Anyone using a hybrid acoustic / electronic kit?

Hi everyone,

I'm a beginner drummer. I have a Roland TD-3 right now, but am getting to the point I'm hating the hi-hat. I'm thinking about augmenting this kit with real cymbals. Any ideas on how best to approach this?

I'd love to buy a full acoustic kit but I live in an apartment so it's not an option (my neighbors would kill me.)

I have no idea about how to buy cymbals... what to look out for, different sizes, etc. Any advice appreciated!

Your neighbors will kill you but you want to get one of the loudest parts of a drumset?

I don't know if you meant just the high hats or a whole set, but I'd recommend some Zildjian A's. Great sounding cymbals.

Hi; here is a c/p of my hybrid kit from another thread:

I use it mostly to trigger electronic drum sounds, for toms, and for bass drum sounds because it is much cheaper and easier to get a good sounding triggered kick than it is to mic the kick. I prefer to have a real snare for brushes, a real hat for obvious reasons, and real cymbals because between them and the room they are recorded in, the drums actually sound like drums even if some elements are triggered.

But if you are living in an apartment, you probably won't be able to use real cymbals with your kit, as they would probably be too loud. Even a hat, unless it was fully closed, would probably be a bit loud for close quarters.

There are better highhat controllers, like the VH-12 though they can be really expensive and you'd need a different drum brain.

I guess I'm naively thinking I can just hit them softly.

One of the downsides of learning on an electric kit is I have no real sense of how loud the various acoustic drum parts actually are!

Maybe I will have to start saving up and start looking for a higher-end electric kit compatible with the VH-12 scarecrowbob mentioned (sweet setup you have there by the way!). How 'good' does the VH-12 feel?

The Hart hi hats feel very good too and won't be as expensive as the Roland.

You'll probably want a TD-12 module, though or perhaps you can find a used TD-8 or TD-6V.

I guess I'm naively thinking I can just hit them softly. One of the downsides of learning on an electric kit is I have no real sense of how loud the various acoustic drum parts actually are!

I know what you mean. I have been playing for three years now and have never played a real kit. However, I will be picking up my a Yamaha Tour Custom in a few weeks time:) Luckily, I have no one nearby to annoy (except the wife), so noise shouldn't be a problem. I did consider mixing real drum parts with the electronic, but decided to have two separate kits.

Keith.

I DID THIS FOR ABOUT ONE YEAR...THEN I WENT TO ALL DIGITAL DRUMS FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS....THEN BACK TO ACCOUSTIC DRUMS....I USE THE DIGITAL ONLY ON SOME STUDIO STUFF NOW. THE PROBLEM WITH LIVE GIGS IS THE VOLTAGE....IF IT IS NOT JUST RIGHT THE PROCESSOR WON'T LIKE IT AND WILL SHUT DOWN....NOT A GOOD THING ON A PAYING GIG I MIGHT ADD.

You need to turn your caps lock off Mikey. We may be drummers but we aren't all deaf

Keith.

I'm using meinl hybrid cymbals and they are so much better than rubber pads and make your set look acoustic. They are only available in U.S right now under Atlassoundlabs.com. I too live in Apartment so striking is a issue also that is why I'm using vater rubber tipped sticks until I can get out of apartment. Divorce sucks! Good Luck.