Hi Paul

Sorry to disagree a bit with you, but not all the mid east drums are total crap.

This type plays in reasonably well.


Granted they are not as good as one by a good maker, but they do make a good starter instrument (much better than the wall ornaments most people start on)

David

i agree. some of tuneable www.MID-EAST.com are ok . I've played a handful of them, and i thought the 16x7 sounded pretty good for $80 (but some stores will try to sell these drums for $200 or more...)

-kip

Well, I finally made the jump this weekend and ordered the Vignoles beginners drum kit for $195. This was before I saw Bodojo's comments. I had also considered the Darius drum, but there was hardly any info on the drum on the website itself.

Anyway, I think I want the look of a more traditional drum for now, since I will try and play with my father in law who is from Lietrum in Ireland.

Michael Vignoles has emailed me that he will be shipping it this wednesday, so I should get it in the US in about 10-24 days I guess. I will let you all know what I think, but of course it will be a noobies opinion. I just hoe that it does not takje too long to break in before it sounds good. ...I may not have the patience. I am curious, how "long" in terms of hrs played shoudl I expect the break in period to take??

Hi Toshu, as long as it takes? Folk better informed than me will help you there. But there's the other aspect too, how will you know? Does the sound gradually 'arrive' and then does it stay where it's at, or does it go on 'maturing', and then start to decline? The head that Darius put on my drum is still surprising me after two years or more - and in the best of ways..... And after all is said and done, we only really judge from what WE are hearing. How it sounds to others could be quite different!!!
Enjoy your new friend, and be generous with the patience. J

Hey all,

@ Davy - We don't get to see the drums sold by mid-east mfg over here and I don't think I have encountered them in the US - I'm perfectly willing to be proven wrong! :)

Any of the drums that I have encountered coming from Asia (including Waltons who are made in China) have been woeful and better suited to finger styles of play, all attack and no bass tone when played with a Tipper basically. Your mileage differs to my experience of course :)

@ Toshu - Congrats on your new drum!.

How long it takes to play-it-in is dependent on the individual drum and how long you spend playing it. It may take anywhere from 6 months to a couple of years. Traditional drums tend to have less (or no) head-softening treatment work done to them so the heads are hard and stiff. Modern drums tend to have anywhere from minor treatment to almost a full tanning done on them and this added flexibility / elasticity in the skin is what causes the better bass tones.

Darius' drum (or Mike Q's) would save you the bulk of that playing-in time because both have been treated and have a great full sound out of the box. The Vignoles drum will be great eventually, it will just take a little work to get there :)

Cheers

P

P

Thanks for the welcome Paul and the comments Mike.

If the sound sample from the very cheap Glenluce 14" tuneable drum in the link in my first post is typical, might not that be OK for a beginner to learn basic rhythms (even if not up the fancy stuff some of you experts do)? It doesn't sound like a bin lid. A little boxy perhaps but surely a step up from a " Dominos' ". I guess it's a very individual thing (and dependent on the eventual outcome) whether its purchase price would come to be seen as money wasted or money invested.

I note in Marie Sullivan's review of the Vignoles that she was able to procure (I think there may be a pun there somewhere) from Michael drums with soft skin. I wonder if he would recommend the treatment given to his drum by Marie as a way of accelerating the playing-in time. I guess there could be some risk of damaging or reducing the life expectancy of the skin.