Advice needed on Hart Edrum/Alesis module consideration.

[Arranger]

I'm not a drummer, but I can carry a beat and explain what I want to achieve to a drummer. I'm a studio recording musician and I'd like to lay down live beats rather than programmed. Do you think I can get started economically with an Edrum entry system
like the Hart Prodigy with an Alesis Dm-5 Module? It's $750 complete with all of the hardware. I almost can't resist. Should I? I'm thinking that if i really like it, I can upgrade to a pro kit in time. If it isn't my bag, I won't lose the farm trying and my toddler can
whack at it until the junk man cometh.

I failed to find a programmable drum machine useful for my work. The Dr770 was too small to be played live. It was silly. I'd like to feel the sticks flying and really get into it.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[knightfly]

I think you'll find playing on separate pads like the Hart is much more enjoyable than trying to either program segments on a drum machine, or the next step, which would be playing the drum parts into the sequence from a MIDI keyboard and using the drum machine as a tone module. I've done both, and then moved to a DrumKat controller with separate pads for snare/hat/cymbals along with separate foot triggers. That was better, but I never got used to playing such a tight pattern without booboos. (If you're not familiar with it, the DrumKat is a controller with built-on pads, about 14" x 22", and the pads are laid out to look like Mickey Mouse ears.) I now have a Roland V-Custom kit with upgraded cymbals, hat, extra pad for 2nd floor tom - This is by far the best setup I've used for electronic drums. It is similar to the hart/alesis you mention. The problem with playing parts into sequences with a MIDI keyboard is that you need to make multiple passes - typically one pass for kick/snare, 2nd pass for cymbals, 3rd pass for tom fills, etc, then a long time for editing out individual notes that couldn't have been played that way by less than 3 percussionists - Using that method a drum track for a single song has been known to take me a full day to get "right"... With the pads/module, if you get good enough you can lay down a believable drum track in one pass and spend the other 8 hours looking for that "perfect" snare sound... I'd go for it - the time you save doing drum tracks you could get a part-time job and pay for the kit. Also, if you like it as much as I do, you'll get good enough to erase that first sentence from your post... Steve

P.S. - E-drums are no replacement for the real thing, although with enough practice and tweaking they can fool quite a few people. My acoustic kit is great, but until I get time to build a triple-walled floated drum booth they will spend a lot more time with drop cloths over them. Therefore, to blatantly "remix" an old song, "If ya can't play the drums you love, love the drums you play"...

 

[Arranger]

Thank you, knightfly, for your thorough and generous reply. I really think I can get into drumming, now that I'm experienced enough to appreciate them. For the longest time, I kept plugging away at my compositions completely ignorant to the foundation. When I picked up bass 25 years ago, I realized where the music starts.

I bet I'm really going to enjoy this.

Thanks again.

 

[thomashe2002]

Arranger - I'm interested in hearing how the Hart set-up works out for you. I'm in the exact situation you're in and have been a bit hesitant to invest the $$ into electric drums. The Prodigy does look almost to cheap to pass-up, but I have yet to find a store that actually has a set that I could see and play. I've also considered their Studio Standard set with a Roland TD-8...but, to get there takes an extra $1000.

Anyone have any input on the Hart sets? Also, any preference between the Roland and Alesis modules?

Thanks,
Tomas