![]() Roland’s second generation multi-pad offering (an update/upgrade of their first generation SPD-S) has 9 playing surfaces. While it may seem like a very small amount of ROM, you have to remember you can access sounds via USB and control all of that through the downloadable app for iPad. It comes with 64 MB of flash ROM for loading custom sounds. It’s a great unit and very comfortable to play. The DTX-12 shows up on most music sites for $599.99. A feature like that is super convenient when you make changes to a set list last minute back stage or you need to load a new sound for the show. Yamaha recently released a very convenient iPad app so you can create and customize kits on the fly as well as access your sounds easily. Loaded with over 1200 sounds and a variety of internal effects, this unit also allows you to connect via USB to access additional sounds. You can also add up to 5 additional triggers/pads (including a dedicated hi-hat pedal). It has (you guessed it) twelve pad surfaces all sloping gently downward so you can hit them all easily. Yamaha’s offering to the multi-pad world is the DTX-12. While I won’t go through all options here, I will list a few that I have used and enjoy. The multi-pad unit is one of the easiest ways to get into electronic drums and there are a several different options available to you. I have access to sounds we create/use in the studio without having to cart a lot of extra stuff around or adding additional players on stage. I use a set up like this for The Jacob Szekely Trio, Kari Kimmel, and The Rigs. It’s a standard acoustic kit with a multi-pad unit (sometimes there’s a trigger on the bass drum and on a side snare – not seen in the photo). ![]() I started my foray into e-drums with what we now call a ‘hybrid’ kit like this one: I realized that I could cover a couple of bases with electronics – I could have the live rig, but could also promote myself to those that wouldn’t have had a need for live drums necessarily, but would have a need for a real drummer to give a certain feel and movement to their music. They wanted my performance, but they were going to put their own sounds in. I was also starting to get calls where the composer/producer/artist just wanted MIDI information. The idea being (and I certainly agree with this) ‘it looks better when you hit a pad that people can see… than a key or button that people can’t.’ This may seem like a small point, but since we ‘hear’ so often with our eyes as well as our ears it does make sense that to see something be struck and hear a sound goes a lot farther than hearing a mass of sound but seeing nothing but someone staring at a computer screen. I began to see a need for some kind of electronics rig that would allow for playing samples, loops, etc. Then, as is often the case, things change. So, I more or less didn’t think/worry about it. I certainly enjoyed them, but didn’t have a gig that specifically required it. ![]() At first, I didn’t have a practical need for any kind of electronics. My thoughts and feelings about electronics have evolved over time just like the technology we use to make music. So, read on, intrepid and curious drum fan… read on… I’ve embraced e-drums for a variety of reasons and want to talk about some of them in this post. So, why does the stigma still stick? Do we just have to be primitive bashers of trees? For this drummer, I don’t think so. In fact, more of us are using them than some may want to acknowledge. but time marches on and the e-drum is still here. ![]() True, in the beginning you had the impossibly hard pads and limited sounds, etc. Despite their being around for over 30 years, there’s still a bit of a stigma associated with ‘electronic drums’. ![]()
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