Need Suggestions for Compact Travel Drums

[timesten]

I am looking for a small ultra portable drum solution, preferably styled like a normal playable kit.

I will be traveling for some time and I have had a few opportunities to jam with hotel strangers, but its limited to guitar and vox. I have with me a Traveler and a macbook with superior drummer, bpm and kontact. I was thinking that i could somehow buy 3 drum pads(kick, snare, hats) for an electronic kit and then assign them a MIDI value that i could then translate inside one of those samplers. That would make the portability portion, snare stand with an arm for the hh pad, a kick drum mount and pedal. Silent play is pretty important, so i cant just drive around with even the smallest of my acoustic kits.

a quick google search didnt help much. It mostly wanted to show me full electronic kits, which i guess i could buy used and leave the better part of at home, but i figured that 3 pads and some existing hardware from my kits could get it done for under $200.

I also thought about any of those MIDI pad devices, that micro korg thing is like 40 dollars... but its more fun to play than tap.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

[mhschmieder]

Have you heard of Yamaha's so-called "Cocktail Kit"? It's designed expressly for your purpose, and has "integrated" hardware that makes it quick to break down and set up.

The Yamaha HipGiG portable drumkit (official product name) was developed in conjunction with world-renowned drummer Rick Marotta.

They say the HipGiG kit is perfect for any style of music.

The drums feature 7-ply birch/mahogany shells with a very dynamic and musical sound

[timesten]

I am familliar with it, but anything acoustic is pretty much out. the size of it is too large anyway, im in need of something that can basicly fit into my existing luggage.

[rentadrummer]

Won't you still need some type of interface between the pads and the Traveler? How are you going to connect them and assign a MIDI note?

[mhschmieder]

Doesn't Alesis sell a modular setup? It might be one of their recent announcements.

[timesten]

Won't you still need some type of interface between the pads and the Traveler? How are you going to connect them and assign a MIDI note?

Well, im not sure. i would think that with the traveler, i could get around that somehow.. but maybe not. thats part of my question. why couldnt i use the same type of tech thats in the cheapest of tap pad type devices, but run a cable to a larger pad? .. or how can i, if its possible?

I also looked for "modular alesis drum" and found nothing via google, but that is the idea. i have seen some dual zone single pads for 60-80 dollars, depending on brand, and single zones for 50 or so. ive also seen a bunch of people trying to dump their cheap(450$) kits on craigs list too.. so i could probably pick one up below 200 if im patient enough. not sure i want to lug around a brain if all i need is a tiny MIDI interface tho.

[rentadrummer]

I think that minimally you'd need something along the lines of an Alesis Trigger IO. The Roland vdrums pads, or Yamaha pads, are triggers only, and don't offer the features like a DrumKat or one of the Roland SPD series, which aren't bad options either.

What about the small Handsonic? That has built-in sounds and I think it can also be used to trigger other sounds via MIDI without an additional interface. I've played around with both models of the Handsonic and had a lot of fun with them. You can also hook up a self-contained kick drum pedal that has a trigger, and trigger the sounds in the Handsonic. All you need is a stand and you've got a drum kit.

[timesten]

that roland handsonic is 500 dollars. for that i can get an alesis kit with more crap that i want.. which is kinda the problem. not like i couldnt use a pad or 2 at some point, but its not what i was thinking about right now.

i just looked up components from alesis, the dmpad, dmhat, etc. for just kick, a 2 zone pad for snare and a hh with the pedal is 350. the cheapest MIDI interface for it is 150. its crazy to me that you can get a whole kit, with the same stuff for that same price.

buying a whole kit, used, seems like the best option i guess.

[rentadrummer]

Except for the fact that the one thing you wanted to do with this didn't work on this particular unit, it would have been a great deal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Roland-HandSonic-10 ... 1344wt_960" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mhschmieder]

I owned the HandSonic HPD-15(?) -- original version -- for several years. I recorded with it as well as it had some cool sound effects that I used in a horror film.

Nevertheless, I ultimately became frustrated and sold it, as it had several fatal flaws that there was no getting around:

1. Very non-standard MIDI implementation
2. Raw sounds are soaked in reverb even with effects turned off
3. Only a small handful of traditional sounds are of high quality
4. Most importantly, the sensitivity isn't very detailed, and is spotty

The new Korg Wavedrum is much more musical and playable, but doesn't do MIDI.

Therefore, the Alesis option is probably your best bet, as they seem to have done the best job of self-contained "pieces of the puzzle" for triggers, pads, sound modules, etc.

[mhschmieder]

How about the Mandala Synethesia drum pads?

http://www.music123.com/Synesthesia-Man ... 1.Music123

[nick danger]

If you're looking for acoustic drums, check these out. They're the ultimate in a touring kit.

http://whitneydrums.com/wp/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[geoffg]

I highly recommend a "cajon." It's not set up like a drum kit. It's much simpler. But it is very expressive and can achieve a wide variety of drum kit like tones, including snare and kick. And it is also capable of conga like tones. Every percussionist I know who has tried one of these beautifully simple instruments has fallen in love. Especially if you're looking for portability.