Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Rebecca Richards" <becslave@y...> 
wrote:
> I am new to this group, but have joined for some advice on getting 
> DTX,
> 
> I currently play a pearl masters (birch) and play most rock music 
> including some quite heavy stuff, like skunk anansie.
> 
> I love my kit but being just a silly pathetic girl, I hate dragging 
> all the gear around.
> 
> So would a DTX be a lighter weight option and will it cut it with 
the 
> music I play.

Hey, Rebecca,

Welcome to the club. First, hating to drag gear around hardly 
qualifies you as silly and pathetic, let alone as a girl (even if you 
are lucky enough to drag around the Masters Birch). There's no 
question that a DTXpress rack will save you a lot of logistical 
trouble, especially the impending DTXpressIII, which folds down for 
transport like you wouldn't believe (the II is pretty good as well). 
Being a silly and pathetic old geezer, I don't know who skunk anansie 
is, but a lot of members use their e-drums to play heavy material--
some of it available to hear in our Files section. Also, edrums when 
appropriately amplified and programmed, can sound absolutely 
thunderous. The question has always been whether you and/or your 
fellow band members and audience can hack the sight of a streamlined 
e-kit in the face of big-barreled rock n roll onslaught. And edrums, 
related as they are to their acoustic counterparts, play differently 
from them. They require some adjustment to your style. If you have a 
local Guitar Center or whatever near you with one set up, give it a 
go (though don't judge it by how it sounds and feels in the store--
always notoriously bad). If the store only has Roland kits, or 
Pintechs, try them instead to get an idea of what you're in for. 
There are many e-drum options besides the DTXpress, but for the 
money, most of us think it's the one to get; portability is a very 
nice extra.

Ed