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I wanted to ask if an electronic drum will work as an alternative to acoustic drum in recording. Because I wanted the cheapest way to record instead of buying mics. And this will be connected through MIDI IN in the audio interface (Presonus) and I wanna know if it will work?

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    Could you fill in additional details of exactly which type of drum(s) you are considering
    – Dave
    Jan 22, 2016 at 13:50
  • 1
    Alesis DM Lite sir
    – Brice
    Jan 22, 2016 at 13:53
  • Yes, you can record MIDI from an electronic drum performance and use that MIDI to trigger drum samples. No it will not sound exactly like a real drum recording.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Jan 22, 2016 at 14:57
  • What I mean is that will it work through an audio interface using MIDI IN because I have a PreSonus 1818vsl and its connected to the iPad with an app called Auria
    – Brice
    Jan 22, 2016 at 15:02

2 Answers 2

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I find that using an electronic drum kit to add live drums in a home studio recording a great way to go.

First of all, a live drummer will give your recording a more organic flavor and feel - and sound "real" and less processed than strictly using a drum track or digitized samples.

And although an acoustic kit properly mic'd can sound even more authentic, it is difficult to get an acoustic kit set up properly and mic'd properly in a home studio setting. There is the issue with proper positioning of the mics, proper type of mic, how many mics and inputting all those mics into your audio interface.

Then with acoustic drums you have to deal with the ambient noise, reflections in the room etc. It's very difficult to isolate the individual pieces on an acoustic kit no matter how you position the mics. The other mics are going to hear every hit on every piece unless you use tons of acoustic baffling and shielding and .... it's just very difficult to do properly.

With an electronic kit, you don't have to worry about the sound of one piece of your kit (ride cymbal, snare, tom etc) bleeding into the mics on the floor tom or the hi hat or whatever! And with decent recording software you can tweak the sound of each piece and make it sound pretty good. It may not sound exactly like a live acoustic kit, but will probably sound better than what the average home studio amatuer recording engineer can reproduce from an attempt to mic and record an acoustic kit.

So it's not only cheaper than buying mics to mic your acoustic kit, it's much easier to record and isolate each part to enable and facilitate adjusting the drum mix during mixing and post production.

Good luck - and have fun recording your music!

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  • My experience as well. A big problem with MIDI drums is the surface of the heads do not have the same rebound and response so the stick rudiments (A Drag?/buzz roll?) can be frustrating. Also, double-trigger choking is quite aggressive so again, fast dynamics can be such that the second hit is cancelled by the head as a phantom signal
    – Yorik
    Jan 22, 2016 at 17:56
  • s24.postimg.org/3ln23txvp/… - This is my actual plan
    – Brice
    Jan 23, 2016 at 2:30
  • I am a songwriter and use my home recording equipment to make demos of my original songs. I start by choosing a drum track and tempo to serve as a click track of sorts. Then I record the rhythm guitar. Then I overdub vocals over the guitar and drum track, then I would start adding the other instruments, background vox etc. At some point I would get a live drummer to play drums using just a click to help with timing. It's a build up process. There are other ways to do it and your mileage may vary. Have fun creating your music.
    – Rockin Cowboy
    Jan 23, 2016 at 5:52
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If you don't already have the Alesis DM Lite, then buying mics will actually be the cheapest route. Micing a real kit will also give you the best results and speaking as an owner of an electronic kit for quiet practicing (Roland V-Drum)...there is no comparison, recording real drums is the way to go.

I have the Red5 Audio RVK7 drum mic kit (£159...or $228 according to google currency converter) and they are great mics. It has everything you need to completely mic up a drumset. I've done shootouts with more expensive mics like Shure SM57's, AKG D112 for kick, Audix drum mic kit, etc. and the Red5 Audios beat out everything except on kick. So not only are they inexpensive, but they are actually really good mics too.

http://www.red5audio.com/acatalog/Drum_Kit_Mics.html

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  • Do you use the Red5 Audio mic kit for live sound reinforcement or recording? What type of interface would you use to input the signal of each mic into your DAW?
    – Rockin Cowboy
    Jan 22, 2016 at 15:59
  • I've used them for both live and recording. Brice mentioned in a comment that he has a PreSonus 1818vsl, which the kind of interface needed as it has 8 inputs with mic preamps built in.
    – Tekkerue
    Jan 22, 2016 at 16:10
  • Cool. I have a friend who has a professional recording studio and he has a completely separate drum room for his acoustic kit. Sometimes he uses an electronic kit as well though. Not sure what the determining factor is unless it's what the client wants to pay for.
    – Rockin Cowboy
    Jan 22, 2016 at 20:37

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