(Part 2) Best products from r/drums

Try the BEHRINGER POWERPLAY P1 headphone amplifier with a switch for mono and stereo with a L/R balance knob that can be worn on a belt clip. It is $50 via Amazon.

The POWERPLAY P1 Personal In-Ear Monitor (IEM) Amplifier puts control where it' most useful right at the artist' fingertips. Whether on stage or in the studio, the P1 provides performers and recording artists with a dependable and affordable personal monitoring solution. Drummer-Proof Output The P1' high-power headphone output ensures that as the band gets louder, you'll still be able to hear every nuance of your performance. And the P1' simple user interface makes it easy for everyone to dial in a perfect mix every time. Using the P1 also helps protect your hearing in two ways. First, thanks to a built-in current limiter, unexpected peaks in signal level won't get to your ears. Second, the simple act of wearing headphones or earbuds helps isolate your ears from loud stage volume of instrument amps and monitor wedges. With the P1, you can clearly hear your own performance and blend in the ideal amount of the rest of the band. The Perfect Monitor Mix Dual XLR inputs allow 2-channel, mono or stereo operation with a convenient mix function which allows you to run two sources into the P1 and dial-in exactly what you want to hear as you perform. Two simple controls, Level and Balance, help you achieve the perfect mix in an instant. The P1 lets you take control of what you hear and allows the engineer to concentrate on providing the audience the best listening experience. Plus, setup is so fast and easy, letting you concentrate on putting on the best performance when you hit the stage. Power to Last One little 9 V battery lasts up to 12 hours, so the P1 will go as long as your next show or studio recording session! Or, use the optional PSU-SB DC power supply for the ultimate in dependable power. And the P1's metal chassis is built like a tank to handle even your most- demanding and energetic performance. Small enough to hang on your belt or mount on a mic or drum stand.

​

Drummer-Proof Output

The P1’s high-power headphone output ensures that as the band gets louder, you’ll still be able to hear every nuance of your performance. And the P1’s simple user interface makes it easy for everyone to dial in a perfect mix every time.

Using the P1 also helps protect your hearing in two ways. First, thanks to a built-in current limiter, unexpected peaks in signal level won't get to your ears. Second, the simple act of wearing headphones or earbuds helps isolate your ears from loud stage volume of instrument amps and monitor wedges. With the P1, you can clearly hear your own performance and blend in the ideal amount of the rest of the band.

The Perfect Monitor Mix

Dual XLR inputs allow 2-channel, mono or stereo operation with a convenient mix function which allows you to run two sources into the P1 and dial-in exactly what you want to hear as you perform. Two simple controls, Level and Balance, help you achieve the perfect mix in an instant. The P1 lets you take control of what you hear and allows the engineer to concentrate on providing the audience the best listening experience. Plus, setup is so fast and easy, letting you concentrate on putting on the best performance when you hit the stage.

More Power to You

With rock solid monitoring, your performance naturally will be at the top of your game. Get the power to hear what you want to hear – with the Powerplay P1. The whole band will thank you!

I'm going to go ahead and link to a bookmarked post i have for playing live. Great great advice from /u/champaignthrowaway. His original post that can be seen here is locked, but toss him an upvote for the great guide if you see him around.

> Nutshell guide to IEMs for drummers:

> The most affordable way into it is a pair of Shure SE215s. They are inexpensive, sound very good in comparison to any normal consumer earbud on the market, and the generic fit actually does work 90% as well for most people. I use the foam tips on mine and they isolate completely and have never fallen out. They don't sound quite as good as full blown, custom molded, dual/triple/quad driver IEMS, but stuff like that is more in the $400-800 range and these are a measly hundred bucks. These come in clear or black, but obviously clear is the only real option since it looks so much more expensive and professional (haha).

> Moving into the custom realm, things can get pricey very quickly but it is absolutely worth it if you're going to use them a lot (bear in mind as well that you can use these for just listening to music and stuff too). The most affordable custom option that I'm aware of is taking your pair of Shure SE215s and having Sensaphonics make a set of custom sleeves for them. To get them made, you need to have impressions taken either by a local audiologist (any doctor who makes hearing aids can do this for you for a low fee) or by actually going into Sensaphonics in Chicago for a consultation. They'll take the impressions, help you figure out what you want exactly, and do a very extensive hearing test for you.

