Yamaha DTXPRESS IV Electric Drum Kit

I borrowed a Yamaha DT Xpress 4 for some recording tonight, along with a drummer since drums are not really my forté.  I thought an electric drum kit would be perfect for an evening recording session at home, as it wouldn’t keep the neighbors up like an acoustic kit would.

I wasn’t familiar with the kit before we started, so when it arrived I was actually expecting a USB port for MIDI.  But unfortunatly only the higher models that come USB equipped (so I hear).  The kit does have a MIDI out, but no MIDI in so my cunning trick I was planning was foiled from the beginning.  (This cunning trick would have involved recording the drums on a midi track, quantising and editing to my satisfaction then running the MIDI signal back into the kit and this time recording the audio output.  It’s a very cunning trick that works quite well with keyboards. )

Instead of the cunning trick I just recorded straight from the line out into my USB interface.  I was really impressed with the easiness of the whole process.  Just two leads.  Not ten mics and ten mic leads and ten mic stands and endless soundchecks.  And the whole kit folds down so easily that you can carry it up the stairs in one trip.

Obviously an electric drum kit can not replace a really nice kit in a great studio, but for home recording I think it’s a really great idea.  I loved the samples in the DTXpress, it has some that are cheesy and fun and some that are very usable.  While I probably wouldn’t go out and buy this particular model myself, as I definitly want a USB port (or at least a MIDI-in as well as a MIDI-out) after playing round with it I am definitly keen to try out some of Yamaha’s other electric drum kits to find something that suits my purposes.