(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best drums & percussion

Haha, yep that's me! Really into Melee, and I'm studying Audio at OU.



SO there's a whole lot you can do with a $1.5-2k budget. Most of my recommendations are going to focus on microphones, but if you're not trying to do that much recording, you can discard that advice and spend more budget on keys and synthesizers—however, making your own samples and working with them can be pretty cool, fun, and very professional-sounding. I'm speaking from already deep into this rabbit hole, so note my bias. BUT! For that budget you can basically get a near-professional quality mini-studio's worth of gear, if you so choose.

In my opinion, if you're just starting out, Piracy can save you a lot of cash that you can better put towards your gear. If your budget is ~1.5k, I would say pirate Logic Pro if you have a Mac machine, or Ableton/Adobe Audition if you have a Windows machine (PM me if you'd like ;) ). You don't really need all of NI Komplete when you're starting out, especially if you get Logic Pro, because they have a LOT of built in instruments. Also, NI packages can be piratable too. This is all assuming, of course that you're comfortable with pirating software, I understand if you're not, but it can save some cash, and you don't really need a license until you start making real good stuff that you plan on selling/making a business out of.

As far as gear is concerned, if you're serious about recording you might outgrow your Scarlett pretty fast, since it only has 2 mic preamps. You might want to consider a TASCAM 16x08 or a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20. These will let you handle 8 microphones at the same time, which means you can also get a mic kit for your drums. This will get you the absolute best sound out of your drums (provided you learn to use them properly, of course). Learning how to mic drums is a really cool process and there's a lot of room for really making it your own and experimenting with different techniques.

As far as drum mics go, you have cheapest quality at Pyle Pro Mic Kit, Medium Quality at CAD Audio Mic Kit, High Quality at AKG Mic Kit, and professional quality with an Audix DP7 Mic Kit. Even with these, you're still going to want something versatile too.

If you want to also sample some stuff IRL or record other instruments, then get one or two good Dynamic Mics to handle Vocals, Guitar cabs, or wind instruments. You're spot on with the Shure SM57, that thing is a swiss army knife of a microphone and is nearly indestructible. You probably can't go wrong with a matching pair, but you could also go for a SM57 and a Sennheiser e609 to cover all your bases, as the e609 will probably sound better on a guitar cab if you're looking to record guitars.

Okay, now MIDI! The Akai Pro MPK Mini II is a good bet and will definitely do all that you need it to, but if you find yourself needing more keys, there are some good midi controllers out there for just about the same price, for example an M-Audio Controller. It doesn't have as many programmable knobs, but that shouldn't matter unless you're using it to control a software synthesizer, and you need to utilize cutoff, attack, resonance, etc. on the fly. If you're really set on electronic music, then the Akai may be right up your alley, since these knobs will give you more control over your tone.

Aside from that, if you have these tools you can do nearly anything. Check out YouTube tutorials, learn how to use a sampler, learn what the different knobs on a synth do, and get some basic production background and get started! Experimenting in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is really fun, so I think the best thing you can do when you're starting of is mess around and see what you can do. Best of luck, let me know if you have any questions.

Depends what your budget is. I'm a big fan of these cheap $10 clip on tuners. On my main electric guitar rig I have a nice tuner pedal but I love the clip on tuner for my home practice electric (so I don't have to spend money on another pedal tuner) and for my acoustics. They're better than the traditional tuners with mics because they don't require a quiet environment to tune - you just clip it to the headstock and it picks up the notes via conduction/vibrations of the guitar rather than sound through the air. It also responds pretty quickly, it's a great value for $10, IMO.

If he moves around a lot while plugged in and/or plays live and your budget is a few hundred dollars, you could look into a wireless guitar system. I like the Line 6 G50 but the Line 6 G30 is also good and a bit cheaper.

An Ebow is $100 and can make some really interesting sounds on guitars.

If he plays live solo/acoustic, a percussion stompbox adds a lot to the sound, IMO. There are different types with costs ranging from the one I posted to a couple hundred dollars. I've never played with one but the artists I've seen playing solo with one sounded really cool.

