8 Tips For Playing Electronic Drums

Faster Hands & Feet (in 10 days)

More than 50% of new drums sold are electronic drums. They’re compact, they’re quiet, and whether you’re using them as your primary instrument or to practice when you’re away from your acoustic kit, they’re amazing for learning, rehearsing, gigging and recording.

If you’re just starting to play electronic drums, here are some tips to consider:

1. Get a good pair of headphones
Normal earbuds can disrupt the experience by not blocking out enough external noise. A good pair of headphones or in-ear monitors is well worth the investment.

2. Learn how to use the module
Instead of settling for the sounds ‘right out the box’, read the manual and look for video walkthroughs. See what others are doing with their module to customize and get most out of it so it’s a better fit for you and your playing style.

3. Use nylon-tipped sticks
While different tip materials and shapes can change the way things sound on an acoustic kit and metal cymbals, they don’t impact the sound on an electronic kit. But if your pads have mesh heads, consider using nylon tips as wooden tips could damage the mesh if they splinter.

4. Use a plastic or wood beater
Some people find that felt beaters can wear out a mesh bass drum head faster, so you might want to use a plastic or wood beater instead.

5. Be aware of your dynamics
For those who want to move back and forth from playing an electronic kit to playing on an acoustic kit, keep dynamic limb independence in mind. If you’re used to practicing on pads and want to increase the volume on one drum or cymbal, all you have to do is increase the volume. But when you move to an acoustic kit, as an example, you might end up playing the hi-hat or snare too loud. Try using just one side of your headphones and listen to how hard or soft you actually hit the rubber pads and refine your playing from there.

6. Be aware of how different an electronic kit feels
You’ll notice there’s a different rebound on an electronic pad compared to an acoustic drum. Most pads will feel the same from one to another, but an acoustic snare drum and acoustic toms won’t have as much rebound as each other, or as much rebound, period. You might notice that you ‘sound’ and ‘play’ better on the electronic kit. Keep that in mind if you’ll be using both so you don’t get complacent!

7. Make sure you know how to tune acoustic drums
If you’re used to just turning on a module and having your toms already sound great, and then you decide that you want to also play acoustic drums, you should develop your ear and practice tuning. You’re going to have a very different experience on an acoustic kit – where you can’t change the sound with the push of a button.

8. Be aware of spacing between the pads
If you’re switching between electronic and acoustic drums, you’ll notice that electronic kits are typically more compact and have less space between each drum. Set up your electronic kit with spacing that matches your acoustic kit to give you an easier transition.

Electronic drums aren’t only making drumming more accessible for more people – they can also provide you with endless options as your primary kit. Make it your own!

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[DrumeoOfficial]

Do you have an electronic kit? Comment with your set-up ⬇️

[timothystokes]

I bought myself an E drum kit in April of this year at aged 68, something I always wanted to do.I‘ve worked all my professional life with live music and with Lockdown it seemed like a good idea to challenge myself. Learning a lot from you guys and loving every minute of it. I still have to be comfortable with all the Module functions, but I‘m getting there.Facinating learning the Rudiments, and realizing the improvement.Why E drums? Simply because of my living circumstances.

[Thrandweel]

I appreciate you guys not demoing this with a TD-50 kit. Im tired to seeing how much money I dont have. lol

My tip: get a kit with mesh heads. Hitting these hard rubber pads will injure you sooner or later, like slapping your hand to a wall repeatedly. I also find that increasing the trigger sensitivity as much as possible (without getting false triggering) helps me practice dynamics better than if I leave the sensitivities on their default levels, since acoustic kits are much more sensitive than e-kits when playing really soft.

[리꼬따]

Edit) this comment was like years ago and you should know that this is just an opinion. Don't take my comment too seriously and I recommend reading the replied comments below too

To add some of my tips:

1.If you have an edrum that has all mesh heads, tune them(it'll be just adjusting the bolts actually) to the similar rebound that you would get from an acoustic kit.
+Edit) what I think I should have written here was to not tune the mesh heads crazy tight, because acoustic heads tend to have less rebound, but not too loose to make the triggering awful

2. If your edrum has a hihat pad and controller pedal separately (usually seen in lower priced kits) make sure to locate you hat controller right beneath the hihat pad, otherwise it'll feel ackward when you're switching between acoustic and electronic.
Edit) acoustic hats are usually 14"+ and electric ones tend to be much smaller, so you might want to pull the electric hat a little closer to the throne to make it feel a bit more natural

3.Atv(which is an edrum company along with roland) tries to imitate the acoustics, having real-like sounds with big shells on their flagship(roland recently came up with a kit with big shells too) but gives you smaller range to adjust the sounds of the drums. You can't tune them, the ambience is fixed, however roland drums give you a wide range of selection even on cheaper models. However they do not have real-like sounds which atv drums have.(not a huge difference but still) So learning about what each of the manufactures are focusing on is also pretty helpful when choosing what to buy.

