Drums for kids

mao · Post by **mao** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:34 pm

My Nephew is 9 years old... he is interested in drums... he has been "shocked" last year watching "School of rock" DVD... and since he still seems really interested, I would like to give him the chance to try.

I'm looking for something with pad triggers and synth/sampled sounds... but in a standard drum shape (so nothing similar to roland SPD and similar).

Any suggestion on cheap model... I mean... he is a kid... he may loose interest even just he realize that's not so easy...

I'm thinking on renting something instead of throwing money... to understand if he likes it or not.

Have you any experience in this? Can you suggest me some models or what is in your opinion the best move?

Thanks in advance..

redchapterjubilee · Post by **redchapterjubilee** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:40 pm

Alesis has Ion, a cheaper brand of electro stuff, and they have a couple of drum-based designs. A kit for $300 I think that accesses sounds via USB to your laptop/PC. And an Octopad sort of thing for $200 (which I might someday look into). Alesis also has the bargain basement kit with a DR-4 for the brain and that runs around $500. You can always cruise Ebay for better deals on those. The only thing that would worry me with the cheaper Ion stuff is that your kid might destroy them. I've never played on them so I can't attest to the quality. You will certainly want to upgrade to a real kick pedal.

I've played drums for 20 years now and I've only rarely dabbled in electro drums. I used to play in a pick-up cover band that did radio promo events. The guitar player in the band had a set of Roland V-drums and I liked playing them but...the set-up felt really cramped to me and I still wanted to beat the daylights out of them.

mao · Post by **mao** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:06 pm

Thanx for your suggestion. Electronic Drums is because he can play whenever he wants using headphones without hurting the brother or his mother... I really hope he'll move to acoustic... but at the begginning it's better "not to be forced to hear" what the h**l is doing the kid...

Post by **wiss** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:27 pm

the alesis is pretty crappy build and a kid would have that ruined in a short time....

you can put together a cheap acoustic set....they do sell childres sets as well.

hit craigslist....many great deals on complete drum sets.

I think tama used to sell practice pads, you could get a whole kit...so drummers wouldnt lose thier chops if they couldnt use thier acoustic set

Z · Post by Z » Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:34 pm

I got my son the Yoki 501 kit that sells on eBay for around $350. It is the same kit that you see at Guitar Center under the "Simmons" name, SD5K is believe is their model number for it. Only difference is the Simmons is all black and the Yoki has white pads & brain.

It's pretty decent for the money. A drummer freind of mine played on it and said it wasn't the greatest, but would have expected someone to pay much more for it. Good value for the money.

I think I've got more use out of the kit than my son...

Tyler2000 · Post by **Tyler2000** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:33 pm

wiss wrote:the alesis is pretty crappy build and a kid would have that ruined in a short time....

you can put together a cheap acoustic set....they do sell childres sets as well.

hit craigslist....many great deals on complete drum sets.

I think tama used to sell practice pads, you could get a whole kit...so drummers wouldnt lose thier chops if they couldnt use thier acoustic set

second this

redchapterjubilee · Post by **redchapterjubilee** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:03 pm

I can understand why you'd want him to play electro drums because of the quiet factor but... while I was typing the response above I was thinking how much easier, cheaper and more direct it would be to just buy a beater acoustic kit. That's how I got started, and it wasn't pretty! But I got better, and if he's halfway serious about it he will too.

crystalmsc · Post by **crystalmsc** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:42 am

The new Roland HD-1 with it's simple design and cable set up would be nice for kids. which also designed for being more quiet when played.

Clavier · Post by **Clavier** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:45 am

Get a used acoustic set and put it in the garage. Win/win.