Simple, easy, compact e-drums...

[Dad3353]

I've an acoustic kit (well, two, actually, but... whatever...) and a modest e-drum set, but often have occasion to assist at a jam session with chums, sometimes outside, and it's not that easy to lug a kit around. One option would be a cajon, tambourine, bongos, maracas etc, and a very good option too, often enough.

I've found, however, another option (which includes much of the former...) which allow for a full kit, in one compact unit. It's the Alesis CompactKit7, which has, as the name implies, seven pads, plus two pedal switches; they even supply a pair of sticks (which I hastily swapped out for my own favourites, naturally...). Here's one I prepared earlier a (bad...) photo of the unit at the foot of my armchair, in my 'pica-studio'...

 

 

It's all self-contained, and can rest on a chair, or table top; I've popped it onto a spare snare stand, and use the feet of this to block the pedal-switches, to stop 'em skidding away. To be fair, they don't skid that much, but the snare feet are there; they may as well serve..!
The internal sounds are pretty good, for the use I'll put it to, but I'll usually use the headphone socket to send audio to the small PA our singer uses. The sounds are even better, naturally (but the internal speakers are not so bad, at a pinch; I practise with them and they're OK...).
It has a MIDI-Out, and I've done a short clip triggering Superior Drummer 3 through Reaper; it's modest, but it was very easy to do....

 

 

Soooooo... Anyone wanting to try drumming for recording at home, with limited space, limited budget and limited ambitions, this could work for you..! No more 'piano-roll' programming, play 'real-time' on a 'real' kit without disturbing the neighbours. The pedals are 'soft' switches, so no floor-born noise to annoy the old couple living below. It's compact (the clue is in the name...), so doesn't eat up precious 'real estate'. OK, I shan't be abandoning my other kits, but it's already found its place in my almost daily practise routine, and will be useful on many different occasions.
Are there any 'downsides'..? Yes, of course there are..! I play 'leftie'; this is not an issue with 'real' kits, but I have to programme a User Preset to get the snare where I want it. No worries..? No, but the unit has 45 Factory Presets (fine, but I can't play those; they're for 'righties'...), one of which includes the percussion stuff mentioned earlier. There are only five User Presets, so I have to choose wisely exactly what I want in the five kits I can use. No big deal; as I said, it's for modest practising or jams, so... but I would have liked either a 'leftie' switch, or more User Prestes. Not an issue for 'normal' people, though.
Another limitation is the bass drum pedal, which is, as I mentioned, a switch. This mans I can't use any dynamics there; it goes 'Boom', s'all. Again, for my use that's fine, and if recording, it's easy enough in any DAW to modify the velocity of MIDI events to compensate.
The Good News..? These little limitations are simply the result of having such a low cost..! Amazon sell 'em for £135, which I found to be a Good Price for the results it gives. It won't suite everyone, but it's not a toy; it records almost as well as my e-kit (another Alesis, Nitro Mesh, as it happens...).
Anyway, it's a new option; hope someone finds this useful. 

 

Edit: I forgot a do an audio track, just to demonstrate (badly...) what the on-board sounds are like. This is the 'leftie' kit I've set up as a User Preset; there are 45 Factory kits to choose from, with many different flavours and colours. This, then, is just a tiny snippet, badly played...

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Dad3353

[lurksalot]

Yeah but , Is it any good for metal 🤦‍♂️
 

 

 

 

 

 

excellent review , but It sounds like you are using multiple limbs and coordinating them , I Think that’s cheating 😂

Edited July 28, 2021 by lurksalot

[lurksalot]

I might get this fir the grandson it seems properly fun 

[lowdown]

On 27/07/2021 at 01:31, Dad3353 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you fix the Cowbell on?

 

 

 

[Dad3353]

3 hours ago, lowdown said:

 

How do you fix the Cowbell on?

 

 

 

 

I tethered the cow. 

[lowdown]

8 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

I tethered the cow. 

 

If you have to hump your Cow around with you, it's not a particularly mobile set up for Jam sessions though, surely?

 

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, lowdown said:

 

If you have to hump your Cow around with you, it's not a particularly mobile set up for Jam sessions though, surely?

 

 

Someone has to carry the stuff (lazy as I am...), and a camel bell doesn't have the same 'ring' to it. 

[lowdown]

16 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

a camel bell doesn't have the same 'ring' to it. 

 

Indeed, being Wooden, a totally different sound.

In fact, using a large' Ethiopian Camel Bell' might get you a few strange looks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, lowdown said:

Indeed, being Wooden, a totally different sound.

In fact, using a large' Ethiopian Camel Bell' might get you a few strange looks...

 

 

I'm tempted, seeing that, but 'large' might be being a bit pretentious.