Raf

This is great, thank you. I've only been called on to play this tune once, 2-3 years ago, and I had no idea what the Sam Hill I was doing. I listened to Hendrix's version 20-30 times and did the best I could, but it would have been oh-so-nice to have this then. Great job.

I wouldn't be so hasty to just give up on the electric kit if the only other choice is just a kick pad.

I'm with Nate. I have both an electric kit and an acoustic one (and I tried the kick-pad for a while). In deference to my neighbors, I do about 80% of my practicing on the electric...especially to figure out patterns/exercises/fills and to play along with my iPod, which makes you sound like you're in the band.

The drawbacks are, in no particular order:

They can be expensive
The pedals to make noise against the floor, especially the hi-hat(at least in my case)
No matter how advanced, you're still hitting pieces of rubber, which is not the same as real heads and/or cymbals
You might not use a lot of the functions that come with it --- I certainly don't
To my knowledge, they still haven't come up with the technology to allow the use of brushes on an electric kit

You can see for yourself what they cost nowadays, but I think I paid around $3000 US for a very good Yamaha DTExtreme. That's a lot of money. You should be able to find a nice used one at more reasonable prices if you're willing to be patient and wait for the right one to pop up.

I also spent some money sound-proofing the floor and walls in my practice room for the electric set....with good results, my neighbors never hear it.

Nate is a thousand percent correct in saying that practicing on rubber/electric can lead you to bad technique and dynamic control issues when you then play on a real set. The bounce and feel are very different. That's why I practice at least 20% of the time on the acoustic set. I learn the routines on the electric, but I finesse them on the acoustic....especially before a lesson.

With those drawbacks, it is still better to have an electric set than not practicing at all or only using a kick-pad, which I assure you the neighbors can also hear/feel. Like so many things, you might just have to come to an understanding with your neighbors that you can all live with. For example, I never play my acoustic set before 10am or after sundown and they are really appreciative of the effort.

Good luck.

Boring day at the office...went and found it myself. Ten minutes long. Enjoy.

You'll have to look for it on your own if you're interested, but my drum teacher the other day sent me a video of Clayton Cameron at a recent TED conference where he is just standing on the stage with a pair of brushes and a snare and talks/imitates some of the great tap dancers of the past, including Sammy Davis Jr, Sandman and Gregory Hines. It's about 10 minutes long, but some great brushwork. It seemed to come from Cameron's Facebook page or a Youtube channel. I'm sure it's not too hard to find.

Happy Holidays to all.

Great to have you back Stormi and have a great time at the gig. I'm sure you'll let us know how it went but, you're right, keep it basic till your comfort level allows you to take a few more risks here and there.

Happy Holidays, everyone.