E-Kit (electronic drum kit)

[Hawk]

I got one and giged it for the first time.

Yamaha DTX 532K

I used zip-ties to keep the harness attached to the rack. Set up and tear down time is about 15 minutes. That includes pads in and out of suit cases. Unfold the rack, attach pads, plug in the pads, attach module, plug in module, plug into the PA, connect kick pedal, good to go. I use a standard size suit case and a small suit case. Both easily carried at the same time and carry the light weight rack. Easy in and out of my SUV.

So it fits the bill so far, but how does it sound? I played my first gig with it last night, an unusual gig for us because it was an outside gig on the Diamond in Hollidaysburg (as opposed to small bars and clubs).

I was a bit worried about this because we play through a small PA. 1000 watt powered mixer (500 watts for mains, 500 for monitors), 2 JBL Eon 15s with horns on stands and an EV powered sub.

I tweaked out the sounds for a "custom" kit with headphones, hoping it would be okay out of the PA. Played the first set without knowing how it was out front. Drummer Friend Pat Boland was there and gave me some very positive feed back saying, "I think you'll be surprised at how good it sounds".

Second set I had another drummer, Peter Wolf, sit in while I sat with Pat. It sounded like a well mic-ed drum kit! Success!

There are a lot more expensive kits than this one. For the money, with some tweaking it serves my purpose very well. I originally thought the cymbal sounds were poor, tweaked them out as best as I could with headphones, but when I heard them live with another drummer playing I was impressed. Hi Hat was great. Crash was reasonably good and ride was very good. I still might download some other cymbal sounds though. Cymbal swells kind of suck though, but for what I paid, I can live with that.

All in all, It's perfect for what I was looking for! Thank you Yamaha!

[Craven Sound]

How did you find the stick dynamics on the pad vs. a Mylar drum head?

[Hawk]

How did you find the stick dynamics on the pad vs. a Mylar drum head?

Excellent question. First, there are volume adjustments for each pad, so I have those set according to my liking.

The kit volume is digitally numbered from 1 to 32. So the dynamic range is directly related to the volume (1 to 32) you set on the module.

For instance, with the volume set on 10, I play very softly on any pad, it can equal the softness of an A kit. If I set the module to 32 the volume of the soft touch DOES NOT INCREASE. That blew me away! I played different pads (like the snare, a tom and a cymbal) at a soft touch, Increased the volume from 10 to 32 and the volume DID NOT INCREASE, it stayed the same!

Of course, as you have guessed by now, on a powerful stroke on 32, was incredibly louder than the same powerful stroke on 10.

So the point of all this is, that when set on 10 there is a narrow dynamic range and when set on 32 there is a very wide dynamic range. When set on 32 I can only guess, but likely through the PA, the dynamic range is wider than an un-mic-ed A kit.

When I played my only gig (so far) on this kit it was set in the 20s. When I practice with headphones I set it around 8.

[Jasaoke]

I'm impressed with the longevity of the pads. The kit we use has been seeing regular gig/practice use for 5-6 years and, (I'm told) still has the same feel.