> Custom molds will fit well for anywhere from 3-10 years from what I can tell. Your ears do actually keep growing throughout your entire life. If you're a teenager you'll probably have to have them refitted after a few years. If you're older, the growth is very slight and they'll probably fit comfortably for a very long time.

> InEarz and 1964 are other popular companies that make a good product. Personally I prefer Sensaphonics because they are, as far as I know, the only company making them with 100% silicone, which is extremely soft and comfortable. The downside is that Sensaphonics is a bit more expensive than most other options. You honestly can't even feel them in your ear after a few minutes. Generic fit IEMs and custom molds made from harder materials usually get uncomfortable after thirty or forty minutes.

> If you want to use them live, there are some things to keep in mind. Firstly, it is of vital importance to have some sort of body pack with a volume control and a built in limiter. You are putting these things inside your freaking ears and giving some stranger behind the board control over what sound they make. If you have no safety measures in place and the engineer brainfarts out and grabs the wrong aux send, you are going to have a very, very bad night. You can seriously hurt yourself that way. Most sound guys wouldn't even agree to give you an IEM mix without you having a personal limiter of some sort, but it's worth mentioning because there are some idiots out there. I recommend the Behringer P1 bodypack. There are nicer options out there, but the P1 is cheap, simple to use, and will get you up and running.

> Secondly, it will be a bit of an awkward adjustment period especially if you are not in a position where your band is running it's own monitor mix (and if you are in a band like that, you're probably not reading this because you already know all of this stuff). Some engineers will know how to deal with IEMs and can give you a good mix complete with ambient/crowd noise, some will just throw everything up to the same level and leave you in some weird sounding isolated freakish space. At smaller venues that don't mic everything you'll obviously be missing some stuff. Not having overheads is weird - unless you get a lot of cymbal bleed through your other mics you might tend to over crash. Some live engineers like to gate the hell out of all the mics as well, which exaggerates the problem. It just takes some getting used to. You know how vastly different a show feels when your monitors and stage sound are good compared to when they are shitty? Yeah, well your monitors are now inside your freaking head and everything is even more exaggerated. So communicate a lot with your sound guy/girl and hopefully they will do you right. Oh, and at least once you're going to stand up and walk away from the kit without remembering to unplug and you'll probably knock something over or damage a cable. Live and learn, haha.

> * Last small thing - if everything goes right you'll have an awesome IEM mix at your show. That's awesome. That also means you'll probably hear every single mistake your bandmates make. So be ready for that, so that you don't get thrown off or make a funny face when the guitarist botches a note or the singer is half a step off.

> edit: Thanks for gold, kind stranger. If the mod/s want this in the sidebar or something that's fine by me. Somebody let me know if that happens and I'll clean it up a little bit.

• Drum lessons or stay at home learning from me and a resource?
  
  I definitely recommend drum lessons if you can. Especially since you have no real knowledge of drumming, this will help immensely. Someone to tell him "No, hold the stick like this" will help in the long run and save him from making habits out of bad technique. This doesn't mean that he can't learn by himself, it just means he will learn quicker, and hopefully have good technique.
  
  
• If we go for drum lessons, is there a text book he'd learn from so there'd be daily practice homework? If it's learn at home from us, what book?
  
  Yes. As soon as he starts lessons I'm sure the teacher will recommend a few good books. They aren't really textbooks, though, as much as drumming exercises. I don't know a whole lot about different books, but I have heard good things about Stick Control for the Snare Drummer. Other than that, any basic rudiments book will be fine something like this.
  
  
  
• Drum pad and sticks or hand drums? Or both?
  
  Interesting question. I'm not really sure how to answer this. Does he want to play hand drums or a drumset? I know when I first started I thought hand drums were dumb (My only experience was playing a djembe in a drum circle in 6th grade music class with a bunch of rhythmically challenged idiots). There was something about all the drums and cymbals put together that just made it so powerful and awesome to me. I'd say whatever he likes to play, let him play. If he falls in love with the bongos, so be it.
  
  
• We're moving into a house in 4 months... adult drum kit or kid size stuff? I know there's stuff marketed to kids online, should I stick with the adult size stuff?
  
  This is a tough one too. I've never really messed with kid's drums, but I'd say take him to guitar center and let him play the full size kits. If he can play it comfortably and is able to hit all the cymbals with a little adjusting, I'd say get a full size kit. I just wouldn't be a fan of getting a kid's kit that he'll grow out of in a couple years. If you have the extra cash, though, it'd probably be more beneficial to get the kid size drumset.

$300 is ridiculous for a pair of earplugs, custom or not.

