When you watch a band playing a live gig, you’re going to see the drummer using an acoustic kit 95% of the time. Acoustic drums are always your best option, as they give the sounds that everyone needs and wants to hear.
However, you may not own an acoustic drum kit, and your electronic drum kit may be your only option for your next gig.
Is this something you could do? Absolutely. There are pros and cons, though. We’re going to look through what those are, as well as give a few tips on how to gig with an e-kit.
The biggest benefit of using an electronic drum kit for a live gig is that you don’t need to set up drum microphones.
You can simply connect the drum kit to a PA, and the sound engineer will have an incredibly easy time fitting the drums into the mix. You get far better volume control when using an electronic kit.
An electronic drum set will also allow you to use digital sounds that would be impossible to play on an acoustic set. Many bands love using electronic sounds, and it’s seriously convenient when the drummer can play them.
To play gigs with an electronic drum kit, you need to bring all the components with you to set up on stage.
You’ll then need to run the e-kit through a PA system. That will allow everyone to hear what you’re playing on the drums, and it will give whoever is doing sound access to your drum kit’s overall sound.
With most e-kits, you won’t have individual control over each drum in the mix, but some high-end kits allow you to have that.
While it’s certainly not common, there are drummers out there who gig with e-kits. The most popular place to see this is with live TV shows.
Shows like The Voice and Idols have live bands that perform with the singers. It’s often easier for a drummer to use an electronic kit on these shows, as it gives the sound engineer a lot more control.
In those types of environments, control is everything.
They’re just as tricky to gig with as acoustic kits. They just have different pros and cons. Setting up an electronic kit is often tricky with all the wires and connectors. You then need to make sure that you have a good PA system to play the drums through.
However, we wouldn’t say that it’s something that is very difficult.
Certainly! It’s known as a hybrid kit when you mix acoustic and electronic drums together in a setup. Having a hybrid setup is the best way of getting the best of both worlds.
You can play beats and fills with acoustic drums and cymbals, and then you can play electronic sounds with the pads.
It’s very possible to play live gigs with an electronic drum kit. You just need to approach it in a different way from how you do with acoustic drums.
Some gigs will only allow you to use something that is soft and easily controllable. An electronic set would be the perfect option for that.
Just note that having a drummer use an e-kit will never look as cool as him playing an acoustic kit.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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