dolson
05-15-2008, 04:18 AM
I split this out because we were getting pretty off-topic. :D
@dolson, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but do you have any recommendations on a cheap(<$500) set of midi drums? After being able to play all the rock band songs on expert, i really want to learn the drums, but living in a apartment complex, real drums are not a option. also does learning on midi drums translate well to the real thing? much thanks
I started on real drums, but I prefer MIDI for several reasons:
1 - quieter (about as loud as Rock Band drums, give or take)
2 - MIDI-capable (so you can record your drumming into a sequencer and edit/drive various drum synths/samplers)
3 - no micing for recording (plug the audio out of your drum module direct, and you have an insanely cheap, crystal clear drum recording, which is hard to get outside of a real studio)
4 - wide variety of drum sounds (don't like how that kick sounds? select a different one!)
5 - upgradeable/interchangeable (most pads work with most modules, even cross-brand. the module costs the most, though)
There are some downfalls for MIDI drums, but they don't bother me much (different feel, less dynamic range if you don't have a $$$ module, costs more up-front, etc).
That said, if you can drum MIDI drums, you will feel pretty comfortable behind an acoustic kit.
Under $500, you're going to be lucky if you can find a used set for that much.. At least when I picked up my kit (Roland TD3-KV), the next cheapest was a Yamaha kit, and it was terrible - the range of expression in the hi-hats alone sucked. My kit was $1300 CDN (yay income tax returns!), the Yammy was $999. A huge difference, for the extra $300. If you find ANY Roland Vdrums, used, for your price range, chances are they're going to be the best you can get. Otherwise, look around for a Yamaha DD-55 kit. It's smaller than the Rock Band kit, but you get 7 drum pads, two foot pedals, and some pretty decent sounds. I had/have one, but it started acting up on me. It got me by during the years I couldn't afford Vdrums. The only downfall is the range of expression is limited and the kit is not expandable. It looks like this though:
http://www.scavino.it/yamaha/yamaha_dd55_yamaha.jpg
I bought it many years ago, like 6 or so, on eBay, and it was about $250CDN I think. Might be more or less now, but it also has MIDI output too, so if you want to use MIDI stuff, you can get better sounds and stuff out of software-based drum kits by driving it with the DD-55. Some of the drum sounds I wish my Roland had, surprisingly (especially the toms)! By the way, that Yamaha kit I passed up at $999 - it had almost the identical sounds to the DD-55, so there was no way I was going to buy that, since I basically already had it.
I used it direct in a few early recordings before I had any decent gear. Here are some examples if you want to hear the DD-55 in "action" (I use that term loosely as I'm not a very good musician):
Dive (Nirvana cover) (http://rivironline.com/rivironline.com/files/rivir-divecover.mp3)
Five Year Winter (Zao cover) (http://rivironline.com/rivironline.com/files/rivir-fiveyearwintercover.mp3)
Reflection (old demo) (http://rivironline.com/rivironline.com/files/rivir-reflectiondemo.mp3)
Yes, my timing really sucks - it's hard to record entire songs when it's you doing it all alone, try it sometime! ;)
EDIT: I forgot to mention - you can plug in the PS3 version's Rock Band drums into a PC's USB port, and it should recognize it as a MIDI device, if that's all you're looking for. I wouldn't recommend it over a real drum kit though, but if you just wanna mess around, it'd probably be OK. Downside is you still need a PC and some software to drive.
@dolson, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but do you have any recommendations on a cheap(<$500) set of midi drums? After being able to play all the rock band songs on expert, i really want to learn the drums, but living in a apartment complex, real drums are not a option. also does learning on midi drums translate well to the real thing? much thanks
I started on real drums, but I prefer MIDI for several reasons:
1 - quieter (about as loud as Rock Band drums, give or take)
2 - MIDI-capable (so you can record your drumming into a sequencer and edit/drive various drum synths/samplers)
3 - no micing for recording (plug the audio out of your drum module direct, and you have an insanely cheap, crystal clear drum recording, which is hard to get outside of a real studio)
4 - wide variety of drum sounds (don't like how that kick sounds? select a different one!)
5 - upgradeable/interchangeable (most pads work with most modules, even cross-brand. the module costs the most, though)
There are some downfalls for MIDI drums, but they don't bother me much (different feel, less dynamic range if you don't have a $$$ module, costs more up-front, etc).
That said, if you can drum MIDI drums, you will feel pretty comfortable behind an acoustic kit.
Under $500, you're going to be lucky if you can find a used set for that much.. At least when I picked up my kit (Roland TD3-KV), the next cheapest was a Yamaha kit, and it was terrible - the range of expression in the hi-hats alone sucked. My kit was $1300 CDN (yay income tax returns!), the Yammy was $999. A huge difference, for the extra $300. If you find ANY Roland Vdrums, used, for your price range, chances are they're going to be the best you can get. Otherwise, look around for a Yamaha DD-55 kit. It's smaller than the Rock Band kit, but you get 7 drum pads, two foot pedals, and some pretty decent sounds. I had/have one, but it started acting up on me. It got me by during the years I couldn't afford Vdrums. The only downfall is the range of expression is limited and the kit is not expandable. It looks like this though:
http://www.scavino.it/yamaha/yamaha_dd55_yamaha.jpg
I bought it many years ago, like 6 or so, on eBay, and it was about $250CDN I think. Might be more or less now, but it also has MIDI output too, so if you want to use MIDI stuff, you can get better sounds and stuff out of software-based drum kits by driving it with the DD-55. Some of the drum sounds I wish my Roland had, surprisingly (especially the toms)! By the way, that Yamaha kit I passed up at $999 - it had almost the identical sounds to the DD-55, so there was no way I was going to buy that, since I basically already had it.
I used it direct in a few early recordings before I had any decent gear. Here are some examples if you want to hear the DD-55 in "action" (I use that term loosely as I'm not a very good musician):
Dive (Nirvana cover) (http://rivironline.com/rivironline.com/files/rivir-divecover.mp3)
Five Year Winter (Zao cover) (http://rivironline.com/rivironline.com/files/rivir-fiveyearwintercover.mp3)
Reflection (old demo) (http://rivironline.com/rivironline.com/files/rivir-reflectiondemo.mp3)
Yes, my timing really sucks - it's hard to record entire songs when it's you doing it all alone, try it sometime! ;)
EDIT: I forgot to mention - you can plug in the PS3 version's Rock Band drums into a PC's USB port, and it should recognize it as a MIDI device, if that's all you're looking for. I wouldn't recommend it over a real drum kit though, but if you just wanna mess around, it'd probably be OK. Downside is you still need a PC and some software to drive.