Any suggestions for a starter drum kit...

[tater1977]

Any suggestions for a starter drum kit..for a 9 year old?
Brand name? Price range?
Thanks

[tater1977]

[brandonx76]

As much as I prefer an acoustic kit to play, for a learner i would highly recommend an introductory electronic set from Yamaha or roland... These will save your hearing and allow a beginner to get some necessary basics learning done... Look for budgets around $600 to $1200. The great thing about electronics is ability to play at almost any hour of the day... Acoustics... Introductory wise, guitar center and the like all sell kits under $700... But again, unless you have the space , I recommend an electronic kit with a 2 to 3 year plan for upgrade to acoustics. Good luck and MAKE SURE to protect the ears ... Cannot stress this enough

[JRNYMAN]

Do you have a Guitar Center in your area? If so, they have excellent deals on starter kits. For example...
5 pc. Pearl Forum kit Reg. $699.00 Sale $399.00
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Pearl-Forum ... 1629994.gc

If that's a bit more than you're wanting to spend on a starter kit, they also carry Sound Percussion kits like this 5 pc. kit for $249.00 (Reg. $479.00) and shipping is free!
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Sound-Percu ... 1372484.gc

As far as quality goes, Pearl, as I'm sure you already know, makes excellent products and Sound Percussion makes rock solid products - the kind that schools buy to withstand multiple students and lots of abuse.

If an acoustic kit is not mandatory, I agree completely with Brandon.
IF you do go with an acoustic kit, you can scrimp and save here and there on the shells but don't cut corners on the hardware. Cheap hardware will contribute to a shortened life of the kit overall!

[slucero]

As much as I prefer an acoustic kit to play, for a learner i would highly recommend an introductory electronic set from Yamaha or roland... These will save your hearing and allow a beginner to get some necessary basics learning done... Look for budgets around $600 to $1200. The great thing about electronics is ability to play at almost any hour of the day... Acoustics... Introductory wise, guitar center and the like all sell kits under $700... But again, unless you have the space , I recommend an electronic kit with a 2 to 3 year plan for upgrade to acoustics. Good luck and MAKE SURE to protect the ears ... Cannot stress this enough

I agree with this...

I loaned my Roland TD10 kit to my best bud for a bit so his teenage kid could learn... his mom was forever grateful....

I see decently priced electronic kits on Craigslist all the time..

[JRNYMAN]

As much as I prefer an acoustic kit to play, for a learner i would highly recommend an introductory electronic set from Yamaha or roland... These will save your hearing and allow a beginner to get some necessary basics learning done... Look for budgets around $600 to $1200. The great thing about electronics is ability to play at almost any hour of the day... Acoustics... Introductory wise, guitar center and the like all sell kits under $700... But again, unless you have the space , I recommend an electronic kit with a 2 to 3 year plan for upgrade to acoustics. Good luck and MAKE SURE to protect the ears ... Cannot stress this enough

I agree with this...

I loaned my Roland TD10 kit to my best bud for a bit so his teenage kid could learn... his mom was forever grateful....

I see decently priced electronic kit's on Craigslist all the time..

Hey Slucie, remember back in the 80's or maybe it was the early 90's some company made those electronic sticks that would generate the sounds of drums and cymbals depending on how you shook or "played" the air drums? Those would probably be real cheap for Tater dontcha think?

[slucero]

As much as I prefer an acoustic kit to play, for a learner i would highly recommend an introductory electronic set from Yamaha or roland... These will save your hearing and allow a beginner to get some necessary basics learning done... Look for budgets around $600 to $1200. The great thing about electronics is ability to play at almost any hour of the day... Acoustics... Introductory wise, guitar center and the like all sell kits under $700... But again, unless you have the space , I recommend an electronic kit with a 2 to 3 year plan for upgrade to acoustics. Good luck and MAKE SURE to protect the ears ... Cannot stress this enough

I agree with this...

I loaned my Roland TD10 kit to my best bud for a bit so his teenage kid could learn... his mom was forever grateful....

