digitalDrummer May 2015 by Allan Leibowitz

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US$10

Edition 22 MAY, 2015

The global electronic drumming e-zine

Taylor-made for e-drums

Dirk’s brushes

RT triggers

Rai’s rhythms

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Gen16 Buffed Bronze are real cymbals with an acoustic feel while having 60-70% less volume than traditional cymbals. Gen16 cymbals can be used for silent practice, low volume rehearsal or even reduced volume gigs. Combined with the Digital Cymbal Processor and Direct Source Pickups, your sonic possibilities are open to your imagination. For more information on the Gen16 series go to zildjian.com/gen16 #ZGEN16

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--from-the-editor-is published by

DigitalDrummer

ABN: 61 833 620 984 30 Oldfield Place

Brookfield Q 4069 AUSTRALIA

editor@digitaldrummermag.com

www.digitaldrummermag.com Editor & Publisher Allan Leibowitz Sub-Editor

Solana da Silva

Contributors Ian Bee Dirk Brand Scott Holder Alan Levesque Wolfgang Stoelzle Cover Photo Stephanie Pistel Design and layout ‘talking business’

Support digitalDrummer If you like what you’re reading, please make a donation.

Forget the legalese and just play fair! We work hard to produce digitalDrummer. Please respect that and don’t rip off our content. In this age of electronic publishing, it’s obviously tempting to “borrow” other people’s work, and we are happy to share our stuff — but please ask first and be sure to include a link back to our website on anything published elsewhere.

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

WE TEND TO think of hybrid drumming (acoustic and electronic) as something new, but it really goes right back to the very beginning. When Simmons kits were gracing music videos, they were often augmented by acoustic cymbals. Indeed, as we read in this month’s profile, Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor used a full acoustic kit but added Simmons toms for the authentic ‘80s sound. Of course, today, Taylor is able to get much more out of his ekit – not just responsiveness that eluded the Simmons, but a sound library and effects that were simply not available three decades ago. Increasingly, it’s becoming clear that it’s not an “either/or” choice. Acoustics have their place and it would take a revolution to change that. But electronics are used more and more to augment and extend the acoustic lexicon. Yamaha, this year, started bundling triggers and pads with its acoustic kits for off-the-shelf hybrid solutions – which totally makes sense for a company that has extensive expertise in both and an e-drummer as its head of drum products. In this edition, we review Roland’s latest generation of external triggers, and these have been optimised not just for acoustics, but to accommodate the crosstalk which inevitably results from toms mounted directly on kick drums. And the first module to get a software update to make the most of this technology was the TM-2, Roland’s hybrid brain product. I recently used a hybrid arrangement at a gig, playing an acoustic kit but adding two pads (in this case, a double Cowpaddy set-up) to trigger tree chimes, cowbells, timbales and Roland 505 sounds on the appropriate songs. This month, we also include a really interesting contribution from German drummer Dirk Brand who shares his secrets of e-brushes playing. Not only does he explore technique, but he also shares his module settings to allow readers to push their modules to the limits of realism. And speaking of realism, we review the results of a new collaboration in VSTs – Drumdrops and BFD. digitalDrummer was among the first publications to feature the niche British sample producer and we were also honoured to be among the first to try the ‘60s Gretsch pack in its BFD format. This union is a great match because it gives BFD users more options, but importantly, gives Drumdrops fans an alternative to the Kontakt platform on which it was previously offered. You’ll find that review – and much more – in this edition. Please enjoy!

editor@digitaldrummermag.com

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The global electronic drumming e-zine Edition 22

6 10 18 24 26 28 30 4

May 2015

GEAR

Marvels at Messe

There were a few surprises at MusikMesse in Frankfurt, with new products and enhancements.

A KAT of a different colour

KAT Percussion is working its way up, with incremental enhancements of each product. Scott Holder looks at the KT3 kit.

And Zen there was drumming

he Zendrum is coming up for its 25th birthday, and while it is loved and respected by its army of enthusiasts, the instrument is largely unknown. digitalDrummer caught up with inventor David Haney.

New triggers hit the mark

Roland’s hybrid drive has seen the addition of a new trigger line to the product family, and Allan Leibowitz put the new RTs to the test.

Trigger gets bells ‘n whistles

Internal trigger kits have taken a new direction, after Wronka launched its lug-mounted compact dual-zone trigger unit. This was followed by the Intrigg from Triggera. Now there’s a new contender which has upped the ante.

Pads for iPads

With iOS drumming on the rise, Allan Leibowitz tested a new multipad for tablets from the growing iRig range.

Profile

Taylor-made for e-drums

As the drummer for Duran Duran, Roger Taylor was one of the early adopters of electronic drums, becoming the poster boy for Simmons. Thirty years on, he’s still finding new ways to use e-drums, as he tells digitalDrummer editor Allan Leibowitz.

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34 36 40 42 44

PERFORMANCE

How I use e-drums

Thirsty Merc songwriter, lead singer and keyboard player Rai Thistlethwayte has plugged in the e-drums for his latest solo project.

Brushing up the TD-30

German Roland artist Dirk Brand often gets questions about the brushes demo he filmed to coincide with the launch of the TD-30 kit a few years back. He shares the secrets here.

Digital drums taught me better teaching

For many years, digital drums were dirty words for Ian Bee. Now, he wouldn’t contemplate working as a tutor without them.

Four better

Just as we published our review of the Hero 3+, GoPro released the Hero 4, so Allan Leibowitz had to follow up.

VST

Gretsch 1960s Round Badge for BFD

Drumdrops has come a long way in a year, releasing its first sample pack for BFD3.

DIY

MONSTER

Restoring vintage Simmons pads

Much DIY attention is focused on building new triggers or converting acoustic drums to electronics. However, with growing interest in ‘vintage’ gear, Alan Levesque demonstrates how to return Simmons pads to their former glory.

My Monster kit

This month’s monster kit belongs to Jan van Vugt of Oudenbosch in The Netherlands and, fittingly, it’s orange.

ws ... Get the latest e-drum news at www.digitaldrummermag.com/news ... digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

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marvels at There were a few surprises at MusikMesse in Frankfurt, with new products and enhancements, as Wolfgang Stoelzle reports. Yamaha

There was quite a bit of new product at the Yamaha stand, with a new kick pad (KP100) and a new kit based on the DTX502 module.

The DTX580 kit is plug and play with Cubase and can be used as a MIDI controller without any additional driver. There were also several new (and free) apps for easy editing including the M12 Touch App for the DTX Multi 12 and the DTX 502 Touch for the DTX 502.

www.digitaldrummermag.com

PHOTO:â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Messe FrankFurT exHibiTiOn GMbH / PeTra Welzel

--Gear--

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Clockwise from top: KAT KT4, Gibraltar GCS-ERK and Roland TD-25

Roland

Roland has released its latest module, the TD25. The module features sounds from the TD30 as well as the flagship’s SuperNATURAL technology with Behavior Modeling. It has positional sensing on the snare and is equipped with a USB host port, providing a convenient connection for recording audio and MIDI data directly into DAW software. There is no MIDI In connection. The module is bundled in two kit variations: TD-25K and up-specced TD-25KV.

KAT

A prototype of the new KT4 kit was shown with a high-resolution display, a dial for faster editing and a GM set for playing MIDI files. The KT4 is a five-piece kit that features new high-end, professional quality drum and cymbal sounds and percussion samples integrated into its built-in library of over 700 sounds.

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

The KT4 is the first KAT drum set to feature a real-time actuating, movable, three-zone, 12” hi-hat cymbal pad and the first to benefit from KAT’s acquisition by DW, with a DW3500 hi-hat stand included in the hardware. The module has a SD card slot which is only for loading MIDI files and can’t be used to import sounds or audio loops.

Gibraltar

Messe saw the introduction of a new rack system designed specifically for compact edrum kits.

The GCS-ERK has two horizontal mounting bars for drum pads, cymbal pad arms and controller module and a curved design which takes up minimal space and is easy to transport. It comes with four chrome multiclamps and four 9.5 mm L–rods (L-rods fit most standard pad mounts), three chrome multi-clamps for cymbals and an extension arm for the module. 7

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2box

The Swedish manufacturer surprised show-goers with a prototype of the DrumIt Three, a scaled-back version of the DrumIt Five module. The brain is pretty much the same as the Five, but has four audio outputs instead of six, features a lighter plastic chassis and loses the trigger buttons. The cheaper module (expected to retail for around $750) has the same number of pad inputs, the same sounds and memory and you can load your own samples with the same editor! The kit has a new kick pad, new cymbal pads and a new hihat controller. It played very well.

Drum-Tec

German e-drum specialist Drum-Tec was at the Frankfurt show to launch the new JAM series entry-level shell pack. The kit features new sidemount triggers and a new I.T.M.S. (isolated tom mounting system), 12” floor toms on legs and a price tag of €750 for a five-piece kit.

Also on show was a new-look trigger tube, with a new mounting system that connects Roland-compatible Lrods.

At the top end, there was a new ProKit/TD-30 kit which triggered a Muse Receptor and Toontrack’s SD2.

Dualo

And now for something completely different: the Dualo is much, much more than a drum controller, but it can be used as a finger multi-pad similar to the Zendrum. It has built-in sounds but it can also trigger external sources via MIDI. And it’s dynamic.