Hearing protection is super important and something many of us here don't fuck around with.

You have a couple of solid options.

First (and cheapest) are a pair of High Fidelity ear plugs. Super cheap, easy to use. I use the ones by Vic Firth and they're great (Link). Not great for insanely loud environments (mega rock concerts, etc), but they're amazing for most regular to loud environments (like an un-mic'd performance). I keep 2 pairs in my stick bag at all times. If I'm not wearing in-ears, I'm wearing these.

If you're interested in custom earplugs, honestly just go to a local audiologist (preferably one that works with musicians). You'll be going to them anyways for the ear molds. They can mold your ears and order a pair of earplugs with whatever decibel reduction you want. At this point, all of the products more or less do the same thing. So pick a decibel reduction level and get a pair as cheap as you can. Again, that's dependent on your environment and how much reduction you need.

However, if your act also includes anything vocal (singing, jokes, etc), and you want to hear yourself at a lower volume to protect your hearing (like most musicians and singers), consider in ear monitors. In ear monitors provide isolation from outside noise, while allowing you to hear your self and your equipment clearly and quietly. They're a little more involved, however, because you will need to hook your mics into a monitor to send to your in-ears.

You can get universal IEMs like the Shure 215s for $100. They're solid universals and highly recommended on this sub. I have a pair and they're great.

You can also get custom molded IEMs that are built to specifically fit your ear. Means there's way more isolation and you can get a model designed for your specific needs, with as many drivers in whatever configuration you want. This is obviously the most expensive option, but the price range is also the largest. Alcair has intro IEMs starting at like $250 (which is the cheapest I've found so far for custom IEMs) going all the way up to the thousands of dollars. It's worth noting that most of these companies also offer musician earplugs that are closer to $100-150, so if you wanted earplugs only, that's half the cost of the product you were looking at.

This is a great suggestion that you shouldn't overlook! I've read all other replies and sub-replies, and the comment about Joe Morello's book is also a good suggestion. As noted in this thread's replies, working with each dynamic level is also a big helper. Face it: you need to develop all of those muscles, but at the same time those muscles cannot be too big. The more muscle mass, the more energy required, and also the more your own muscles will slow you down.

If you haven't already, check out Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer DVD. Also, check out Rapid Drumset Improvement:

http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Drumset-Improvement-Exercise-Workbook/dp/0984406913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289937994&sr=8-1

there's a section specifically on what McWatt has described called "Timing Pyramids"; however, there is also a more in-depth guide to practicing Timing Pyramids efficiently. (This is the most time efficient way to practice this study, and it has the best results.)

If you have the discipline to work on all elements of the timing pyramid using each dynamic, you will be HIGHLY rewarded with noticeably improved speed and control. And the time you need to invest in order to achieve this reward? As little as 10 minutes everyday for 1 week.

Advanced Funk Studies: Creative Patterns for the Advanced Drummer by Rick Latham is really good for changing things up. It move things around like the accent and brings in a lot of syncopation. I'm not a funk drummer so don't think of the book like that, it's exercises to move you out of the square if you know what I mean.

Future Sounds: A Book of Contemporary Drumset Concepts by David Garibaldi is also excellent

I get a lot from Mike Johnson and Steven Taylor off youtube. Both of them have extensive and varying levels of fills and grooves. Taylor I think has more available for free, especially a list of drum fills. But I've used Mike's site and paid for a few months and it was worth it to me.

There's also a book that I can find in many places outside of my old hometown of Buffalo, NY called Groovezilla. The concept of the book is pretty neat. It's got hundreds of grooves but all the right hand work (HH/Ride) ostanatos are on transparencies. You then take those transparecncies and lay them over the pages in the book you're working on. So one might be a HH upbeat ostinato and another is a 16th HH ostinato. My former drum teacher was a student of his (Jim Lesner, author) so he helped beta test the book for him on a lot of things. It's a great book and a secret weapon in my learning. He'll ship the book if you order it from the website, I got mine in under a week. Great guy, even put a post it not with his email address in case I had any questions or wanted to chat with him.


Good luck

Is it easy to do? Yes. Is it a good idea for the structure and tuning of the heads? Probably not. Like I said, there are other ways to mute your drums aside from using mesh heads. Another redditor suggested simply throwing towels on.

