Hey, I’ve been a drummer for over 30 years. When I started I got a practice pad. That was really the only option outside of a full set and it worked well. You’ll need to build your fundamentals with rudiments that you can apply on a full kit. This takes some time. That’s not to say you can’t jump into a drum set right away, but I can be a frustrating starting point and as you point out, expensive.

As a work around you can set up other objects around your pad and tap your feet to get a feel for coordination on a full set. Once you’ve made some progress and reach the level of uncontrollable tapping on random objects and air drumming day and night, it’s probably a good indicator you’re in deep and probably need to invest in something.

I will add that buying an electronic kit was the best decision I made, and I wish I had done it earlier, and not been such a purist. The main reason being, I can practice more often, and it provides a more drum like experience.

For a first pad there’s lots of options, gum rubber is a favorite, there are some multi surface pads that you may also want to try, if you want to pretend you’re playing on the worlds tiniest kit. For sticks, start with marching drum sticks or “corps” sticks and get a pair of 5A or 5Bs. Work with the corps sticks for a few months and bring in the smaller sticks to get used to those too. The larger sticks will help you build strength and are over all easier to work with. All this should be obtainable for under $100 USD.

Good luck and hope you enjoy drumming!

One should always start cheap with hobbies until you know it’s gonna stick

I’m gonna give some advice that goes a bit against the grain here. It sounds like you want to try it out without making any big purchases before you know if you’ll like it, so I’d suggest finding a drum instructor and take one or two lessons just to get a feel for a real acoustic kit. Let them know you don’t have drums and just want to try some out. They’ll be able to get you playing a super basic beat in that time and you can see how you feel from there. Learning instruments is hard for most people, especially learning a first instrument. At first it kind of sucks, because you don’t know how to do anything. That’s where an instructor will also be really helpful because they can show you some things that are fun but also easy. If you enjoy the lessons but still aren’t sure you want to commit to buying anything, look for practice spaces in your area that provide equipment. Most small cities will likely have a few. This way you can try some stuff out on your own and play around without having to go all in on buying anything.

Then look in to getting a practice pad. I like this one because it’s got two sides that emulate the feel of both drums and cymbals pretty well and is good for getting your hand coordination down, and the soft side is pretty quiet.

If you’re still in to it, I would strongly suggest looking in to getting a used acoustic kit. Try craigslist/fb marketplace and look for Yamaha, Ludwig, Pearl, Gretsch, Tama, DW, Sonor, or Mapex. Try to get something that includes hardware and cymbals. If you’re patient, you can usually find something in the $300-$500 range. Anything lower in those brands is an absolute steal. Learn how to tune and know that, just like playing, tuning drums is a skill that takes practice and you will be bad at at first.

As far as electric goes, there are very good electric kits out there, but in my opinion the only ones really worth getting are very expensive (think $1500-$2000+). The cheaper ones are a good way to learn bad habits and not get a feel for how large a dynamic range acoustic drums can be. If you do start out on electric and switch to acoustic when you find you want to stick with it it will likely be a harder transition than if you just started on acoustic. I understand some people can’t make acoustic work because of their living situation, but imo everyone wanting to give drums a serious try should start acoustic if at all possible.

One final note, and I kind of touched on this before, but if you really want to give it a serious try just know that starting out sucks because you will be bad, and that’s ok. Sucking at something is the first step to being good at something. Practicing can be a real bore, but if you focus on fundamentals and taking it slow you can build a great foundation quicker than you might expect that will make things easier and more fun down the road.

Buy something used, midrange. You can always sell it again

I love my electric drum set. Playing acoustic drums are LOUD. Like so loud that if anyone is in the house, they can’t watch TV or even have a conversation. And if you live in an apartment, forget about it. Electric drums get really expensive, but just being able to plug headphones in is invaluable.

How I learned to play drums was actually by playing Rock Band and Guitar hero (the later ones had drums, too). It sounds silly, but it teaches you to move your limbs independently and some basic patterns that lots of drummers use. I haven’t tried this, but you might be able to connect a Rock Band drum set to your computer, and get a program to make it act like an electric drum set. It might be a decent starter kit. I think the Guitar Hero drums might be a little better for this, as they have dedicated cymbals and 6 total pads, compared to Rock Band’s 5 pads (including the bass pedal in both). Neither one has a hi-hat pedal, which is a shame. But it might be good enough for a beginner.