A Bad Case Of Loving E-drums

digitalDrummer’s first edition back in 2010 detailed a case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). That was nothing compared to Anthony Nalli’s affliction.

A DRUMMER FOR most of my life, I first started playing e- drums in the early 2000s, starting with the Yamaha DTXpress II and later the Alesis DM10. Having been in bands since my teens, my playing at this point was purely recreational. In 2015, I sold the Alesis/Yamaha combo kit which had started collecting dust and didn’t think much about drums again until December of 2016. And when I decided to jump back in: neckdeep I went!

As a television producer, I spend a lot of time on the road, so portability was the first, last and only thing to consider. The folding rack of the TD-1KPX seemed appealing and the kit had mesh pads rather than rubber. With this simple little kit, I WAS BACK!

Within a week I began longing for more. I realised just how limiting the TD-1 module was and ordered a TD-11, used from eBay. I had that for just a couple of days when I lucked into a good deal on a TD-15, so back went the TD- 11. With the ability to expand a little more now, I moved the PDX-8 from my snare to tom 4, replacing it with a PDX- 100. I also added a CY-13R ride. Now I felt like that’s where I needed to be.

After playing the new kit for a couple of weeks, the plastic rings of the PDX-6 and PDX-8 pads really started to bug me. I worked out a trade on eBay where I would replace them all with PD-85s for a nominal fee. At the same time, I added another cymbal to serve as a China stacked onto my ride. This was less than four weeks in.