Jelle Druyts

Woohoo, I have a new electronic toy

I'm sure you guessed it, so yes that's a Yamaha DTXPRESS electronic drum (djembé not included). It's an older model but it's second hand so that reduced the cost by quite a bunch. For a pretty impressive demo of the latest model, check out the demo movie of the DTXPRESS III Special. Just don't ask me to do any of the wicked stuff he shows you. I'm already happy if I can occasionally get all four limbs working synchronously.

Drumming has been on my TODO list for a loooong time but I never got around to it since the noise isn't very 'social' in a city appartment block. Then I came across an electronic kit and although it doesn't feel or sound the same as an acoustic drum, it's pretty sweet and has lots of capabilities so I figured it was time to buy me a treat.

While you might expect that I bought an electronic kit because it can be played with a headphone (and as such saves you the embarrassment of bypassers laughing at you and occasionally kicking you for poor drumming), I fully intend to buy a dozen 1000 Watt speakers to scare the living hell out of my neighbours on Sunday mornings. My 15-year old guitar amp just doesn't have the power I want to get my sweet revenge for them waking me up on weekend mornings at 8AM with pounding hammers.

All tips for starting drummers welcome by the way