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Drumming is one of the more visceral forms of creative expression, unbounded as it largely is from the strictures of harmony.
That said, it is no less an art, with dexterity, physicality, cognition and improvisation vital skills to the accurate expression of movement and energy. All this to say, drumming is an intense practice to learn – and one which brings with it a number of hurdles, not in the least of which is volume.
Drumming, artful as it is, has gotten a reputation as a somewhat anti-social practice. Drums are unavoidably and even intrusively loud, as many will discover as soon as their child, relative or neighbour catches the percussion bug. Whether you’re a parent buying for your newly-banging baby, a Whiplash-fuelled jazz hurricane aspirant, or simply a beginner looking for a low-stakes route to unintrusive practice, electronic drum sets are the way forward.
The electronic drum set is the result of decades of innovation and experimentation, starting as an avant-garde interface for new explorations in sound – by which I am of course referring to The Moody Blues’ seventh album.
Today, electronic drums are more than esoteric instruments. They are learning tools, expansive tour-guides through the rich world of percussion, and a catch-all cure for both Parent Ear Fatigue and Noise Abatement Notices.
In essence, an electronic drum kit consists of: a drum pad to receive your hits; a sensor to acknowledge those hits, their velocity and in some cases their position on the pad; and a central electronic module that governs which sounds are triggered by sensor information. Drum sets use these elements to build digital analogues of conventional drum kits, each pad triggering a pre-recorded or synthesised drum sound and playing it back through headphones or speakers. But no drum sets are built exactly alike, and there are a few things to consider when choosing the right kit for you.
A key example is the form each pad takes. Principally, there are two kinds of pad, being rubber and mesh. Rubber pads are dense and bouncy, an inexpensive route to easy ghost notes. Meanwhile, mesh pads more readily mimic the feel and bounce of a real drum skin, and can often be tightened in a similar manner. These are often considered ideal, but as we will discover this isn’t always the case.
There are many more differences to bear in mind, from rack sizes to the modules themselves – but rather than examining these in turn, let’s look instead at some of the best electronic drum sets for beginners on the market today, and what exactly it is that makes them right for each kind of learner.
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Roland is, in effect, the industry standard for reliable audio equipment, being a mainstay name across a wide variety of different instruments and audio tools. Their fingerprint on today’s musical landscape is indelible, and their contributions to drum technology cannot be ignored. Their V-Drum series is comprehensive, with different models and drum engines offering increasing levels of customisability and utility.
Roland’s TD-07 kits are a step up from the entry level TD-02 (featured shortly), boasting a more powerful drum module and mesh pads for the snare and toms. Mesh might not mean much to the newer beginner, but the rebound they produce can feel less alien when compared with practice on a real kit. The TD-07 is a graduation from its entry-level forebear in a number of other ways, though, which are nothing short of transformative for the drumming experience.
For one, the TD-07 module features 25 user presets, allowing you to select and build your ideal kit pad by pad. For another, each sample can be edited comprehensively in the kit editor menu, where EQ and effects can be applied, and sounds sculpted to your liking. This, again, might go over the average learner’s heads, but is an excellent introduction to understanding the make-up of drum sound.
The standout kit editor features, though, are its ambience settings. You can edit the ‘overhead’ sounds (that is, the sound of your kit as picked up by two microphones above it) and room sound, giving you the option to create an artificial drumming space in your amp or headphones. Want a dry studio sound? Want to be playing in an empty stadium? All possible – and all-the-more immersive as a result.
With the TD-07 module, you can drill down endlessly into precise changes for pad response and kit sounds, building the perfect kit to lose yourself into. Alongside the comprehensive metronome and coaching modes (present on all TD modules), this is unignorably a powerhouse beginner set for drum learners of any level.
Best for: intuitive sound sculpting
Yamaha’s range of musical equipment is something to behold, from the most basic of keyboards to industry-standard instruments and studio equipment. Their entries into the electronic drum market are no different in quality or stature, being professional-grade pieces of kit suitable for any beginner to hone their practice on.
The DTX6 series encompasses the mid-range of Yamaha’s electronic drum set output, exhibiting more functions and better responsiveness for the intermediate beginner student. The DTX6K-X is the cheapest of these, offering seven pads, a kick pad and a footswitch for your hi hat clutch. Unfortunately, some hardware is again necessary to purchase on top of the sets in this series – namely, a kick pedal, and a hi hat pedal for the more expensive models.
Standard features are here for the price point, including dual-zone pads for increased responsiveness and expression. The real magic is in the DTX-PRO module, a powerful and intuitive unit that puts practical features at your fingertips – and that outclasses others in its price point for customisability. Each pad or channel of audio has its own effects rack, including EQ, compression and transient shaping; globally, ambience and effects can be added for more immersion in your kit.
And the kits well and truly can be yours, with 40 user presents that are not bounded to pre-installed samples as with other sets. The DTX-PRO module enables you to upload up to 1000 of your own samples, for truly personalised kits that reflect your ideal form of practice. All of this functionality is neatly accessible by physical knobs and settings menus. The kit is a delight to use, but somewhat of a luxury purchase – perhaps best suited to student drummers and would-be at-home music-makers.