 Photos by Wolfgang

Stoelzle,

additional reporting by Allan Leibowitz 8

From top: 2box, Drum-Tec and Dualo

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Open Architecture USB Connectivity with Included Cable enables the module to be connected with BFD Eco NFUZD Edition VST Software for an expanded user sample library

An NFUZD USB Thumb Drive can be used to create on-the-go sound banks with BFD Eco, eliminating the need to carry a computer on all gigs

BFD Eco NFUZD Edition Software includes a massive library of 24-bit / 44.1 KHz samples with the ability to download and transfer sounds and presets to the module

Get

S U M M E R w w w.

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A KAT of a different colour

--Gear--

KAT Percussion is working its way up, with incremental enhancements of each product. Scott Holder looks at the KT3 kit. 10

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SIMILARITIES TO THE Simmons SD1500 are noticeable, but not everything is the same under an identical skin.

The Basics

It’s a 10-piece kit: four toms, one snare, a hihat, a kick, two crashes and a ride. All except Tom 4 and Crash 2 are connected via a wiring harness, similar to that on the KT2, Simmons SD1000 and Roland TD-9 modules. Tom 4/Crash 2 are connected via separate ¼” stereo cables and, like most modules, you can assign anything to them. The length of each cable in the wiring harness is sufficient to allow for a decent margin of pad placement. However, if you’re left-handed like me, you need to reassign the instruments so that the Crash 1 cable goes into the ride.

The kit includes a pair of drumsticks, but you need to provide a kick pedal (in North America) and throne. The pads are white, the cymbals a very light gray. The five rubber pads are dual-zone, two are 9” in diameter, the other three 11”. This corresponds with four dual-zone tom pads and a dual-zone snare. As such, they are identical to the corresponding pads found on the SD1000/1500. Similarly, the upright kick is the same 9” pad found on the SD1000. The 9” pads, toms and kick are the same as those on the KT2. The 14” ride is dual-zone (bell, bow) with choke. The two 12” crashes are dual-zone (bow, edge) with chokes and are identical to those on the SD1000. The 12” HH cymbal is single-zone and doesn’t choke.

The Module

The box is very compact, very light and connects to the pads via a cable harness and two additional ¼” cables. It has MIDI IN/OUT connections and MIDI OUT via a USB 2.0 connection. Externally, it’s no different to the KT2.

Navigation falls into what I refer to as the “Yamaha/Alesis/Simmons” theory of sequence and logic, meaning I always find these a little bit harder to use and re-learn than Roland. That said, of the Yamaha/Alesis/Simmons units I’ve reviewed over the last several years, the KT3 has the easiest navigation sequence once you learn how to flip back and forth between NORMAL and LEARNING mode (hold down the Page/Select button for one second). One slick visual feature is the key layout on the surface of the module. The Pad/Select buttons are arranged just like a bird’s eye view of a right-handed kit. This seems so obvious that I’m surprised it’s not been done before. Even for a left-handed drummer like me, I can glance at the buttons and push one without thinking. This was helpful when tweaking and previewing sounds. The module comes with 550 instruments (voices/sounds) - 40 more than the KT2. Of these, just 65 are percussion instruments and there are no gimmicky things

Set-up took around 90 minutes. The three-sided rack is the same as the KT2 kit: the tubing is ribbed, gray coloured and with robust clamps. It’s very lightweight, like the SD1000 rack, with about the same footprint - but has the three cymbal mounts fitted into the upright legs, like the SD1500 rack or Roland’s MDS25. digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

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you’ll find on practically every other current module. In fact, the KT3 probably needs a few less cowbells (it has six) and a few more, different, percussion instruments.

The KT3 has a nice array of crash cymbals, thus setting it far apart from the SD1000/1500. There are plenty of straight-up drum instruments to choose from and KAT emphasised the tom selection on the module as opposed to Simmons’s emphasis on kicks in the SD1000/1500. Regardless, there’s a nice balance of instruments across the spectrum. HH instruments are quite strong, with 20 combos and lots of additional HH instruments listed in the crash cymbal section.

Changing instruments on any given pad is straightforward: hit the pad, hit the Voice button on the module and scroll through until you find what you want. One complaint: the name of the instrument isn’t listed on the module, just the number; thus, you always need the manual. There are 45 preset kits that cover the gambit of styles and 25 editable user kits. Like Yamaha and Simmons modules, you copy a preset kit into a user kit area so you can edit and save. The KT3’s user kit slots come with some of the preset kits loaded, saving you the initial copying step.

Adjustable parameters are what you would expect from any intermediate-level module. For kits, these are gain, reverb level and a threeband EQ. For individual triggers, these include gain, sensitivity, reverb, pan, pitch, threshold, curve, crosstalk, rim sensitivity and a specific setting for the HH pedal - “splash” which is helpful for heel chics/splashes.

Trigger settings (sensitivity, threshold, etc) are global, thus affect all kits.

As I found with the SD1000/1500, a crosssection of other brands’ pads worked fairly well: Roland CY-14, Diamond Electronic Drums mesh snare (which means most mesh pads will work) and a Yamaha XP100SD snare which provided two-zone capability. The HH controller, not surprisingly, isn’t crosscompatible. There are 100 preset songs, 80 of which are loops, five are hits and 15 are tap patterns. In addition, there are 42 Learning Mode voices that can’t technically be called songs. They consist of 20 snare-only beats, 12 rhythms (snare, kick, HH exercises) and 10 patterns (stripped-down songs). The Learning Mode voices can’t be assigned to specific pads, but the 100 preset songs can.

The Learning Mode tools are very powerful. While the songs provide for “fun” training, the beats/rhythms/patterns provide basic, technical tools for working on fundamentals. The 20 beats are snare-only exercises that get progressively harder as you go along, and the last few are downright vicious. The 12 rhythms are also mostly snare/kick exercises and kick/HH exercises and start out fairly easy. But within each of those 12 rhythms are six difficulty levels. As you move up a level, an additional element is added so that by the end, you’ve learned something that’s fairly technically complex. By doing this step-bystep, you can take as much time as you need on each component at each level before moving on. www.digitaldrummermag.com

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The same approach is taken with the 10 patterns, except there are five difficulty levels. These are stripped-down songs and thus easier to figure out at the start. They’re not nearly as overwhelming as the songs themselves and allow you to get your proverbial head (or maybe that should be “ear”) around the material while not getting completely lost two measures into it. You can then ad-lib your own fills. In all three, you can’t mute the drum parts but you can change their volume so that you, in effect, mute them. Another visual teaching tool is the module’s LCD, which will show you if you’re slow (Dragging), keeping the beat (Perfect) or fast (Rushing). It will flash whenever you deviate. It’s quite good but the standard module location over on the left means you’re always looking away from the drums. However, Toms 1-2 sit fairly low so I relocated the module to the front centre of the kit and could easily see the screen, and all the cables from the wiring harness still had length to reach their pads. Recording songs is easier than on the SD1000/1500 if all you’re doing is playing a beat. Simply press the START/STOP button, then hit any pad. If you want to record your performance along with a song, it’s a little harder to figure out.

MIDI was plug and play with Toontrack’s EZDrummer and you can change MIDI notes on the module side.

The pads

The kick, 9” tom pads and the HH controller are identical to those found on the KT2 and the SD1000. The 11” tom pads are an upgrade from the KT2, but otherwise are the same as their 9” brethren. An interesting tidbit: the surface texture of the rubber is smoother on the white KT cymbals than on the black SD cymbals. It doesn’t seem to affect play or stick bounce; like the Simmons and newer Yamaha rubber pads, the surfaces are bouncier than something like the ancient Roland PD-7s, but not quite “mesh bouncy”. Stick noise does change from the Simmons to the KT: the 9” pads are the same but the KAT’s 11” pads are quieter because of a less deep-sounding resonance when the stick strikes the main pad area. As mentioned in the KT2 review, the upright kick is sturdy and responsive without being too bouncy. However, it suffers from the same problem as I found in the SD1000: the rubber

knobs on the bottom do nothing to stop the thing from sliding. Just use my “cut and pile carpet” solution for the SD1000: take a piece of that and anchor it with one leg of the drum throne.

The HH controller, at first glance, looks just like the SD1000/1500 unit except for a differently shaped pedal. Articulation is as expected on an intermediate kit: open/closed, half-open, foot close, the closing HH sound and the heel splash (chic). The HH cymbal itself, as noted earlier, is larger than the 10” pad on the KT2, but that doesn’t add much other than size. It’s still single zone (this is the same crash cymbal that comes with the SD1000) and the cable coming from the wiring harness is mono, so even if you wanted to, you can’t add a dual-zone pad. That’s a shame because the HH instruments are good. The snare and two toms are 11”, two more toms are 9” and all are dual-zone. The rim is soft and responsive, plus you can set the sensitivity separately from the main area of the pad. Sound variation on the main strike area is good although that’s not consistent across assigned snare or tom instruments. As on the KT2, not every instrument is created equal, although I didn’t find the snare as limited when it came to issues like buzz rolls and ghost notes as on the KT2. The 14” ride is dual-zone with choke just like on the KT2. The crashes are 12”, dual-zone with choke, again just like the one on the KT2. All are offset-mounted like their counterparts on the Simmons kits, with the same circular ball mount that attaches to the cymbal arm. Swing depends on screw tightness and there’s a slot to prevent cymbal rotation.

The ride and crashes choke easily and are quite responsive. The crashes, in particular, have a seamless transition from edge to bow, although not all are so easy out of the box. For example, Kit 3 (Zep Kit) was plug and play, whereas the edges on Kit 33 (Prog Rock) needed edge sensitivity tweaking - which you can’t do.

How does it play?

