Why Buy an Electric Drum Set?

If you’re looking to get into drumming without the commitment or expense of an acoustic kit, you may find an electronic kit more up your alley. They can be played with headphones (or speakers) and offer a range of features to suit the needs of both casual and serious drummers alike.

Most importantly, an electronic drum set allows you to practice and play with a lot less noise. The sounds produced by the pads can be muted and it’s possible to use beaterless kick and hi-hat pedals to further reduce acoustic noise. This makes them a great choice for people who live in flats and cannot afford to annoy their neighbours with excessive drumming!

The brain of an e-kit is the module, which sends signals through to the pad to determine how hard it has been hit. The size of the voltage conveyed by the sensor (often called a ‘trigger’) tells the module what sound it should play. If the pad has been hit lightly, the module will play a soft sound; if it’s been hit hard, it will play a louder one.

It’s worth noting that a good quality kit should have a low threshold setting – this is the minimum level of force required to trigger the pad and make a sound. This setting can be changed depending on the sensitivity of your sticks, and you can also increase the maximum output of the module by adjusting a setting called the velocity limit.

Most kits come with a combination of rubber, mesh and silicone pads that are designed to replicate the feel of an acoustic drum head. The more expensive kits tend to have better-quality pads that are more like acoustic heads and may also include a few extra ‘trigger zones’ – allowing you to produce multiple sounds from single pads.

Many e-kits have built-in sounds that can be used for practice, or you can plug them into a laptop and access a much wider selection of drum and cymbal sounds. This feature can be especially useful for drummers who are trying to learn new styles and music genres, or for anyone wanting to create their own compositions.

Another bonus of an e-kit is the ability to connect it to other instruments via MIDI – either by using dedicated MIDI cables, or with USB connections. This allows you to play other MIDI-equipped instruments, as well as drum tutorial software from your computer.

An e-kit is a fantastic option for children who want to learn how to play drums, as they are easy to set up and take up minimal space. Most models have adjustable pad positions, so the snare can be lowered to fit a child’s height and most feature a variety of sounds that will keep them interested for hours on end! Some even have a built-in mp3 player for playing along with favourite songs! The sound quality can be improved further by pairing them with a decent pair of studio-quality headphones.