If you're looking for that bouncy feel of a real or mesh head, however, and don't want to risk your normal heads... I would suggest maybe building a practice pad kit. This is an assembly of practice pads arranged like a normal drum set. And it's not that expensive, only difficult to build (unless somebody has made a rack/stand specifically for it recently). This can be very cost efficient however, as practice pads are cheap especially if you get used ones which should be in good shape because they're built to be abused.

So you could buy these: https://www.amazon.com/Tosnail-12-inch-Silent-Drum-Practice/dp/B01FQG9M88/ref=sr_1_5?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1502919371&sr=1-5&keywords=practice%2Bpad&th=1

And have it look like this: https://d1aeri3ty3izns.cloudfront.net/media/20/200743/1200/preview.jpg

That said, it sounds like electronic kit is a good option for you depending on your budget. So you can find a used kit like this: https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/msg/d/electric-drum-set-roland-td-6/6258682324.html

Or a brand new one for a pretty penny like this: https://www.amazon.com/Roland-TD-11KV-S-V-Compact-Electronic-Drum/dp/B00AKQVUSA

Just make sure to get one with mesh heads, not the rubber/plastic heads.

Etymotic Research MC5 have been a life saver for me. They cancel out a good amount of background noise, so I can just hear my set but then also hear my guitarists feed through loud and clear. These also work great with just plugging them into a laptop or a mp3 player and playing along. I can't even begin to tell you how long I have been looking for the perfect in ear monitor for me, but these are about as good as they get for my personal taste.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003S3RFIQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

In ears are not that far out of budget, honestly. I am a drummer in a similar set up and I use this headphone amp ($50). You have to run a LINE level signal (not amplified) out of the board, so you'll need a free aux output.

next question is headphones. At first I was using my normal ear buds (klipsch S4) and those were OK - sometimes played with one in, one out. Other times I used various over the ear cans I had. Basically you just need a little extra, you don't need 100% awesome sound.

I recently got sure 215's ($90), which are awesome for my needs. they block out even more sound - which makes it more important to get a good mix.

So thats what I use, and what I'd recommend.

However, nothing wrong with using a monitor wedge, if that works better for you. I'd be most concerned about my hearing - IEMs keep lots of the sound out, and total volume a lot lower.

Unless you can find a great sale (and I've seen some steals on new drum sets before, especially on Amazon), I think buying used is probably your best bet, especially with a $1000 budget. Also, you may want to spend a large portion of your budget to buy high quality cymbals from the start. Keep in mind that drums can always have their heads changed and also be tuned, whereas there is very little that can be done to change the sound of a cymbal. In my experience, the most common and affordable "pro" level cymbals are Zildjian A's if you are buying used.

Additionally, everyone here seems to recommend buying the best seat (which is referred to as a "throne" for some damn reason...) that you can afford. Popular choices are Pork Pie and Roc-N-Soc. Personally, I use something that isn't sold as a drum throne - this work stool.

Finally, are you a totally inexperienced drummer? I recommend just a practice pad and pair of sticks to start. It's certainly much cheaper, lol.

Any reason why your teacher is telling you that you have no chance??

For my audition I just played a few drum set grooves (swing, bossa nova, samba, 3/4 swing, and a ballad), sight read a snare drum solo, and sight read a marimba piece. I had already spent a semester in the percussion ensemble (because I originally wanted to be an English major, but after meeting the faculty of both departments I settled on music) so my teacher already knew me and had a good idea of my skill level.

My first semester was mainly rudiments and solos from Cirone's portraits in rhythm. Pretty much snare drum only focusing on building my technique. My next semester I got started on Frank Malabe's Afro-Cuban book and John Riley's Art of Bop Drumming. Beyond that I worked through Riley's Beyond Bop Drumming, Ed Uribe's book on Afro-Cuban drumming, and his book on Brazilian drumming. After that I spent a lot of time working on solo transcriptions, playing pieces that my instructor and I picked out for drums and vibes, jamming with my instructor on vibes or on drum set, and working on pieces that I was writing. By the end at lot of what I was doing was driven by my interests and what I wanted to work on to improve.

As far as the music department as a whole I took your standard history, theory, aural skills, and piano classes, along with tons and tons of ensembles.

I really like these as they cut out a ton of noise and provide good sound and I think they are comfortable.


https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-Noise-Isolating-Earphones/dp/B003S3RFIQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1466540585&sr=1-1&keywords=MC5


Two of my other band members where them and say they are alright and another tried them and said they weren't comfortable. But all agree that they do great and cutting out ambient noise and providing good sound.