I see decently priced electronic kit's on Craigslist all the time..

Hey Slucie, remember back in the 80's or maybe it was the early 90's some company made those electronic sticks that would generate the sounds of drums and cymbals depending on how you shook or "played" the air drums? Those would probably be real cheap for Tater dontcha think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qr_clH7Yh0

$19 at Overstock.com
http://www.overstock.com/Sports-Toys/Mi ... oduct.html

[Jeremey]

Here ya go, tater!

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... QgodnysA4A

[tater1977]

Thanks all...well now we having a starting point...

As for the air sticks...I cant quit

Now if only a "silencer" was attached to a kit..while they learn

[tater1977]

This got me to thinking back to grade school...

What instruments did you start out on & did you actually continue to keep up with them?

Somewhere in the 60's ..Dad got an electric guitar & tried to teach us Beatle's tunes..
His guitar weighed more than we did...
His "superb" electric amp..everytime he turned it on...it hummed Louder than the
guitar..so who knows if we actually could play it or not...

5th grade - drums...never made it past the old wooden drum pad..
(tried once to impress a date playing wipeout & ended up trashing 2 wine glasses)

6th grade - Those stupid white / red flutes ...can't even remember that much
about them..except they sucked...well the mouthpieces were more fun..

Jr High - 2 years of piano lessons on an old upright

Bought a new Wurlitzer upright - late 70s ..sold it a year later..

9th & 10th grade -- Choir ( only because our neighbor was the school's music teacher)

Only recently took out the old keyboard & now waiting to have it tuned...or it could be
me ???

Funny to look back at it all now..

[strangegrey]

stay away from electronic drums. Drums are an instrument, not a computer.....there's subtleties to hitting the skins, the rims, the sticks....all of those things you will miss out on when you are starting out.

The suggestion about a Pearl Forum or Export kit is the way to go. Go to Guitar Center and check out the used kits....spend some extra coin on a good used kit by Pearl, Tama, Sonar, etc....instead of a crappy new kit from some no-name company.

Warranty is meaningless with drums. They either hold up or they do not.....so stick with a good used kit and bang the hell out of it until you start making music...

[slucero]

stay away from electronic drums. Drums are an instrument, not a computer.....there's subtleties to hitting the skins, the rims, the sticks....all of those things you will miss out on when you are starting out.

The suggestion about a Pearl Forum or Export kit is the way to go. Go to Guitar Center and check out the used kits....spend some extra coin on a good used kit by Pearl, Tama, Sonar, etc....instead of a crappy new kit from some no-name company.

Warranty is meaningless with drums. They either hold up or they do not.....so stick with a good used kit and bang the hell out of it until you start making music...

Agree that there's no replacing real drums.. but most drum teachers advocate electronic drums with mesh heads because they are literally exactly the same as "real" drums for the beginner, who really won't be able to tell the difference, and for whom learning the rudiments of drumming is way more important.

http://www.nielsmyrner.com/nielsmyrner/ ... Drums.html

Electric vs. Acoustic Drums


I use Roland V-Drums, specifically a Roland V-Tour Series TD-9KX2 electric drum set, adapted for my teaching studio to create lesson videos and play-along tracks. For years I had a strong bias against electric drums. That changed recently when one of my students graduated from high school and began attending University of Southern California to study jazz drumming with Peter Erskine. When I heard USC had a drum lab equipped with these sets I decided to check them out and see how the technology has evolved. It has come a long way!


For practice and teaching, electric drums are amazing tools. For performance, playing brushes, material requiring subtle dynamic shading and a variety of textures, they fall short of acoustic sets.


There are some big advantages to electric drums. The samples sound great. You can use the direct output to record and create "perfect" sounding tracks quickly and easily. Programming drum tracks and oversampling acoustic drums are common production techniques. Electric sets bridge the gap between playing acoustically and programming digital tracks. There are many fantastic practice tools built into the modules. Mesh pads magnify and make it easier to control the rebound of the drum stick. You can easily control the volume. Probably the biggest plus to an electric set is that you can play it whenever you want. Just throw on headphones and go for it! No angry neighbors, nobody listening in on your practice, nothing between you and your passion.