Best for: Quality on a budget
TourTech is a house brand for three of the UK’s leading music retailers, offering budget options for basic instrument and PA accessories – including active PA monitors and even microphones. The only forays that TourTech have made into instrument manufacture is with regard to electronic kits – but this is no afterthought. TourTech’s affordable TT series of drum kits are direct competition for established brands, at competitive price points too.
The TT12S is TourTech’s cheapest beginner electronic drum set, and packs a lot in despite its austere appearances. The TT12S module has a simple numerical display for navigating presets, with all functions and features accessible by the various buttons that adorn its surface. This makes it much more user-friendly than its more in-depth peers, while still offering complex customisability in turning and panning.
This is the cheapest rack kit in our round-up that enables you to set your own drum kit presets, giving you 250 percussion sounds to choose from; it is also one of the smallest, making it a great fit for small bedrooms or utility spaces. As well as being a formidable plug-and-play unit, the TT12S – as with all TourTech modules – features 5-pin MIDI in and out, alongside USB MIDI connectivity and stereo ¼” outputs.
Best for: drumming along to ABBA
The TD-02K is the cheapest and simplest of Roland’s TD series, being a simple rack kit with seven rubber pads and two foot-pedals. Mesh pads are widely considered to be the ‘better’ choice for responsive drumming, but here the rubber pads feel as immediate as a quality practice pad, with the benefit of throwing real sounds back at you in the process – making them perfect for beginners. A surprise at this price point is the ‘dual-zone’ technology that the cymbals exhibit. Grabbing the edge of a cymbal pad will choke a cymbal sound triggered from it, as if grabbing a real one.
The engine behind the TD-02K is held within the TD-02 module, which features 16 pre-programmed drum kits for you to play around with. The sounds here are undeniably good, but unfortunately there are no user preset options. Still, you can customise the responsiveness and sensitivity of each pad. All TD modules feature “coach mode”, an engaging learning tool that gamifies practicing tempo control and strike accuracy through simple mini-games – an innovative route to positive practice.
Other goodies include Bluetooth connectivity for playing along to your own songs, and MIDI connectivity for both interfacing and triggering samples. Bluetooth in particular is a good addition, adding that element of fun and interactivity to practice. This is a basic but extremely serviceable electronic drum set for beginners.
Alesis’ pedigree in the electronics world is well-defined, with an extremely wide range of interfaces, modules and machines. While many today are more familiar with their MIDI controllers and stage keyboards, much of Alesis’ identity comes from percussion products. Its drum machines were formative accompaniments for guitarists of the new millennium, and its MultiPad range gives Roland’s SPD series a serious run for its money. Alesis’ contributions to the electronic drum set market are similarly influential, particularly for beginners looking for that cross-section between consumer friendliness and professional kit. The Nitro Mesh is this sweet spot embodied.
The module that powers the Nitro Mesh is a strong one, with a unique workflow that makes it easy to get straight back to playing. It has 40 presets, all of which can be tweaked and changed according to your preferences, as well as user presets that can be built from its extensive bank of sounds. The module features buttons that correspond to each pad, allowing you to arrange and alter sounds without taking your hands off the module – something which makes a small but meaningful difference when auditioning sounds. Together with MIDI connectivity and audio outs, the module can do all the connecting you would ever want.
It is another rack drum set, but much smaller in size than other kits of its ilk. Adult learners might struggle without fenagling the rack a bit, but the kit is perfect for young adult beginners starting out on their own rock-drumming odyssey.
Best for: recording and interfacing on the cheap
At the upper bounds of TourTech’s electronic drum set range is the TT22M, which takes the form of a beginner kit with serious capability. For one, all drum heads are mesh, and all heads and cymbal pads are dual-zone – meaning rim-shots, cross-stick sounds and responsive cymbal sounds. The cymbals also exhibit a ‘choke’ function, a feature usually reserved for more established – and more expensive – electronic kits.
The TT22’s drum module is not hugely impressive when compared to the pantheon of available kits, but it is still feature-filled for its price and competition. Its design and interface have much in common with Alesis’ Nitro Mesh kit, with similar I/O functionality and equivalent interfacing; again, there are buttons for each pad to select and trigger samples right on the module.
The kit itself feels light yet sturdy, with each pad responding well despite their smaller size. Playing it can be a cramped experience without paying more attention to how you set the kit up, but the reward is intuitive play with quality heads at an affordable price point.
Best for: breaking the bank
The Roland TD-27KV2 is not quite the top of the range in Roland’s V-Drums series, but it is very much up there in both quality and price. Still, its relatively steep price point – even in comparison to some middle-range acoustic kits – buys you an incredible amount of bang for your buck.
The TD-27KV2 offers new drum technology in the form of digital pads, connected by USB instead of by standard analogue TRS connectors. These pads – the snare, hi-hat and ride – benefit from increased sensitivity and range, with more complete immersion as a result. For example, the snare detects your palm on its mesh skin, playing cross-stick samples whenever you move your hand to cross-stick position. The ride cymbal has three zones instead of two, allowing you to trigger bell samples as well as head and rim samples. Your hand can choke the cymbal anywhere.
