How to Use E-drums

E-drums, also referred to as V-drums, have come a long way since they first came to prominence in the eighties. Back then, electronic drum sets sounded decidely electronic. Today’s e-drums mimic acoustic sets, but they can play a variety of electronic sets, including class beat-boxes and drum machines. The sets work as a standalone or via computer software.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Check the variety and realism of the onboard drum kits. If you are using the drum set only as a standalone kit, the variety of kits in the v-drums’ brain is important. Plugging the kit into a computer based application is recommended because computer software includes samples of actual live, acoustic drums rather than simulations.

2. On that front, make sure that the drum set is compatible with any software you intend to use. Bring in a laptop and plug the set into your computer, via USB or Midi to USB cable. The brain of the set must be adaptable so that the outgoing note from the set is read accurately by your software. You want your snare to sound like a snare. Each software program may have a mapping function, but this is not true for all software applications or all operating systems. Mac computers, for example, don't carry the function.

3. Once you’ve got a compatible set, you’re ready to go. It may look complicated, but putting together an E-drum set shouldn’t take any more than an hour.

4. If you’re recording via software, map the drums to the specifications of your software program. Unfortunately, there’s no industry standard, so you'll probably do this manually. One of the benefits of this is you can map a set any way you like. So, for example, if you don’t need three toms, you could map one tom as an extra cymbal or cowbell.

5. If you’re recording or playing the onboard sounds, use a simple up/down button to scroll through different sets. If you record direct from the brain, you can't manipulate the drum set via software effects like you would if you were triggering notes within a software program.

Tips & Warnings

• Download demos of popular drum software, such as EZ Drummer, Battery, BFD, and Addictive Drums, to see which software is compatible and which sounds the best.
• If you’re only buying an electronic drum set for practice purposes, look for a set that has a fair number of built-in kits, as well as songs to play with. MP3 player compatibility is also helpful, so you can play along with an iPod.

[luv2blog]

on 7/1/2008 Thanks for the tips. The e-drums ar ethe only kind I can play (smile) but I love them!