As a drummer - I think I have come full circle.

[AGBeer]

I copied and pasted this from my other drummer forum, but I thought it might be a (kinda) cool story to share - I CANT PUT THE STICKS DOWN NOW!!! (I cant remember being this excited about a kit ever!)

I first picked up the drumsticks (chopsticks) when I was a very young age. Beating on pots and pans got old after a while so my parents invested in a snare drum at the ripe ole age of 7 or 8. Of course this was loud as all getout, and with no lessons in sight it was all up to me to 'learn myself' how to play the drums.

FFWD several years later and I became more proficient (with INCREDIBLY bad habits) Little to no chops, rudiment was some word that I failed in my Spanish I test, and worst of all I HIT HARD. Playing out and jamming out, I always had to compete with my halfstack/fullstack playing buddies so the way I accommodated this was to beat the everloving shit out of my kit. I cant count the number of cymbals I cracked and broke (my worst/proudest was my Paiste signature ride - very heavy duty) Not to mention sticks and heads like water. (Did I mention how LOUD and disturbing it was to those around me?)

Another effect of this that never caught up to me (until my later 30s) was all of the damage I was doing to my body. My wrists, elbows, and shoulders are all in pain within the first several minutes of playing and progressively getting worse. I eventually succumbed to the fact that
A. Music will never be my full time job.
B. I had alot of fun while playing with others, but lugging my kit to and from a rehersal spot was a real PITA
C. Im getting too old and decrepit for this shit anymore. (Oh yeah, and did I mention how LOUD it was?)

My old acoustic has been sitting in the shed for several years now, but I still REFUSE to get rid of it, but cant exactly play it to scratch that perpetual itch that never seems to go away.

Enter my Alesis DM8.

Holy cow! In the few days that I have owned it, my daughter has noticed how much I have toned down my playing style and it actually hurts MUCH less (see - I can play continuously without wincing and trying to find my 'zone' to forget about the pain) I can actually focus on real technique now and just have fun whenever I want to without disturbing the people in the same (or next) room, much less my neighbor(s).

The multitude of voices that I have afforded to me now are offering endless possibilities to come up with new 'beats' and let me explore (in my head anyway) different feeling styles of music. (Even if their beats/chops are way different)

All in all, I never realized how much I would enjoy having an e-kit vice my acoustics. Being a product of the 80s and seeing the 'Simmons' New Wave (goofy hair) explosion, but being a fan of the hard hitting metal drummers, I was always 'anti e-drums'

Until now

Thank you Alesis. You have saved my drumming life that I thought would be on the shelf permanently. (Even if it isnt 'for real' for real any more)

I must say, being an 'old' drummer I believe I have come full circle. Oh yeah, and I think I identified the beginning of my 'distaste' for the electric kit. Even funnier is the fact that this is the music that I like listening to now.

 

[aesthyrian]

Technology is a great thing, and I have noticed that with the amazing drum sampling available today, you can make an electronic kit sound just as good as a acoustic kit, just with way more control and the ability to record drum tracks at 3am

That's awesome that you have reignited your passion and have found a way to truly enjoy your art without pain. A lot of metal bands are using sampling and e-kits to record and no one's the wiser. Technology, it's for your health.

 

[crawdad]

i started on acoustic and have tried electronic kits, for me the sound wasnt the issue but the actual texture (hit, kick back, tonal changes along the skin, etc) and the fact that i was truly just pushing buttons was a huge mental block for me, i felt i could not be as "musical"....but ive watched many play the electric kits and be very musical and dynamic, just wasn't something i could get into. i tend to be more dynamic with acoustic and more "animal style" with electric, perhaps its the feel of the skin, not sure.

nice story, glad you found something that fits you. i have not played in many years, miss it.

 

[AGBeer]

One of the cool things about this kit is the fact that it has 'RealHeads' which makes it that much more realistic. (It uses real drum heads)

Granted, it has a different feel but its still close enough to the nostalgic feel of my acoustics. I would say the hardest transition, would be the sensitivity of the hi-hat and the feel of the cymbals. (Although this mental block was easier for me to overcome - but their Surge cymbals are promising looking too)

The kits that have the rubber pads are too much like playing on a practice pad (from the 80s) and the V-Drums kit almost feels too 'springy/spongy' for my tastes too - this kit is a pretty nice compromise of the two. Throw in the fact that with a set of headphones on, and the multitude of voices (drum sounds) and sequences (tracks you can play along with) AND have a metronome ticking in the background... I swear, its like picking up the sticks with a new band all over again

I would recommend you try to reinvestigate some of the new technologies afforded to us nowdays - you might just find yourself pleasantly surprised