I know you said you want to avoid a Guitar Center gift card, but I always appreciate those. Musicians (and enthusiasts of anything really) can be particular about what they want to add to their setup, so sometimes the best thing is to give them a gift card so they can buy whatever they want, whether it's some strings, picks, an interesting strap, pedals, etc. My siblings and I would always give my dad GC gift cards and he saved them for a couple years until he had enough to put towards a really nice Taylor acoustic guitar.

I'm actually going to go against the grain here and say that you should avoid one with a cross-brace even for a beginner (though absolutely go for a tunable with a synthetic head). No reason to develop bad habits or dependencies, and playing without a brace isn't really any harder to learn.

One of my past bandmates played one of these for quite a bit while he saved for his Alfonso, and loved it (he called it his 'black sheep'). It's got a much bass-ier sound than you'll find from most (not bad on the surface, but something to know), and was pretty fun to play. I don't play bodhran often, but I'm considering getting one of these for myself - it's a decent intermediate instrument with a beginner-level cost.

I've also heard folks say some nice things about the Meinl ones available on Amazon, though I haven't gotten to play one myself.

And, as mentioned elsewhere, Albert Alfonso and Metloef are widely considered to be excellent drums. If your SO is already a practiced bodhranista, one of these makers may be a good bet.

Outside of those recommendations, my thoughts:

• Size (diameter) isn't what matters. I've got a 18" (or so) diameter bodhran, and it doesn't sound any better or louder than the 14" diameter drums I linked above (actually, the smaller but deeper ones sound nicer to me, in addition to being of better construction)
  
• Tipper use will vary with playing style. Most bodhrans come with a stock tipper that works well for basic styles, but might actually encourage bad habits, ergonomically-speaking. This one's going to be hugely personal to the player, though, so it may be best to hold off on buying a ton of tippers until your SO has a chance to get a feel for it (if they're a beginner - if they're not, they probably already have a larger collection of tippers than underpants - the things breed like crazy once you get started).

I try to chime in on any digital drum related questions -- particularly for folks like you that are working with a smaller budget. I've owned and played electronic drums in some form or fashion for 20 years, starting with one of these.

The Roland kit you linked is certainly a contender for the price range you're in. You really can't go "wrong" with anything in Roland's current offerings, so there's some peace of mind with the TD1-KV. That said, I would strongly encourage you to give Yamaha's DTX line a look. In my opinion, Yamaha's entry/starter level kits are a much better value than Roland's, while Roland is the unquestioned leader in the higher-end/professional level kits.

The Yamaha DTX450K appears to be the same price as the TD1-KV (at least in USD), and lends itself to a more traditional arrangement of that pads. More importantly -- in my opinion -- is that it comes with a true bass drum pad and real bass drum pedal (same type that is used on acoustic kits). They are one of the more popular, longstanding options for entry-level e-drumsets, so you should be able to find a decent used selection to save money (these things are bulletproof, it takes a lot to damage them). I really can't stress enough how important this is to a new drummer -- the spring'd bounce of a real bass drum pedal is a fundamental facet of developing muscle memory and building dynamic range. To be frank, the flat, hi-hat-like bass pedal on the Roland is an absolute deal-breaker for me.

As you can probably tell by now, I can go on, and on, and on about this stuff. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions! I've owned two DTX kits (currently still banging away on one!), so I have a pretty good feel for their capabilities and all that.

You know, the thing is, this isn't a musical instrument, it's a toy. It's kind of like one of those teddy bears, where you pull a string, and it says "Hello". He would probably be amused by it, and would think that you were very thoughtful, but I don't see him actually seeing it as a musical instrument.

If you decide that you'd rather want a real musical instrument, there are some options:

If your price range tops out at the ~$60 the roll up drum mat would cost, then you can maybe get a cheap cajon, something like this. It won't be professional grade, but it will be a reasonably versatile instrument. This is probably something like the drum equivalent of the acoustic guitar one would play next to a campfire. If he's the tinkerer / DIY-er type, maybe a "make your own cajon kit" is an option too.