There are some drawbacks to electric drums. The lower 30% of the dynamic range is gone on an electric set. You can touch a real drum with your hand and every detail of the sound comes out. If you lightly touch an electric drum, nothing happens. Some depth is lost. This matters a lot if you are playing brushes, orchestral snare drum or jazz. For your average pop beat, it doesn't matter as much. Some of the visual appeal and human feel are lost in an electric set. Like a human being, the irregularities and imperfections of an acoustic set tend to add to the appeal rather than take away from it.


Some think the magnified rebound on electric sets pampers the drummer making it easier to play. Due to reduced dynamic range and sensitivity, electric drums can effectively "clean up" your playing, picking up less of the sloppy details when you play inaccurately, inconsistently or with poor technique. These traits can be a good or bad, depending on your perspective and how you utilize the instrument. On an electric set, you can control the volume with a knob. On an acoustic set, you must use technique and dynamic control. If you plan on learning and practicing on an electric set, try to remember just how loud an acoustic set is when you touch it with a drum stick.


10 years ago, the electric sets I tried were so terrible I wouldn't have considered using them. With the introduction of more realistic feeling mesh heads, increased dynamic range, sensitivity control, tunability and customization of modern electric sets, the game has changed. The only catch is that decent electric sets are rather expensive. I'm using a Roland TD-9KX2. I did a lot of research before buying it. In my opinion, it was the cheapest model that felt good to play. It cost around $2700. The big difference between the TD-9KX2 and the cheaper sets is that it has all mesh pads, and solid feeling hoops which respond realistically. It also has a real hi-hat stand instead of a detached foot pedal.


Electric and acoustic sets are really just different. One can't replace the other. Both are good. It’s all about using the right tool for the job.

[JRNYMAN]

This got me to thinking back to grade school...

What instruments did you start out on & did you actually continue to keep up with them?

Somewhere in the 60's ..Dad got an electric guitar & tried to teach us Beatle's tunes..
His guitar weighed more than we did...
His "superb" electric amp..everytime he turned it on...it hummed Louder than the
guitar..so who knows if we actually could play it or not...

5th grade - drums...never made it past the old wooden drum pad..
(tried once to impress a date playing wipeout & ended up trashing 2 wine glasses)

6th grade - Those stupid white / red flutes ...can't even remember that much
about them..except they sucked...well the mouthpieces were more fun..

Jr High - 2 years of piano lessons on an old upright

Bought a new Wurlitzer upright - late 70s ..sold it a year later..

9th & 10th grade -- Choir ( only because our neighbor was the school's music teacher)

Only recently took out the old keyboard & now waiting to have it tuned...or it could be
me ???

Funny to look back at it all now..

My mom started me in piano lessons two weeks prior to my 5th birthday because whenever I would bang on the piano at Grandma's house, mom said she could hear a pattern or rhythm in my banging. I took private lessons for about 10 years and later taught for a few.
Like most school districts in the US, the one I was in for elementary school required exposure to music/instruments starting in 4th grade which was the recorder. 5th grade offered a choice of instruments. The first half of the year, I played violin 2nd half I played the clarinet. In jr. high I played clarinet but decided the drums were much cooler and switched to those mid-7th grade. I played the roto-toms for the remainder of 7th grade and throughout 8th grade. Played piano in high school in jazz band and was the choir pianist/accompanist for honors choir jr. year.

Back to the drum topic, as Strangegrey mentioned, you will get a much bigger bang for the buck with a used kit and Guitar Center has tons of used kits from starter to pro setups that are in excellent condition. What you're going to find as you look at what's available via the various outlets, (Craigslist, Guitar center, etc.) is the price is going to vary WILDLY based on many factors - not the least significant of which is the attachment the seller has to the kit. When you are out looking at used kits, disregard the condition of the skins. They're cheap and should have absolutely no bearing on price - unless of course, the seller considers the kit to be "pretty trashed" simply because the skins are beat to shit.

