Any drummers here?

[RazorAzoth]

I really am interested in learning to play drums and join a band. Problem is, I live in an apartment with paper thin walls. So I'm thinking an electric drum set with headphones would be ideal? Are these sets really expensive for a decent one? Are they good to learn on?

If not, are there drumming teachers that will just let you come to their house and learn on their drumsets? I can't seem to find a drumming teacher around my area though.

 

[WhitePimp]

Hey man, an apartment is a rough place to play drums. Luckily, you can get a ton of necessary practice without an actual drum set (although eventually you're going to need to graduate onto a kit).

I've been playing for about 14 years now and most of my practicing is done outside of the kit. I know it sounds stupid, but when I was beginning, I just bought a pair of sticks and played on my bed along to cds. It's weird but if you get your feet moving too, eventually you'll be able to get some coordination down. If you hit the bed as if it were a kit (basically making sure you're replicating where the position would be on a real drum set), then you'll prep yourself up for the real thing quite accurately. You can also get a practice pad to work on the finer techniques that require the sort of bounce a hard surface can give. It all depends on what you're looking to do drum-wise...good technique is always a plus and on drums this requires very precise and dedicated practicing.

Electronic drums are a great way to go but they can be a bit pricey, due to the actual pads plus the module you need, but in an apartment, this is your best bet.

PM me if you have any questions. Drums have given me countless hours of fun man and we always have the best time when playing live. Good luck!!

 

[Bible_Belt]

I played a little drums, not as much as whitepimp, but a little, and I second the practice pad idea. You can learn a lot from playing on those w/o making much noise.

 

[The Forms]

I feel your pain man. As a drummer, I always hate trying to figure out the living situation. I once moved into a single wide trailer in the middle of nowhere because it was the only place I could afford where I could also practice my drums.

I live in Nashville now (just got home from playing a kick ass rock show, actually) and I live in the smallest apartment on earth. If you really want to play in an apartment, you're going to have to break down and buy some V-Drums. I tried the whole thing where you put those pads that dampen the sound on the heads and cymbals and hated it. When you play drums you want to hear drums, you know?

While I was researching which electronic drums to get the biggest thing I learned is that you can't go cheap. You'll find some Simmons kits for cheap and think that it's worth it, but don't bother. The thing will fall apart on you in no time. I read reviews from people who bought 600 dollar kits and they fell apart within months.

Roland (the biggest name in electronic drums BY FAR) just released a small practice kit with VERY little options to it last year, that might be OK for a beginner. The V-Drums I play are Roland TD-3. Not the fanciest, but then again, I just need them to practice. It's not like I'm taking these things out to shows or in the studio. It has an 1/8th inch input so you can play along to your IPod. About 32 different kits in the module, but you'll obviously find 2 or 3 that you like and stick with those most of the time.

You can shop around and get a decent deal on it. Mine ran me about 900 bucks. The list price is around 1200. I also went out and got some amazing headphones for it. If you're going to spend this much cash on some V-Drums, you better not be playing through the earbuds that came with your IPod. My headphones are made by a company here in Nashville called Equation Audio. They have a range larger than what your ears can actually hear, so you hear music the way it sounds in the studio (vs. the way you're used to hearing it in your Camry). They list at about 150. I listen to those things every day of my life. You listen to an album that you know forwards and backwards with these headphones on, and all of a sudden you're noticing all these things going on in the background and at low levels that you never heard before.

What makes these drums great is I was literally up at 1 am last night going over the songs we were playing tonight, and my neighbors couldn't hear a thing.

 

[apusislaya]

hey man check out Conga Virtuosa by Giovanni Hidalgo

it's supposed to be the shyt! I had to download it for a guy who said it was the shyt!