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[Taylor Phillips]

Those cymbals are a fascinating concept.  I wonder how loud the cymbals are unamplified and how those omni-directional mics that are made to pick up such a quiet source are going to interact with stage full of instruments and voices.

I've never tried this before with an electric kit, but has anyone tried localizing the amplification of the kit actually at the kit?

I think this would probably give you the worst of both worlds rather than the best.  I've done it kind of like that, with a monitor on stage loud enough for the musicians to hear without putting much of the kit through the wedges, but not with the intention of the monitor being the primary source of the kit sound.  Stage volume would be just as loud as an acoustic kit with a decent drummer, anyway.  You would have the exact same amount of control over the pieces of the kit as you would running direct to FOH - that's going to depend on how many outputs the module has either way. 

Anyway, why has no one mentioned staging?  That can have a pretty big impact on how things sound.

[Johnathan Larsen]

In making the transition both to, and back from an electronic kit, there were several aspects which we had to deal with at my church. We actually went through several different electronic kits, each time progressing in sophistication, until ending up with the top of the line V-Drums, and finally going back to an acoustic kit. One has already been noted, in another post, that when we switched to an e-kit, we dealt with a monitor level that was on par with a live kit. Although the monitor was pointed at the drummer, there was still quite a large amount of bleed and it was heavily clouding he house mix. Another issue with the electronic kit, as also noted earlier, was that the feel of the drum kit, i.e.; stick bounce, limited dynamics; actually led to medical problems for every one of the drummers at our church, tendinitis, carpal tunnel, even tennis elbow. Basically, through these experiences, we've come to the conclusion that trying to make everyone happy, eventually leads to no one being happy, do what sounds right and let God take care of the rest.

[John Fiorello]

. We actually went through several different electronic kits, each time progressing in sophistication, until ending up with the top of the line V-Drums, and finally going back to an acoustic kit.

Nice   



JF

[BrianAbington]

I really like that new zildgian kit...I think that opens a whole new world of possibilities for when you need to control over all volume.

I know that the controller gives you the ability to change sounds but does how hard you hit them change the volume or is that always consistent? Also does it change sound when hitting the edge vs the bell of the cymbal?

Anybody have any idea how much these kits sell for?

[Ryan Fluharty]

I know that the controller gives you the ability to change sounds but does how hard you hit them change the volume or is that always consistent? Also does it change sound when hitting the edge vs the bell of the cymbal?

They are acoustic cymbals...so anything you do with an acoustic cymbal (loudness, hit placement, etc) changes the sound like a regular cymbal would.  The only difference is that these are low volume and go through a lot of DSP.

Anybody have any idea how much these kits sell for?

They said that the street value would be $750-$950 for the different kit configs.

[Jasen Jacobsen]

Here's my "cool story bro'".

Our church that sits ~1200 had e-drums for several years. The main player always disliked them and never learned to program them or store settings. We finally went to acoustics in a full shield.

- Jasen.

[Brad Weber]

Our church that sits ~1200 had e-drums for several years. The main player always disliked them and never learned to program them or store settings. We finally went to acoustics in a full shield.

How did this work out from the drummer's, other musician's and listeners' perspectives?  Live drums in worship settings is often all about compromise and that often works best if some compromise is made on all sides.

[Per Sovik]

........Although the monitor was pointed at the drummer, there was still quite a large amount of bleed and it was heavily clouding he house mix. Another issue with the electronic kit, as also noted earlier, was that the feel of the drum kit, i.e.; stick bounce, limited dynamics; actually led to medical problems for every one of the drummers at our church, tendinitis, carpal tunnel, even tennis elbow.

I believe that an essential ingredient in using electronic drum sets on stage is the iem. The iem needs to be loud enough that the drummer is happy with the level without having to bash the set to pieces to get enough sound out of the set.

[Jasen Jacobsen]

How did this work out from the drummer's, other musician's and listeners' perspectives?  Live drums in worship settings is often all about compromise and that often works best if some compromise is made on all sides.

Seems to be working OK. I run the record board and not FOH, so I don't interact with the musicians & stage personnel much. Some of the other sound guys have said that the drum kit we're using is pretty bad, but I haven't heard any negative feedback from any of the stage people. *shrug*

The cage/booth the drums are in mutes the sound pretty well. All of the vocalists wear IEM. As a record guy, I liked the electronic drums better. NO bleed into other mics!

As for the listeners... IMHO, most people can't tell the difference. 

[Brian Ehlers]

I'll post my experience and let you draw your own conclusions.

My church has a low-quality acoustic drum kit which is played by two different musicians.  One musician is a professional with his own successful jazz trio.  He can play many styles, has a knack for playing just the right amount of notes (leaving plenty of space in between), and knows how to dial his volume down.  The other musician is thankfully beyond his teen years now but still plays much like a teen in a garage band:  not perfect timing, too many notes, and too loud.

I NEVER have a problem with the volume level of the pro and, in fact, often have to encourage him to let loose -- not just because he plays soft, but because he's worth listening to.  I ALWAYS have a problem with the non-pro and have to ask him to dial it back -- not just because he's the loudest thing on stage, but because the music would often be better without him.

I know it's easier to tell people to get a better drummer than it is to find one.  I'm just saying that a lot of the "drums are too loud" problem won't go away no matter what you do with the kit or the PA system.

[ProSoundWeb Community]