Fantastic video, and really liked the section featuring my old friend, the late Joe Pollard and his Syndrums. Was very cool to see and hear them in action, especially seeing someone tweaking the settings. Unfortunately Joe passed away in 2019, but he sure made an awesome contribution to drumming technology.
An electric drum kit is one of the best investments any drummer could make! Especially now that there's decent kits on the market for cheaper than some practice pad sets. I love my Alesis Nitro Mesh kit. As cheap as it is, it's amazing!
My first experience with electric drums was with Neil Peart with his Simmons. I came close to buying his original "brain" module and three of the pads he used. I was outbid. Although parts were missing... it was his at one time.
Great video. Looking forward to the second as I demoed and sold Simmons drums in mid 80s. Can’t believe you showed Stephen Morris of Joy Division but didn’t credit him for his innovative use. And where is the mention of disco and the pervasive use of the syndrum sound?
Great! As a drummer turned into electronic music producer in the 90s (one of many typical cases), its very nice to see the drum community is paying attention to this instrument. I went back to drumming in 2014 with a Roland kit and never looked back to acoustic drums. Electronic drums gave me back the chance to really play drums and use them thoroughly, something that was impossible with acoustic for many reasons. Congrats for the docu!! Slight correction at 6:25 : there were no digital synths in the market yet at that time.
Love the work ya'll put into this! I was really hoping to see something about Carl Palmer and his recorded synth drum solo on ELP's Brain Salad Surgery, released November 1973. It's crazy, I can't believe he toured with it. Check it out at California Jam 1974. Synth drums: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MgaETQh4uXg.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x1ZeOw-kfjA.html
Unfortunately ELP seems to get left out of a lot of lists. They were arguably the most innovative group in rock and yet list makers often ignore them. Saw them in Memphis in '77 and they were incredible.
Good work Drumeo. This is the best content you’ve ever produced. It looks amazing, it’s informative and the demonstrations are super insightful! I am looking forward to the rest.
I still don't see e-kits onstage much. They're mostly acoustic kits with a few electronic drums added sometime. Re/pop songs: are most done with programmed drum parts? Or are they human drummers playing an e-kit? I'm guessing the former.
I've been watching your channel for a long time. I really like your video. After watching your video, I started playing drums. I have learned a lot from your video I will make a request to you. If you give me a drum, I will be very helpful. Thanks to you for the interesting and helpful videos . ❤️
Billy Cobham used to have a full size effect rack next to his drums in the 70's so he could use Flange/phase/delay, etc. which sounded really cool. That was what inspired many other drummers including myself. The Pearl Syncussion came after that, I had that one too. 2 little bongos connected to an effects module with all kinds of typical late 70's disco sounds 😂 Then one day my uncle came to my house with those Simmons pads that he was given to experiment with. He thought it would be more for me since I was young and always experimenting. I loved those Simmons drums. Bill Bruford played on a Simmons kit, but what really impressed me was seeing the drummer of Howard Jones play live standing up. Then came those black & white Pearl pads that the Golden Earring drummer used and DDrum with Pete Erskine playing jazz on it including ghost notes which was groundbreaking. Around 92 Roland came with the new TD series (they had an Imitation Simmons kit out before that), with the TD7 being the flagship. I still have that one, way different from the later TD7 which was a lot cheaper but more advanced in some ways.
Do you have a favorite electronic kit? I almost feel like I like the early 70s and 80s stuff better than the initial Roland td7 stuff. And your uncle sounds awesome!