Nice, man! Sounds like you have an affinity for linear playing. Carter Beauford of Dave Matthews Band is a brilliant linear player. If you are interested, check out the advanced funk studies book on amazon. It's got some gold in it! https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Funk-Studies-Creative-Patterns/dp/0825825539/ref=pd_sim_74_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0825825539&pd_rd_r=GPWW0EYHE6PMA739CSF8&pd_rd_w=gugi2&pd_rd_wg=zC3Kr&psc=1&refRID=GPWW0EYHE6PMA739CSF8

Spend money on what comes between you and the ground. Spend more money on whatever you spend more time doing.

A quality throne completely changed my practicing and therefore my playing habits. It also eliminated some back pain I got after a few hours on the throne. The Roc-n-Soc is by far the most comfortable I've had the pleasure to use. And I have never heard a complaint from anyone who's sat on one.
I personally use OCDP because I found it in the middle of a busy intersection and frogger'd out to retrieve it. The super thick memory foam makes for one comfy seat.

Don't let $30 keep you from buying a next level throne. If it takes another six months of saving, trust me its worth it.

I'm a newish drummer- been taking lessons and working books for about 3 years now. I still only have an electronic drum kit, I don't gig or anything, but I do jam with some guys from time to time.

My practice routine is as follows- and I do this 3-4 times a week (note, this changes as I master certain lessons):

• Single stroke roll exercise, as spelled out in Drummer's Complete Vocabulary. About 20-30 minutes worth, at the fastest speed I can cleanly do (currently 84bpm, 16ths)
  
• Practice 2-3 rudiments- drags, flams, double stroke roll, whatever, for another 10-15 minutes. I use the same book as the single stroke, above.
  
• Drum Set Warmup excercise, half a page. Drum Set Warm-ups. Great book- I move around the set so much easier. This is a really tough book, keeping everything smooth, but it's paid off so much.
  
• Special weekly lesson. Currently this is practicing 3 different types of paradiddles between hi-hat and snare, opening the hi-hat on the first 16th note. This could also be a couple different beats or something like that. It's slow going right now.
  
  All in all, it lasts about an hour and a half, after which I'll play some, or get on a song, or do some pro-mode Rock Band 3.

I've got the Drumeo P4 and really enjoy it for practicing. Just keep in mind that two of the regions on the pad are harder/louder than your typical electronic kit pads, so volume may factor in.

As a fellow apartment dweller with budget concerns about electric kits, I was in a similar situation. Just purchased the $300 Alesis Nitro kit and set it up yesterday. It's been pretty solid so far and is well covered in the reviews. I'd recommend giving the Nitro some consideration or hunt for a deal on a used kit.

1. Transcribing, as others have mentioned. And listening in general. You don't have to get the entire solo; picking out bits and pieces is fine, especially when parts are really complex.
   
   
2. Books. Of the following, I'd say definitely get the first two, then any one of the other three:
   
   4-Way Coordination, so you can do what you want when you want.
   
   All American Drummer, so you can swing that snare like Philly Joe. Also move around the set.
   
   Modern Reading Text in 4/4, because Louie Bellson knows his big band rhythms. Play them across the entire set and sing along. Use rests and busy rhythms to set up the big hits.
   
   Syncopation for All and Syncopated Big Band Figures. More of the big band rhythm stuffs.
   
   
3. Practice soloing. Start with 4s and 8s. Play time for 4, then solo for 4. If you're using the big band books, improvise a solo, then set up 4 bars. Rinse, repeat.
   
   Get really used to 4s and 8s before moving on to longer solos. Try starting with a simple idea and develop it; don't play a bunch of different, random crap for 4 bars: 2-3 beats of a rhythm, and keep working with it. You'll find you can express yourself much better after some practice.
   
   Also, metronome. Always, always the metronome.
   
   
   

I play to a click in several bands, and I have had tremendous luck with an app call Tempo, as mentioned above. It allows you to create playlists so you can quickly change to the next song. None of my band mates play to the click, but rehearsing with it has taught them to fall in with me. I also kind of tap along during any pauses in the songs and it works well. In between songs i take my phone out of my pocket and change to the next track and put it back quickly.

I also recommend in-ear headphones like this

They have just enough of a noise cancelling quality that I can still hear whats going on but I get plenty of click. The ones I linked to are a cheaper knockoff of shure in-ear headphones, but I find that they work just as well. I'm not playing giant gigs at madison square garden or anything, but for now it can make your band seem tight and professional at minimal cost.