[No Surprize]

I remember the day I bought my 7 year old a starter kit. And I remember even a more awesome day when I he switched to guitar and I sold it. Man,

I can still hear the cymbals shattering all of a sudden out of the blue.

As far a learning an instrument, the first for me was piano like my kid. My mom taught piano on the week-end to kids and I was one who was taught

daily. For all you Journey hardcore's, they are fun to play the key's to. Then, I was in 4th grade and started playing in the band. Mr. S was our band

teacher, a hippie from the 60's. Looking back I and knowing what I know now, I swear he came to school stoned or on acid. I played trumpet and during

this time after school I would take guitar lessons from this woman that lived maybe 3 blocks from the elementary school that I went to. That lasted all

of about 2 weeks before I convinced my dad that he could teach me as well as she did, so guess what, Mr. S taught me for 2 years after that and then

I took it from there. Playing the piano first definitely help with learning the guitar.

[jrnychick]

We got my daughter her drum kit off of someone on Craigslist. She had only been playing percussion in the school band for 6 months when we got it. Her kit is crappy, but we're gradually upgrading pieces of it. She bought her own ride right after she got the kit. We just got her a new (used) high hat and bass drum foot pedal for Christmas, and one of her grandparents got her a China cymbal and splash cymbal. She is 12 now, and plays pretty well so we don't mind hearing the banging. We figure that we can replace/add components for holidays as long as she sticks with it.

[TRAGChick]

Noble & Cooley....?
http://www.noblecooley.com

Mark plays them, because Phil Collins played them.
I mean, Mark's Drums were custom built - a House Set and a Touring Set.

...And I'm out....that's all I know.

[JRNYMAN]

We figure that we can replace/add components for holidays as long as she sticks with it.

C'mon... you can't tell me that wasn't worded like that intentionally!

[slucero]

Noble & Cooley....?
http://www.noblecooley.com

Mark plays them, because Phil Collins played them.
I mean, Mark's Drums were custom built - a House Set and a Touring Set.

...And I'm out....that's all I know.

Noble & Cooley Kits are top of the line.. just the snares alone are over $450... prolly a bit steep for a beginners kit..

[strangegrey]

Agree that there's no replacing real drums.. but most drum teachers advocate electronic drums with mesh heads because they are literally exactly the same as "real" drums for the beginner, who really won't be able to tell the difference, and for whom learning the rudiments of drumming is way more important.

Most drum teachers? I find that very hard to believe! I would *highly* question the validity and credentials of any drum teacher that suggests an electric kit to a student who is just starting out, while claiming there's zero perceivable difference.

That lower 30% of dynamic range that the article states is missing electronic is absolutely *crucial* to a starting drummer....rudiments are important, but equally important is dynamics. A drummer who doesn't have a good sense of dynamics is useless. Turning down a volume knob doesn't count. Heck Steve smith *lives* in that lower 30%.

Guitarists have similar issues....right now, you can spend 300 bucks on a pedal and have 100 amp tones at line level running into you computer. That's too many choices for a starting guitarist. Moreover, learning to control a guitar amp while playing is an essential skill that is completely lost on beginner guitarists today. They plug into their computers, spend 2 hours putsing around with 100 different sounds and then they unplug and go play MW3. When I started, I had an old amp, a guitar and eventually a couple of pedals, I learned how to get usable sounds out of guitars *without* the technology. THATS what's missing in an electric kit. Part of learning an instrument is learning how to squeeze sounds out of the instrument without technology.....it's crucial to becoming a good player.

To the op, please, please, please do not make the mistake of going electric. Musical instruments are loud. They're meant to be. A trumpet player is never going to learn circular breathing on a midi trumpet. A guitarist is not going to learn proper picking technique with a guitar synth. A drummer is never going to learn proper dynamics with an electric set.


If after you become a good drummer you see a utility to move over to an electric st, go ahead. More power to ya. But *learn* on a real kit. Is that important.

[The Sushi Hunter]

his mom was forever grateful....

Which reminds me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytsm1vTBW1c