Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Just a question for you seasoned drummers. Would i be better off 
starting with an eDrum set such as the dtxpress or should i go 
acoustic? It seems to me that the features and advantages of the 
eDrums outweighs the benefits of an acoustic set.

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "pinoyboy71" <pinoyboy71@y...> wrote:
> Just a question for you seasoned drummers. Would i be better off 
> starting with an eDrum set such as the dtxpress or should i go 
> acoustic? It seems to me that the features and advantages of the 
> eDrums outweighs the benefits of an acoustic set.

Interesting question.

In my opinion, I think it's easier to switch to an edrum kit from an 
acoustic and much more difficult the other way around. Just the size 
itself is a dramatic change. Then there is volume control etc. If you 
have a place to play acoustic drums, I'd go that way. But it maybe 
just that it's from my own crossover experience.


Jon in Japan

Yeah, the only thing that is really keeping me from going acoustic is 
the obvious noise. My parents work the night shift so they tend to 
sleep during the day. My sister sleeps at night(obvious), and that's 
when i would most likely be going at it. So my options are pretty 
much limited, but i did want to ask what others thought.


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "slushycow" <slushycow@y...> wrote:
> 
> Interesting question.
> 
> In my opinion, I think it's easier to switch to an edrum kit from 
an 
> acoustic and much more difficult the other way around. Just the 
size 
> itself is a dramatic change. Then there is volume control etc. If 
you 

> have a place to play acoustic drums, I'd go that way. But it maybe 
> just that it's from my own crossover experience.
> 
> 
> Jon in Japan

Like Jon, I graduated from an acoustic kit to the DTXpress. So I 
would also suggest a beginner go the same way, especially if you 
intend to play with a band (who may not be accepting of an e-kit). 
Regarding the noise factor, and if your finances allow it, I'd get 
both an acoustic kit and a DTXpress, and use mesh heads and drum 
triggers when you practice at home. You will then get the feel of 
playing a "real" drum kit while keeping noise to a minimum in the 
house. I would also recommend a good drumming teacher, if you don't 
already have one, because there's nothing to replace good technique 
when playing a kit of either kind.

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "pinoyboy71" <pinoyboy71@y...> 
wrote:
> Yeah, the only thing that is really keeping me from going acoustic 
is 
> the obvious noise. My parents work the night shift so they tend to 
> sleep during the day. My sister sleeps at night(obvious), and 
that's 
> when i would most likely be going at it. So my options are pretty 
> much limited, but i did want to ask what others thought.
> 
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "slushycow" <slushycow@y...> 
wrote:
> > 
> > Interesting question.
> > 
> > In my opinion, I think it's easier to switch to an edrum kit 
from 
> an 
> > acoustic and much more difficult the other way around. Just the 
> size 
> > itself is a dramatic change. Then there is volume control etc. 
If 
> you 
> > have a place to play acoustic drums, I'd go that way. But it 
maybe 

> > just that it's from my own crossover experience.
> > 
> > 
> > Jon in Japan

Has the DTXpress replicated the "feel" of an acoustic drum set to a 
great extent? I know it'll never be quite the same, but is it at 
least rather close? As for getting both acoustic and Edrum, i think i 
might just get a cheap mahagony acoustic set to get the hang of 
things. No, i'm not gonna be working with a band, i just learned to 
enjoy/appreciate drumming. 

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Nick Carroll" <njcarroll56@y...> 
wrote:
> Like Jon, I graduated from an acoustic kit to the DTXpress. So I 
> would also suggest a beginner go the same way, especially if you 
> intend to play with a band (who may not be accepting of an e-kit). 
> Regarding the noise factor, and if your finances allow it, I'd get 
> both an acoustic kit and a DTXpress, and use mesh heads and drum 
> triggers when you practice at home. You will then get the feel of 
> playing a "real" drum kit while keeping noise to a minimum in the 
> house. I would also recommend a good drumming teacher, if you don't 
> already have one, because there's nothing to replace good technique 
> when playing a kit of either kind. Maybe i'll be one of the first 
people to start from an eDrum kit and crossover to acoustic.
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "pinoyboy71" <pinoyboy71@y...> 
> wrote:
> > Yeah, the only thing that is really keeping me from going 
acoustic 
> is 
> > the obvious noise. My parents work the night shift so they tend 
to 

> > sleep during the day. My sister sleeps at night(obvious), and 
> that's 
> > when i would most likely be going at it. So my options are pretty 
> > much limited, but i did want to ask what others thought.
> > 
> >

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "pinoyboy71" <pinoyboy71@y...> wrote:
> Has the DTXpress replicated the "feel" of an acoustic drum set to a 
> great extent? I know it'll never be quite the same, but is it at 
> least rather close? As for getting both acoustic and Edrum, i think 
i 
> might just get a cheap mahagony acoustic set to get the hang of 
> things. No, i'm not gonna be working with a band, i just learned to 
> enjoy/appreciate drumming. 