I've been using the Alesis DM6 USB (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C4SM5W) for about 6 months and I'm pretty happy with it. I'd recommend it as a solid beginner/intermediate set.

THIS! (Evans Hybrid Coated)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BEGWSS/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put this head on last weekend and was shocked at the sound, the dampening, but overall the preservation of my snare's natural voice and ring. I have always used the Genera HD Dry, but tried this on a whim and was blown away. A little pricey, but sounds great.

I found the Alesis Nitro Kit and the Alesis DM6 for $275 and $300 respectively.

They're slightly less than Amazon price. But there's nothing else under $400 on my local Craigslist and $400 is the max I wanna spend until I know I'm going to stick with it.

Do you have any recommendations on either of those or any others around $300-$400 that will give me the best value?

David Garibaldi's Future Sounds is a great groove book. I also like Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials, it's a good introduction to different styles of music, haven't tried Groove Essentials 2.0 so I'm not sure about that one.

Instead of using a marching snare on your drumset, I would suggest trying a drumhead like this:

​

https://www.amazon.com/Evans-Hybrid-Coated-Snare-Batter/dp/B001BEGWSS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2KN8Y0QPSM00Z&keywords=evans+hybrid+snare+head+14&qid=1568125663&s=gateway&sprefix=evans+hybrid%2Caps%2C432&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNE5YOVFaRjlaMDNQJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTkyOTU1MzNTNzNURTdVSjRHNCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDIxNzg1MUJYVVozV1lWSE9PSyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

​

I have one on a Black Panther snare and it sounds AWESOME!

You should check out The Complete Drummer's Vocabulary as taught by Alan Dawson. Within that is the Rudimental Ritual, which is basically a piece made up of all the rudiments grounded by a samba ostinato on the hi-hat and bass drum. It works coordination, hand speed, and of course rudiments, and when you get into the triplet variations, you get a good intro to playing polyrhythms. Spend a few weeks going back to these basics and it opens up a whole new world to playing. But do it slowly at first so you really work it into your chops.

I recently bought a bottle of groove juice for cleaning cymbals and it works great. No idea if it will clean that though. I have used brasso on cymbals before and it cleaned them up nicely ... being ex-military in a sea faring service I know the power of brasso and it can remove that corrosion.

I found my instructor on Craigslist. which meant there was going to be a good chance I was going to find someone shitty. That wasn't the case though, my instructor graduated with his bachelors of music and he has a great curriculum. Perhaps you could look for a local drum instructor for him?


If it helps, the books I use (I started 6 or so months ago) are: Ultimate Realistic Rock: Drum Method, Fundamental Studies for Snare Drum, and Modern Reading Text in 4/4 For All Instruments. My instructor also prints off rudiments and other drills for me.

If you have cast bronze cymbals, pretty much anyone will tell you not to clean them, including myself. Sheet bronze cymbals (zildjian ZBTs, Sabian B8s, etc.) however probably sound better clean.

http://www.amazon.com/Groove-Juice-GJCC-Cymbal-Cleaner/dp/B000BUCV3S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333246108&sr=8-2

You don't need to spend a few hundred bucks, but a quality throne is worth the money. Get off that folding chair asap.

​

A Roc-n-Soc throne with a large saddle seat, threaded height, and double bracing is $170, and that's a pretty typical price for threaded, double braced thrones. https://www.amazon.com/ROC-N-SOC-Original-Saddle-Throne-Black/dp/B003L7Z0MW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_267_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PZH47QRX4BB3FNAJV8AK

There are differences but I get to practice more frequently. Because of this I have made significant improvements in my drumming. Having the kick pedal and high-hat pedal are very nice. I purchased one with the same amount of pieces as my kit to try and simulate it as much as possible. I don’t usually use the headphones because the sound quality it not that great and I find I hit the kick pedal harder.

This is the one I purchased.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0187KO8X4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1523231219&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=electronic+drum+kit&dpPl=1&dpID=412j-EeCaFL&ref=plSrch

Ah memories. Yep I started with How to Play rock'n'roll drums, Syncopation and this book way back in the early 90's. Then later on went to Advanced Techniques, Future Sounds and The New Breed for different permutations and limb independence. And 'trying' to pick apart and play Dave Weckl's Island Magic.

Does anyone else remember those drum solos like calypso eclipsed and aint it rich?

