andrew dodson

With several JMB concerts coming up, I’ve been working on a good drumset setup that can get me through the next several gigs. Sometimes, I’m not sure of the environment, so I don’t know if I can get away with real drums, or if I need to bring my electronic drums. Last Saturday, I was a little disappointed to find out I probably could’ve gotten away with real drums at an outdoor pavilion. So, I’ve put together the best of both worlds.

Since getting my electronic drums, I’ve only had a couple of complaints with my Yamaha kit. Mainly, sound people usually want more control over my bass drum. Personally, I’ve never been satisfied with the sensitivity and response of the hi-hats. I’ve added a real bass drum and set of hi-hats to the kit. The percussionist in me misses things like a tambourine and the ability to do cymbal rolls like I can on an acoustic set. I’ve added a real tambourine next to the hi-hats, and a real cymbal for rolls.

This has also freed up a couple of inputs on my drum module. I am going to spend some time going through more percussion sounds and possibly add a hand drum sound, shaker, or who knows what. I’ve already been able to assign one of the pads to a rim knock sound until my new three-zone snare pad arrives later this week. The main thing is that I’m not using the module to its full capability, since it has thousands of sounds. I’m also trying to get away with not having to upgrade to a more expensive electronic drum set to get more features.

I spent time at The Point last night setting up the new hybrid set and playing on it. I’m pretty happy with it so far. Looking forward to using it the next few weeks at gigs and on Sunday mornings. Here’s some pictures (via camera phone):