll

 

[spawnofthesith]

 

[DLC86]

We should probably just give up instruments altogether and all just play Launchpads and MacBooks live. Maybe pre-record the parts as loops… then we could just have one person show up to hit PLAY.

Imagine the possibilities. No stage volume! No mic bleed! The perfect FOH mix!

You mean, like DJs?

 

[metropolis_4]

You mean, like DJs?

Or how about an iPod on shuffle, then they have the perfect FOH sound all night and they don’t have to pay anyone

 

[JiveTurkey]

Or how about an iPod on shuffle, then they have the perfect FOH sound all night and they don’t have to pay anyone

SO MANY UNSPRAINED ANKLES FROM ACCIDENTAL MICROPHONE STAND INJURIES!

 

[Orvillain]

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[deathbyguitar]

I'd love more than anything if e-drums really took off with rock and metal bands. We went from bands being so loud you could barely hear the music (Deftones in 2005, JFC...) to live mixes being completely dominated by bass and low mid frequencies since touring bands largely don't have stage cabs anymore(All djent and mid-tier metal bands touring the globe). Not to mention vocals being buried, likely due to cymbal bleed. But I've been playing e-drums through Metal Machine for years and I get complements on our live sound all the time. And if you're playing a place with a decent PA (i.e has at least one subwoofer), the whole PA can be cranked up louder for added impact.

I don't care how different the feel is with e-drums. I only care how the sound is to the audience.

 

[paisleywookiee]

For live stuff, what about an acoustic kit, and instead of mics, triggers to SP3 and that to the board? Something we've been thinking about, as we prepare to maybe play live again.

 

[ragingplatypi]

The other thing that would make sense in drum-land is more options for quieter acoustic drums. Basically the 30w 1x12 drum kit.

 

[metropolis_4]

SO MANY UNSPRAINED ANKLES FROM ACCIDENTAL MICROPHONE STAND INJURIES!

 

[Hapless]

The drummer in our current band plays a Roland e-kit, and has since before I joined the band. Much, much better for volume control and doesn't sound terrible. He's to the point where on those rare occasions when we play a gig where we're using another band's equipment, it takes him a few to adjust to playing an acoustic kit again. It works for the same reasons that amp modeling works. Reduces weight, reduces mic'ing and volume issues, etc.

 

[burningyen]

Having recorded a bunch of real drums in the past, I’m also dumbfounded about what we consider a natural drum sound on recordings. No drum recording, or kit through a PA, has ever sounded like what I hear in a room.

Let's all go to an e-kit forum and start complaining about missing that DITR sound.

 

[metropolis_4]

Another thing that hasn’t been talked about yet is that drummers use a wide variety of different sticks, mallets, and brushes to produce different sounds and effects. All of that is lost on e-drums.

It’s not possible to play with brushes.

You lose all of the effect of the stick material and tip shape.

I’ll often use different tips on different songs to get different effects. Or flip the stick over and use the butt end.

Cymbal rolls are garbage on e-drums.


This video is a perfect illustration of why e-drums aren’t there yet. Good luck pulling off any of this on an e kit!

 

[DrewJD82]

I find it funny the hills that guitarists are willing to die on when it comes to gear and tones, yet when it comes to someone else’s entire instrument they can have such a dismissive opinion (cmon guy it’s pretty much the same isn’t it ).

Yeah, I meant to include some snark about how only a bunch of guitarists would pontificate on the benefits of e-kits without recognizing the glaring issues with them. Telling a drummer in 2025 that the sound differences between an e-kit and an acoustic kit are “trivial” or they could “just get used to it” isn’t any different than telling a guitarist in 2005 that the differences between a modeler and an amp are trivial and they should just get over it.

While I can play drums and love playing them, I haven’t had a kit to play in over a decade so I refrain from calling myself a drummer, but there’s no fucking way I’d be able to tolerate an e-kit in any band I would play in. If it were an occasional thing, sure, but it’d have to be REALLY occasional. And if I were playing drums in a band it’d be a nonstarter to require e-drums.