I own a pair of MEE Audio in-ears, and love them.
I doubt you'll find anything half as good for under $50.
The noise cancelling works great. I can keep the ipod volume at a comfortable level and keep from blowing out my ears, without my drums overpowering the headphones.

edit: accidentally linked the wrong thing.

Groove Juice, works awesome. Be careful with the markings/labels/ink it will remove them if you aren't careful. You can tape off the ink if you're worried about it. Let the spray sit on the cymbal for about a minute (you can be fairly generous with the spray), then work it in with a toothbrush and rinse off.

http://www.amazon.com/Groove-Juice-GJCC-Cymbal-Cleaner/dp/B000BUCV3S

The problem with a drumkit that has mesh heads costs upwards of $1500. (Rolands V-Drum cheapest all mesh kit is the TD11KV) which no parent would buy their child starting out with drums. Even used will set you back 800-900 bucks alone (add to that a throne and kick pedal and you're easily in the ballpark of $1000)

You see - when you are a beginner you need mainly to practice on stick technique, tempo keeping, proper hitting and hand coordination. All that you can get from one practice pad. Spending a minimum of $1000 on a used V-Drum to practice the basic fundamentals is kind of a waste. Don't get me wrong - an all-mesh V-Drumkit is awesome (I have one myself) but it's kind of like buying a kid a Hummer when all they need is a bike with support wheels to learn how to bike. It's pretty much overkill and overpriced for its intended purpose.

As for not making little noise - you are incorrect. Even an all-mesh V-drum kit will make significant noise - unless you spend even more money on things such as acoustic noise dampening isolation like the ND-01 costs $100 alone. - Again, I own these myself.

And no - you cannot always sell drum stuff for the intended price. There's never a 100% guarantee you'll be able to sell whatever drum hardware you bought.
I started out with 2 practice pads - one snare and one kick in the late 80's and I ended up continuing playing the drums for over 20 years.

A lot of people do not like to polish their cymbals because (if i'm not mistaken) the dirt and grime gives them a dryer, darker tone. I only noticed a difference on my Paiste crash, as I scrubbed off some patina on it's underside. It's now more washy and bright sounding, I personally think it sounds better. All of the other cymbals besides my splash were not significantly dirty, though. They only had fingerprints and some stick marks, so I doubt it affected the tone much.
If you're thinking of cleaning/polishing your cymbals, just be careful of what you use. I've heard some cleaners can take off logos. I use Groove Juice and it works great.
http://www.amazon.com/Groove-Juice-GJCC-Cymbal-Cleaner/dp/B000BUCV3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370841152&sr=8-1&keywords=groove+juice

Modern Reading Text in 4/4 for All Instruments by Louis Bellson has been pretty good to me. Starts simple, gets rough.

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Reading-Text-For-Instruments/dp/0769233775

I have an Alesis nitro kit im a beginner as well and it’s pretty cool, you can buy an extra Tom and crash as an add-on and the module has lots of customization, you can find other pages for cheaper, as well as the mesh kit

Play around on Mike's Lessons and look at what changing the notes up does to the drum notes.

This is the book my teacher used when teaching me site reading and improving my timing: Modern Reading Text

Be patient and it will start to make sense!

Shure SE215 In-Ear monitors, ran me under $100 off of amazon, not bulky at all. I use them everyday, but they are also great for noise cancelling during drumming.
http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE215-K-Isolating-Earphones-MicroDriver/dp/B004PNZFZ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1450858577&sr=1-1&keywords=shure+se215

Cool. I have this one saved in my Amazon cart. I'm interested to give it a go more so for sentimental sake; I was involved in marching percussion for many years.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BEGWSS/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2WO4ZFQC8EROU

Alesis DM6 is the best kit for under $500. They usually retail at $650-700 but on Amazon, brand new kits are $350.
http://www.amazon.com/Alesis-DM6-Five-Piece-Electronic-Drum/dp/B002C4SM5W

Alesis DM10 is a big upgrade, but on Amazon the kit is $750. I've seen it on ebay for under 500, but they've all sold quickly.
http://www.amazon.com/Alesis-Studio-Six-Piece-Professional-Electronic/dp/B0038YX39U

Would you recommend something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Roland-TD-11KV-S-V-Compact-Electronic-Drum/dp/B00AKQVUSA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1519290733&sr=1-1&keywords=B00AKQVUSA&linkCode=ll1&tag=kickstartyourdrumming-20&linkId=66db05dd2cb5935d14fe3d591ee96483

​

I've had my eye on it (minus the price of course lol)

This stuff is awesome! https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BUCV3S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519580001&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=groove+juice+cymbal+cleaner&dpPl=1&dpID=41z%2BWnqM%2BEL&ref=plSrch

another great book, kind of an encylopedia reference http://www.amazon.com/The-Essence-Afro-Cuban-Percussion-Drum/dp/1576236196

These are great.

