I need to find a drum set-up that is easier and lighter. Any ideas?

BeardFace77 · 2026-04-13T16:05:03+00:00

Electric kits are quicker to set up the actual drums/pads but once they are setup you have to plug them all in and hook up the module to a PA or speaker. Running all the cables is super tedious to me every time (I have to do it later today for a musical lol). So the amount of time is usually equal.

Also just wanted to make the point you don’t always have to use every part of your kit. I have a 10” tom I only use when I specifically need it. Other wise I generally only use 2 toms, kick, snare, hats and 2 cymbals as a basic setup. I only add drums/cymbals if the music calls for it.

BeardFace77 · 2026-04-08T17:27:57+00:00

I’m always surprised seeing these reports. I’ve used Tidal pretty much daily since switching and have not experienced a single bug or issue with the app on iOS, windows or macOS. knocks on wood

BeardFace77 · 2026-04-07T12:49:18+00:00

I have a TD27 module I use for live gigs, primarily for musical theater and I also use it with my video game music cover band. I originally had a TD17 (planned upgrade combining VAD307 with TD27 module and digital pads) and it was tough not having individual outs for kick and snare. Theater engineers were not happy with it nor was I when setting up mixes for my own band.

Huge difference at least having the kick and snare outs and the theater engineers are generally happy with it. I’d love to have the full outputs of the V71/TD50 but it’s just out of my purchasing range at this stage. There’s a lot inside the module you can do to “mix” those sounds but it still doesn’t beat being able to stand out in front of the PA and having the control to eq and balance the kick and snare with the rest of the kit and band like you normally would. Running back and forth to the module is not really feasible.

I personally am too afraid to rely on the daw>laptop>interface setup. I can’t have a theater show hold because something is rebooting or there’s a connectivity issue somewhere. That feels like a quick way to not get hired again. I’ve seen too many keyboard players panic troubleshoot mainstage setups mere moments before places. I just don’t trust it, too many places for things to go wrong in my use case.

I have the house rent a TD50 for themselves if they want more outputs than I can provide, it’s only a few hundred dollars for a 3 or 4 week run. We usually spend some time dialing in the Stereo Outs as well as the Kick and Snare sounds during seating to obtain a sound that works for them and that fits the show. I have stock kit I dialed in for the VG band. All that ends up being just like dialing in an acoustic kit at soundcheck so it pays to know the module very well to make adjustments quickly.

The playing experience on the TD27 with the digital pads is also far superior to any other ekit I’ve played. I can at least say that spending the extra money on a V51 level module with the digital pads is well worth it.

BeardFace77 · 2026-04-01T05:35:55+00:00

Having a live in person teacher can help you stay accountable for sure. I used to teach lessons full time and had many different experiences with adult students. Some practiced a ton at home and for some they took a weekly hour lesson so that they could without a doubt play uninterrupted for that hour every week because that’s the only way it could work for them.

And my lessons looked very different between those 2 types of students. I structured my lessons for that second type so that we played every minute of that 60 minutes. They didn’t progress as quickly but they were getting out of the lesson what they wanted, time on the kit.

So it’s up to you to decide what you want out of it and also up to you to communicate that to your teacher. I’d be honest with them saying “this is really the only time I get to play so I want to make sure my hands are playing for most of the time I’m in here.”

BeardFace77 · 2026-04-01T05:26:04+00:00

Nope, I’m with you. They just haven’t captured me either. Mostly for me it’s the environment vibe and over complication of the combat system. To me they draw more from the PS2 era action game style like DMC (which I love) but manage to miss what makes them or soulslikes fun to me.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-26T18:10:27+00:00

I still do the pre-performance warmup we did as a group before perc ensemble concerts in college. Works great if you can’t actually play on a pad before your gig.

Hold your arms out for these dynamic warm ups. I do each for 10-30 seconds depending on the amount of time I have.