Since I’ve been playing only on rubber-based kits for close to three years, I felt virtually no change when sliding in behind the KT3 and still don’t miss mesh. There’s plenty of surface area to hit. In fact, I would have preferred a 10” HH cymbal that comes with the KT2 as I was www.digitaldrummermag.com

anywhere The Simmons Stryke6 is going to take you places. Start wherever you practice drums; just connect it to your iPad, and using the free Stryke6 app, you get a complete system for polishing up your drum chops with six velocity-sensitive pads and kick and hi-hat pedals. Then, go hang out with your friends and show off your newly acquired skills at a jam. Next, head into your project studio, and use the Stryke6 as an input for your computer to record drum tracks using your computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DAW and drum samples. And, with the Stryke6, your journey to drum nirvana is way more affordable than you ever imagined. Start your trip today at your authorized Simmons electronic drum dealer.

* iPad not included. Apple and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

simmonsdrums.net ÂŠ2015 SimmonsDrums

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feeling a bit cramped. The rack is plenty big enough for everything. Ergonomically, I’m not a big fan of the second crash being somewhat behind you, over on the right, but I’m learning I’m not the most “twisty” of drummers, so it’s probably not an issue for most. Based on the experience with the snare on the KT2, I paid careful attention to things like buzz rolls and ghost notes. Yes, ghost notes were harder to get and not nearly as nuanced as on the DTX502 (currently my yardstick). I found that if I turned down the pad sensitivity, ghost notes were easier to get, but still not as good as the 502. Buzz rolls on toms were great and easy to achieve with no machine-gunning. On the snare, I found that not all samples are created equal. Many snare instruments were prone to machine-gunning, while others sounded equal to the toms. I came away less dissatisfied than Allan was on the KT2, but this is due to a variety of reasons: differences in our playing styles and personal sensitivity on snares; or the additional layering to some of the sounds that were included on the KT3; finally the 11” pads were themselves optimised for sensitivity by KAT. Although it should go without saying, as this is a kit using rubber pads as opposed to mesh, there are no worries about the dreaded snare hot spot.

The identical-looking crash cymbals on the KT3 and the Simmons SD kits played quite differently. With some exceptions, I didn’t have to spend tons of time fussing with edge zones and instruments, the way I did on the SD1500. The KT3 played much better in that regard and had an edge zone that actually played like an edge zone.

As mentioned, the HH pedal base (with the electronics) is identical to the SD1000/1500, but that’s where the similarity ends. I went so far as to plug in the Simmons controller to the KT3 and the result? Nothing. Just another example of how HH controllers don’t typically work across brands. More importantly, it shows that while things look the same on the outside, clearly something very different is happening on the inside - be it with the module or the controller or both. Unlike the stiff Simmons controller, the KT3 pedal was very responsive, less idiosyncratic to use and surprisingly dynamic given the noncontinuous articulation; I never felt the need to adjust it. I was pleasantly shocked at the

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difference. Heel splashes/chics were very easy to do and reliable. Whatever KAT did with this HH controller can’t be praised enough. Over the years, I’ve played on Roland’s FD-7, FD-8, Hart’s Epedal Pro II, Yamaha’s HH65, Simmons and now KAT. They’ve ranged from super stiff (Hart, Simmons) to very soft (Yamaha) to twitchy (FD-8). This pedal reminds me most of the FD7 and that’s a high compliment. It seems to have the Goldilocks “just right” feel to it.

How does it sound?

The module’s sound engine hasn’t changed from the KT2, but the unit has more memory which allowed for more sound layering. My evaluation of the snares mirrors Allan’s observations on the KT2; they remind me more of my TD-12. My conclusions are that the ride, kick and tom instruments hold their own with any contemporary module. The crashes can be hit or miss - but the “hits” are awesome. On Kit 31 (Ballad Rock), the Crash 2 edge is “Classic Crash 1” and the bow is China 5. Playing it from edge to bow doing swells sounded incredible; it was one of the best sounding edrum crash combos I’ve ever heard. They might not be the most realistic sounding, but most of them were great. For more than five years, I played on a singlezone HH and didn’t think I was missing much. From that perspective, when combined with a decent controller pedal like this one and some variable responsiveness on the cymbal itself, the KT3 works just fine. One odd item was that the HH on MIDI (going to EZDrummer) was both weak-sounding and lacking the range it had when played stand-alone. This is very unusual since it’s the other way around on recent kits/modules I’ve tested. Otherwise, the KT3 was plug and play as a MIDI controller with EZDrummer, with the nice feature of being able to change MIDI notes on the module.

What this means is despite the inherent limitation on the range of sound editing options on a module/kit at this price, that’s not really an obstacle if you take the time to literally piece together a kit. What’s more, just by listening to other kits and how they’ve been set up can give you plenty of ideas on how to do your own. Particularly with the rides, chinas and splashes, and to a lesser extent the crashes, I never felt like I was missing any tweaking options. For the toms and kicks, that wasn’t even a thought, they were all good out of the box.

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Overall …

What’s not on the KT3 when compared to its closest counterpart, the SD1500, is interesting. Simmons elected to go with a three-zone ride, snare and one tom. KAT elected to go with more instruments, particularly more crashes, a better crash edge capability, a far better HH controller and more training tools. In general, there are tons of drum instruments and not nearly as many percussive instruments making this an unusually strong intermediatelevel unit when it comes to replication of a wide variety of kits. I said in the SD1500 review that it was the perfect beginner’s kit. I now feel that the KT3 is better because of the incredibly robust set of training features - plus no beginner will miss a three-zone ride or snare. The same could be said about a dual-zone HH cymbal; that, more than anything else, is the limiting long-term issue when wondering if or when you’ll “outgrow” the kit. Even so, based on my experience, that’s years off.

SPECIFICATIONS

Drum Sound Module: KT3 Max Polyphony: 64 Drum Pads: 2 x 9” dual-zone rubber; 3 x 11” dual-zone rubber Cymbals: 1 x 14” dual-zone, non-chokeable; 2 x 12” dual-zone, chokeable; 1 x 12” hi-hat, non-chokeable Kick: 1 x 9” upright rubber No of kits: 45 (storage for 25 additional user kits) No of instruments (voices/sounds): 550 Instrument parameters: Gain, Sensitivity, Reverb, Pan, Pitch, Threshold, Curve, Crosstalk, Rim Sensitivity, HH Splash Kit effect types: Reverb, 3-band EQ Songs (Patterns): 100 songs, 20 beats, 12 rhythms, 10 patterns Click tempo range: 30-280 bpm Pad connection: Wiring harness to 1⁄4” stereo; 2 x ¼” to ¼” stereo Interfaces: MIDI In/Out, MIDI USB 2.0 Outputs: 1 x 1⁄8” stereo (headphones), L/R ¼” mono (TS unbalanced) Inputs: 9 stereo wiring harness; 2 x ¼” stereo; 1 x 1⁄8” stereo Street price: $999

Gen-16 for acoustics

MORE AND MORE drummers are using Zildjian’s Gen-16 system with acoustic cymbals, replacing traditional microphones with the latest DS pickups.

The process hasn’t been well documented, so digitalDrummer tested a batch of Zildjian K cymbals with the pickups. Unlike the Gen-16 cymbals which are covered with holes, it is necessary to drill small holes in the acoustic cymbals to mount the pickups.

We found the best position was about 3.5 mm from the start of the bell for hats, rides and large crashes. That position produces a good balance between bell and bow/edge sensitivity.

For smaller crashes and splashes, a position on the bell itself works best, allowing the bow and edge to resonate freely. There’s a risk with smaller cymbals that the pickup can choke the cymbal when it’s mounted too far from the bell. digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

Click here The other discovery was the need to adjust the Pad (Output Attenuator) setting on the Gen-16 pre-amp. Since the cymbals are obviously “hotter” than the perforated Gen16 cymbals, the output needs to be reduced somewhat. The results, using the latest generation of DS Buffed Bronze presets on the Gen-16 DCP (controller), were very impressive: good clean cymbal sounds without feedback or bleed. Best of all, the various “shapes” in the processor create an array of sounds from each cymbal, ranging from dark to bright, and it’s even possible to create synth-type sounds from acoustics.

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--Gear--

And Zen...

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there was drumming The Zendrum is coming up for its 25th birthday, and while it is loved and respected by its army of enthusiasts, the instrument is largely unknown. digitalDrummer caught up with inventor David Haney.

HANEY HAS PLAYED drums professionally since the age of 15, and began making electronic pads and triggers in 1985 “as a way to mix my band’s PA from onstage and get the better-produced drum sounds I was hearing on all popular songs from that era”.

The turning point came in 1991, thanks to Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten, the drummer for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

Futureman had pioneered the drumitar, a finger-played percussion controller.

“Probably within a month after seeing Futureman, I had constructed the first Zendrum in September of 1991,” Haney recalls. Its triangular shape was inspired by Chapman Stick player David Harper, and Haney used doorbell buzzer piezos as triggers.

“It didn’t have a circuit board inside,” he explains, but instead he used a multi-pair snake cable with a fan of 1⁄4” plugs that connected to the salvaged guts of the Roland Octapad and a Casio DZ-1 for 22 pads of trigger-to-MIDI conversion to the drum module sounds.

Over the next three years, this made way for Kim Daniel’s shock-isolation trigger system and then the first MIDI circuit by Larry Cameron. digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

Haney admits he had no plans beyond making a single instrument for himself, but fellow drummer and wood craftsman Daniel “saw it as both a viable product and a business”.

“In 1992/3, we began experimenting with our own trigger system which took over a year to develop and Kim did most of the brainstorming and outsourcing of those components,” he says.

