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11.18.10
By Nick Nunziata (Author Page, Facebook Page, Twitter Page)
What I’m Thankful For:
Electronic Drums.
am not a drummer for the most part. I’ve owned drums for a decade and a half and I’ll goof around on them from time to time but it’s the not the instrument of choice for me. Until recently, as I’ve gotten a little confidence in sitting back there and trying to be decent enough so as to allow the other two or three guys in the band to do fun stuff on instruments they don’t play as often. It’s freeing. I think all things being equal I’d rather be back there hauling ass.
Mostly in the past I owned them because we needed them to play. I’ve owned a couple of acoustic kits and there’s nothing like “real” drums but since we’re a recording band and there’s always someone sleeping, the real gold has been the electronic kits I’ve owned. V-Drums, DTX Express, and now a midlevel Roland set that’s not as pretty as the V-Drums but sound better.
Electronic drums are amazing. Seriously, they’ve empowered us in a way that far exceeds any other musical invention. Aside from the fact you can use them all hours without fear of noise (and if you’ve ever lived near a drummer you know) with headsets on, there’s the ability to modify them to your heart’s content thanks to the cutting-edge “brains” that make them so versatile. But the real gift is that if you don’t have a recording space set up and some amazing microphones, recording drums is a nightmare. Whether it’s all of the extra shit the mics pick up (in our first band we had the squeaky kick pedal, the buzz of the snare drum beads, and the awful feedback from speakers to contend with) or the fact the drummer has to be segregated from everyone else, it kills the mood and makes the process so much more difficult.
Electronic kits, you plug them in as you would a guitar and you play to your heart’s content. I cannot imagine how much stress and despair has been averted by the presence of stuff like this that allows us to hook up all the time and make music for ourselves. At the worst it’s great therapy. At the best, it’s the best music ever recorded on the face of the world.
A lot of it is thanks to to these little devices that love to be pounded.
If I win the lottery, this is my first purchase after paying off my debt and buying my wife a Suzuki Tribeca.
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9 comments
Really? Electronic drum kits…? Okay. As a musician, I feel that you might as well be playing Rock Band. Part of being a musician is getting around technical difficulties. Your pedal squeaks? Fix it and be a musician. And I'm not trolling, that's an honest opinion.
Nick, I understand exactly what you're saying about having the ability to hone the songwriting with a programmable drummer, especially given space and acoustic restraints. Who are some of your favorite drummers, outside of the mainstream? Mine – Nicko McBrain, Mike Bordin, Sean Kinney, Dave Lombardo. I tend towards metal.
Rick Allen likes this.
But electronic drumkits led to the decline of music in general! Think of Lil Wayne and all the godawful music during the 90s! Ace of Base and white rappers! You can't be serious, calling yourself a musician and being thankful for this kind of thing. My music teacher and Keith Moon are rolling in their graves man… Not together of course. But honestly, are you trolling? I love rock band and guitar hero, but those are toys!
I'll see your e-drums and raise you computer-based DAWs. Beginning with the Alesis ADAT back in the 90s, yer average music person was freed from the prohibitive expense of good studios. You got an ADAT or two, a decent little mackie mixer and a basement and you could spend as much time as you needed crafting your tunage without worrying about hourly rates and tape costs. With the computer thing it's even easier and better, down to programmable mixing automation and almost unthinkable bells and whistles available on even the least expensive of programs.
So in your world there was no Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Phil Collins, or freakin' Keith Moon???? Drummers need drums and banging around a lot! Yes, they can be loud and noisey, but how else can we get the next Alex van Halen? (Yes, Al is a great drummer, and it's a shame that he's saddled by Eddie's shit for the last decade to keep him from playing more.)
I think this is closer to amp modeling software for guitars than ace of bass vs keith moon. computers allow us a near infinite amount of possibility with tones that are almost identical to analog tones. But what's cooler: sitting in front of a pc or a 100w Marshall stack?
You purists are full of shit. Sure, I would rather play real drums, but when it's 3am and you don't want the neighbors calling the cops or a divorce, it's better than nothing.
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