4.if you have a laptop, you can buy a drum vst, (superior drummer3 is great) connect your drum module, and have that super realistic sounds from the vst program.
Edit) this might embody latency and dynamic issues, testing with free softwares and sufficient consideration before buying the actual thing is recommended

(My english may be awful, it's not my mother tongue :(

[portlanddrums]

As someone who goes between electric and acoustic, I highly recommend spacing your edrums to mimic your acoustic kit. This way way your reach and flow doesn't have to change from one kit to the other.

[rowinsho]

I've been a drummer since I was 3...I'm 52 now. Been playing electronics for over 25 years. I'm on my third kit and I LOVE THEM!!!!

[TruthAndMoreTruth]

My tip:
• Attach the bass drum to a platform to prevent it from rocking, swaying and (or) moving. Add spikes and (or) Velcro to lock it down. I built a platform with both the drum and pedal attacked, and it made a world of difference.
• I switched to lighter sticks. Regal tip Jazz sticks are the same length as 5A, but thin like 7A (nylon)
• For some reason, there's a tendency to set up electric kits way to low, I see this in every music store. Your knees are way up in your chest. I ended up raising my kit and thrown several times and still may raise it again.
• When MIDI sequencing, I noticed that a few pads were pinning max velocity on most hits. I went through module and using the velocity meter/indicator, pulled back the sensitivity of every pad so that only a very very hard hit would max the velocity. This seemed most common on the bass and crash cymbals

[ollaitsrealgood]

"If you live in an apartment..."

*This only applies if you live on the basement or ground levels, with literally no one beneath you. It doesn't matter how quiet your electronic kit is, the pedal hitting the pad and your foot hitting the hi hat pedal both produce low frequency sound waves and thumps that are just as audible to your downstairs neighbors as anything. I've lived on the third floor of an apartment for 2 years, in LA, and it was by far our biggest mistake that we didn't think through. A tennis ball riser can help, but it doesn't completely eliminate the problem.*

Also, I'm playing a full mesh set of Rolands w/ upgraded snare, TD-17 brain w/ Mac Mini, Axis-L longboard, KAT HD400 PA system, Yamaha MG10XU Mixer, Gibraltar add-ons to my rack.

Cheers.

[corrupt_]

Really appreciate you a) not talking down on electronic players like most store employees will and b) didn't go for a TD-50 or VAD-506 for this. Your setup in this video is even more humble than my own and it's really nice to watch you play on it. Please continue with this, maybe make it a series.

[Slvah]

Here are some tips I wish I knew when I started (e-)drumming!

*Drum pads acting up?* (Zones triggering poorly or over-enthusiastically) Try unplugging and re-plugging the cable on the pad. (Yes, seriously.)
*Pedalling bothering downstairs neighbor?* Buy 2–3 scatter-rug pieces (the type with a hard rubber bottom and softer, semi-rigid fuzz coating) the size of your kit's footprint and stack them soft-side-down under the kit. Easy, cheap insulation; no need for tennis-ball / plywood contraptions. Hard rubber absorbs some of the shock, and soft layer helps insulate it from the floor.
*Bass drum pad & pedals sliding off position over time?* Buy velcro tape and apply to bottom of pad stand, pedals and your rug. I *don't* recommend using the screws provided with the pad as they might dig through your rug(s) and into your flooring, damage it & act as vibration conduits to your downstairs neighbors' frustration.
*Want to add pads but out of cables / module jacks?* Use Y-splitter cables (and F/F adapters as necessary) and split the rim zones off tom pads.
- These new pads will likely have poorer dynamics, but work well enough for things like splashes, bells/chimes or even a china.
- Your module needs to support dual-zone tom pads for this; re-assign the rim sounds from the module.
- In my experience on a NON-Roland drum, you don't need special "Drum splitter" cables (ones with a built-in 100 Ohm resistor), unless you're splitting off a cymbal pad.

[BadgerDrums]

Great video 👍 I’ve been playing electronic drums for a few years and it’s good to see you guys starting to recognize electronic drums more and cover them in such depth. I agree that acoustic and electronic drums are completely different instruments, but they do compliment each other. Some tips:

1. Bass drum beater - it’s true that felt beaters will eventually damage and wear through the mesh head. Some felt beaters you can simply spin around and use the reverse plastic side, or just buy a plastic beater. Alternatively, if you like the feel of felt you can just use a patch on the mesh head like those made by Evans to protect it. Either way is fine.

