I’ve been trying to find a good way to practice drums in my house, but drums are LOUD.  I’ve been interested in electronic drums for a long time, but never figured out how to choose which kit to buy.  Eventually I found 65 Drums on YouTube and it has been very helpful!

My main requirements were a 3-zone ride, very good hats, and $$$ as low as possible.  I ended up purchasing a used Roland TD-25 on Reverb.com.  It took me a while to get used to the kit, but it has been a big success for me.  I used to set up my acoustic kit in a nearby Caltrain parking lot whenever I wanted to practice.  It makes me tired just thinking about it, but it was good practice for quick set-up and tear-down.

News flash: e-drums aren’t silent!  I was disturbed by how loud the tapping was!  In particular the hard rubber hi-hats and cymbals are quite loud!  Also the kick pedal makes a serious thump.

My solutions include:

• Hi-hat – Microfiber cloth with pillow stuffing, also around the vertical position sensor
• Kick sensor – Canvas bag with pillow stuffing and microfiber pad
• Cymbals – foam drum mutes

Also I’m impressed by a real advantage of electronic drums – ease of recording.  With my complementary version of Ableton Lite, the USB Midi interface works great!

What you want is the ability to record MIDI from the TD-25 while playing to a track for overdubbing.  Then you can tweak the MIDI, bounce the MIDI to the TD-25 and record audio from the TD-25.  Here’s the setup I recommend:

• Track 1 = Midi IN/OUT from TD-25
• Track 2 = Recorded audio IN from TD-25 playing Track 1
• Track 3 = Overdub track