As I mentioned in my last post about my new Warwick Corvette, I was thinking of buying some more musical instruments to supplement my home studio. Well, that is exactly what I did last Thursday lunchtime.
I haven’t been able to play my drum kit with any regularity for a long time now. I haven’t played in a band for a while, and there always seems to be more important things to do than lug my kit to a rehearsal studio for a brief practice session on my own. As many people who I work or socialise with will attest, I have an annoying habit of either hitting my inanimate objects very loud, or performing embarrassing air drumming. My computer keyboard gets the worst of it. I suspect this is because I have been deprived of good quality time with my sticks!
I have admired the Roland V-Drums for a long time, thinking that they would be perfect for what I needed. They are fully electronic, allowing for “near silent” play when wearing headphones, yet they are as close to “real feel” as you can get. The drums themselves have actual drum heads that can be tightened or loosened, and the cymbals are lifelike also. The hi-hats actually sit on a proper hi-hat stand, and feel almost as real as proper ones.
There is one drawback with the V-Drums system. The cost. Currently, there are two real contenders for the pro or semi-pro drummer (although Roland make budget kits also). These are the TD-20 and the TD-12. I always thought I wanted the TD-20 (probably due to the geek in me wanting the “best”), but when I finally had some money I could invest, I started to think that maybe the TD-12 would be better for a few reasons: 1) I am only using it in a home studio, 2) a lot of the sounds in the TD-12 are the same as for the TD-20 and so it would probably suffice for my requirements and 3) it is HALF THE PRICE of the TD-20.
However, the TD-20 comes with 6 drums and 3 cymbals out of the box, the TD-12 with only 5 drums and 2 cymbals. That seemed a little limiting to me, given what I am used to with my current acoustic setup. The drums and cymbal pads are smaller with the TD-12 than with the TD-20; most drum pads on the TD-12 are only 8” in diameter with one 10” pad, whereas the TD-20 has 10” and 12” pads.
However, I started to think that maybe I could get a TD-12 and buy some extra parts to make a suitable kit. Also, I wanted to buy a new throne (I have never figured out why drummers call their seat the throne – suggestions?), and a double bass drum pedal, so saving the money on the main kit would allow me to do that.
Here is what I ended up with:
- TD-12 kit.
- An extra PD125 – a 12” pad I would use as the snare drum, moving the 10” snare pad that comes with the TD-12 over to the right to use as a floor tom.
- An extra CY15R – a 15” cymbal pad I would use as a ride cymbal.
- A Tama Iron Cobra double bass pedal.
- A Mapex throne.
It looks a little bit like this:
Something else I have missed a lot since I moved out of my parental home was a piano. I have had my fair share of keyboards, but none of these have had properly weighted keys like a piano, and I have only really found them useful for limited composing. Sometimes it is nice to just sit at a piano and bang out a few tunes, maybe play around with a few ideas. I wanted to get a decent digital piano so that I could get back to composing and playing a lot more. My friend Simon bought a Yamaha Clavinova CLP220 a while ago, and I had been very impressed with it whenever I have visited them in Ireland. It seemed to fit the bill just nicely (great sounds, excellent feel and a headphone socket!) so I picked one of those up too.
I am looking forward to using both the drum kit and the piano to teach my children some of the things my many music teachers have taught me over the years. I derive an immense amount of enjoyment from playing and listening to music, and I hope I can pass on some of my passion to them.
All in all, an expensive but very worthwhile few days shopping.