Electronic Kit

[Bigval]

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Simmons-SD7 ... 1372077.gc


I'm going to give myself a gift for graduating college. I need something I can play into the wee hours of the morning and I can take to a apartment or whoever's home I move into in the future. I'm looking for a deal and ebay doesn't show much for deals. I'm not looking to pay more than $800. I have to factor in an amp for this but maybe later on. Anyone that has experience with electronic kits think the simmons is a good deal?

[Pfl?yd]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

[DBS]

floyd, you must have owned every single piece of musical equipment ever invented at some point during your life.

[Pfl?yd]

floyd, you must have owned every single piece of musical equipment ever invented at some point during your life.

Hahaha, not really. I've tried out and played a lot of shit--my friend does product testing and stuff so he always has a lot of cool shit I get to fuck with--but I haven't owned a crapload of gear. I do play a lot of instruments so maybe that's why it seems like I have everything.

Regardless, a lot of different stuff passes through my hands.

[Maelstrom]

in before "londan briton dnb init"

[Pfl?yd]

in before "londan briton dnb init"

Ironically, I almost never use electronic sounds on an electronic kit! I just like better control, easier recording, and MIDI capability!

[Bigval]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

[Bar Rat]

Why don't you play with a bucket like the nigs near Wrigley?

[Bigval]

Why don't you play with a bucket like the nigs near Wrigley?

That is their culture, not mine.

[Bar Rat]

Why don't you play with a bucket like the nigs near Wrigley?

That is their culture, not mine.

This ain't bout race. It's about copping a cheap kit yo. Gots to crawl before you walk.

Drums are hard as fuck unless you have a basement.

[Bigval]

Why don't you play with a bucket like the nigs near Wrigley?

That is their culture, not mine.

This ain't bout race. It's about copping a cheap kit yo. Gots to crawl before you walk.

Drums are hard as fuck unless you have a basement.

I already have a kit. I have been playing longer then you have been drinking.

[Pfl?yd]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

It's cheap. Don't expect a shitload out of it. Do you have a soldering iron? You'll probably have to resolder some of the piezos to their boards from time to time because they're cheaply put together and the vibration from smacking them on a cheap frame will cause that to happen occasionally. If you have an extra drum frame/cage, definitely make use of that. Another extra bit of advice: do NOT mount the drum brain on the same frame as the pads are mounted to. The vibration WILL destroy it eventually and those things are impossible to repair. Mount it on a stand by itself.

Beyond that, it'll work for practice. I don't know if the Simmons kit has removable/replaceable drums heads but if it does, replace them right away, especially if you are a hard hitter. The ones they shipped with the OSP dimple like crazy (and I have a pretty light touch) and you can actually damage the padding that holds the trigger underneath. Put real heads on them (they should be 8"); cheap ones work fine, you're not going to get any tone out of them anyway. I put a bunch of cheap heads on mine and put one nice coated Remo head on the snare pad to make it feel more realistic.

Enjoy.

[DBS]

floyd, you must have owned every single piece of musical equipment ever invented at some point during your life.

Regardless, a lot of different stuff passes through my hands.

wank me off%

[Pfl?yd]

floyd, you must have owned every single piece of musical equipment ever invented at some point during your life.

Regardless, a lot of different stuff passes through my hands.

wank me off%

I don't play kazoo.

[Bigval]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

It's cheap. Don't expect a shitload out of it. Do you have a soldering iron? You'll probably have to resolder some of the piezos to their boards from time to time because they're cheaply put together and the vibration from smacking them on a cheap frame will cause that to happen occasionally. If you have an extra drum frame/cage, definitely make use of that. Another extra bit of advice: do NOT mount the drum brain on the same frame as the pads are mounted to. The vibration WILL destroy it eventually and those things are impossible to repair. Mount it on a stand by itself.

Beyond that, it'll work for practice. I don't know if the Simmons kit has removable/replaceable drums heads but if it does, replace them right away, especially if you are a hard hitter. The ones they shipped with the OSP dimple like crazy (and I have a pretty light touch) and you can actually damage the padding that holds the trigger underneath. Put real heads on them (they should be 8"); cheap ones work fine, you're not going to get any tone out of them anyway. I put a bunch of cheap heads on mine and put one nice coated Remo head on the snare pad to make it feel more realistic.

Enjoy.

Alright, I can finally solder shit now.


....Well how long ago did you experience this with a electronic kit? I don't know about putting real heads on them.