While the concept didn’t initially take off, a chance encounter in 1993 proved to be the tipping point.

“Kim and I were still scuffling on our own and, by chance, met someone who said she could introduce us to Peter Gabriel if we could make a video to send. I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, sure, right!’, but we did it anyway and my band helped me record four segments of some ‘Gabrielesque’ grooves and sent it off.

“Sure enough, Gabriel’s assistant got back in touch within a week and asked if we could meet them while they were touring the US during the next month. We were both in shock, but we also realised that this was the golden opportunity we had been actively seeking for several years.

“We also knew that our second two-year-old prototype wasn’t really going to be good

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Zendrum founders Daniel and Haney, Futureman with a 2015 EXP and first customer Peter Gabriel

enough, so we threw ourselves into making the third prototype, complete with our own trigger design, in time to meet Peter and Manu Katche’ in Sacramento, California on the last date of the tour.”

In 1996, the circuit board and operating system evolved to version 3.0 and a four-way cursor switch was incorporated into the backplate assembly.

“We got off the plane ride home, hired a young engineer and went to start the patent process and the incorporation papers the very next day in late September of 1993 with a renewed sense of purpose and a total commitment to the task.”

In 1997, 100 of the plastic-bodied ZP and MUSE models were manufactured and shipped to Canada, Japan and Italy in an effort to give distributors and retailers a cheaper stripped-down model they thought they could sell. “That was the last time I listened to ‘experts’ about what we should do with our instrument, and it was more of a toy than anything else,” he recalls.

The meeting exceeded expectations, and Gabriel placed an order on the spot – asking that it also be made wireless.

Zendrum Corporation delivered the first integrated MIDI Zendrum to the Gabriel tour in Perth, Australia in February 1994.

Word spread, and Haney found himself invited to demo the instrument to every visiting act that passed through Atlanta - Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, Earth, Wind and Fire among them. Over the years, there has been continuous evolution and improvement.

The first long-tail production models in 1994, the Z series, had a single note map memory, a data wheel operating system and MIDI Out only.

In 1995, the 2.0 circuit board with 16 SetUp memory banks, magnetic chip storage and MIDI In for sysex storage dumps was debuted. The 16 note maps allowed for more melodic programming of scales and intervals. These Z2 body Zendrums were named ZX going forward.

“Most of the used Zendrums resold have the 3.0 circuit,” Haney explains. “There have so far been 200 retrofits of those up to current Z4 specs.”

In 2000 the first LT models appeared after extensive work with disabled musicians at Shepherd Spinal Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta.

“It was specifically designed to fit inside the 18” rails of a wheelchair and is intended to be the most adaptable Zendrum of all - tabletop, lap, stand-mounted or strap-worn, either left or right handed. We discovered that for many people with physical challenges, the Zendrum could function quite adequately as a motion amplifier in circumstances where doctors had expressed doubts that they could play any instrument ever again.” In 2009, the Z4 circuit board was developed and put into production. It featured 50 times the processing speed, 30 trigger inputs, individual trigger calibration, channel per

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trigger and continuous controller inputs. In conjunction with this, Zendrummer Darin Kadrioski at Nebiru Software created the companion ZenEdit GUI editor and opened up many extra features beyond what the onboard OS could control and store. MIDIJet wireless and 9v battery power were integrated as user options.

While Haney remains a professional drummer, Zendrum Corporation is far from a hobby. “We have a rotating crew of 15 people who now do all phases of manufacturing, assembly and testing, shipping, support, R&D and marketing. Every instrument is tested by me personally, and each instrument is made to order per each customer’s exact request.”

The Zendrumdrive VST player was released in 2011 “to give users a pre-configured sample player with no learning curve and great sounds in an indestructible PC format housed in a twospace road case”.

Customers include some of the big names in drumming, including the instrument’s inspiration, Futureman. Zendrums feature prominently in the entertainment at Disney World in Florida, while the instruments are often seen on stage in the hands of players like Billy Cobham, Mick Fleetwood, Sheila E., Walfredo Reyes, while Elton John percussionist John Mahon is also a fan.

In 2010, the original iconic Z1 shape was reintroduced with the Z4 circuit board and integrated wireless. At the same time, the ZAP and ZAP2 were created as alternatives to rubber pad MPC-like desktop controllers.

The last couple of years have seen a barrage of innovations, including the EXP, ZMF, ZMP, ZMPX, and ZMPXXL models.

“The EXP is the brainchild of John Emrich, but also harks back to Futureman’s ‘upside down and backwards’ ZX approach - with the circular pawprint trigger layout for the right hand and access to more triggers with the left hand as well.” The standard configuration includes 29 triggers, cc knob, cc jack, trigger jack and two sustain buttons – and wireless is an option.

The ZMF, ZMP, ZMPX, and ZMPXXL models are geared more to the melodic player and the ZMPs are Zendrum’s first forays into mallet controllers with conventional chromatic key mapping, real walnut bars, and real acoustic mallet instrument feel.

And that’s a couple of thousand requests to date, with instruments shipped to Russia, China, Japan, South America, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Australia and, of course, the USA.

“We’ve maintained close relationships going back to the mid-1990s with both major artists and an extremely loyal and enthusiastic customer base.

“They are the reason why our commitment to quality is so strong and expressed as a lifetime warranty. “Our track record of reliability, customer support and service is unequalled by any other electronic device manufacturer,” Haney boasts – and it’s a claim that I can vouch for as an end-user on the other side of the globe.

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New triggers hit the mark

--Gear--

Roland’s hybrid drive has seen the addition of a new trigger line to the product family, and Allan Leibowitz put the new RTs to the test.

ROLAND’S NEW RT-30 trigger range represents the third generation of external triggers from the e-drum giant, following in the footsteps of the RT-3/5/7 range and the RT-10 series.

In some ways, the latest offering is a nod to the simple elegance of the first generation, but with advanced features and designs. The new range consists of the RT-30H singlezone trigger, the dual-zone RT-30HR and the RT-30K designed for use with bass drums.

Both the RT-30H and RT-30HR are 10 mm lower in profile than the previous generation of Roland drum triggers, and they have a more flexible mount design which requires just a single screw to adjust. Roland claims the new design can accommodate “nearly any metal drum hoop, including the latest S-hoop and Choop styles”, and we had no problems attaching them to a variety of hoops in our test arsenal.

The new triggers are impressively presented in stylish packaging which would seem more

appropriate to an upmarket timepiece than an $80 trigger. Each comes with a manual and an appropriate TRS cable.

In action

digitalDrummer’s past trigger reviews have focused on dual-zone snares, arguably the most commonly used and fiddliest external triggers. So our RT testing was centred on the HR (head/rim) model, which we tested on a 12” drum, with both mesh and mylar heads. We also tested the RT-30K separately, but more about that later ...

The HR trigger was certainly easy to attach. There was no need to remove a tension rod, as required for some triggers. All that it took was positioning it on the hoop and tightening the finger screw. The unit is self-levelling and designed to sit at optimal height for its cone sensor.

We tested the trigger with a range of current modules, and found it to be almost universally compatible, although the rim sensing was a tad on the hot side. www.digitaldrummermag.com

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As one would expect, the trigger performed brilliantly with Roland modules. Fitted to a mesh-headed drum attached to a TD-30, we got excellent triggering in PD-125 mode with rim sensitivity dialed back a tad. Using the current external trigger setting (TD-10S), triggering was poor – both with mesh and mylar. With mylar, the best triggering was obtained in Pad2 and Pad3 modes, albeit with the rim sensitivity stepped back.

On the TM-2, the new RT-30 settings did not do justice to the triggers with mesh. Excellent triggering was obtained in PD-125 mode with a bit of a head sensitivity boost. Similarly, with mylar, the best triggering – and it was excellent – was achieved with the Pad1 setting rather than in dedicated RT-30 mode, which was surprising. Great results were also obtained with mesh and a 2box module. Triggering in Pad12 setting was excellent, but rim sensitivity needed to be dialed back. With mylar, the same setting worked just as well – although the head sensitivity needed a tiny boost.

Yamaha modules remain hard to dial in for non-proprietary triggers, and on the DTX700, the RT-30 produced adequate head triggering with mesh, but no rim triggering in any setting. Triggering with a mylar head was even better, with accurate and dynamic play across the entire head – but there was no improvement in rim triggering. In short, performance with the RT-30 was significantly improved from the last generation of Roland triggers. But it should be noted that the modules on which the current crop was tested have more trigger-tweaking capability than those we used for the RT-10 samples a few years back.

A footnote

The RT-30K was trumpeted at NAMM as a significant achievement in ergonomics, designed to fit “virtually any bass drum”. Previous designs have struggled with some exotic hoops, and the design is far more accommodating – again, without the need to remove tension rods.

What Roland has kept quiet, however, is that it has transferred its crosstalk elimination technology from the BT-1 trigger bar to the new kick sensor. According to an insider, “the RT30K kick trigger has a dual-piezo arrangement like the BT-1 to eliminate any false triggering … One piezo acts as vibration sensor/gate and the other as the trigger. This means it only

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

passes a signal once the vibration threshold is reached via direct hit.”

This capability is especially important when you have your toms attached to the bass drum – even more so when they aren’t attached with isolation mounts. To take advantage of this facility, some new trigger presets have been developed, starting with a TM-2 update.

In effect, you end up with a double-edge solution – noise cancelling for unwanted inputs when you use the new dedicated setting or a dual-zone kick with the regular trigger setting when you hit the shell directly. It’s subtle, but effective.