@@williamperri3437 You can still put your own effects rack together like a Billy Cobham did in the 70's and experiment with it. Use phase/flange on the snare to get that 70's vibe. Those full size rack effects can often be bought fairly cheap these days. I love the Pearl Syncussion and it will always be my favorite even though the sounds are outdated. But maybe that's what makes it even more unique. Plus it was extremely user friendly. I have a soft spot for those early DDrums that I saw Pete Erskine play on. He played with brushes on it and did double stroke rolls, which was really impressive for an electronic kit. You couldn't do that on any other kit. It was like V-Drums before V-Drums even existed. I like those old Simmons and early Roland's sounds, but those kits weren't exactly user friendly 😂 Just buy a new Roland kit and import those old sounds. The ideal set up for me would be a TD20x/30/50 plus an original vintage 92 TD7 with a Pearl Syncussion. A normal set up plus the TD7 flagship around it as an extension (lots of line ins!) and the Pearl Syncussion to make it fun. What made the 70's and early 80's fun is because it was all still brand new and forced us to experiment. We had no idea how things worked and there was no one to teach us. We had to find things out ourselves. That's how everyone ended up with their own specific sounds and style. There' s too many rules now. They'll teach you to tune your acoustic kit a certain way and to not use tape on the heads, when that's what a lot of drummers did in the 70's/early 80's to get tgat ultradry sound. We taped a coin to the head of the kickdrum for more attack, etc. All things that will be frowned upon if you'd do this today. Today a lot of drummers have the same boring sound, lack of imagination often caused by strict teachers. They will tell you to hold your sticks a certain way, to set up your drums a certain way, to tune your drums a certain way and anything else is wrong, even though something else might really suit you better. Back then you could recognize each drummer simply by listening to the sound of their snare. Billy Cobham VS Bill Bruford VS Alex Van Halen VS Harvey Mason VS Alphonse Mouzon VS Steve Gadd, etc. Remember those old Prince recordings with that weird snare sound? The drummer explained and showed us how he downtuned his electronic Simmons snare to get that specific sound. Trademark early Prince sound. Howard Jones had a really creative drummer and I also liked that Foreign Intrigue record by Tony Williams. Chad Wackerman was another giant. Or those English new wave drummers with their punk background. If you can pick up old equipment cheap then by all means do so to experience what it was like, but personally I wouldn't spend thousands on it. Sure it's vintage, but it also has so much limitations and those old rubber pads are a crime 😂 Just buy the old TD 7 Module for the sounds and use the newer pads that are compatible. Also realize that we didn't have internet or computers yet, so those old modules might be a lot harder to work with. It'll probably frustrate you when you find out that some of the most simple things are extremely hard to achieve or ain't possible to achieve at all 😂
@@ModernLove100 I love this response! I am gonna youtube the TD 7 and was thinking to myself at the end of your message I may just have to get one I'm sure they're cheap and then you slapped me in the face with the fact that it may be a pain-in-the-ass navigating that module 😱 then again Roland has always been pretty good. I actually liked the Yamaha 502 module and with stacking sounds and messing with the velocity you could get as good or Better Sound than Rolands TD 11/15 but it was so much harder to navigate. I still play a TD 11 and have a pretty good Bonham/Tony and Gadd kit. LOVE Billy! I was pretty sure he used some effects as well. The first thing I ever saw from him was in 1990 and it was the DCI sampler and it had Zildjian day 1984 and Billy killed it! I used to love watching him finishes his drum roll around the drum set and stand up at the end!!! So many copy cats today like you said. To think that Vinnie's 84 famous Zildjian day was the same David Philly played is amazing considering how different they are! As soon as you mentioned that you could differentiate drummers back in the day and mentioned Billy I instantly thought of Alex Van Halen... to me he's tied with Nick Mason as being the most underrated Rock drummer of all time. I know all those snare sounds other than Alfonso Mouzon and I'm guessing he was the guy that replaced Billy in Mahavishnu? I was watching a lot of Lenny white last year on RU-vid and my God he was such a special player. I mean, everybody was compared to Billy I would assume back then but at the same time everybody had their own thing happening. I'm 45 years old and I feel like I want to learn to play open hand at this point... I feel like all the baddest cats on planet Earth can lead with their left hand almost as good as their right and I just visualize myself being very relaxed at the kit with the hi-hat super-low. I just know I'm going to play different as well. Anyway man, thank you for this awesome reply and I'm going to check out all the sounds you mentioned. Btw, I really dig Ebony Emperor "suede" heads but they are a very overlooked Tom tom head.... I like the very dry sound you mentioned but also wide open. Really like the early Gadd sound when him, Tony and Bonham all played control dots tuned high but I don't like the feel of the dots. And I know NOTHING of Erskine playing E drums whatsoever... Oh shit! Almost forgot: WHAT Prince drummer? I think early Prince and I think PRINCE on drums. All I ever believed was he played on the first 4 albums. I know he had to play on the first one or two albums because I studied his sound and feel and playing so much that I just no that's him on I want to be your lover. One of the producers that worked on his first album said the most amazing thing about Prince was his pocket behind the drums. His first producer said he watched him play guitar bass piano sing and at the end sit down and play the drums to all that music that was already recorded!!! And I feel like that has to be Prince on "call my name." I think I'm ahead of myself because you must be talkin about the early 80s albums since you're talking about the electronic snare sound. Yeah his sound was killer on Purple Rain
Wow! As italian I'm very proud to know that a legendary Italian's drums factory like Hollywood - Meazzi, was a pioneer on the electronic drums developing. I never didn't know before now. Thank you.
Okay, not a fan of electronic drums -never have been but this was a very informative and interesting documentary. A ton of great information here. Thanks for putting this out.
Very nice documental! I LOVE learning the history of a musical instrument and in this case is my strong primary instrument: drums! I (still) own an electronic drum kit (a Roland HD-1) and watching this is very interesting of how electronics started back then and compare them in the present time. Looking forward for more! 👍
16:18 - Correction. Ian Wallace only played with King Crimson in 1971-72. Bill Bruford was the drummer in the 80's version and he was well known for using Simmons drums.