[Bigval]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

It's cheap. Don't expect a shitload out of it. Do you have a soldering iron? You'll probably have to resolder some of the piezos to their boards from time to time because they're cheaply put together and the vibration from smacking them on a cheap frame will cause that to happen occasionally. If you have an extra drum frame/cage, definitely make use of that. Another extra bit of advice: do NOT mount the drum brain on the same frame as the pads are mounted to. The vibration WILL destroy it eventually and those things are impossible to repair. Mount it on a stand by itself.

Beyond that, it'll work for practice. I don't know if the Simmons kit has removable/replaceable drums heads but if it does, replace them right away, especially if you are a hard hitter. The ones they shipped with the OSP dimple like crazy (and I have a pretty light touch) and you can actually damage the padding that holds the trigger underneath. Put real heads on them (they should be 8"); cheap ones work fine, you're not going to get any tone out of them anyway. I put a bunch of cheap heads on mine and put one nice coated Remo head on the snare pad to make it feel more realistic.

Enjoy.

Alright, I can finally solder shit now.


....Well how long ago did you experience this with a electronic kit? I don't know about putting real heads on them.

[Pfl?yd]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

It's cheap. Don't expect a shitload out of it. Do you have a soldering iron? You'll probably have to resolder some of the piezos to their boards from time to time because they're cheaply put together and the vibration from smacking them on a cheap frame will cause that to happen occasionally. If you have an extra drum frame/cage, definitely make use of that. Another extra bit of advice: do NOT mount the drum brain on the same frame as the pads are mounted to. The vibration WILL destroy it eventually and those things are impossible to repair. Mount it on a stand by itself.

Beyond that, it'll work for practice. I don't know if the Simmons kit has removable/replaceable drums heads but if it does, replace them right away, especially if you are a hard hitter. The ones they shipped with the OSP dimple like crazy (and I have a pretty light touch) and you can actually damage the padding that holds the trigger underneath. Put real heads on them (they should be 8"); cheap ones work fine, you're not going to get any tone out of them anyway. I put a bunch of cheap heads on mine and put one nice coated Remo head on the snare pad to make it feel more realistic.

Enjoy.

Alright, I can finally solder shit now.


....Well how long ago did you experience this with a electronic kit? I don't know about putting real heads on them.

I had a cheap brain go out on me within six months because I had it mounted. I tore it apart and found out I had pretty much rattled all the guts apart. The company sent me a new one free of charge though.

But I turned around and bought the Roland module and have it sitting on my recording table next to my kit. I had one wire come loose in the pad i used for the snare and had to reattach it(but that bitch ain't coming apart now, stupid chinese child labor).

I dimpled the heads pretty quickly on mine but I replaced them easy enough. The drum store here gave me like three of them for free that were just in their budget bin and I bought the nice Remo one. I buy a lot of shit from there, though, so they are pretty nice to me.

My drum throne cost more than half what the whole kit cost.

[Bigval]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

It's cheap. Don't expect a shitload out of it. Do you have a soldering iron? You'll probably have to resolder some of the piezos to their boards from time to time because they're cheaply put together and the vibration from smacking them on a cheap frame will cause that to happen occasionally. If you have an extra drum frame/cage, definitely make use of that. Another extra bit of advice: do NOT mount the drum brain on the same frame as the pads are mounted to. The vibration WILL destroy it eventually and those things are impossible to repair. Mount it on a stand by itself.

Beyond that, it'll work for practice. I don't know if the Simmons kit has removable/replaceable drums heads but if it does, replace them right away, especially if you are a hard hitter. The ones they shipped with the OSP dimple like crazy (and I have a pretty light touch) and you can actually damage the padding that holds the trigger underneath. Put real heads on them (they should be 8"); cheap ones work fine, you're not going to get any tone out of them anyway. I put a bunch of cheap heads on mine and put one nice coated Remo head on the snare pad to make it feel more realistic.

Enjoy.

Alright, I can finally solder shit now.


....Well how long ago did you experience this with a electronic kit? I don't know about putting real heads on them.

I had a cheap brain go out on me within six months because I had it mounted. I tore it apart and found out I had pretty much rattled all the guts apart. The company sent me a new one free of charge though.

But I turned around and bought the Roland module and have it sitting on my recording table next to my kit. I had one wire come loose in the pad i used for the snare and had to reattach it(but that bitch ain't coming apart now, stupid chinese child labor).

I dimpled the heads pretty quickly on mine but I replaced them easy enough. The drum store here gave me like three of them for free that were just in their budget bin and I bought the nice Remo one. I buy a lot of shit from there, though, so they are pretty nice to me.

My drum throne cost more than half what the whole kit cost.

These heads now a days or forever are some durable rubber or whatever. Hoe the fuck you dimble those is beyond me.

[Pfl?yd]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

Well then what do you think of the kit above? I am going to try it out again at GC and see if it passes. I don't plan on driving a lot this summer so might as well spend it on the kits.

