Members jemmus Posted February 17, 2009 Members Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hi all, here's the scenario:-Looking to start my 9-year-old autistic son on drums-Like a lot of autistic kids, he really loves music and he has good rhythm. He's physically strong, but he has motor skill issues that make it hard for him to do physical things accurately and precisely-I don't know much about drum equipment-I play guitar, so I know a little about shopping musical instruments-Budget is $500-$600. What do you suggest for a first set for this guy-- acoustic or electronic? I'm thinking electronic, because it seems like they would require less technique than acoustics to get a good sound. In other words, even if the kid is imprecise on how he's hitting the pads, he'll still get a pretty uniform, good-sounding tone. Acoustic drums, on the other hand, are just going to sound as as good as you hit them. The idea is to let the kid get a good tone from the beginning, so that he'll stay interested in drumming. My wife disagrees and thinks that acoustic drums would be better. She wants our son to have the "natural" experience of interacting with heads and shells and feeling "analog" acoustic soundwaves. There's something to be said for that, too. I just wonder if getting good sounds from an acoustic set might be hard for an uncoordinated beginner. Again, this guy's kind of a music connoiseur but he's weak on coordination. If the tone he's producing doesn't sound good to him, he might just drop the whole project. Any thoughts appreciated! Thanks mates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Smiley Face Posted February 17, 2009 Members Share Posted February 17, 2009 I personally would go for the acoustic kit, but it's really up to you and either way would probably work fine. As you mentioned, acoustic kits do have the 'thrill' of hitting the heads to make the noises naturally, however electronic kits are cool too. I don't think it would be a problem in terms of hitting them properly. Even if they aren't hit in the exact right spot, they're still going to give a nice sound, certainly not something that he's going to be unhappy with. Also, I haven't priced any electronic kits lately, but I'm not sure that $500 will get you too far, I may be wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DW_Man_TX Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 just my 2 cents worth An acoustic kit in that price range will be sturdier then an electronic. Even the higher end electronic kits are not build to take the riggers of a young player that has not learned control yet. The down side of an acoustic kit will be the volume of course. You may want to muffle it down with tape to quiet it in the house and to protect his ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wellhungarian Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 Wait a minute. Your son has motor skill issues and it's hard for him to do physical things, yet you want to put him on a physical instument like a drum set that takes a lot of coordination to play? That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Here's what I would do. Buy him a djembe or an ashiko.(both hand drums) One of our better contributors on here builds them. Have him personalize the drum for you son and then he will never let go of it. http://www.slaphappydrums.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cross Eyed Mary Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 I'd say go for an acoustic. Even if he sounds lke {censored} he'll still be having a ball and neither of you will be able to tell. He'll dig the boom from a drum, not the simulated boom coming from heaphones or a speaker.I probably don't have motor skill problems as bad as your sons, but i was born 9 weeks early and have pretty crappy motor skills. My handwriting looks like a 3rd graders and i even was forced out of my drafting class. I've gotten alot of comments on my technique, so i turned out just fine. Don't sell you or him short, he'll at least be able to learn mid tempo beats, which is a {censored} of alot funner than any Rockband crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agogobill Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 I agree with WellHungarian's idea ... start him out with a single drum, whether it be a hand drum or a snare drum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jemmus Posted February 18, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 Wait a minute. Your son has motor skill issues and it's hard for him to do physical things, yet you want to put him on a physical instument like a drum set that takes a lot of coordination to play? That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Wellhungarian, you have a good point, but actually I didn't explain the motor issues very well. In terms of muscles he's fine and a big, strong kid. He's just kind of "spacey" regarding his body. Like, if he's holding a pencil and then wants to cut some paper, he might forget to put the pencil down first. He'll go at the paper with the scissors one-handed, still hanging onto the pencil with the other hand. Takes him a second to remember to drop the pencil and use that hand to hold onto the paper while he cuts. In clinical terms they call that "lateral/left-right motor planning issues." The muscle ability is there, but the person needs practice in "planning" what motion is needed to complete the job. It's common with autistic kids and people who have had head injuries. Drumming is supposed to be an excellent therapy for it. Both sides are doing similar motions that don't require finger dexterity, you get a lot of repetitive left-right practice in a short amount of time, and the person can just go into the zone and get into his body for a while. Who's got all four limbs of his body better integrated than a drummer? So in addition to letting our son have fun with music, this would be an occupational therapy project we'd do with his therapist and a good drums teacher. (Sorry for the long lecture, but seems these days everybody's got a friend or sibling with an autistic child. You guys might be in a good spot someday to help an autistic person with some drumming fun). Djembe's a great idea, but I can't get my kid much interested in mine. I think he's been watching the Rush "Limelight" video on Youtube too much and wants to be Neil Peart. (Who doesn't?) But he might have to settle for just working on 4:4 time on a snare first. Thanks everybody, sounds like acoustic is a good choice. Sorry in advance neighbors, you're in for a little noise...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agogobill Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 Best wishes, jemmus! I hope that works out for him (and you). If the sound gets too loud, there are a lot of ways to deaden the sound a bit ... hopefully if he gets a teacher, you can find what would work best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zildjian@consol Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 Acoustic would be my choice if I where in your shoes. When you strike the drum, you made the right sound, it's that easy. Find the most patient teacher you can or the easiest drum video you can, so you don't hear random banging all the time. All kids love drums and you found the forum with the bigger kids.Also find easy songs to drum to so he can learn songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwideman Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 For that kind of money, acoustic would be the far better choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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