2. Mesh heads feel better than rubber and have less rebound. You can adjust the tension of a mesh head slightly, but not too much as this will affect the triggering of the sounds and shorten the nice of the trigger cone under the head.

3. The stock sounds and kits in the module are just that - stock sounds (templates). You need to dive and edit the sound and trigger settings to your liking. The top tier modules have huge editing capability where you can adjust things like head tuning, head type, shell size, shell depth, shell type, muffling, beater type, reverb (different room types, room size), mic positions, compression, effects - you name it.

4. If you don’t like the synth type sounds on the module, you can trigger virtual drum software (VST) via a laptop that contains actual professionals recordings of REAL acoustic drum sounds - Superior Drummer 3, Addictive Drums 2, Steven Slate Drums 5, EZ Drummer 2 to name a few.

5. You don’t have to buy electronic drums “off the shelf”. You can buy a cheap or second hand acoustic kit and convert it to electronic by installing internal or external triggers on the drums. However, you will still need either rubber e-cymbals or low volume cymbals (triggered) and a drum module to trigger the sounds. This gives you an acoustic sized electronic kit. There are also off the shelf acoustic sized kits from companies like Roland, ATV and Drum-tec etc.

Hope that helps.

[Drumminforgod]

I've been playing the Roland TD30 for about 4 years. I've used this gigging, church worship services and let me say this; incredible piece of hardware that creates a new level of versatility for any level of player.
It is especially handy when wanting to combine with an acoustic kit for added cabilities, effects, and sound enhancements
Great video Drumeo!
So glad you and the team finally covering electronic

[murillofonseca]

I've been playing in an electronic kit for about 7 years for practicing and drumming with friends (I lived in an apartment until 2018), and for the first time I see a publication for drummers (or channel, for that matter) giving attention to the public that uses electronic kits... Kudos for that! Cheers (btw, I have a Roland TD-4 kit)

[DavidOakesMusic]

My tip : maybe try playing along to music using the kit not even turned on - It will help with your dynamics and sometimes the pads might miss notes...

[christopherspiros]

My kit is a Yamaha DT-522 with all TCS heads. They respond to changing dynamics just fine. Even the cymbals. Without having to get into the module.

[wipeoutking]

I’ve been playing electronic drums on stage since I got a Simmons kit in the early 90s. My number one tip: avoid thinking an electronic kit is a “substitution” for an acoustic kit. It’s a different instrument, in the same way than an electric guitar is different form an acoustic guitar. Learn your kit. Learn how it feels, how it responds, in what situations it is best suited for the job, and how to use additional electronics with it (mixers, etc.) to get the best sound, just as a guitar player learns what combination of amps and pedals make the best combination. This instrument is just as valid and useful as an acoustic kit. It’s just different.

[myketripp]

I have a TD-17 (first kit) and I love it. I'm 63 and I've used Drumeo to learn how to play for the past 4 years. I can read now and I'm continually getting much better than on day one. This was a great video for perspective and thanks for giving the e-drums attention like this because I don't see myself ever owning an acoustic kit (although I'd like to play one for comparison). I know my TD-17 very well but will upgrade in the future. The Drumeo learning program is second to none and I share this with everyone I know interested in learning how to play. Thanks!

[gurnblanstein]

I switched to an electric kit 20 years ago when I got old, married, and had kids. I've used wood tips the whole time and never had a problem. My tip is get rid of the rubber pads and make sure you're using mesh heads. Your wrists will thank you as you get older.

[RaymondToms]

A great video. Most of this has been said, and is in your opening notes. A couple of comments though. 1. Use wooden sticks. How can an e-drummer break one to damage the head? 2. Mesh heads. Adjust the tension to match the rebound of acoustics. I have done tests with slo-motion video to make the stick rebound, whether hit or dropped, rebound the same as acoustics. Yes, Real Feel heads do not rebound as much, but only slightly different to Roland heads. 3. Dynamics. As mentioned in someone’s response, adjust not only the sensitivity and volume, but the dynamics curve as well. Ed at 65drums, even with all his experience criticises having to hit the bell hard with the body of the stick. By getting all the settings right, I can just let the stick drop with the tip and get a bell sound similar to the sensitivity of an acoustic. No, I do not have a TD50 USB ride with 5 digital triggers. It is a 15 year old kit with a TD20 expanded module.