A possible connection to my intense dislike for the Who, Pink Floyd, and to a large extent, the Peart era Rush…the heavy incorporation of synthesizers. Admittedly the Neil Peart drumming was quite admirable and I even signed up for drum lessons in the hope of replication but the Drum Shop “teacher” started talking about the relationship of the sun and moon...and that he wasn’t a Peart fan so that didn’t pan out. The debut Rush album still rocks and was their best IMO. I doubt synthesizers played a role in my personal preference since so much great music obviously used them such as Frankenstein, Living for the city, Whip it, Tainted Love, and many others. Interesting video.
@@BrandonToews Awesome man, I showed it to a bunch of my high school music friends, Because of our advanced age, lol, we only know about the first half of the songs chronologically, but you crushed them, cheers!
Great job, very informative and entertaining. I felt it a little fast-paced, but I understand there's a budget to stick to to make the whole project happen. Anyway, I'm looking forward to next the chapter.
I'm a little confused. You claim Ian Wallace used Simmons and Pollard electronic drums whilst he was in King Crimson; however, he was only a member in 1972, long before these two devices were released? Did you mean Bill Bruford? There are no electronic drums used in studio recordings before 1981 for King Crimson.
My intro to electronic drums was the first old Simmons pad with the eprom chip. What a bad idea! The swappable chips couldn’t handle the beating on the drum pad. Worked great back in the day for a couple of extra sounds on my acoustic kit, until it stopped working! Then there was the Dr. Pad. Each pad had 6 sounds. Those things were very cool back in the day and they were reliable. I think they made 3 or 4 different pads, each with different sound combos.
Mid 1980's. Was dating a Girl who was in the chorus at a Theater Show. Got to sneak in to rehearsals. They band had an electronic drumkit n spent the entire rehearsal time trying to get the "snare" to work properly! I shouted "just use a regular snare drum!" So by opening night, they did. Must explain why you would often see bands on music programmes at the time use an electronic kit with a regular snare drum??
You totally forgot to talk about Carl Palmer who in 1973 featured a very rare synth drum hybrid kit with Emerson lake and Palmer’s album brain salad surgery . There is some video footage live from the California jam 1974 that shows him playing those sounds in his drum solo !
There's nothing digital about those early 1970s synths. @6.25 Maybe it's just me, but I find it really annoying the way the presenters are staring off camera into space most of the time.
A warning to those playing primarily on electronic kits- Make sure you keep playing your acoustic kit(s). You will find it very hard to play an acoustic kit after a few years.
I don't feel comfortable playing electric drums, but if I should ever have my own house, I will definitely buy a kit to practice at home, too. Driving 20 minutes to my acoustic drums is a hassle.
I saw Chad playing the kill. A few days later I went out and bought an acoustic set. I played for about a month. I underestimated how damn loud they are. I often practice late at night so I decided to buy an ekit. I hardly touch the acoustic set anymore.
I got to watch this on Drumeo's site. I'm still in disbelief Ekits have been around as long as they have. I thought they just really got going around 2000. I had a friend get a set back then and we all thought that was the coolest thing ever. Good thing is I made the plunge. I am officially a lifetime member so I'll get to see the entire documentary as it comes out lol
Very good look at the beginnings of electronic drums. I wish you could have included some better and longer examples of how they were used, along with the names of the songs and artists.
Part-II the begining of the Hexagon era, the Simmons drums! Have many electronic drums in the 80'S and all of them have something special. By the way, Moog was also in the electronic drums, they release a drum trigger that you can connect to the modular system, that was back in the early 70'S.
I really hope you mention Steve Negus of Saga in part 2. He wasn't the absolute first to record with Simmons drums, but probably is the first to tour with them, and therefore was important to their r&d process. Plus, he, Rupert Hine and Stephen W. Taylor made innovative use of them in the '81 song, Wind Him Up.
Thank you for doing this, but I can't handle the "I'm looking at an audience when I'm not," motif. There's no audience; we all know that. I'm right here, in front of the screen.
I came across e-drums while in the university and because an acoustic drum set would be a pain for my neighbours. I got a roland td9 with mesh heads and loved it. I still prefer acoustic drums but having an e-drum is defenetly i nice addition.
I jumped to buy a Yamaha DTXpress when it came out. The cost had dropped and it was suddenly within reach. I even used it live on a few occasions. It was far from perfect, not least the interface was pretty hopeless and yes the rubber pads are dreadful.
I was one of the first people to buy the Simmons SDS9 in red, then over the next 12 months slowly removed elements of the kit starting with the snare,then the bass then after another few months i was back to a full acoustic kit.
What’s great is now they are not only great, but accessible to more people due to the quieter aspect to it, more sound options and ease of recording. But it’s great that it won’t replace acoustic. It’s just a choice. Not a replacement.