The bottom line

In the past, I did not rate the RT range highly. This latest incarnation has forced me to reconsider.

The triggers look fantastic, fit like a glove and trigger brilliantly – with Roland modules and non-Roland brains. They work as well with mylar as with mesh.

And they’re priced pretty much at the same level as the line they’re replacing. One suggestion would be to avoid the temptation to save a few bucks and to go with the dual-zone triggers all round. The $10 saving will pale into insignificance compared to the hassle if you ever decide you need the extra zone. And while I’m doling out advice, hold onto the boxes as well. They’re compact and filled with protective foam, so they’ll keep your triggers safe when you transport and store them. 25

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Trigger gets bells ,n whistles

--Gear--

INTERNAL TRIGGER KITS have taken a new direction, after Wronka launched its lugmounted compact dual-zone trigger unit. This was followed by the Intrigg from Triggera. Now there’s a new contender which has upped the ante. The Helensson ITM2 Trigger is very similar to the existing models, but is housed in a much more compact casing and features enhanced circuitry that allows users to switch the polarity and separately tweak head and rim sensitivity. digitalDrummer subjected the ITM2 to the same testing regime applied to the other internal trigger solutions – but in line with the move to hybrid drumming, we tested with mylar heads as well as mesh.

Form: Internal-mounted dual-zone trigger with 1⁄4” stereo jack, polarity switch and adjustable head and rim sensitivity. Performance: Fitting is very similar to the existing lug-mount triggers, but the compact form makes the ITM2 better suited to shallower drums where the longer EasyTrigger and Intrigg would require cutting or leaving part of the assembly poking out the bottom. On the other hand, the design of the ITM2 makes it harder to access the top lug screw when it’s close to the edge of the shell, and I had to remove the jack to tighten the screw on one test drum. Luckily, the jack is easy to remove and replace. The trigger performed well on all modules and the onboard sensitivity controls meant good results could be obtained without adjusting the module settings, which is a boon for those who use the same module to drive more than one set of triggers. 2box is, of course, designed for side-mounted triggers and excellent triggering was obtained with mesh in stock Pad12 settings with the rim sensitivity turned down on the trigger unit. The same setting worked very well with mylar. On a Roland TD-30, excellent triggering was achieved in PD125 setting for mesh, with both head and rim settings in the 12 o’clock position. The same was true for mylar, with very impressive sensitivity and dynamics across the whole head in stock PD125 setting with the onboard controls in neutral. With the Roland TM-2, we got excellent triggering on both mesh and mylar in Pad1 mode, with neutral onboard settings. With the pickier Yamaha DTX700 snare input, I got good head triggering with mesh, but no rim triggering, even with the sensitivity pushed all the way both on the module and the trigger. Triggering with mylar was more subdued. It was good close to the sensor, but dropped off fairly quickly from there. Rim triggering, again, was non-existent. What we liked: Neat design, non-destructive installation, compact form which makes it suitable for smaller shells and ability to tweak sensitivity on the trigger. What we didn’t like: The compact design makes it difficult to access the top lug screw with some shells. Obviously, the price ($72 including shipping) is at the top end of the scale, but you’re paying for a fully-featured trigger with controls not available (some may say unnecessary!) on most other triggers. The only other trigger we have tested that has onboard sensitivity adjustment is the Pintech TriggerPerfect system which is in the same price range.

To access all our reviews of external and aux triggers, get the Go Trigger compilation. Click here to download.

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Pads for iPads

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--GEAR--

With iOS drumming on the rise, Allan Leibowitz tested a new multipad for tablets from the growing iRig range.

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WHEN IT COMES to iPad drumming, software has certainly outstripped hardware, and until recently, the triggering options were limited to tapping the tablet screen.

In February, we reviewed the Simmons Stryke6 multipad, but now there’s an even more compact device with almost three times the number of trigger surfaces. IK Multimedia, a longtime iPad music leader with the iRig range, has added its first multipad solution, the 16-pad iRig Pads. Slightly smaller than a full-size tablet and around 2 cm thick, the device is a sturdy package with plenty of features for MIDI triggering and tweaking.

What’s in the box

The iRig Pads controller ships with everything you need to get started. It comes with a USB connector and a Lightning cable so it connects directly to computers and new iPads, iPods and iPhones. Those with older devices can buy a 30-pin connector (a $25 add-on) or use the USB connection through a Camera Connect adaptor. The small unit is powered by the host device, but there is a separate power jack. The playing surface consists of 16 velocitysensitive, backlit, multicolour rubber pads, each measuring 3 cm x 3 cm.

There are also two knobs, two buttons, one slider and one push-button rotary encoder, all of which can be assigned to various functions in your music app or DAW.

In action

The trigger pads obviously need no explanation. You strike them and they trigger a MIDI note. Each has 128 velocity layers and the sensitivity is impressive. What’s a bit more complicated is the other controls, but thankfully, the device comes loaded with six pre-programmed scenes compatible with most well-known apps and software.

A scene is a MIDI map, and up to 16 can be saved and instantly retrieved.

Connecting the pad is a breeze – I effortlessly connected to a couple of Macs, an iPad and an iPhone without the need to load any additional software (I was already running SampleTank on the iOS devices).

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

While the Pads device is intended mostly as a composition and beat-creation tool, I found it to be a very handy (pardon the pun) triggering option for drum VSTs – both on tablets and with Macs. Triggering was excellent out of the box with most apps, but some MIDI mapping was needed (except for Sample Tank, which is, after all, an app for which the Pads are designed).

When paired with something like BFD3, the individual pads were easy to assign, using the MIDI Learn function.

The dynamic range was impressive and the pads had a good natural feel – although clearly some careful aim is required because of the smallish targets. But that’s obviously the price one pays for the compact form. It is designed to be triggered with fingers, and stick play would certainly be out of the question. Most e-drummers using this purely as a trigger device will have no problem plugging and playing, but the iRig Pads has much deeper functionality, and in order to get the most out of it, you will need to do a bit of digging around and experimenting (or you could read the manual). The hardware comes with download codes for lite versions of IK Multimedia’s SampleTank, DJ Rig and Groove Maker apps, and the computer version of SampleTank 3 SE with over 6.5 GB of sample contents, 400 instruments and 150 MIDI patterns.

And the best news: the iRig Pads sells for less than $150 – much less than other similar offerings on the market.

In summary

This is a compact and convenient solution for tapping out beats on the fly. It’s virtually plug and play and comes bundled with some very handy software. Combined with the apps or software and some decent MIDI mapping, the iRig Pads is a very powerful musical tool, but even if you just use it as a practice or performance trigger surface, it’s easy to use, very responsive and heaps of fun. In short, at $150, it’s a no-brainer for anyone with an i-device, a sense of rhythm and some creativity.

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--Profile--

TAYLOR-MADE FOR E-DRUMS

PHOTO: ROLAND UK

As the drummer for Duran Duran, Roger Taylor was one of the early adopters of electronic drums, becoming the poster boy for Simmons. Thirty years on, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still finding new ways to use e-drums, as he tells digitalDrummer editor Allan Leibowitz. 30

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digitalDrummer: How did you get started in drumming and when did you realise that you could make a living from playing?

Roger Taylor: I started playing around the age of 12 on (believe it or not) my mum’s pots and pans and any large books that I could get my hands on… including the telephone directory! It was only when Duran Duran landed a record deal with EMI that I began to believe I could make a living from it. Up until then, I was very much the ‘starving musician’. dD: How did you get to join Duran Duran – and how long were you in the band before you felt that you had “made it”?

RT: I had been playing in several bands in Birmingham and word got around that I was a decent drummer. At 19 years old, I was asked by their singer at the time, Andy Wicket, to come and sit in with the band. John (Taylor) had recently switched to bass from guitar and we instantly clicked as a rhythm section. I really felt that we’d made it when we appeared on Top of the Pops. It pulled in a national audience of 16 million people and, more importantly, my parents were sat at home watching! dD: Simmons is synonymous with the ‘80s and, of course, there are some classic Simmons tom sounds in Hungry Like The Wolf. When did you start using Simmons and how did that come about?

RT: I started using Simmons on the Rio sessions. I had always been a fan of electronic music since seeing Kraftwerk perform in 1976, so had no doubts about using electronic drums in my set-up. I used the early SDS-5 Simmons analogue kit and had a particular fondness for the tom sounds. dD: There’s lots of talk about hybrid now, but clearly you were using both electronic and acoustic drums at the same time. How did you decide what was most appropriate for which song and were

digitalDRUMMER, MAY, 2015

there any technical issues in recording and performing a mix of the two genres? RT: Yes, I was naturally inclined towards the ‘hybrid’ set-up as we really wanted Duran Duran to remain a real organic band at its heart, and thus avoided going completely electronic with our sound. Our producer, Colin Thurston, loved to record tom fills on top of the existing drum tracks, so overlaying the Simmons fills seemed like a natural progression of his ideology.

dD: While everyone used Simmons at the time, there were complaints about poor playability, poor reliability and huge costs. What was your experience of the gear?

RT: I only used the tom pads in my live set-up and never had any issues with reliability. dD: Can you talk us through your electronic percussion journey since the Simmons days?

