r/edrums

Being able to play with the hi-hat slightly open (until the vocals start) and the sound actually resembles what I'm playing is cool, some Audioslave!

Swapped out almost all of my Alesis Strike cymbals for Phantoms and Lemons. The shiny look is awesome, and the silicone material they use shows no stick marks and has a much better feel. Triggering is good so far, and will dial them in just a tad more, but keep getting distracted by just wanting to jam out! Debating on using the 15" Phantom hi hats, or possibly in the future, their 15" 3 Zone Ride as hats IF I eventually get a Prime module, since it supports triple zone cymbals.

I played drums for about a year when I was a young kid (10-year-old me wanted to be a rockstar), then put the sticks down for nearly 20 years. Last October, I got laid off and picked up an Alesis Nitro Mesh off Facebook Marketplace for $160.

This is one year after that purchase (and MANY others). I haven’t had lessons since I was 10, so I know there is tons of room for improvement and I’m honestly scared to find out just how much room lol. That said, I’m having trouble actually figuring out what my skill level is. I figured I share a freestyle!

Genuinely looking for feedback about my skill level, areas for improvement, any recommended drills or exercises, anything at all!!! My kit is a Frankenstein of parts and runs two modules at once. I am also finally employed once again lol.

After much deliberation. Triggering, reliability and build quality made me choose Roland 516 over efnote 5. Extremely satisfied so far. This is a tank of a machine and built to last decades.

Posting this here as a 1 top up 2 Toms down is definitely achievable for those wondering. The rack bars need to be raised so the tom doesn't hit the down tubes/legs. Not cramped. Worked damn well.

Hey everyone!

A few days ago, I posted Baqueta here, a free browser app for practicing on an e-kit with Clone Hero charts. Several of you asked for a sheet music view instead of the note highway, so I built it. Here's an update.

Try it: https://baqueta.app/ (if you visited before and don't see it, reload the page, you might need to clear cache (ctrl + shift + R or similar))

First, I want to thank everyone who tried it and gave feedback. I know (I truly do) we're all tired of new vibecoded / AI-enhanced / whatever-you-want-to-call-it apps. Even though I'm a developer, have been using this myself for months, and have put real effort into it, it's still just another "hey, look what I made" post. So the reception, and the fact that nobody immediately got angry at it, makes me really happy. You guys are awesome.

I mentioned this in a couple of comments, but my only goal is to have an easy, web-only, free way for us to play songs we like and practice, with no account needed. If even a couple of people use it, that's enough for me to gladly keep hosting it. (I used Melodics for a long time and stopped paying for it. Baqueta doesn't have curated courses, but it's enough for me to have fun, and if someone else saves a few bucks too, that makes my day.)

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty bad drummer and I can't read sheet music yet (learning is part of why I built this). I researched the standard drum notation conventions and checked the output against them, but there will be things a real reader spots that I can't. If something looks wrong, let me know and I'll fix it. On that note, the engraving is done with alphaTab (https://alphatab.net), an open source music notation library, and the people behind it are amazing!

What's new:

- **Sheet music for any song.** Open a song and hit "Sheet music" to see the whole chart as drum notation: proper note values, rests, triplets, section names, tempo marks and time signature changes. It works with the charts you search for in the app.

- **Play from the sheet.** A line moves through the music while you play, and each note head gets colored by how close you were (green, yellow or blue, with a red ring when you miss it). You can switch between the sheet and the highway at any time, even mid-song, with the Highway / Sheet music switch at the top (or the N key). In Settings you can make the sheet open by default instead of the highway, and choose how big the notes are.

- **Loop from the sheet.** Pause and drag across the bars you want to work on. It counts you in and loops them.

- **Drills and lessons in notation too.** The 88 drills now show their pattern as sheet music, with sticking and accents where they matter.

- **A "How to read drum sheet music" guide** (Learn tab), with real examples, for anyone who wants to use this to learn to read, like me.

Being honest about the limits: the sheet is worked out from the chart, so it's only as good as the chart. Well-made charts come out looking like a real transcription. Sloppy charts, or charts with odd timing, can come out messy or with strange rhythms. There's no print/PDF export yet.

PS1: I'm working on an option to disable on-screen feedback. I feel some people won't like it

PS2: I used a full notation view, if it gets too weird or hard to read, let me know. I could add a simplified view toggle.

Same as before: it's free, no account, nothing to install, and your songs stay in your browser.

Thanks again to everyone who asked for this. If a chart comes out looking wrong, tell me the song and charter and I'll take a look.