It's cheap. Don't expect a shitload out of it. Do you have a soldering iron? You'll probably have to resolder some of the piezos to their boards from time to time because they're cheaply put together and the vibration from smacking them on a cheap frame will cause that to happen occasionally. If you have an extra drum frame/cage, definitely make use of that. Another extra bit of advice: do NOT mount the drum brain on the same frame as the pads are mounted to. The vibration WILL destroy it eventually and those things are impossible to repair. Mount it on a stand by itself.

Beyond that, it'll work for practice. I don't know if the Simmons kit has removable/replaceable drums heads but if it does, replace them right away, especially if you are a hard hitter. The ones they shipped with the OSP dimple like crazy (and I have a pretty light touch) and you can actually damage the padding that holds the trigger underneath. Put real heads on them (they should be 8"); cheap ones work fine, you're not going to get any tone out of them anyway. I put a bunch of cheap heads on mine and put one nice coated Remo head on the snare pad to make it feel more realistic.

Enjoy.

Alright, I can finally solder shit now.


....Well how long ago did you experience this with a electronic kit? I don't know about putting real heads on them.

I had a cheap brain go out on me within six months because I had it mounted. I tore it apart and found out I had pretty much rattled all the guts apart. The company sent me a new one free of charge though.

But I turned around and bought the Roland module and have it sitting on my recording table next to my kit. I had one wire come loose in the pad i used for the snare and had to reattach it(but that bitch ain't coming apart now, stupid chinese child labor).

I dimpled the heads pretty quickly on mine but I replaced them easy enough. The drum store here gave me like three of them for free that were just in their budget bin and I bought the nice Remo one. I buy a lot of shit from there, though, so they are pretty nice to me.

My drum throne cost more than half what the whole kit cost.

These heads now a days or forever are some durable rubber or whatever. Hoe the fuck you dimble those is beyond me.

Well, like I said, I don't know what the Simmons kit has. Mine has removable rims so you can puts whatever heads you want on them (feels a bit more realistic than neoprene rubber, like on practice pads). The "stock" heads my kit came with were little more than sheet plastic and I play jazz mostly and STILL dimpled the fuck out of them.

For electronic drums, the mesh head designs like on the Yamaha kits (and now I think Roland and some other companies use them now too) are the best ones I have played. They have great rebound and are completely silent when you hit them.

I want one of these so bad:

[Richard The Duke]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

I have a Roland TD-3 and its pretty cool. There is a HUGE difference between mesh heads and rubber heads, you should prob test it out at a guitar center. The only issue i've had with the TD-3 is that the "hi-hat" sort if sucks. Dynamics are ok.

[Pfl?yd]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

I have a Roland TD-3 and its pretty cool. There is a HUGE difference between mesh heads and rubber heads, you should prob test it out at a guitar center. The only issue i've had with the TD-3 is that the "hi-hat" sort if sucks. Dynamics are ok.

Weird, I do a lot of crazy hi-hat patterns and I haven't found the hi-hat to be bad at all. I do have a problem with it not "firing" every so often when I open the pedal; like if I'm doing a 8th or 16th note pattern where you open the hat on the all the offbeats. It's like there's a tiny bit of latency so you have to almost delay when you strike the hat by like a few milliseconds, but I manage well enough.

[Bigval]

Well I am going to go test drive them again this week. I don't know if I should just wait and see if anything good pops up on craigslist. I think I will start saving for a another car and when I have a decent job I'll get a roland kit. I guess I can wait.

[Richard The Duke]

I'll tell you this much: if you want a quiet set to play, you'll have to get a mesh-head kit. The rubber/neoprene heads, while quieter than an actual drumset, are still pretty fucking loud and it sounds like your beating on a stack of shelves and coffee tables.

Beyond that, though, most electronic kits are completely upgradeable. I got a shitty rinky-dink kit to start with and the first thing I did was ditch the module and buy a Roland TD-3. Then you can go about changing out the pads and cymbal pads as you go along.

I don't know if you are going to be just using it as a practice tool or not, but even the cheap ones are MIDI capable so if you have a laptop and VST you don't even need to fuck with a new head. The Roland brain sounds infinitely better than the crummy cheap ones, but if you're just using it for practice, it will be more than adequate.

I have a Roland TD-3 and its pretty cool. There is a HUGE difference between mesh heads and rubber heads, you should prob test it out at a guitar center. The only issue i've had with the TD-3 is that the "hi-hat" sort if sucks. Dynamics are ok.

