It’s a debate held by drummers the world over. The question: which are better, electronic or acoustic drums?
When it comes right down to it, it’s almost always a matter of personal preference rather than an issue of quality. The problem is that this ongoing debate has served to add fuel to some common myths surrounding electronic drums. In fact, they are just that: myths. Here are five of the most popular
- I’m just starting to learn to play the drums. I’ve heard that I should learn to play an acoustic set first. This myth has been around as long as electric drums. The source is uncertain, but may stem from the quality of some of the earliest models. Many didn’t have the same “feel” as acoustic drums.
There may have been some truth to this very early on. However, today’s models are vastly different, and quality electrics, like Roland drums, feel more like acoustics than ever.
Most models are configured in the same manner as their non-electric cousins. They contain toms, a bass, a snare and cymbals just like acoustic drums. A beginner learns on electrics the same as he or she would on acoustics.
2) Electronic drums just don’t have the same quality of sound as acoustics. Again, this may have been true of early models. When they first began hitting the mass market, technology was poor and high demand lead to mass production of sub-par instruments just to fill the need.
Technology has changed tremendously in two decades. Today’s versions, especially quality models like Roland electronic drums, have numerous sound samples that can’t even be distinguished from acoustics.
3) Electronic drums are difficult to transport. Many models are no more difficult than acoustic drums to transport from one venue to another. In fact, some, like Roland drum sets, are designed to be collapsible. They can be disassembled in minutes and packed compactly into a vehicle (even a small one). They can then be re-assembled quickly at another location, like the school band room or the stage at a concert hall.
4) Electronic drums are too expensive. People hear the word “electronic” and automatically assume that complicated mother boards and MIDI outputs mean “extra expensive”.
Actually, they are quite comparable in price to their non-electric cousins. Today’s digital components are not only higher in quality than yesteryear’s; they’re also more cost effective.
5) Electronic drums are only practical in certain venues or situations. They can be used anywhere that acoustic drums can be. Often they are even more versatile and offer more advantages than acoustics.
In fact, they are the best solution when it comes to playing in small venues. Acoustic drums tend to become overpowering in sound in small areas. Additionally it can be difficult to control their volume.
Electronic drums, on the other hand, have built-in volume control. Sound can be adjusted for venue size with the touch of a button.
Not only are they great for performance, they make ideal practice drums too. The player can simply plug in a head set, listen to himself at any volume, and no one else around has to listen.
that I referred to in the recent post about the 
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and I couldn’t be more happy with my decision. This thing is awesome. I’ve had it for about a month and I’m just now starting to realize how much it can do. Shortly after buying it, playing around on it, and having the urge to use my feet with the SPD-S I decided I needed to buy a kick trigger to really bring it to the next level. I ended up getting the KD-7. It’s as simple as pluggin the kick pad into the back of the SPD-S and assigning whatever kick drum sound I want to it. Another cool feature that I’ve been having fun with lately is sampling different sounds. I’ve been getting tons of different sounds from 
