Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Jay" <jayluv6@y...> wrote:
> Wow. Now we're getting a little philosophical here. So let's say you
> learned to play the acoustic guitar, and spend your whole life 
playing
> without ever touching an electric. Aren't you still a 'guitarist'? 
As
> a former *classical* musician, as well as guitarist, I'd have to say
> no. Mastering your instrument means exactly what it means: mastering
> the instrument-in all of its forms. 
> 
> But aren't there some forms of edrums out there that cross the line
> between traditional and electronic? The ones with real heads and
> shells that I've seen out there on the web seem to be able to give
> almost the exact same physical sensation as playing a real drum. I
> suspect that line will be blurred more as technology advances. As 
for
> the DTX, you're hitting 8" rubber pads. It may sound as realistic as
> the best kit out there, but you're still just hitting rubber pads.
> They will never *feel* the same as an acoustic kit, but they're also
> another form of drum that needs to be explored for you to become a
> master of your craft.
> 
> As far as my 2 cents goes, edrums are indeed 'real' drums. 

That's pretty much how I see it, too. But I would add one thing: E-
drums that approximate, or share, the feel and geography of acoustic 
drums still depend on electronics for their sounds. As good as the 
sounds have become over the years, they still do not come close to 
the richness and nuance of genuine acoustics to the extent that they 
invite the comparison. As impressive as my ddrum module is in that 
respect, it falls far short of the acoustics that it samples. The 
deficiency is not just sonic either; it affects what you can do with 
sticks when you strike the pad. Beyond a certain point (which changes 
with every module), you can't control what the sticks are able to 
deliver, and that fact impacts technique. You can coax much more from 
sticks on acoustic drums than you can on electronic drums. Some of 
the deficiency is due to bits and sampling rates, but some of it is 
also due to design. Drums are complex instruments, not susceptible to 
naked mathematical modeling in the way that keyboards are. But drum 
modules are, arguably, by-products of the keyboard revolution. They 
have not yet received the attention that they deserve in their own 
rights--for a lot of reasons, many of them boiling down to economics. 

That said, as Jay and others maintain, electronic instruments are 
still instruments in themselves, worthy of respect and serious use. 
They can do things that acoustic drums cannot even approach, both 
formally and materially. At this point, however, they fall under a 
larger envelope of percussive possibilities rather than being an 
independent, or transcendent, realm of their own. The shadow of 
acoustics still falls heavily over them (how many of us program our e-
drums to sound like our favorite acoustic kits? how many of us set 
them up exactly like acoustic drums?), and their promise as purely 
digital instruments remains yet to be fulfilled--whatever that may 
turn out to be; many of the possibilities of extracting subtlety and 
finesse from them are untapped. 

The future may well forget that any such comments were ever made. 
Maybe one day, when wood has become scarce and digital technology has 
progressed to the nth degree, electronic drumming will rule the world 
and analog percussion of all kinds will be subsumed under it, if it 
even exists in anyone's memory. Right now, however, if your goal is 
to be a master drummer (whatever that is), electronic drumming will 
only take you so far--which is not to say that where it does take you 
doesn't count for much. It counts for quite a lot.