Weird, I do a lot of crazy hi-hat patterns and I haven't found the hi-hat to be bad at all. I do have a problem with it not "firing" every so often when I open the pedal; like if I'm doing a 8th or 16th note pattern where you open the hat on the all the offbeats. It's like there's a tiny bit of latency so you have to almost delay when you strike the hat by like a few milliseconds, but I manage well enough.

I'm not good enough to even notice a few miilliseconds of fail

I do know what you mean though. Not only does the fake pedal slightly delay as you mentioned, but also the physical hi hat itself is not directly above it... The problem I had is that I played on this electric kit for maybe a year until I tried playing on an accoustic kit... my feel for the hi hat was totally fucked up.

[Pfl?yd]

I'm not good enough to even notice a few miilliseconds of fail

I do know what you mean though. Not only does the fake pedal slightly delay as you mentioned, but also the physical hi hat itself is not directly above it... The problem I had is that I played on this electric kit for maybe a year until I tried playing on an accoustic kit... my feel for the hi hat was totally fucked up.

It could be the fact that I'm still using the cheap OSP hi-hat pedal, which doesn't exactly have the best action in the world. I still keep the hi-hat an the pedal fairly close to where they would go if they were actually attached (with the pedal on the outside of my double-kick pedal) just because I don't want to run into that problem myself. I used to have one of those remote hi-hats where you could move it where ever you want and tried some pretty extreme positions (like right over the ride cymbal) and I just couldn't get my brain to figure out that the left foot controlled something on the right side of my body.

[Richard The Duke]

Have you ever tried playing open handed?? I gave it a shot for 6 months and I sure as hell improved a lot. Then I stopped practicing due to time constraints and now i'm

Anyways, it was really fun to try patterns with the hi hat and ride (one per hand).

[Pfl?yd]

Have you ever tried playing open handed?? I gave it a shot for 6 months and I sure as hell improved a lot. Then I stopped practicing due to time constraints and now i'm

Anyways, it was really fun to try patterns with the hi hat and ride (one per hand).

I'm not terribly good at it, really. I will play a ride pattern and do accents and little flourishes on the hi-hat with my left hand/left foot while keeping the snare glued to the upbeats. That seems to make even a plain old kick-snare-kick-snare pattern have jazzier feel. But I can't play true open-hand or left-handed terribly well, at least not with traditional beats. And the funny thing is I *AM* left-handed but play like a right-handed drummer.

I did like mounting a second ride cymbal just behind/above the hat completely vertical and doing some cool patterns between the hat and ride that way. Maybe I should whip out the old drum brain and chain them together, add a few more pads and get really crazy.

[Richard The Duke]

Have you ever tried playing open handed?? I gave it a shot for 6 months and I sure as hell improved a lot. Then I stopped practicing due to time constraints and now i'm

Anyways, it was really fun to try patterns with the hi hat and ride (one per hand).

I'm not terribly good at it, really. I will play a ride pattern and do accents and little flourishes on the hi-hat with my left hand/left foot while keeping the snare glued to the upbeats. That seems to make even a plain old kick-snare-kick-snare pattern have jazzier feel. But I can't play true open-hand or left-handed terribly well, at least not with traditional beats. And the funny thing is I *AM* left-handed but play like a right-handed drummer.

I did like mounting a second ride cymbal just behind/above the hat completely vertical and doing some cool patterns between the hat and ride that way. Maybe I should whip out the old drum brain and chain them together, add a few more pads and get really crazy.

Play Gene Hoglan beats!!

[Pfl?yd]

Have you ever tried playing open handed?? I gave it a shot for 6 months and I sure as hell improved a lot. Then I stopped practicing due to time constraints and now i'm

Anyways, it was really fun to try patterns with the hi hat and ride (one per hand).

I'm not terribly good at it, really. I will play a ride pattern and do accents and little flourishes on the hi-hat with my left hand/left foot while keeping the snare glued to the upbeats. That seems to make even a plain old kick-snare-kick-snare pattern have jazzier feel. But I can't play true open-hand or left-handed terribly well, at least not with traditional beats. And the funny thing is I *AM* left-handed but play like a right-handed drummer.

I did like mounting a second ride cymbal just behind/above the hat completely vertical and doing some cool patterns between the hat and ride that way. Maybe I should whip out the old drum brain and chain them together, add a few more pads and get really crazy.

Play Gene Hoglan beats!!

Man, I have the weirdest feel on double-kick. I can't get the "swing" to come out of it (of course, I don't spend much time refining my technique, truth be told) I can play straight 8ths or 16ths for like three bars and then my feet start "swinging" instead. I do rolls on them better than just blasting out 16ths for entire passages.

Regardless, I'm not even worthy of wiping the sweat off Hoglan's stool with his soggy spank towel.