The TD-27 module is also significantly more powerful than its cheaper siblings, offering up to 28 channels of audio output for complex multitracking when recording into your computer. The kit editor is here again, but more powerful – and this time benefitting from an intuitive visual display and four control knobs. This is very much overkill for a beginner’s electronic drum set, but vital stuff for the invested beginner interested in developing real professional skills.
More costs are incurred here though, with a third-party snare and hi-hat stand required alongside a kick pedal. Ultimately, the price is unfeasible for any beginners to their drumming journey – but the quality and capability of this Roland electronic drum set are unparalleled, and if you have the money to spend you can’t do much better.
Korg is no stranger to drum sounds, having produced some extremely popular analogue and digital drum machines and from the KR series to the Volca Beats – but the ClipHit is its only foray into the world of tactile drumming, and an extremely intriguing one at that. The ClipHit leans into the practical functionality of beginner electronic drum sets as we know them today, being the triggering of drum samples via piezoelectric sensors. But rather than doing this with a conventional drum-kit topology, Korg does this with… clips.
The sensors are embedded in three bulldog clips that can be attached to just about anything; striking a ‘clipped’ object triggers a pre-recorded sample in the ClipHit module. Thus, you can build your very own drumset from pots, pans, books and other esoterica. This is by no means an ‘authentic’ experience when it comes to traditional drumming, but it is an extremely fun way to engage with practice – especially if prone to drumming on anything and everything around you.
The ClipHit’s sensors can be attached to drum practice pads and surrounding surfaces to create a more exciting way to practice rudiments, with a footswitch for your kick drum sample and the I/O for a second hi-hat switch. Unfortunately, the unit does not come with that second switch, making for some unfortunate compromises when playing out of the box.
The module that everything plugs into is well-made and pleasing to use, with the interface wrapped around its circumference. No screens or menu cycling here; just knobs and wheels for selecting kits and adjusting volume. It can be battery powered, too – a nice touch for taking your practice along with you without the need for bulky pads or kit bags. In all, this is a quirky piece of kit that serves well to enliven your desk-drumming, though not altogether conducive to real development of drumming skill.
Best for: compact desktop drumming
Gear4Music’s own-brand equipment are increasingly common fixtures in bedrooms and makeshift studio environments across the land, as affordable alternatives to name-brand essentials like cables and microphone stands. They are also a go-to of sorts for low-stakes beginner instruments, with cheap and cheerful ranges of keyboards, guitars and basses. They certainly haven’t turned a blind eye to the drumming world, with the DD70 providing a neat, small and accessible entryway to drumming.
The DD70 is a portable drum machine unit, constituting seven pads built into a self-contained performance module and two separate footswitches for your kick and hi hat clutch. It bears more in similarity to portable keyboards than it does to rack- or stand-based electronic kits, but this has its merits. For one, the DD70 is a real space-saver, taking up little more than a laptop’s worth of desk space.
The DD70 is surprisingly feature-rich for its size and stature, its control surface a miasma of buttons and modes. Everything you might want or need is more or less one button-press away, such as a built-in reverb effect or a ‘hand perc’ mode for stick-less bongo drumming. There are 265 percussion samples to choose between, and 45 pre-made kits for you to enjoy. Five user banks enable you to build your own kit from scratch. There is a powerful accompaniment section too, for practice and play.
A neat touch is its MIDI connectivity, which is rare for more consumer-level drum machines. Not only can you control the DD70 from your PC, but also use it as an interface for accessing your own samples in your music software of choice. The pads work well and rebound nicely, but the build quality is not quite that of more established audio brands. Still, it is a handy thing for low-stakes practice and forays into digital recording.
Best for: the Christmas stocking
3rd Avenue is another budget instrument brand, providing entry-level instruments and accessories for all ages. Its product range is largely string instruments, but it does have one entry in the drums category: the DKR01BK. The unassuming product identification hides a much more interesting USP, though. This is a roll-up kit, with the pads embedded in a flexible mat that neatly rolls up around its canister-shaped central module.
The DKR01BK’s topology is not too dissimilar to that of the Gear4Music DD70, boasting as it does seven pads clustered together and two connected footswitches. Any semblance to a real drum kit is undeniably absent here, though; the pads are not remotely as responsive as thicker drum pads on bigger and more comprehensive kits, but the trade-off is in portability and ease of storage.
As can be expected with such a small and inexpensive electronic drum set, the module is as beginner and bare-bones as they come. There are a handful of drum kits to choose from, with only one sample for each pad. Velocity detection changes the volume of the sample replay, but rolls and fills are unavoidably electronic-sounding. This is no bad thing, though, particularly for particular classes of learner. There might not be much here for any learner above the age of 10, but this could be a perfect introduction to drumming for a youngster.
For sheer functionality and clarity of purpose, the Roland TD-07DMK is absolutely a winner. Many of its features are present, and in some cases easier to access, in competitor kits; the Yamaha DTX6-X is a clear example of this, with its multimodal interface making effects and adjustments much simpler to change.
roll up piano 49 keys However, the Roland wins out on both price, build quality and the sheer immersion its digital room and microphone simulations provide.