Can anyone tell me about drum kits for teens?

[VivaLeThrustBadger]

Dd is 13 and about six months ago restarted drumming lessons. This time at school, previously it was at a drumming centre.

When she had lessons when she was 9yo I bought her a nice electronic full size drum kit. It took up far too much space in the living room even when folded back. Dd barely used it. When she stopped lessons I sold it.

She now wants another kit. I'm refusing to get another big one and have told her ill get her a good quality table top one. Was thinking like this yamaha

Appparantly her drum teacher has told her a table top one won't be good enough and she needs a proper drum kit.

Only other option would be to build some sort of heated summerhouse to put it in which is far more money than I want to spend.

I have a drumming crazed 15 yr old DS, and have to say i agree with the drumming teacher, sorry.
I find the sound totally wrong with an electronic kit, you don't learn how to tune, as well as the essential fact that the positioning is obviously on the flat.

I presume the main problem for you is space, and the noise?
My DS drums in the garage, which is sound proofed with relatively cheap corrugated foam tiles (we've just stuck them on the walls), but you can sound proof quite effectively with mattresses etc.
How about a shed or something.. If she intends doing music at GCSE level, and loves drumming (a brilliant way to keep fit btw) it may be worth the investment?
You can also buy secoundhand smaller kits if you're lucky.

Probably not what you wanted to hear i know..

We don't have a garage and the sheds are full of bikes. No space in a shed at all. Plus I don't think she'd go in a shed.....she'd start moaning about spiders, etc.

She won't go upstairs on her own.

Any spiders that want to stick around in a drum-filled garage are braver than I am.

Do any of your neighbours have one in their shed (I know, I know, but ours did and offered it to us for free)? Or could she practise at school in lunch breaks

Ahaaa - new lean-to home for bikes, decent sound proofing, 3/4 kit.. and a full spider proof suit.. job done!

The bikes are worth £thousands. They're not having a lean to!

It would have to be a whole new shed and I'm not prepared to spend the money when I don't think she'd use it. I can see us doing all this and in another six months she decides she's had enough of drumming again.

You can get a stand for the yamaha one so its not flat, there's a YouTube video of a bloke playing it and it looks like a realistic angle.

Ahaa, no lean to then..

How about if you get the Yamaha for now, and tell her if she's still into drumming a year from now, you'll review it, then start a new thread?
(my DS may want to upgrade by then )

Yeah, I'd be more inclined to spend the money in a year if she was still doing it.

I can just see this going the way of ballet, horse riding, beavers, brownies, previous drum kit. Ie, I buy all the gear and she loses interest a short while later.

Saying that I've just been looking at Roland hd3 kits and trying to work out how much floor space they need.