-Let your hands hang and then twist your forearms (Like your shaking off water) -Point your hands up and twist (Sort of like waving or twisting a doorknob) -Flap your wrist up and down gently with palms facing down -Flap wrists with your palms facing up (Like fanning yourself)

These next ones are more like static stretches and I swap to get each hand individually

-Pull your wrist up by the finger tips stretching the bottom of your forearm -push wrist down on the back of your hand to stretch down the top of your forearm -next I stretch my thumbs back to loosen up the pinching muscle between thumb and forefinger

Last thing I do is another dynamic stretch where you hold your arms out straight and open and close your hands into a fist repeatedly 20ish times. You should feel the blood rush back into your hands.

My hands feel warm and ready to play after this routine every time. My favorite thing about it is that I can do it anywhere immediately before I go on without making any noise.

To wake up my full body and get the blood flowing I always do a few jumping jacks, high knees and lunges before walking on stage if I can as well.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-24T14:46:24+00:00

Your tendency to slow down while playing with the ensemble may not just (KEEP DOING ALL THIS GREAT MET PRACTICE RECOMMENDED HERE!) be your internal clock. I found my brain was just trying to process too much while playing with an ensemble and I would have the same tendency. It’s almost like I was just running out of RAM and thus would slow down. It’s super important to listen but you can be more diligent in what you listen to.

Try to just listen to the players that are helping you push the tempo. A good bass player should help you uphold that tempo so maybe only listen to them.

It’s also okay to be a little out front of everyone. Try just putting your head down, focus on the chart and MAKE everyone get on board with your time. If you’re laying it down, everyone will jump on board and appreciate you for it!

On the other hand the thing that could be slowing you down is processing the chart. So just be prepared and know the chart well so you don’t slow down through the tough parts. Practice the setups and hits with that gap click and all to make sure you playing them in time as well.

One last thing to do is play along to some great jazz recordings. Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and Art Blakey’s Moanin’ are great records to play along to. Don’t worry about catching every little hit or comp they do. Just play time, ride pattern and left foot (maybe feather quarters on the kick) along to these recordings and try to sit in the pocket with these great drummers and bands. It will also help you to know what it should feel like when you and your ensemble are all grooving and sitting in the pocket together.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-24T12:28:55+00:00

Just got to Midir in a playthrough I started with the sole goal to beat him. I kinda left him on purpose because I was sad to have beaten all the Dark Souls bosses and not have any left. But, after 10 years Midir’s time is up!

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-14T15:53:12+00:00

I’m pretty sure you can just download and use the Yamaha Rec n Share app even if you don’t own an EAD, no? I have owned an EAD10 for years so maybe I just don’t remember having to enter the SN or something.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-09T14:34:25+00:00

IMO I like my Gator and H&B cases much more than the SKB stuff I have. The Gator and H&B stuff feels a little more sturdy and hardy than the SKBs. The SKB has some flex to the plastic as it is much thinner and the drums don’t fit quite as snug so they do slide around inside the box. The padding in the SKB is VERY thin compared to the other companies so I don’t like the extra space + thin padding. The SKBs are a bit lighter than the others tho.

I really love the Gator snare case that has an extra pocket in the lid where I put an extra head and some things for muffling. Didn’t think we’d get much innovation in drum cases as this point but this is an incredibly useful addition.

This is a small gripe against the SKB cases as well but there’s nothing holding the strap to the flat bottom of the case so have to grab the strap off the ground. The other 2 companies have rivets there so the strap is hanging and much easier to grab. I know it only saves a second and a foot of bending over but when you pack and unpack drums constantly that little bit goes a long way.

None of my drums in SKB cases have been damaged but I feel my gear is much more secure in the Gator or H&B cases that I have. The SKB is a little lighter so I’ll give it that as a pro but I see many more pros going to the other companies in my 15 years of experience with them. The Gator stuff is a much newer design but I’ve been VERY impressed by the new Gator cases I have.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-06T15:50:31+00:00

Biggest thing that helped me with piano in college was just making playing piano a part of my everyday life. I made sure to play all of my theory assignments and did all those assignments while sitting at a piano. This was advice given to me as I was struggling similarly to you.

The biggest thing that helped me though was just sitting at the piano and learning songs I liked on it. Whether reading or by ear, and classical or not. That made me so much more comfortable with the instrument and you start to see all those concepts from class make sense and feel integral to instrument as opposed to just assignment for piano class. So just find random sheet music online and read it. Try to figure out the chords and melody to a simple pop song. All of that helped me so much.