If you are willing to stretch the budget to a bit over $100, then you could obviously afford a much better cajon, but also some sample pads start to come into the picture. The KAT KTMP-1 is reasonably well regarded, and pretty cheap. It can be extended with a kcik pedal, and a hi-hat controller, so it can somewhat feel like playing a drumset. There are some other options, like this one from Alesis but those are starting to get expensive. Some drummers actually use sample pads as part of their acoustic setup for additional effects, so something like this is not necessarily just a temporary thing until he gets a kit, but maybe something that would see some use even in conjunction with a kit.

Elementary music teacher here. Do circle games. Kids that age love circle games. Farmer In The Dell, Little Sally Water, Sailor Sailor, etc. There's a million of them, and the lyrics tend to be very simple and repetitive, so they should be easy to translate. I highly recommend this book as a source for circle games. Also, do some movement to music activities. I use the songs and movements from this amazing resource, but I also create my own, and I'm sure you could, too. Especially if you have musical training and understand form. If you're feeling brave, teach them some folk dances from any of the Amidon books. I'm doing Kings and Queens from Sashay The Donut with my third graders right now and they LOVE IT. (Cute story: Last year when the royal wedding was happening, my tough inner city kids were BEGGING me to do the kings and queens dance so that they could pretend to be in the wedding! So cute!)

Good luck!

I'm not the OP, but I'm pretty happy with my DM10. The brain module is alright for the price and it's compatible with sampling programs like Superior Drummer 2.0 and AddictiveDrums. The mylar heads are also replaceable with mesh heads to make the whole kit a lot more quiet and responsive. If you're interested I can link the DIY mesh head conversion I used.

Edit: you can buy individual Alesis components of Amazon, but by the time you buy the brain, shells, cymbals and rack you may be better off buying a pre assembled kit.

The best upgrades you can do are invest in a good snare and cymbals. You can get a decent sound out of even the cheapest drumset, but a versatile snare will last you forever and dramatically change the way you play. And good cymbals you can get one at a time, used cymbals can sometimes sound better than new ones and are cheaper.

Depending on what you can afford, something like this or this.

For cymbals, check out mycymbal to see what sounds good, and then look on ebay or craigslist for those cymbals. Something like Zildjian A's or A Customs, Sabian AA's or AAX's, or Paiste Alpha's or 2002's.

Playing drums ain't cheap, but you can upgrade these critical parts if you're patient and know what you want. Good luck!

This drum pad looks pretty good, looked through the reviews and while it's not really professional grade, it seems good for casual usage and practicing. Pre-owned there's currently one available for $135. Alternately if you need something cheaper you can get a roll-up drum pad for $40 though never having used one I can't really say how good they are, so it's worth checking reviews on various websites. If you can it'd be better to put more money into your purchase and get something that will last longer, but I understand since you want to do this in the course of this year you might want to get something cheaper since it will be quicker to save up for.

If you can't find anything suitable online, try local pawn shops or second hand instrument shops. If you go into a store, see what they have in stock and then go back and research it to make sure it isn't awful. There's plenty of crappy instruments for sale lol. Second hand instrument stores often have higher quality products but for a higher price than a pawn shop. Pawn shops aren't always aware of what they're selling so can occasionally sell things for very good prices without even realising what a bargain they've made. Because the staff are (usually) not music specialists it's more likely you will buy something faulty from a pawn shop so make sure the instrument is in a good condition before buying and test out every last thing, as the staff may not have done that themselves.

During this stage, I used "treasure baskets" a lot. I tried to keep one in each room that kiddo spent much time in. And I had basic categories of toys that I kept in each basket.

• Something that rolls
  
  
• Something that rattles
  
  
• Something soft
  
  
• Something to chew
  
  And “toy” didn’t always have to be a toy in the traditional sense. For a rolling object, we used balls but also used shower puffs. Something soft might be a small stuffed animal, or it might be a fuzzy sock. We let kiddo's interests guide this process. If he found something fascinating and it was safe for him to play with, we put it in a basket. If it wasn’t safe, we tried to find something similar that was safe.
  
  Some of kiddo's favorite toys from this time:
  
  
• Baby shoes
  
  
• Jicaro nut
  
  
• Vuvuzela
  
  
• Plastic tubes
  
  
• Weighted wobble toy
  
  
• Small car
  
  
• Shower puffs
  
  
• Egg shaker
  
  
• Hacky Sack
  
  
• Teether
  
  Once he was crawling and becoming interested in the kitchen cabinet, we emptied one cabinet out for him to play with. We put some baby-safe containers and dishes inside, and let him do whatever he wanted.
  