In some ways, your question is a hard one to answer definitively. 
Although the aim of electronic drums is to relicate acoustic drums to 
some extent, the degree to which they succeed, or should succeed, is 
a personal matter. If you want to know what it's like to play 
traditional drums, then you have to get acquainted with them first 
(or at least at the same time as you use electronics). As an 
oldtimer, who played acoustic drums for nearly 4o years before I 
seriously tried electronics, I didn't miss a beat moving from one to 
the other. The main difference for me was in the geography; a gum-
rubber kit simply doesn't cover the space that a similarly configured 
acoustic kit does. As for feel, rubber is certainly different from 
mylar or calfskin heads and metal cymbals, but I've practiced on 
countless types of surface in my day (humans, couch arms, dashboards, 
tabletops, you name it). Gum rubber wasn't much of a hardship at all. 
In the end, though, I'd have to agree with Jon. If the lure of the 
drums for you is the acoustic variety, that's where you ought to go--
all things being equal. A compromise in the noise and feel 
departments, however, would be to put together an a la carte e-kit 
that approximates acoustic touch and size better than the stock 
DTXpress. For example, You could get a mesh snare with one or two 
acrylic cymbals, a round hi hat on a traditional stand, along with a 
rack of gum-rubber toms and a gum-rubber kick until you could afford 
to make them meshes, too. You could also buy a Pearl Rhythm Traveler 
acoustic kit, put mesh heads (Hart two-plies, for example) and 
triggers on it, and buy the aforementioned acrylic cymbals etc., and 
you'd have many of the features of an acoustic kit that just happens 
to run through a module. For other more scratch ideas about how to 
construct an e-kit from a number of different materials--traditional 
or otherwise--you could consult electronicdrums.com, where people 
discuss and build all sorts of DIY projects. 

Ed

This is just my $0.02, but.... :)

I've seen this question go by and I always think the same thing. Acoustic
drums and electronic drums are *Two* *Different* *Instruments*! Just as
different as a piano and an organ, an acoustic guitar and an electric
guitar, etc. To take this line of reasoning farther, you wouldn't *need*
to learn to play the piano before you could play organ, but there is a
certain transferability of the skills acquired on each.

For me, I found the move to edrums fairly easy, but then again I never
expected to *replicate* acoustic drums with the edrums, I came into it
thinking about learning a *new* instrument. There are advantages and
disadvantages to each instrument, but for the most part they will each
require you to learn new some new skills and adapt some old skills in
order to be successful.

For me, some of the things I discovered on my new instrument was learning
the dynamics of the edrum set. I found that I was hitting harder than I
needed to and that simply turning up the volume on the module made it
easier on my arms. (Picture a piano player trying to get the organ to
play louder by hitting the keys harder!) :) I also learned I didn't need
to play with the butt-end of giant sticks to get the "big rock sound" I
was used to.

I'd say one of the most difficult learning issues was the hi-hat. For the
most part, the toms, cymbals, kick and snare react and respond like their
acoustic counterparts, so my skills transferred over almost directly.
However, the hi-hat not flexing, giving, moving and changing pitch as the
tension of my foot changed required the most "re learning" and I still
haven't gotten to a point where I'm completely happy with what I can get
out of the set.

However, I picture it as a limitation of *my* playing style, and not of
the kit itself. When I play *just* the hat and concentrate, I can usually
get it to make the sound I am after. This is part of learning a *new* and
*different* instrument. Approached with this mindset, you may find you
gain a new skill (that of being able to play edrums) to add to your
existing acoustic drum playing ability. :)

Vern


--
Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" VLG




emf said:

> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "pinoyboy71" <pinoyboy71@y...> wrote:
>> Has the DTXpress replicated the "feel" of an acoustic drum set to a
>> great extent? I know it'll never be quite the same, but is it at
>> least rather close? As for getting both acoustic and Edrum, i think
> i
>> might just get a cheap mahagony acoustic set to get the hang of
>> things. No, i'm not gonna be working with a band, i just learned to
>> enjoy/appreciate drumming.
>
> In some ways, your question is a hard one to answer definitively.
> Although the aim of electronic drums is to relicate acoustic drums to
> some extent, the degree to which they succeed, or should succeed, is
> a personal matter. If you want to know what it's like to play
> traditional drums, then you have to get acquainted with them first
> (or at least at the same time as you use electronics). As an
> oldtimer, who played acoustic drums for nearly 4o years before I
> seriously tried electronics, I didn't miss a beat moving from one to
> the other. The main difference for me was in the geography; a gum-
> rubber kit simply doesn't cover the space that a similarly configured
> acoustic kit does. As for feel, rubber is certainly different from
> mylar or calfskin heads and metal cymbals, but I've practiced on
> countless types of surface in my day (humans, couch arms, dashboards,
> tabletops, you name it). Gum rubber wasn't much of a hardship at all.
> In the end, though, I'd have to agree with Jon. If the lure of the
> drums for you is the acoustic variety, that's where you ought to go--
> all things being equal. A compromise in the noise and feel
> departments, however, would be to put together an a la carte e-kit
> that approximates acoustic touch and size better than the stock
> DTXpress. For example, You could get a mesh snare with one or two
> acrylic cymbals, a round hi hat on a traditional stand, along with a
> rack of gum-rubber toms and a gum-rubber kick until you could afford
> to make them meshes, too. You could also buy a Pearl Rhythm Traveler
> acoustic kit, put mesh heads (Hart two-plies, for example) and
> triggers on it, and buy the aforementioned acrylic cymbals etc., and
> you'd have many of the features of an acoustic kit that just happens
> to run through a module. For other more scratch ideas about how to
> construct an e-kit from a number of different materials--traditional
> or otherwise--you could consult electronicdrums.com, where people
> discuss and build all sorts of DIY projects.
>
> Ed
>
>
>
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