When I was growing up my brother was in a band and from time to time I would help out setting things up and packing things away at the end of the night - the worlds youngest roadie I think. I always looked forward to it as there was normally a few minutes after the kit had been setup and before sound check that I would be given some time on the drums. Although at the time I was trying to learn guitair it was always the drums that interested me most. I remember pleading with my mum to get me a drumkit which as you can imagine was met with a firm no time and time again. I don’t think my cause was helped by my nextdoor neighbour having his own drumkit which you could hear quite clearly though our walls.

Well that love of drumming never left me and over the last few years I’ve been thinking of getting back into it, however this time I needed to convince my better half of its merits. These days though wanna-be rockstars have the option of an electric drumkit which helps considerably when justification is needed. I’d like to comment on two particular electric kits at either ends of the price, and features, scale which will hopefully give you an introuduction to what is out there.

First off at the lower end of the scale is the Yamaha DD65 Electronic Drum Pads, which is a fantastic bit of kit if you are just getting started playing the drums. This was actually the kit that my nephew started with and today he is actually in his own band and I must say a fantastic dummer. The 8 pad kit, complete with 2 foot pedals, comes with a varity of drum effects, voices and pre-sets which allow you to play on kits ranging from your standard rock kit through to a steel drum. You can also plug in your favourite mp3 player and drum along to the music which I find quite a good way to pickup some of the basics. Another great feature of this kit is the ability to save your drumming performances to the internal memory so you amaze your friends with your talent the next time they are over. Although these are meant to be used with headphones you can also plug them into an external amp - useful if you really want to annoy the neighbours.

If you are willing to spend a little extra on an electric kit then I highly recommend the Yamaha DTExpress IV. One of the first differences you will notice between a kit such and this and the starter kit is the feel of the drums against the sticks. This for many is an important feature as the drummer needs to feel as though they are hitting real drums when playing and I can testify to the fact that this kit gets pretty close to the real thing. The kit itself comes with 3-zone snare and hi-hat pads, 3-zone round cymbal pads and a kick (or bass drum pedal for those not in the know). The rubber pads not only allow you to experience the feel of a real drum kit but also contribute to keeping sound output to a mimimum. This kit comes with over 50 styles of drumkit ranging from rock through to reggae and a range of songs which allow you to remove the drum beat when playing along - again I find this really useful for picking up teh basics.

I actually own the DTExpress IV and can confirm it’s a wonderful peice of kit which has taken me right back to those days playing along with my brothers band. It’s great fun, but also a kit that will meet the needs of the serious drummer and of course as it’s electric it will hopefully keep the peace in most households. Rock on !

Posted on November 15th, 2007 by nigel