  We really didn’t buy much in the way of toys for this stage. A few hand-me-downs, and a few stuffed animals. Nothing really worth noting.

Hahaha, actually it's pretty neat! He probably would like it a lot! Have you ever seen these frog guys? He actually has a whole set, a Dad frog (bass-y-er), a Mom frog (treble-y) and a Baby frog (much higher pitched)! He'd probably think they elephant is super sweet! Thanks for the great suggestion!

I mean, a DTXplorer isn't top of the line (that would probably be this) but it doesn't seem bad as far electronic drums go. There are always drum / cymbal mutes for acoustic sets: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Firth-Prepack-Inches-Hi-hat/dp/B000SSMJG2/ although Silentstroke heads are probably even quieter. The best thing to convince your parents would be to get someone like a drum teacher to explain to them the benefits of learning on acoustic drums.

I know if you put acoustic drums in a basement, they won't be that loud throughout the rest of your house (although this can depend on the basement too, lol).

Happy Birthday!

1. N/A
   
2. N/A
   
3. Have on my list
   
4. N/A
   
5. [Frog](http://www.amazon.com/X8-Drums-Croaking-Percussion-Instrument/dp/B006AT65OA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=YKASDQOC0SEJ&coliid=ICR00ODU5G77Z0
   
6. On the right
   
7. Game
   
8. Fruit Leather
   
9. Writing tool
   
10. 8th grade
    
11. You organize data on this
    
12. My hobby is football
    
13. Video game
    
14. Frogs are from nature.
    
15. The can 2nd to the left.
    
16. Cleats
    
17. N/A
    
18. N/A
    
19. N/A
    
20. Red cleats
    Bonus. Did you get the camera?
    Happy happy cake day

I'm an audio engineer and i love recording instruments

So literally ANY musical instrument that carry's a tune or a unique sound is always my favorite gift, I just hook my mic up and work some magic in my DAW


It doesnt even have to be expensive either - A little 10$ thumb piano was one of the favorite gifts I've ever gotten, I could unscrew the thing holding the keys down and tune it to any scale or pattern i wanted. So even if it came out of tune i could tune it

I totally hope one day someone gets me one of these It would make me so happy.

I honestly dont think i could get tired of getting musical instruments as gifts, But i dont think i want to test that theory haha.

Just, as a left handed player, dont get me a guitar. The first thing I'll end up asking is "The place you bought that from offers returns... right?"

Music is fun, shapes are fun. Triangles!are fun!

Garfield loves lasagna!

mmmm lasagna....

https://www.amazon.com/Gibraltar-RF-LSS-Factory-Snare-Stand/dp/B0002H0LO6

Gibraltar makes something similar, but it has a pole to support the stand so would clear up floor space and amount of hardware, whilst still supporting the snare

It's some kind of wood percussion instrument (perhaps a frog), with a lot of pitch correction, speed increase, and other pieces of audio engineering

Also, there's many videos on how people for movies will get sound effects, very interesting to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO3N_PRIgX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elcOxmCBr3U

Depending on your set-up you could use something like this

Fuck it I don't like my odds but I may as well try since I really need one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079DIF58/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RfGgybBTZ3XWA

https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Medium-Wood-Frog-Guiro/dp/B00NP80XMO/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=wood+frog&qid=1575126206&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Nino-Percussion-NINOSET540-Plastic-Assortment/dp/B0002F5CQK/ref=sr_1_5?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1408469595&sr=1-5&keywords=castanets

http://www.amazon.com/Trophy-3505-Triangle-5-Inch/dp/B000XP0CMS/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=1-6&keywords=castanets

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Band-Set/dp/B00020V4Y4/ref=sr_1_8?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1408469619&sr=1-8&keywords=castanets

This guy is right. The pedal he's using is probably something called a stomp box, which is essentially just a little piezo mic in a box that mimics the sound of a kick drum when you tap on it. One of these is used in this cover of Boom Clap.