Shure SE-215

Great sound and they have a similar level of noise reduction as a pair of ear plugs. I usually wear a pair of ear muffs over them to reduce the noise level even further.

I haven't tried them out yet (ordered them yesterday), but everyone here goes on and on about these guys.

If you want detailed analysis, the guys at r/headphones can help you out.

The Sound of Brushes - Thigpen
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sound-Brushes-Book-CDs/dp/0769294316

Creative Coordination - Copeland
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Coordination-Performing-Drummer-Copeland/dp/0825803861

Advanced Funk Studies - Latham
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Funk-Studies-Creative-Patterns/dp/0825825539

Big Band Drumming Fill-osophy - http://www.alfred.com/Products/Big-Band-Drumming-Fill-osophy--00-42309.aspx

This is a fantastic book, but I don't think it's necessarily a good starting place for Afro-Cuban rhythms. Work through the Malabe book and at least get started in the Uribe book first.

As was already mentioned, all you need is a small mixer, e.g. this Mackie 5-channel mixer, and a pair of headphones/earbuds. I recommend the Shure SE215.

The venue's mix of what would normally run to your stage monitor will be plugged into your mixer, and your earbuds plug into it also.

Here's a short video that further explains and gives some more advanced setups also.

Check out the MEElectronics M6 on Amazon (here's a link : http://www.amazon.com/MEElectronics-M6-CL-MEE-Noise-Isolating-In-Ear-Headphones/dp/B0038W0K2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369324343&sr=8-1&keywords=meelectronics+m6 )

They're under $20, and are better (IMHO) than the $100 Shure In Ears (I used to own a pair..).

I have two pair of the M6's, and I really dig'em.

I've used these Galaxy Audio headphones quite a bit and liked them a lot. They're right around your budget after factoring in tax and US shipping costs, although I don't know if they're available in Australia. I just had a look at some Australian online music stores and didn't see much selection as far as in ears goes.

The SE215's are a very popular recommendation around here and they're currently on sale on amazon and at musiciansfriend (if you're able to order from them). Normally they're a little over your price range but currently they're right on par with the other ones I linked.

If you are looking for something smaller. I use the Shure SE-215 ear buds. They have pretty good sound isolation.

The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary As Taught by Alan Dawson: Go through as much as you can while staring both on right and left hand.

Also, Gary Chester's The New Breed: This is a lifetime lesson type of book. You'll get out of it what you put into it.

nice I bought a Roland 11kv-sv last christmas

Recently got an Alesis DM6 electronic kit. I would recommend it as a starter kit. Currently $349.95 on Amazon.

I would recommend Garibaldi's Future Sounds.

https://www.amazon.com/Future-Sounds-Contemporary-Drumset-Concepts/dp/0739019120

Foam earplugs are great for high volume situations:
https://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-MAX-1-plugs-Uncorded/dp/B0033Z1RBU/

Or, if you're worried about how much of the highs those cut (I don't mind, honestly)
https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Firth-VICEARPLUGR-High-Fidelity-Earplugs/dp/B00AL2UDZ4/

You try this one yet?

http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Funk-Studies-Creative-Patterns/dp/0825825539

Are you both talking about this? I'm just a beginner drummer so I'm taking notes based on recommendations here too.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Weapons-Modern-Drummer-Technique/dp/B00NBJ9D9G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412439205&sr=8-2&keywords=jojo+mayer+secret+weapons+for+the+modern+drummer

This one was suggested

This is all you need.

Yea, I use Groove Juice. You can dilute it for hardware.

I really dig [these.] (https://www.amazon.com/MEE-audio-Sport-Fi-Isolating-Headphones/dp/B0038W0K2U/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1479088265&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Meelectronic+earphones)

They've worked well as in-ear monitors at church, in my "studio" at home, and also general ear protection with the jack just tucked into my pocket. I've just about worn out the rubber buds themselves, but for $14, I've gotten a ton of use out of them over the last year+.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BUCV3S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7114AbWZYT543

Groove Juice is what I've used, and it works as it should. I don't understand the appeal of dirty cymbals