RT: I originally left Duran Duran in the mid-‘80s just after the heyday of the Simmons kits. By the early ’90s, I was back in the studio experimenting with electronic dance music (or EDM as they call it nowadays), so I got more into programming, using a very simple set-up consisting of an Atari computer, Akai sampler and digital samples. It was a very exciting time … it actually felt like the birth of a whole new way of making music and it seemed as though there were no limits to creating beats. It was only when the early (Roland) V Drums arrived that I became interested in playing again because this kit had all the great electronic sounds and could be played like a traditional drum kit. This eventually led to my return to Duran Duran in 2000, and as the old cliché goes ... the rest is history! dD: You’ve done some promotional work with Roland on the TD-30 kit. What do you like most about the current e-drum technology?

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PHOTOS: STEPHANIE PISTEL & WENDY LAISTER

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PHOTO: STEPHANIE PISTEL

RT: I’m definitely not a ‘tech head’ by any stretch of the imagination, but I find the TD kits incredibly drummer-friendly in the way the technical aspects of the kits are put together. The feel of these drums is also close to a real drum kit that it’s almost unbelievable; very different to what we used to call the ‘formica kitchen table’ feel of those original Simmons kits. dD: Had the TD-30 technology been around in the ‘80s, do you think you would have been able to achieve everything you needed with just that kit (without having to resort to acoustics) or do you think you would have still used your Tama gear?

RT: The Roland kits have come so far over the last few years and it would’ve been amazing to have had them around in the ‘80s. I think I would have still hung on to my Tama kits, though, as you still can’t beat the sound of a real acoustic drum kit. dD: What do you have in your drumming arsenal today – for practice, recording and gigging?

RT: I have a Roland TD-30 at home (no need to disturb the neighbours) for general practice and one at the studio for writing/recording sessions. I also use this for early tour rehearsals when the volume of the kit needs to be controlled. For live work, I use the Roland

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

SPD pad so that I can recreate all my digital sounds from over the years.

dD: What do e-drums allow you to do that you either can’t do – or would be harder to do – with acoustics?

RT: The word ‘control’ comes to mind, particularly during writing sessions when I’m often required to tone down the volume and sound of my kit or provide unusual sounds which can often be the spark that a whole new song grows from. I simply couldn’t do this with a traditional acoustic kit.

dD: Clearly, e-drums have come a long way in 30 years. But many say they’re not yet perfect. What limitations do you see – and what opportunities for improvement? RT: For me, digital drums are exactly where they need to be these days and I’d find it hard to fault them or suggest any improvement. What can I say, I’m a happy customer!

dD: Finally, what’s happening career-wise at the moment and how are you using edrums in that?

RT: Finalising the 14th Duran Duran studio album as we speak and my Roland TD-30 has certainly played a huge part from the early writing sessions right through to laying final parts down, as well as creating digital ‘loops’ all along the way. 33

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--Performance--

How I use e-drums

PHOTO :LIAM FRENCH, ROLAND AUSTRALIA

Thirsty Merc songwriter, lead singer and keyboard player Rai Thistlethwayte has plugged in the e-drums for his latest solo project. He shared some thoughts with Allan Leibowitz. 34

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AFTER 10 YEARS with the mega-successful Australian band Thirsty Merc, Rai Thistlethwayte is doing his own thing as a soloist, with his first album due out soon.

Check out his YouTube rendition of the Beatles’ Come Together and you’ll see that Sun Rai (his solo name) doesn’t need anything but his vocal chords to lay down a beat. But in the background of the video, there’s a basic ekit, a clue to Thistlethwayte’s level of comfort with instruments beyond the keyboards and guitars you’ll see on stage. “Since setting up a small studio in LA, I started craving some way to input drum sounds into my DAW, and while they tolerate (acoustic) drums there, I have a lot of respect for the other people in the building, so I got a Roland TD-15 kit to lay down demos. I actually had a Yamaha DTX kit in my apartment in Sydney which I loved – everything had the right viscosity and even the hi-hat gave me what I needed from it,” he says. His electronic arsenal has also included a Roland SPD-S, one of the perks of being a Roland keyboard endorser.

He uses both the onboard sounds of the TD-15 and a range of VSTs and while he has the technology to build loops, Thistlethwayte likes to “play everything through”. “I love the way a great drummer builds through a song, which gives it a sort of marathon run to the finish,” he says. His VST collection spans BDF, Addictive Drums, Native Instruments libraries and some SampleTank stuff.

As a keyboard player and accomplished jazz pianist, Thistlethwayte loves rhythm. “It’s all about where you place the notes and the rests – how you phrase stuff.” He obviously has the dexterity to lay down drum tracks using a keyboard – and indeed has done that very often over the years, but he far prefers thrashing around with sticks. “There’s nothing like using your whole body and using each limb. There’s a swagger and sway which reflects a good drummer’s attitude – and suddenly, your whole heart’s involved.” Playing a real kit, as opposed to building tracks with software, allows expression of the real nuances of music, he believes. “Drum machines have a fixed velocity, but when you’re playing with your hands, there’s a kind

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

of child-like festivity when you get your whole body moving.”

Thistlethwayte shares the drum credits on his solo album with John Mayer drummer Aaron Sterling and Sydney-born Berklee graduate Abe Rounds. “For some of the tracks, I programmed kick and snare and just play live hi-hats over that – sort of Quincy Jones/Michael Jackson ‘skatin’ along’ drum tracks to keep it skipping. We don’t discriminate – we just try stuff!”

While many struggle with the concept of hybrid drumming, Thistlethwayte totally gets it: “There’s a bit of a disconnect between the hardware and the sound”, especially when you’re using real drum samples with VSTs, but he is focused on the result, not the process.

Thistlethwayte is not one of those who would ask an e-drummer if he can play a “real kit”. “I just love electronic kits and I just want to hear what it sounds like. In any band, if anyone wants to bring whatever they want, just bring it. But, yeah, there are people out there with outdated ideas about acoustic kits – just like there’s a debate about electronic pianos and acoustic pianos.” “But I see guys using a combination (of acoustic and electronic drums) all the time and it works fantastically. I love it!” As someone who has excelled in jazz, rock, ballads and funk, Thistlethwayte sees musicality as an openness to the world: “If you have your own way of saying something, you are not wrong,” he says, explaining that he tries to do what he loves, not what he thinks others will like. His message to drummers – and all musicians – is that they “owe it to themselves to be honest and give it a shot”.

“You’ll get to tell the world who you really are – and the world wants to know.” See Rai in action here.

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Brushing up the TD-30

German Roland artist Dirk Brand often gets questions about the brushes demo he filmed to coincide with the launch of the TD-30 kit a few years back. He shares the secrets here. 36

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I COMPOSED A song called “Brush Today” to show the versatility of the Supernatural sound and in it, I used many techniques most commonly associated with the acoustic drum set.

I have always been fascinated by the fact that the V-Drums can also be played with brushes, and certain brushing sounds and movements are accurately rendered. While you may not be able to achieve all the nuances of playing the brushes, you can certainly produce a range of sounds by combining varied brush strokes with Roland’s positional sensing capabilities.

It is important to use either plastic brushes or the Vic Firth Live Wire Brush to avoid damaging mesh heads. Although the Firth brushes are metal, they have a kind of ball head and are too big to get stuck in the mesh.

In this article, I would like to share my module settings so that readers can play the track themselves. You can also access a play-along version here.

The settings

To improve and optimise my brushes, I started with the preset Brush kit (No 19). Before changing anything, you should copy your Preset Brush Kit settings to be able to compare the newly created kits and to change the sound.

Bass drum: I used Kick B (No 29) 18’’ BeBop Lo. With this bass drum, you can easily create the sound of an acoustic drum. If you play the bass drum pedal lightly, you get a deep, earthy bass drum sound, similar to a closed 18’’ bass drum with a closed head. When you play the pedal more forcefully, the sound will be choked – just like in real life. I didn’t change the shell depth (1), beater type (Felt) or the head type (coated), but I did change head tuning to -8. For the muffling, I chose tape 2 and for the volume of the snare buzz, I selected 4. The volume of the bass drum should be 86 for the mixer setting. Snare: Choose sound 240 Brush 1 for the head and sound 241 Brush 2 for the rim, increasing both pitch (+1) and decay time (+1). My trigger settings may also be helpful: for a PD-128, choose Sensitivity 7, for Rim Gain 1.0, Threshold 2 and curve on linear. Head/Rim Adjust to 11 and XStickThreshold at 90. Scan Time at 2.0, Mask Time at 9 and Retrigger Cancel at 1. Position Detect Head and Rim on ON! Mixer Snare Volume 127. The digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

Compressor settings: Attack Emphasis and Comp SOFT1, Time SNARE 3. Gain +3, Threshold 0 and Ratio on 1,7:1. The Equalizer: Low Freq 250 and Gain +1; Mid: Q-factor is 1,0, the Frequency 5K, Gain +1. The High settings are Freq at 6,3K and Gain at +5. Hi-hat: I used sound 601 (14’’ CstmDK HB) and Sound 602 (14’’ CstmDK HE) for the rim. My trigger settings for the VH-13 are Sensitivity 9, Rim Gain 0,9. Offset -27, Foot Splash Sens +6 and Noise Cancel Volume 2. Threshold 5 and Curve is linear. Scan Time is set to 2.0, Mask Time 8 and Retrigger Cancel on 1. For the Instrument Edit, I kept the standard setup: Compressor Attack EMPHASIS, Type COMP SOFT 1, Time CYM 1, Gain +3, Threshold on 0 and Ratio 1,7:1. Equalizer: Low Freq on 630 and Gain on 0. Choose 0,5 for the Q factor for the Mids, Freq 3,15 and Gain on. High Freq on 4K, Gain +2, volume of the mixer on 104. Toms: No need to change the stock sounds. Choose volume 117. Crash cymbals: The same for the crashes, choose volume 121. My advice: try different types of sizzle cymbals: Rivets, Beads, Chain. Ride: I used sound 791 and 792 (Brush RD). Choose 18’’ for the size of the ride cymbal. I also added a chain with a sizzle amount of +2. Compressor and EQ are switched off! General Ambience for the kit: Overhead 56+Room 52 (K=45, S=75, Tom 1-4=120, Hihat =75, further instruments 125), Reverb 35.

