Electric Drums

Below are details of the electric drum kit I used live for 2 years while playing with 'The Flares'. Towards the end of the page you can read a brief history on my experiments and journeys into electric drums over the years...

Clavia ddrum4 Electronic Drum Kit

1 x Kick , 1 x Snare, 3 x Tom, 3 x Cymbal (normally 2 crash,1 ride), 1 x Hihat mounted on Clavia Drum Rack with Janus Double Kick/Hihat pedal.

I have now added three Pintech Trigger Cymbals (2 x TC14 and 1 x TC16) to use as Crash cymbals. They give a better 'feel' when hit (as they move in a similar way to an acoustic cymbal). I kept the Clavia Cymbal pad for a Ride Cymbal as it has unbeatable Positional Sensing and response, and gives an excellent dynamic range.

I have also added my old Roland PD80R Vdrum pad (from my old kit), which is mounted beneath my HiHat and used for a second Snare Drum. Mounted above my top two toms (below the crash cymbals) is one of the Clavia cymbal pads, which I use as a second HiHat. This is very useful for playing in a more 'open' style (i.e. avoiding the need to cross the right hand over the left to play HiHat) - and of course can be programmed to any other sound should I need it. Both of these extra pads are connected to the trigger in's on the SPD-20 (Octapad).

Latest changes: I have decided to move the ddrum4 module out from my 19" rack and mount it back onto the drum rack (as Clavia intend it to be used). I've done this partly to reduce the wiring between the drum kit and the rack,
and also because I needed more room in the 19" rack for the Enhancer. This has also removed any problems with overheating (which can happen
with the ddrum4 in a rack) and so I have got rid of the line of cooling fans I installed (which were a bit noisy !). The Enhancer gives me a very simple way of 'shaping' the overall sound (with both high and low frequency adjustments), and adding some high frequency 'sparkle' which makes the Cymbals sound excellent.

Other Equipment

ddrum4 Electronic Drum Brain
Mounted onto the drum rack beneath my Mid Tom

Roland SPD-20
(Newer version of the Roland Octapad - 8 pad drum controller)

SKB 12U 19" Flight Case
(with custom fitted wheels and removable top) - containing:

Behringer Ultrafex II Enhancer
Gives a little extra top end and bass boost to the overall sound of the kit.

Neutrick Audio Patch Bay
Used to link all audio connections within the rack. This enables me to
make changes to the connections easily if required, and also makes it
easy to send signals to the band's main PA desk from individual drums.

DACS Midi Patch Bay
Used to link all devices via Midi including MOTU Midisport
USB to MIDI interface used for connecting my laptop into the rack
(for sequencing, downloading new drum samples into ddrum4 etc.)

Roland VM3100 Digital Mixer
12 Channel mixer with internal effects (used as overall Reverb on Kit)
Mixer used to mix levels of ddrum4, SPD-20 and Akai S2000 to Drum PA,
foldback mix to my foldback mixer and send submixes
out to front of house PA (using 2 Aux Sends and Bus outs)

Neumark 15ch Stereo Graphic Equaliser
Left channel feeding my Monitors, and right feeding the output to my main PA.
Using separate EQ's for each means I can get the sound in my monitors to be
as close as possible to the sound coming from the PA.

Digitech Studio Quad 4 Effects Unit
Used for extra effects on Kick, Snare, Tom and Hihat channels
(e.g. Delays, Flange, extra Reverb etc.)

Akai S2000 Sampler
Used for short sample loops and sound effects

Studiomaster 2 x 350W Power Amplifier
Linked into Mono to feed a Mono drum mix (from the Mixer via the Graphic)
to both sides of the amp (giving 700w output to the speakers)

2 x Peavey Speaker Cabs
15" Bass cone, 8" Mid Range and dome tweeter

Peavey 15PM Powered Monitor
150w amp with 5 band graphic, from their Eurosys range of PA cabs

'Peavey' Slave Monitor
Peavey don't actually make a passive 15" monitor cab in the Eurosys range
(even though you need a second cab to get the full 150W from the Powered Monitor !),
so I had this one built for me by Tony - The cabinet is an exact copy of the 15PM,
and the 15" driver was ordered from Peavey and is the same as in the 15PM

Sure WH20 Headset Microphone
(but normally kept turned down fairly low because my singing can be a bit dodgy ! -
I'm a drummer, I never claim to be a singer !!!!)

My Electric Drum History

I've always been interested in electronics (as my Dad was). When I was at school in the 80s, I bought and built the 'syntom' kits from Maplins, which were designed to be attached to a tom and then play a cool (!) electronic 'powww' sound when you hit the tom. My Dad and I then adapted these by building them into a wooden case, and attaching the piezo pickups to plastic tupperware lids (basically a crude version of an Octapad!).

I went to a music show in London with my Dad sometime in the mid 80s, and I saw the Dynacord Rhythm Stick at the show, and even had a go on it for a few minutes. I loved it, but there was no way I could afford one.

I stayed interested in electronics, moved up to the Boss Dr Pads, and then an Alesis D4. - This gave me 'proper' trigger inputs, and I actually started building a copy of the Rhythm Stick for myself. Piezo sounders as pickups to hit, and then routing the output from them through a bank of selector switches into the trigger inputs of the D4. The first model was almost literally a 'plank of wood' - it worked, but it wasn't easy to play. I spent the next year experimenting with various ways of making a better shaped model, but never managed to complete something that looked any good.

After a break from drumming for a while, I got back into it, I started with a Roland TD5 - upgraded that with an SPD20 and Alesis D5Pro - then moved up to the Clavia ddrum4 kit (see above). I'm now actually back on acoustic drums again, but I still regard the Electric Drums as a superb instrument.

Electric or Acoustic?

You've got to look at them in the same way you can view an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar, or maybe a keyboard and a piano. Being able to play one will mean that you can play the other to a 'reasonable' standard, but they are completely different instruments. You wouldn't play an acoustic guitar in a death metal band, and you wouldn't try and play a brahms piano concerto on a DX7. Electric Drums are superb in some circumstances, and not really suitable in others. In an ideal world (i.e. one with no financial restraints) I'd have one of each. That's not an option right now, and because acoustic drums suit my current style of playing commitments, that's what I've got. I haven't given up Electric Drums, and I hope to het back to them at somepoint again in the future...