Electronic or cocktail kit for bedroom studio?

[alex matson]

I have a long but narrow bedroom studio. It's only for my songwriting/recording efforts.
The acoustics are probably horrible. A few months ago I got Toontracks EZ drummer. I had an old Roland SPD-11 to augment playing it with a keyboard. I bought a Roland FD-7 Hihat pedal but I haven't been successful at getting it to work properly...but I'm probably digressing.
What I'm after is two things: to learn to make the drum parts more of an integral part of my songs (can't picture A Day in the Life being composed while a drum machine cranks out a four bar pattern), and to learn to play a drum kit somewhat.

There are limits to the amount of noise I can make with a housemate who's the owner of the place - but she does leave sometimes and then I could do whatever I like, including, conceivably, setting up a small kit outside my bedroom where there's no carpet and a bit of room sound.

'Cocktail drum kit' doesn't have to mean the large tom doubles as the kick - the one I gigged with was simply a kit with a very small kick and two small toms.

Obviously, with an e-kit I could play anytime, with the only limitation being the noise that hitting the pads makes, and the tradeoff being drum samples instead of real drums...plus I wouldn't be getting experience recording real drums, but that's not as important as the song to me.

Of course, I could delve into adding real elements later (Mitch Easter's extra snare hits on Radio Free Europe come to mind - the very first interview I read in TapeOp!)

The styles I'm interested in range from 60's rock and folk to In Rainbows/Veckatimest.

So..

[roscoenyc]

I had a couple really good experiances with the cheapest Roland kit
and EZ Drummer.

there are always a few missed hits but I have several drummer friends who swear by this thing. Great for practicing in an appartment

[kayagum]

A surprising +1 for the Roland kit.

We (my current project) use it for practice, and it sounds surprisingly good, even recorded direct.

Relatively easy to set up and tear down, and cables are bundled within the frames.

[woodhenge]

Another +1 for the v-kit...

With all the great drum software out there, it's a way-better alternative to programming drum parts, especially if you play drums. We use ours a ton for laying down scratch ideas, but also for playing our own loops and weird electronica-type stuff.

On one project, the drummer had already laid down half of an album on a V-kit, and tracked the other half on his acoustic kit. While his kit was in the studio, we sampled the whole thing (and all the velocity layers imaginable) and made a kit in NI Battery. When the album was finished, we had a consistent drum sound from start to finish!

[roscoenyc]

also, when my drummer buddy came over to record w the V-kit I went
downstairs to my neighbors place while the drummer was flailing away
in my appartment and I couldn't hear a thing.

Got some fantastic first takes where I was 'talking him through' the song
while he was playing.... no mics!

plugged it in via midi and that was it. off to the races. doesn't get much easier to use.

[alex matson]

Wow. Thanks. I think this just moved up to the top of my to-buy list.
With the sale of my SPD-11 and FD-7 I think I can get this for around $600.

How long can you run the midi cable to the computer?

[woodhenge]

comping together drum takes is quite easy when you're only dealing with MIDI, too!

We have at least a 20-foot cable on ours, with no noticeable latency.

[kinger]

Another +1 on the v-kit, especially for learning how to play. I find it much easier to work on your chops when you're not worried about disturbing anyone. I use my roland TD-3 with Steven Slate Drums and it sounds pretty cool for some stuff. I still use real drums (and a real drummer) for serious projects.

[Snarl 12/8]

So, how much do you really have to invest in samples and software and midi cables and whatnot to make this a workable option for usable drum tracks?

[apropos of nothing]

I like the cocktail kit. It'll hold its value better.

[ThePitz]

Got a question for you e-drum users...

It seems a large part of the cost of these units is in the noise-making unit.

Is there any type of box that'll take all of the triggers and convert them to MIDI and do absolutely nothing else?

Meaning... Is there anything that is a bit cheaper due to its lack of internal sounds?

[alex matson]

So, how much do you really have to invest in samples and software and midi cables and whatnot to make this a workable option for usable drum tracks?

EZ Drummer - $149
20' MIDI cable - $20-30

I've heard the cocktail kit can also be pretty cool for recording. Iggy Pop mentioned recently that he really liked a toy kit he has. But not being limited by when I can play has a lot of appeal.

[woodhenge]

Got a question for you e-drum users...

It seems a large part of the cost of these units is in the noise-making unit.

Is there any type of box that'll take all of the triggers and convert them to MIDI and do absolutely nothing else?

Meaning... Is there anything that is a bit cheaper due to its lack of internal sounds?

You might check out the Roland TMC-6 here:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... arentId=64

It's just a trigger-to-midi converter. Might be just what you're after!

[woodhenge]

So, how much do you really have to invest in samples and software and midi cables and whatnot to make this a workable option for usable drum tracks?

The only software I use with the V-kit is NI Battery 3, which was about $200 if I remember right. It includes a ton of kits, and a couple of them are actually really good! But, for me, I like to make my own kits from real kits we mic up in the studio. Battery seems to be the perfect software for this... it's made specifically for drums, and is very intuitive to make kits with. You can do up to 128 velocity layers, alternate between multiple samples for a really organic sound, and all sorts of other great stuff.

[inverseroom]

Cocktail!