Stick Bend

I would like to share another cool trick: everybody knows that jazz drummers like to bend the sound of drums, especially toms. The drummer plays the drumhead and beats it with his other stick. By playing the stick more or less forcefully, the drummer may create different pitch levels. This has been a popular technique for jazz drummers for ages and is always a good eye-catcher for the audience! No-one expects this to be possible when playing e-drums, so it is even more special to

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use this special feature in a jazz context.

I discovered this by accident: Everybody knows that you can change the pitch level of a timpani by using the pedal. So I tried using a tom sound instead of a timpani drum sound.

To make this work, you have to select a certain sound: choose a jazz kit you want to work with. Then activate the Pedal Bend Function of one of the toms. Choose Tom 1, then press Control F3, then F2: Pedal Bend Range. Here you can choose your pitch value. My favourite is +5 as this sounds the most natural. Now play the tom and by pressing the hihat pedal, you may change the pitch. It is even cooler if you imitate playing an acoustic tom by playing stick on stick. (And remember to practise the jazz drummers’ “pitch bend” facial expression!).

Play-along song

Try these techniques when playing Brush Today. The beginning should be played in a half-time feel and it changes with the walking bass into a swing. This is followed by an Acid Jazz groove part and then a swing section. In this part, so-called four-bar tradings are used. These are drum solos consisting of four bars each, taking turns with the band. Try and do the pitch bending here! Use brushes again for the final part of the song.

I recommend connecting the following kits in series: Brush Kits – Acid Funk – Jazz Kit – Brush kit.

To make it easier for you to change kits while you’re playing, I would recommend a footswitch pedal like a Roland F-5U. This enables you to change kits via foot switch and you’ve got your hands free for drumming. Just connect it to the module, then press the SETUP button, CONTROL F2 and choose KIT # INC.

Click here for a chart of the song. This is meant to show you the structure of the song, not the grooves I played. This is meant to inform you about the most important parts of the song and assist with smooth transitions between the different parts. Just try it out!

Listen to the song on YouTube to find out about my interpretation of Brush Today. Copy some of the ideas, but also try to find your own ways of interpreting it.

much o s u o y Thank truly I ! n i aga ate the i c e r p p a e prize awesom ! package

er rk, winn draw la C d a e Ch s’ Choic Reader

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--PERFORMANCE--

Digital drums taught me better teaching

For many years, digital drums were dirty words for Ian Bee. Now, he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t contemplate working as a tutor without them. 40

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LIKE MANY ACOUSTIC drummers, I was unaware of the fantastic possibilities electronic drums offered. And although I’m a fairly latecomer to this world, I now completely embrace it, so advantageous is the use of such drums in the teaching environment. This in no way diminishes their role in live music, but for the purposes of this article, I’m putting that to one side. So, when it comes to my lessons, why digital? Inspiring students is one of the constant, major challenges of teaching. If they are not inspired and motivated, if the lessons and manner of progress is dull, they will, at some point, not turn up anymore. Now, any good teacher will keep 90% of their students; they know how to inspire and impassion, it’s what makes them a successful teacher. But finding a way to make that very difficult task so much easier on a week-in-week-out basis is priceless - and for me, it came in the form of the digital kit. So here’s a logical lowdown for the uninitiated drum tutor on the advantages. Firstly, the volume issue is solved straight away. No need for damping pads, and with a splitter, both teacher and student can hear what’s going on without the risk of ear damage. This is even more advantageous when it comes to grading music and time keeping.

Playing tracks is especially important for a developing drummer and instrumental in honing their timing. Digital drums allow the perfect balance of track volume and kit volume, something very hard to do with an acoustic kit and separate audio source. This also holds true for click track training. The inbuilt click on digital kits is advantage enough, but again, the ability to balance the volume is critical, and easy as pie on such drums. One of the best aspects of using digital for teaching, especially for beginners, is, believe it or not, the unforgiving nature of the technology. Regardless of all the effects available, when the pads are hit, they deliver the digital sound. There is no skin overtone, slight detune or tension difference to hide the stroke, as it does with acoustic kits. There is nowhere to hide. So if the stroke is out of time, not true, digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

too soft or too loud, it is 100% obvious. So it’s great feedback for the students – they have to focus on accuracy, dynamics, timing and so on to a much higher degree to get it right before it sounds right; more so than they would have to on a more forgiving acoustic kit. When the time is right, my students play on both, but initially, I find the digital drums give them a more clinical, clean feedback, so they find it much easier to hear when they are successfully correcting themselves. I have found that when students move onto an acoustic kit, they are far more technically adept after honing a variety of skills on the digital kit.

Then there is the obvious: the fantastic myriad of sounds available. Students, particularly younger ones, love it. It makes keeping them involved and interested in otherwise repetitive but necessary exercises much easier. And for the older student, picking and customising kit sounds not only introduces them to the technology, but encourages their creativity and individual sense of identity on the kit. The wide variety of sounds keeps the most fussy student happy, and can be used to also teach timbre, note length, dynamics and much more.

I’m just scratching the surface here, but any tutor not taking advantage of the digital kit is losing out. It makes the tutor’s job much easier and increases the progress, fun and enjoyment for the student many times over. Digital drums have certainly taught me a lot about teaching.

 Ian Bee is a Roland artist and visiting clinician at the British Centre for Music and Enterprise. 41

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Four better

--PERFORMANCE--

Just as we published our review of the Hero 3+, GoPro released the Hero 4, so Allan Leibowitz had to follow up.

IT’S HARD TO tell that anything has changed from the outside, as the new models look exactly the same as the ones they’re replacing. But given the investment users will have made in housings and accessories, the backward compatibility is probably a good thing. There are two new models in the GoPro range – the HERO4 Black and HERO4 Silver. The choice between the two is actually harder than it was with the 3+, but essentially, you have to decide whether you want a rear touchscreen (Silver) or performance on steroids (Black). Without getting too technical, the Silver is roughly equivalent to the old Black, but with a screen on the back.

We tested the Black which boasts “twice the performance of its best-selling predecessor and now captures cinema-quality 4K video at 30 frames per second (fps), 2.7K video at 50 fps and 1080p video at 120 fps”. This enhanced performance is great for sports action and slow motion effects, but is probably lost on your average gig shoot. So, where is the big gain for drummers and musicians in general?

The H4 Black has a new audio system which includes an upgraded in-built microphone boasting “twice the dynamic range of its predecessor”.

I tested the onboard mic at a pub gig and the audio was certainly better, but I’m not certain it

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was twice as good. Indeed, what would really be needed to double the performance would be the inclusion of a stereo mic since the H4 – like its predecessor - is capable of recording stereo. Indeed, it can be paired with a number of standard stereo video mics – again using the proprietary mic to USB cable included in the Music edition. That version again includes the Frame (the open back and front housing designed to maximise the effectiveness of the built-in mic), two removable instrument mounts and a mic stand mount. Besides hardware improvements, GoPro also claims to have implemented “a best-in-class audio algorithm (which) ensures your recordings sound smoother and more natural than ever”. Again, that’s a big call, but the audio recorded through the camera does sound more even and balanced, without the clipping one sometimes got with previous models.

Of particular interest to e-drummers is the new, integrated ADC (analog-to-digital converter) which not only enhances the effectiveness of low-sensitivity external stereo mics, but also works when recording direct from the module. Using the direct out from a Roland TD-30, the difference was dramatic.

The Hero 4 is far more sensitive than the Hero 3+, and the master level needed to be dialed back a couple of notches to avoid the audio peaking with the 4.

Besides the sensitivity difference, the H4 also captured a broader sonic spectrum, with more detail evident in the recording. In contrast, the H3+ rendition appeared “flat” and lifeless.

So, for those who’re interested in improved audio, especially using a direct feed, there’s no doubt the H4 is worth the upgrade. Of course, there are a host of image improvements, better low-light shooting and some new modes like time lapse. In short, video shot with the H4 appeared crisper and more focused.

There are other new features like Bluetooth control via iOS devices in addition to the WiFi option available on previous models – although I’m not sure why someone would choose Bluetooth over WiFi unless they were using that for some other device. But there are also some drawbacks, especially with the software and app enhancements that have accompanied the new hardware. The new GoPro Studio editing program for Mac, for example, needs the latest operating system and the iPhone app is not fully functional with previous generations. So, if you want to make the most of the H4, be prepared to make changes in your computer and phone arsenal as well. GoPro pricing has risen since our review: the H4 Black has a street price of around $500 (make sure you choose the Music edition, or you’ll get stung $30 for the audio cable alone) and the Silver goes for about $400.

Are you ready to unlock your full potential on the drums?

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--VST--

Product review: Gretsch 1960s Round Badge for BFD

By Allan Leibowitz

DRUMDROPS HAS COME a long way in a year, releasing its first sample pack for BFD3. In May last year, we reviewed the British sample producer’s first VST products - a 1970s Rogers Big R Dub Kit and a 1963 Premier Outfits 54 pack for Kontakt. Our review praised the samples, but we weren’t (and are still not) too impressed with the Kontakt host. By teaming up with what is arguably the most powerful drum VST, BFD3, Drumdrops has certainly taken its samples into the big league – for edrummers, at least.

