I recently purchased a Roland electronic set. I love the sound, and it is great for practicing on. But, I am reluctant to play live with it. I just prefer to sit behind a set of real drums.

When I look at a set or electric jobs they kind or remind me of some techno robot. I would much rather have a traditional drum set in my band. While I know it takes skill to play the electric, to me it takes true talent to play the real thing.

I don't think it would make any difference either way. Just two different types of touch, right? One you're playing on a sensor, the other you're making an acoustic sound. I always enjoy a set of electric drums because of all the different sounds in the modules. A good drummer behind an electric drumset is one who makes use of what all he has available to him. It's like the Line6 Pod for guitarists. Just using it for acoustic sounds to me would be a bit of a letdown.

You seem to be the drummer here, YYZ, what do you think?

The sounds available from the electronic sets now are simply amazing. Save for the inability to have a cymbal fade into infinity, they sound very much like the real thing. With that said, I prefer to sit behind a monster set. I feel more comfortable that way.

That's fair. I suppose that makes sense now why whenever I play with a drummer who has an electric kit, they always still use at least two or three acoustic cymbals. That's so obvious now haha. I can't believe I didn't think of that right away.

I would caution that older electronic sets were prone to cause carpal tunnel for drummers who played for extended periods of time. Not a major concern for the average user, but be careful that the head of the set has some 'give' if you expect to play a lot. Otherwise it is like hitting concrete and for many drummers this is not a great thing as they learned to beat into the drum more than pull out...

Still a fan of traditional sets over them, but there are some of the newer electronic ones that are amazing and have made huge strides in their head action to make it more playable.

I wondered about the tops of the electronic sets. Seems to me it would vibrate right back through your hands when hitting the surface.

Is there special sticks that come with the electronic sets, or are the they same as the traditional drum sets?

I always thought that if a band was playing in a lounge or restaurant where sound level was a potential problem, then maybe the electronic sets could be played more quietly with good energy in the sounds.

But I've never played in a band where the drummer used strictly electronic sounds.

Electronic sets are played with traditional drumsticks. Nothing special.

I had a chance to play one recently that was in the $5000 range that was set up with some sort of nylon head that was wonderful...Many of the cheaper ones have what amounts to rubber heads that are a lot more stiff, but again...unless you are a working drummer, I doubt it would cause too much problem, but it would have a definite feel that is remarkably different than a traditional drumset.

Ability to play with intensity and still groove at quiet or even acoustic levels is a major part of how I judge a drummer's talent. It takes some serious skill and muscle control to be able to pull a strong, hip sound out of an acoustic kit and still play at restaurant level, as many jazz bands (unfortunately) have to do. Stewart Copeland (drummer for The Police and numerous other projects) is a huge advocate of practicing as quietly as possible while still getting a good sound. Not only is it an extreme workout for your technique, it makes any mistakes readily audible.