Part 2: ELECTRONIC DRUMS

Now that you understand the basics of an acoustic set, electronic drums will be easier to understand.

Electronic drum sounds are sounds made by any electronic device with the purpose of mimicking acoustic drums. An acoustic drum will always theoretically sound ever-so slightly different, whereas an electronic drum will theoretically be identical every single time it is triggered. A good analogy is handwriting versus printed font. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to exactly reproduce a hand-written letter, whereas it can should be identical every time by a typewriter or printer.

From a studio engineer’s perspective, an electronic drum is exceptionally easier to record than an acoustic drum. Acoustic drums require microphones which are supremely sensitive to placement (angle, direction, distance, brand, circuitry, and application. Electronic drums are recorded by simply plugging the electronic device into a recording device. Thus, it’s easy to see why many popular recording artists opt for the predictability and ease of electronic drums. Also, as popular music has progressed, the synthetic sounds of an electronic drum device have become far more mainstream and acceptable than in the past. With regard to Beatboxing, some of these synthetic sounds are far easier to mimic than their acoustic counterparts.

Here are some examples of electronic drums sounds from an Alesis SR-16 drum machine:

Use of the appropriate terminology will help the beatboxer communicate with others when performing, developing innovations, and sharing techniques.

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