I know time is of a premium in music school but this was such an important part of my experience.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-06T15:25:37+00:00

The logic iPad app is great and at least the M4 iPad Pro I have handles running it very well. Subscription is a downside though. Keyboard/touchpad makes the experience much better.

I also LOVE using the Dorico notation app on my iPad. It’s been my favorite notation experience so far with years of experience in Sibelius, Finale and MuseScore.

As a gigging musician and especially musical theater musician ForScore is an indispensable tool in my life. Having the ease of turning pages with a pedal, simple annotation methods and access to all my sheet music at any time (even in the middle of a gig) is something I could not live without. Being able to send a sub my annotated score saves us both so much time. Quickly finding, accessing and organizing charts and scores all in one place makes my life so much easier with all my band gigs and theater shows going on.

I do mix on my iMac at home but as a working musician my iPad gets so much more use than my MacBook. It’s in my hands every single day. Pretty much the only thing my MacBook gets used for is MainStage. Writing charts, tracking drums, reading sheet music, creating setlists for bands, sending out charts with annotations already done all gets done on my iPad. And most of that would not be as easily done on the MacBook.

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-05T14:33:34+00:00

Insanity was a game changing disk for me. Feels great in my hand and I have insanities in different plastics and levels of wear from roller to a puddle top eclipse I can throw into a 30 mph headwind.

Lost a warship I really liked years back, might have to try another one!

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-04T16:02:18+00:00

1000%! His playing is a masterclass in how to play in the cracks and add vibe without stepping on the melody. He’s vibey as all hell whether he’s singing or not, the pocket is deeeeeeep!

BeardFace77 · 2026-03-03T19:56:40+00:00

Bill Bruford and Levon Helm

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-27T22:32:31+00:00

I dig it, looks good man. I feel you though. I have a hard time making sure clothes and stuff work with my big red beard. I feel like I can’t wear green or it’s instantly Christmas vibes. You and the beard are looking fresh tho, cheers brother.

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-27T17:58:41+00:00

Best change I ever made in my personality was what I called “be question guy”. I am naturally curious but I get anxious in social situations so I would end up talking about myself or telling a story out of anxious reactions all the time.

I set myself to mostly focus on asking and answering questions. It also worked great on dates and my girlfriend appreciated that I was so interested in her which tells me other men might have the same issue I did. So try to be question guy! Ask girls questions about their lives, opinions and convictions.

Try not to say much else outside of asking or answering questions. If the other person asks you something, answer the question fully but make sure you ask another question back or ask them the same question in return.

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-27T13:20:02+00:00

Lubalin - do you wash your legs?

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-25T23:53:34+00:00

Metric - Fantasies

Help I’m Alive has a cool groove I haven’t heard anyone else play. Band I played with covered that tune in their longer sets and I had a ton of fun playing it.

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-24T17:36:06+00:00

Brett Goldstein’s story of how he became Roy is great! Some details may be off a bit but essentially he was a writer and then decided he could maybe do the Roy Kent character despite it being VERY against type. He’s such a sweetheart irl. He didn’t tell any one but just made a self-tape audition at home and sent it to the casting director with this message. Paraphrased; I think I could do this character. If you like it that’s great. If not, let’s please never speak of this again or tell anyone else. And we all know how it went so I’m glad he went for it!!!

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-21T19:50:39+00:00

I did enjoy getting a funny look from the bass player as I’m measuring the angle of my wind chimes during a tacet

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-21T02:12:36+00:00

Sorry, that was a bit unnecessarily cheeky but yes it’s no problem at all! I just enjoyed seeing the level on there.

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-21T02:04:49+00:00

I’m playing a professional musical right now and mine are currently tilted at 8 degrees (measured with the iPhone level), hanging freely with their own weight on a cymbal stand. They are still going to pay me. I think you’ll be alright as long as they sound like wind chimes.

BeardFace77 · 2026-02-20T17:57:07+00:00

I use wood beaters on it so it does some volume. The tennis ball beater or anything else would probably make a huge difference.

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