Electronic Drum Kits Percussion Controllers Drum Machines/Modules Drum Accessories

Electronic Drums and Percussion

Tame the Loudest Instrument on the Stage!
One painful lesson that worship leaders and praise bands across the country have learned is that acoustic drums don't work well in many (if not most) worship settings. The acoustic energy - volume - put out by a drum kit is capable of overpowering other instruments and voices, resulting in a never-ending cycle of musicians and audio engineers turning up amps and mics until the congregation feels the need to seek shelter from the noise. Attempts to control drum volume with baffles and isolation booths are only marginally successful, and these create aesthetic problems as well.

Fortunately, technology offers a solution! Electronic drum kits and percussion - most often consisting of sampled sounds triggered by near-silent pads - eliminate the volume problem both onstage and in the sanctuary. What's more, with an electronic kit, drummers can take advantage of the sonic advantages that keyboard players and guitarists have enjoyed for years

Additional Advantages of an Electronic Drum Kit

Sonic Versatility:
Worship music covers such a wide musical terrain that it wold be next to impossible to have all the appropriate percussion instruments on hand. Nothing beats the ability to dial in just the right drum sounds to suit the music! Electronic kits offer sounds from timpani to bongos, gongs to triangles. It's easy to custom-configure a sound set for each song.

Onstage Convenience:
An electronic kit can solve many problems associated with live playing. Your drummer can play without requiring mics, which means no feedback, no bleed from other instruments, and no jumble of stands around the drums. Plus, using the drum module's built-in effects and multiple audio outputs, it's easy to set up exactly the right sound to send out to the house PA.

Portability:
Have an outreach service at another location? Or perhaps your music group is going on tour. You can't beat the compactness and portability of an electronic kit. Even the big Roland V-Pro TD-20S kit fits into a soft case or two! These kits weigh less and require less space in the van than acoustic drums.

Recording Flexibility:
If you're recording using a computer-based system, an electronic kit gives you the power keyboard players have had since the early days of MIDI sequencing - the ability to play the track and then edit individual notes or instruments to achieve perfection. That allows you to capture the groove you want but still be able to nudge a late hit into place or balance the velocities of a tom fill. When you're happy with the track, your module will play it back exactly the way you want it.

Rubber Pads versus Mesh Heads
Since the early days of electronic drums, the prevailing design followed the rubber "practice pad" paradigm. Then a few years ago Roland added a new element with mesh head "drums" that emulate acoustic drumheads. So is one design "better" than the other? Not necessarily. There are plenty of applications for both. Here's a rundown of the qualities of rubber pads and mesh heads.

Rubber Pads:

Economical:
Sweetwater offers a Roland V-Compact series kit with rubber pads for less than $1,000. And with individual dual-trigger pads available for less than $100, you can add on to your setup with a minimum investment.
 
Compact:
The compactness of pads makes them easy to set up in a configuration that makes sense for your application without having to worry about space issues. It's much easier to reach a nearby pad than an 18" floor tom!
 

Consistent:
Many players prefer their controllers to have identical response and rebound as they move from pad to pad, as opposed to the varying tensions of acoustic drum heads as they move from snare to toms. When using percussion controllers for alternative sounds, including triggering sustained tones or loops, often a pad is more appropriate. The consistency of rubber pads is a plus in these situations.
 
Better rebound than ever:
Years ago many pads felt a little stiff and didn't offer the rebound that drummers expected. Recently both Roland and Yamaha have introduced improved pad designs with reformulated rubber. They offer more "give" when struck and have a much more natural bounce. The new pads also promise longer life and resistance to developing dead spots.

Mesh Heads:

Realistic:
For emulating drums, you can't beat (sorry) mesh heads. They're remarkably close to traditional drum heads in feel, "give," and rebound. The currently available mesh head controllers from Roland are closer in size to acoustic drums, giving you a more realistic playing experience.
 
Sensitive:
When used with a module that supports these features, mesh head controllers offer a wide range of sound responses based on the location you strike. Roland's TD-20 module delivers near-the-rim sounds when you play near the rim and dead-on-center sounds when you strike there. You can even play brush sweeps thanks to the combination of the head surface and the piezo sensor acting as a microphone in brush programs.
 
Tunable:
One of the immediate advantages of mesh heads is the ability to adjust their tension to achieve a feel and rebound that suits you. This allows you to have, for instance, a fairly tight, bouncy snare head even though the sound you've selected is a 1970s style slack-tuned, heavily muffled deep snare.

So there's room for both pads and mesh heads in the electronic percussion world. As we often say in these situations, the "best" pad depends on your needs, your expectations and your budget. We're here to help you sort out the information. Call 1-800-222-4700 and let a Sweetwater Sales Engineer help you!