I suggest just finding whatever used kits are for sale near you and picking one you like within your budget, but definitely try to get at least: kick drum, snare, hi-hat and one cymbal; that will be plenty to get started. Drum kits are modular so if you get really lucky and find an amazing set that someone just wants to get out of their garage but feels a bit overwhelming to look at: just buy it and use the few pieces you need to start, then you’ll have stuff to grow into if you like it. Honestly if you have the space for a kit and your housemates have the patience to hear the horrible sounds you’ll be making, that is like 90% of the hurdle to learning to play drums lol

You’ll want to watch some videos or read up on how to tune drums and make them sound better. Sound is subjective so there is no right or wrong way to tune and dampen things IMO: I used to use wadded up paper towels and duct tape as a kid. Just mess with it until it sounds good to you.

How you learn is up to you, but my suggestion is to find what is fun. If it isn’t fun then you may not stick with it. Drumming requires a lot of awkward coordination that doesn’t come naturally to most people, so it will take some time to establish basic muscle memory. If you have a friend who wants to learn an instrument then get together and jam! It will sound absolutely horrible but if you both suck then it will be fun and you’ll learn pretty quick. If you can afford a teacher then they will have their own ways of teaching that may or may not work for you, and there are a million resources and videos online now so I’m sure you can find something that is your speed. Good luck!

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

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.

When i started (20 years ago), my parents just rented a set for the first little while to see of i would stick to it, i reccomend going this route.

I also reccomend a full size kit, be it electric or acoustic vs. Just getting a simple drum pad. The feeling of a full sized kit is vastly different in my opinion.

Electric: Can be loud or can be silent to the environment around you. Light weight. Customizable digital options for sound. Can usally find a kit the is of defent quality for a decent price.

Acoustic: no volume nob and no headphone output, so consider your playing environment. Feels different than electric, hitting skins and bare metal just feels better to me in general. Looks sexy AF. Decent kits are not cheap, and cheap bad kits sound like cheap bad kits.

Hi-hat, kick drum, snare, crash and/or ride cymbal, floor tom and 1 or 2x tom-toms would be my reccomendation. Electric you will have a wider selection of sounds, seeing you can usually program them for different usage.

Edit: just wanted to add, a drum pad is still a starting point, so if thats your best option go for it! Hell, even some different sized plastic buckets is a start worth pursuing.