The new Gretsch 1960s Round Badge Kits pack features a classic kit which has also been featured in the Toontrack line-up (Indie Folk EZX) and the Native Instruments offering (Abbey Road ‘60s pack). The pack is available via download and, at around 1.3 GB, it’s about average for today’s VST products.

Installation is fairly straight-forward and once you’ve unpacked the download, you’re led through a BFD installer process that delivers the new kits to your instrument options when you open the program. This is a step up from the Kontakt version, which you need to search manually.

The kit

5” Ludwig Acrolite and a Ludwig 400 Snare in the same size.

For hats, the VST maker has selected Bosphorous New Orleans 16” crash hats which are lively and full-bodied. The ride is from the same series (20” New Orleans), and there’s an 18” crash from that line as well as an 18” Bosphorous Traditional.

Also included are a shaker, a tambourine (with both ‘shake’ and ‘hit’ articulations) and a pair of congas. The recording process aimed to produce a feel synonymous with the era of the kit, and used a sparse line-up of ribbon microphones – three Coles 4038 ribbons and an STC 4021 overhead, augmented with a U47 FET room microphone.

Drumdrops seems to have a less-is-more philosophy which is focused on deep sampling and multiple articulations rather than huge numbers of kit pieces, and this pack is certainly in that mould.

The interface

There’s a 13” x 9” rack tom and 16” x 16” floor tom with various articulations (including with tea towels for those who need to play The Beatles’ Come Together) and five mic options.

There, in the mixer section, you can also adjust the individual drum levels as well as alter the balance between the five mics used in the original recording.

You’ll find one kick drum (Gretsch Round Badge 20” x 14”) in two versions – dampened and undampened.

Since this pack runs in BFD (2 or 3), you’ll be dealing with the regular BFD interface. Running it on BFD3, you spend most of your time in Kit pane, where you can tweak the drums, altering the running, bleed and mic mix.

The exception to the Drumdrops frugal approach is the snare. Here there is a choice between four options: a 14” x 6” Gretsch Renown Maple and a 14” x 5” version, a 14” x

Readers who saw my original Drumdrops review will recall my frustration at the limited number of kit pieces (especially when you have a bunch of triggers that aren’t used), and

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I described a way around it by running two instances of Kontakt and retuning the toms in the second version to produce a full range of tom sounds.

the name implies. This is not just a soul kit, it’s a ‘60s kit, a contemporary kit, a ballad kit and so much more. And when tuned and tweaked, it can morph into almost any genre.

Playability is superb, as you’d expect with BFD3.

In short, this is a kit that is easy to listen to and simple to shape into almost anything you need.

Well, in BFD, that’s far easier. Simply assign the tom sounds to the empty kit pieces, tune them and save the kit. Voila! And, of course, you can mix and match with any of the other BFD sounds in your collection.

There are multiple articulations and a large number of samples, which makes for natural sounding play.

The hi-hats, for example, have six stages from open to closed, as well as bell and edge, and foot chick. The snare articulations are more meagre than with most BFD samples (you won’t find drags or flams, for example), but these won’t affect anyone playing e-drums. They’re more an issue for those playing via MIDI, through a keyboard or a Zendrum.

The sounds

When it comes to sounds, more is more, and Drumdrops has created a huge arsenal of samples for the limited kit pieces, resulting in very natural sounding drums and cymbals.

The basic sounds for all drums and cymbals are excellent and suited to so much more than

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

There is a bit of a compromise with the BFD version. You lose the ease of preset loading from Kontakt that instantly reshapes the kit, but you gain access to almost unlimited effects and tweaks which provide enormous versatility.

Bottom line

For BFD fans, the latest offering is a breath of fresh air. It provides some new and unique sounds, rich in detail and clarity which are very playable out of the box and easy to mould to suit whatever feel is required for a particular performance. Personally, I think this union is proof that one plus one can sometimes equal three – the result is far greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Drumdrops brings some fantastic sounds and BFD adds an easy-to-use and powerful interface that takes this sample pack to the next level. Best of all, at around $55, it’s $15 cheaper than the Kontakt version! All I can say is: which kit is coming next?

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--DIY--

Restoring vintage Simmons pads

MUCH DIY ATTENTION is focused on building new triggers or converting acoustic drums to electronics. However, with growing interest in ‘vintage’ gear, Alan Levesque demonstrates how to return Simmons pads to their former glory. digitalDrummer will publish a series of restoration guides, but we’ll start with cleaning and restoring the appearance of vintage hexagonal pads. While the procedure to disassemble and refurbish pads differs slightly from one pad version to another, I will focus mainly on the SDS9 pads (also known as Mk.4s). The first step is opening the pad, which requires detaching and removing the shell.

With the shell off, we can inspect and evaluate the condition of the finish. In all cases, we begin sanding with coarse-grit sandpaper and gradually work our way to the finer grits as the imperfections and damage are removed.

Once that’s done and the shell is thoroughly rinsed, it’s time for the power tools.

Mount a buffing wheel to a variable speed power drill and apply some NOVUS car paint restoration products in the appropriate order.

The next step takes us to the other side of the shell, to clean the playing surface. If the rubber surfaces are cracked, torn or worn, avoid using water, cleaning spray and conditioner liquids that can seep through open cracks and tears and damage the wooden base, FSRs or other components inside the various pad types. Inspect the playing surfaces very carefully for such damage and then decide if safe to continue.

Detailed step-by-step instructions for each stage can be found here.

The next article will explain diagnosing and replacing problematic pad electronics (pickups, FSRs, jacks, etc).

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2014 digitalDrummer Readers’ Choice awards

Product of the year

“The head picks up every nuance – but only the intended hits. There’s no false triggering or crosstalk.”

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MONSTER My

kit

This month’s monster kit belongs to Jan van Vugt of Oudenbosch in The Netherlands and, fittingly, it’s orange. The Kit

Module: 2box DrumIt 5 with external 32GB SD card modification Pads: Stock 2box kit with additional cymbal and 682Drums two-ply kick pad Cymbals: Gen-16 20” BB ride, 14” BB hi-hat, 18” nickel and 18” BB crash with Direct Sound Pickups Hardware: Pearl hardware Extras: Pearl Throne Thumper on Rocn-Soc throne. Electronics: A&H ZED10FX Mixer Gen-16 DCP Software: BFD2, Reaper, SDSE to import BFD2 kits into the 2box DAW Multi-track iPad software

Jan’s story:

Like many kids, I started drumming on washing powder boxes at home. Sadly, my parents were not into music and discouraged this ambition – and it was only when I was 42 years old that I started taking lessons. My first e-kit was a 2005 Roland TD-3 and in 2012 I sold it and bought a 2box MkII.

Over the past two years, I have tuned and tweaked the kit to my likes and at the moment I have a setup that enables me to do everything I want in drumming and has the feel, playability and sound of an acoustic kit. www.digitaldrummermag.com

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your kit

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

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--The-Last-Word--

E-drums still a target An electronic kit posted on Facebook by Drum Talk TV recently unleashed a tidal wave of negativity, promoting a heated discussion on E-Drums World. Here are some of the comments:

David McNair I wonder...if social media had been around when the electric guitar came out, would tons of people have been so publicly against it as well? Justin Brown I used to be one of those guys who did not like electronic drums. Until I bought a set. I recently bought an acoustic kit and to be honest I'm not really diggin it. Paul Mirto kind of hard in my opinion to get real dynamics on e kit, I think because theres no buzz from the snare, but i love my Roland e-kit. John Pelletier Exactly! They are just two different types of instruments. Just like an acoustic guitar and electric guitar, for the piano and a synthesizer for that matter. It seems the debate gets heated when people are disappointed that electronic kit doesn't sound just like an acoustic kit. I don't even know why that's important. Eric Brinkerink It surprises me this discussion is still going on, decades after the first electronic drum was invented. I don't see classical piano players go crazy when Korg introduces a new synthesizer. Jeff Ivester I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but for the past two years, major retailers have reported that electronic drum sets have officially outsold acoustic sets. Think about that. E-drums are not going away and they are only going to get better. As an employee of a company that manufactures, markets and distributes both, I think there's room in this world for both instruments. Why would anyone want to discourage anyone that promotes playing drums in any way -- on any instrument? There are signs that our once positive and supportive drumming community is turning jaded and confrontational; and that's a sad thing to watch. Sam Schmiedel Still cracks me up to this day when some people think all electronic drums are the same. That's like saying every electric guitar is the same ... Brendon Austin Clearly those with bad opinions haven’t played a decent electric kit. I was a Tama man through and through. After converting my kit I’ll neva go back. David Kangas I think many of these arrogant A-kit purists are basing their opinions on the kits they try in music stores - kits that were set up by music personnel who know very little about the modules or how to tweak them properly. If all I knew about edrums was the demo kit at Guitar Center, then I'd be very discouraged by them as well... Ahmet Issın My first ever kit is a Roland 30k, I was concerning about dynamic range, rimshot , positional sounds but they are almost perfectly simulated in this device. I’m more than happy to make this choice. I’m almost sure that i will stick on e-kits to the end of my life unless i got a sound isolated, very well acoustic arranged room for a real drumkit. Getting those diverse yet beautiful sounds from an acoustic kit would cost a fortune and so much time consuming. Still some drawbacks, for example, brushes is not very well simulated. [Editor’s note: see page 36 to address that concern!] www.digitaldrummermag.com

digitalDRUMMER,MAY, 2015

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gear Guide

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