So, I'm coming up on week two of my new foray into e-drums with my DM10 MKII Pro. It's been fantastic. Setup was easy, no cross triggering, and I'm getting used to the shitty hi hat and occasional cymbal issues (bell on ride, mostly). I've built a User Kit that I keep tweaking and adding to, and it's one I'm relatively happy with across the genres I playing to (the samba and bossanova don't respond to what's basically a rock kit).
So, that said, I just want to send out a word of warning for those just joining this new, exciting world: don't try to do everything that's possible all at once. Get used to the set out of the box and see what you need and where you want to be. I know I have a bunch of stuff that I'd like to hear with my kit, but right now I'm trying to dial back my expectations and deal with the system as it is. That's not to say that I haven't gone off the rails for a bit in a fit of excitement.
Initially, I decided to try to play some VSTs, even though I
KNOW that I don't have the firepower in my laptop for no/low latency. I downloaded Addictive and EZ Drums, and while I liked the sounds, the latency (even with MIDI sampling adjusted for my system) was mostly unusable. Simple hits worked, but anything complex with multiple, quick triggering gave me latency and clicks/pops. But it does give me something to shoot for down the line. I KNOW I'll be able to expand this kit to my liking with software solutions. But to keep from crazy-making, I've gone back to the module.
After not drumming for years, I have been having a great time playing. I've looked for play-along songs online, as I've beaten the included sequenced sounds to death. And frankly, I just can't come up with a more interesting "country pop" groove with a hard rock kit. I just can't (and I won't- you can't make me)!
I explored a site (
http://www.karaoke-version.com/custombackingtrack) that has a ton of songs in various genres to play along with. You can download the full track or just parts so you can add your own drum track (via the "AUX in" on the module). They're pretty decent covers, if somewhat cheesy. Perhaps ditching the vocals altogether is a good idea for most of them! But the getting instrumentals to play to is lots of fun. Each song is $2.99, and can be downloaded over and over, and with multiple downloads for the same song with various tracks silenced. So, that's a good resource. I'm currently practicing with Moon, Mitchell and Bonham.
I also played along with my iTunes playlist, but with drums in the background, I found it slightly more difficult to keep a rhythm. That just means I need to practice more!
Now, for the equipment I went all out with adding the items I have at my disposal. For the most part, that's been fine. However, I immediately integrated my Tama Iron Cobra double pedal, and that brought its own headaches. I was only cautiously used to it with my acoustic set, and adding it to an e-drum- and my first e-drum- was more than I needed to deal with right now. So I put on my 40 year old Camco single chain drive pedal. The old gal felt like a favorite pair of jeans! I still need to work on speed, technique and rebound to get used to it all, but this is a better bet for me and I'll integrate the double pedal once I achieve some success with the single. I need to perfect triplets with my right foot before I start adding more bass notes.
My next project is to move all my old four track cassette multitrack tunes to the digital recorder, so I can replace the drum machine that I used to produce the originals. This is a matter of lots of patience and cable calisthenics (cable-thenics?) to get them into a playable form. But it does muddy up my playing and practice time, so I need to be mindful of what I'm trying to accomplish and how. I sometimes need to step back and just enjoy playing again and not get ahead of myself.
Anyway, I'm just throwing that out there to give fellow noobies a little advice and commiserate if you're having challenges. Just have fun and practice!