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The Evolution of Roland Electronic Drums, from the TD-7 to the TD-20.
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As this vast, free land of ours called America increasingly becomes a vastly over-populated concrete jungle of metropolises, the drummer’s sound space shrinks to a mere 10” Remo pad. Long gone are the days of barnyard jams and garage bands. Welcome to the gigantic can of sardines a.k.a. apartments, townhomes, dorms, testy roommates and talentdeficient neighbors who are just jealous they’re not a rock star like you. if you really want to rock out and not get a $1000 fine per practice for disturbing the peace, you’ll have to pay about that price to auralex your room or rent a practice space in a studio. Enter V-Drums. Salvation for the real world drummer.
 Roland introduced the electronic drum kit in 1992 with it’s TDE-7K. The TDE-7K was the first electronic counterpart to a five piece acoustic kit. It featured eight gum rubber pads, 512 cd-quality sounds, and a simple module at a price point at a little over five grand. It was revolutionary at the time but unfortunately left a sour taste in many drummer’s mouths. The lasting impression of chinsy, synthetic sounds, stiff pads, and an un-user-friendly module at a sky-high price left drummers dreaming of a better electronic solution.
With 13 years under it’s belt, Roland is fulfilling that dream. In sync with it’s transition into adolescence, the V-Drums have matured into a whole new form. Their flagship V-Pro Series TD-20S kit are hands down the most natural feeling, realistic sounding electronic kit that exists. The V-Pro kit features 2-ply nylon mesh heads on Remo-constructed drum shells, chokable swivel cymbals, COSM instrument modeling, a rugged drum rack that hides cabling, and the first electornic hi-hat designed like an acoustic 2-piece.
 I must admit, when I first sat down behind a TD-20S, I was skeptical. Think about it, drums are the last rock instrument to not go digital. Drummers are purists. But once I began exploring the V-Pro kit, I was hooked. It is comparable to the electric guitar for guitarists. Through COSM (Composite Object Sound Modeling), drummers have 560 drum & percussion sounds plus 262 backing instruments, with over 1 million+ combinations. The modeling-based advanced V-Editing allow drummers to change parameters such as cymbal size, adding rivets or chains, room ambience, and microphone position at the touch of a button. You can fully create your dream kit from the inside out with such options as customizing your snare drum into a 1”- 20” deep steel, wood, or brass shell. You also have a limitless supply of duct tape to muffle your drums, add a blanket or pillow into the kick drum and change the kick-drum beater type from felt, wood, or plastic. The module is amazingly user-friendly with it’s visual, icon-driven V-Editing on a large LCD screen and is housed in a road-tough, metallic black chassis.
This is the studio engineer’s dream come true. Instead of spending an hour maneuvering 9 mics around one kit, you can just jack in and have at least 50 kits and 555+ immaculate drum sounds at your disposal. Several engineers have told me they’re no longer able to decipher between recordings with acoustic drums vs. V-Drums. That’s because Roland went to extaordinary lengths to precisely capture and model drum nuances. They created a completely “dead” sound room to capture the sounds and sampled at least 20 different velocity hits of each drum.
The 2-ply nylon mesh heads are similar to what weighted action is for keyboardists. While a Roland engineer was watching his daughter jumping on a trampoline, the idea dawned on him to use a similar material to provide a more natural, realistic feel for electronic drummers. Not only are mesh heads quieter than rubber pads, they’re even a tad bit more responsive than acoustic drum heads.
Finally, with the expansion bay, V-Pro owners will never have to worry about having an obsolete electronic kit. In the future they''ll be able to install the most up-to-date sounds by installing an expansion board. All this at the price point of the first electronic kit back in 1992, you are really getting your money’s worth and your neighbors and roommates will love you for it, too.
Sarah Yang
Audio and Video Specialist
Bananas at Large Professional Audio/Musical
San Rafael CA
415-457-7600
sarah@bananas.com
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