The kids want a drum kit....

[snorkle]

Am I mad to consider it? Do any of your kids learn drums and do they have lessons or not? Just how loud are they really and are they likely to be a 5 minute wonder?

For what it's worth ds is 12 and fairly musical, dd is 10 and less so.

We got DS a drum kit for his 2nd birthday. He absolutely loved it but it only lasted a few months before he broke it!

What about the neighbours, you do want to stay friendly with them eh?

I know, I know... I am mad - or soon will be if I agree to it. But ds says he's saved enough to buy one. Is it churlish of me to refuse to let him?

Only if you have a hut at the bottom of the garden to put them, sreiously only if they are going to get proper lessons and not just crash about on them.

DS1 (7)really wanted a drum kit for Christmas and as he had already played around with the cheapo digital toy version we knew that he meant the real thing so we compromised and hired a set for 6 months from the local music store which has a music school attached. That might be worth considering before commiting to the full cost. In our case, if you decide to purchase after 6 months, they refund the full hire fee against the purchase price. He also has a half-hour lesson once a week (I think it works out at 11 pounds a lesson)and he really loves it. The lesson provides him with some structure but we also have a learning CD at home which he plays along with or he just messes about sometimes. Re the neighbours, we are detached although don't live any great distance from next door but we only let him practice up to about 6.30 in the evening and nobody has ever commented. Mind you, that's easier with a 7-yr old who goes to bed at 7.30, than a 12 year old who is presumably up later!

What about electronic drums, that way you can control the volume or use headphones. And I believe they can be pretty good (though expensive I guess)

electronic drums are no good (according to ds) - they want the real thing, otherwise that would be ideal. He wants to crash around, she wants lessons. He is likely to practise (already plays two instruments), she isn't. Hiring sounds like a good option, but it's their money and they might not go for it (actually might not be able to afford it as it's likely to be more expensive than buying from a discount place). I'm wavering - they don't often get their hearts set on something like this and I think they'll hold it against me for ever if I say no.

Does anyone know how effective the sound reducing pads are?

Tssh. If electronic drums are good enough for the great Stephen Morris in New Order they should be good enough for anyone! Oh well.

My dd1 got a full set when she was 8 and lessons through the local music shop. After a few months it gradually dawned that she wasnt getting much from it. We left the lessons for a few months then restarted still not great improvement and didnt practice. My point is we've had a bloody big drum kit cluttering up the house for 4 years now but she doesnt want to get rid. I only wished she showed interest in something a lot smaller!
Hiring sounds like a great idea if possible, or can you link up with someone locally (older school mate maybe),for the first few months.

DN(nephew) got an electronic drum kit for his birthday as recommended by his drum teacher. DBro bought them on ebay for about £500. They seem great - excellent sound plus he can plug in his headphones and no one can hear him! He's 11 and really enjoys playing the drum bit to special rock cds which have the drum bit missing.

My dp is a drummer.We have drums and they are extremely noisy.The new electronic drums are brilliant they are like real drums but cost about 1000 minimum.They6 are nothing like the old drum pads which have an electronic-y sound and they look like a kit.They are called Roland v drums.Having said that if you only practice at certain times the neighbours should be ok and you can get rubber practice pads.Why don't you send him to a few lessons as drums is one of those things that people think are really easy and they often give up when they realise it is quite a skill.My dp advises his pupils parents not to buy a kit and to let them practice rudiments with sticks and a rubber pad on a pillow.If they show real interest and/or talent then buy a kit HTH

My dp is a drummer.We have drums and they are extremely noisy.The new electronic drums are brilliant they are like real drums but cost about 1000 minimum.They6 are nothing like the old drum pads which have an electronic-y sound and they look like a kit.They are called Roland v drums.Having said that if you only practice at certain times the neighbours should be ok and you can get rubber practice pads.Why don't you send him to a few lessons as drums is one of those things that people think are really easy and they often give up when they realise it is quite a skill.My dp advises his pupils parents not to buy a kit and to let them practice rudiments with sticks and a rubber pad on a pillow.If they show real interest and/or talent then buy a kit HTH

Thanks for the advise. Noddyholder, I think electronic pads that 'looked' right would be acceptable, but they're well outside their budget unfortunately. They are looking at the cheapo proper kit \link{http://www.gear4music.com/Drums/Drum_Kits/Drum_Kit_by_Gear4music,_5_piece,_BLUE.html\here}
which is all they can afford. Any comments on pros/cons of these are welcome. I was hoping that would be fine for their purposes for a while. They can't even afford the silencer pads (extra £32) yet. I'm thinking I'll insist they wait to buy the kit until they can afford the pads too.

I will look into lessons for at least one of them. Ds reckons if dd has lessons he can learn indirectly via her, but I do agree that some occasional lessons wouldn't harm. I don't really want ds practising drums at the expense of his other instruments.

tbh you'd be much better off buying second hand from a drum shop than getting that kit - the quality will be much better and you can usually rely on the shop's advice rather than buying off the internet.

Yamaha DTX electronic kits are great and cheaper (esp 2nd hand) than the Roland V drums. I have one and it's great for the nighbours, who have just got an old second hand acoustic kit which is the bane of my life AND I'M A DRUMMER!!!!

if space is an issue Arbiter Flats Lite kits are great - they sound and feel just like playing regular drums but have no shells so pack away into two bags and even when they're set up, they take up much less room than a regular kit - you could probably find one on eBay for around the £160 mark - I had one I sold for £180 still in really good nick. Just stick Arbiter Flats Lite into an eBay search - there are loads there

lessons are the way to go and I agree with noddyholder about starting off with one practice pad and a couple of sticks - wish I'd done it that way

my mum always had a saying "you can have whatever you want as long as you can plug headphones into it". Luckily for her I play keyboards, lol. If your ds is serious I would let him buy one, but tbh I'd let him save till he can afford a decent one as, if he gets on well he'll want a new/better one before he can afford it.

The electronic kits are much improved on the older versions, and are less of an issue for the neighbours. Someone had a drum kit who lived about 4 streets away from us and on a day when the wind was blowing in the right direction we could hear him practicing so I shudder to think what it must have been like for his neighbours.

Oh absolutely dear!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These things do have to be encouraged don't they!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now my 5 are just musical geniuses if I do say so myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No recorders for them, they went straight to the violin, piano and other such classical instruments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have built a special soundproof room for them at the back of the house so they can practise to their hearts content!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, you have to don't you??????? Otherwise they would become like that common family up the road who's only talents are stealing cars!!!!!!!! No offence to any commoners on here of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate making these decisions. Better quality is only a good idea if it's more than a passing fad and I don't have any confidence that it is (or that I particularly want it to be). I will look out for second hand however. Thanks all.

yumsy mumsy makes me wet my pants laughing

I just wish she'd stick to her own threads - anyroadup - something else came to mind - the Arbiter Flats Lites are also really good for children because, as they've got no shells, the toms can be hung low over the bass/kick drum and are therefore more reachable by non-adult-sized arms. I know buying stuff like this off eBay may worry some people, but the market for them on there is such that if it's just a fad round your house, you can sell them on again for virtually the same price.

Second-hand kits - look for Pearl or Premier or Mapex at the reasonable end of the market and avoid Stagg, Ion, Cannon or Performance Percussion - they're typcally sold as starter kits and are OK if bought new, but they aren't best built, so once thrashed they're not much cop.

Best of luck - hope you've got the next Phil Collins on your hands, not that I'd like to be Phil Collins, but I wouldn't mind his bank balance.