Info on Roland TD-7 drum kit?
Alok Rishi
I hope this is the right group for such a query, also, if there is
a FAQ on this subject, please direct me to it.
I am considering getting the TD-7 basic kit (5-pc setup) for
practicing and would like to find out:
- Can it be plugged into a regular stereo system, such as an integrated
amp with RCA line inputs? Or does one need a PA system? If so, is
there an adapter for home stereo hook-up?
- Whats a reasonable price for it (new and used)? Can it be mail-ordered?
(I have been quoted US $1400 and $2800 (for new) by 2 dealers,
so I am a bit suprised by such a price difference).
Thanks for any info regarding this!
Alok
(Email: alok....@sun.com)
MuffinHead
>- Can it be plugged into a regular stereo system, such as an integrated
> amp with RCA line inputs? Or does one need a PA system? If so, is
> there an adapter for home stereo hook-up?
Yes, it *can* be plugged into a home stereo system, but it's not a
*really* good idea. As long as you're using headphones, you should be
fine. Just don't run it through speakers unless you've got a *really*
*nice* *system*. Stereos are made for REproducing music, not PROducing it.
If you can't afford an average amp/speaker for practicing through, then I
strongly suggest you just stick with headphones. You need at *least* a 12"
to produce low end that doesn't suck - a 15" is perfect. A great combo amp
is the Peavey KB-300; 15", twin-piezo, 300 watts, heavier than the Windoze
95 "easy install" manual.
MuffinHead
Drummer, Mac geek Armpit Studios VIII
http://www.winternet.com/~muff/ Plymouth, MN
______________________________________________________________________
Electricity is your friend.
--Me
Richard Wheadon
Mu...@winternet.com (MuffinHead) wrote:
> In article <ALOKR.95S...@suria.eng>, al...@suria.eng (Alok Rishi)
wrote:
>
> >- Can it be plugged into a regular stereo system, such as an integrated
> > amp with RCA line inputs? Or does one need a PA system? If so, is
> > there an adapter for home stereo hook-up?
>
> Yes, it *can* be plugged into a home stereo system, but it's not a
> *really* good idea. As long as you're using headphones, you should be
> fine. Just don't run it through speakers unless you've got a *really*
> *nice* *system*. Stereos are made for REproducing music, not PROducing it.
> If you can't afford an average amp/speaker for practicing through, then I
> strongly suggest you just stick with headphones. You need at *least* a 12"
> to produce low end that doesn't suck - a 15" is perfect. A great combo amp
> is the Peavey KB-300; 15", twin-piezo, 300 watts, heavier than the Windoze
> 95 "easy install" manual.
>
I think it really depends on your practice environment - if you have a
room big enough to use a real kit in then clearly a big combo would be the
solution for both practice and live work but my guess is that, like me,
many TD7 users are city dwellers who took the electronic option due to
space and neighbour constraints. You can use it in a single-roomed
appartment (although preferably one with nobody living beneath!). In such
a situation, just the background hiss from a 300W combo or PA could be
overwhelming...
For home practice I use a pair of Wharfedale Active Diamonds. These are
small speakers from the low end of the hifi market with a 2 x 20 watt rms
amplifier built in. They have decent wooden cabinets but no frills - no
tone controls, on mine not even a volume control but I did see later ones
had a volume pot. The input is a stereo mini-jack intended for headphone
outputs, but I usually use them with standard line signals from the output
of my portastudio. Use them with a good portable CD player and you get a
good sound, including decent bass (so long as you position the speakers
correctly and don't run them at whisper-quiet levels). They cost me less
than 100 UK pounds several years ago, since when they have been through a
lot of use for music listening, home studio monitoring, even three parties
where they served as the PA for our band! With a good stereo, and it has
to be good to give a well focussed sound, particularly at the bass end, I
would always be worried about blowing the drivers or the amp. With these,
the amp is sensibly rated for the speakers and together they seem to
survive everything I throw at them and still sound good (and my ears are
still working too!).
Whether this particular model is still available I don't know. They have
one design flaw, they rely on good quality input! Plug an ordinary walkman
in and you really hear all the hiss as well as the music. On the other
hand, I'm sure that the Diamond speakers, or ones very similar, are still
around and you should be able to find a cheap amplifier to go with them.
However, if you still want to use your stereo then use the "Aux","CD", or
"Tuner" inputs (CD inputs should have the greatest headroom). You can get
inline phono -> 1/4" jack converters which will do the trick nicely on the
connections and which are often handy to have around anyway.
Just don't push those speakers too far...
Richard
Hammerin' Hank
Rishi) wrote:
>- Can it be plugged into a regular stereo system, such as an
integrated
> amp with RCA line inputs? Or does one need a PA system? If so, is
> there an adapter for home stereo hook-up?
because of the output & quick changes in tones. It's really quite easy
to blow the speakers even at a moderate volume level.
But if you have a bad back and can't tote that KB-300 (300 stands for
how many pounds you think it must weigh when trying to lift it) *or*
if you keep looking at how much money you have to spend and keep
looking back at your stereo with a dazed look. Then here's what
I'd suggest:
Buy a 20' stereo RCA cable (has male on both ends). Buy 2 RCA male
to 1/4" mono male adaptors. Put the adaptors onto one end of the
cable.
Plug that end into your stereo outputs. Plug the other end into the
stereo's AUX or CD input. And if you don't have one of those inputs
then use the PHONO input. And if you don't have any of these, I
don't think this is really a good idea. Instead, you should then go
splurge on some really *nice* headphones.
Where to get the parts? Try you local electronics store. I usually
go to RadioShack. They have tons of audio adaptors. But if you don't
have one in your area, start off with the local electronics store.
They should at least be able to point you in the right direction.
And if/when you _DO_ get it all connected. Be very very careful with
the volume levels. If your system has an EQ, bring down the lowest
lows
and the highest highs. Your EQ won't exactly act like a filtering
crossover, *BUT* it should lighten up the load on the speakers.
>- Whats a reasonable price for it (new and used)? Can it be
mail-ordered?
> (I have been quoted US $1400 and $2800 (for new) by 2 dealers,
> so I am a bit suprised by such a price difference).
If you're in the UK, you could have made an error in calculating the
correct rate of exchange. But the from header of your message it
looks as though you're in Cali. Anyway, E-mail me and I'll send you
some Mail Order Companies info.
Best regards,
Henry
--
________________________________________________________________
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/ /____/ /___/ \_/ \ _____________~I~__________________
/ /____/ /___/ _ _ \ _____________\\_________________
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/ /____/ /___/ /_____________\ \_________________________
/___/ /___/ /___/ \________________________
SURFING A NETWORK NEAR YOU!
MuffinHead
Hank) wrote:
>But if you have a bad back and can't tote that KB-300 (300 stands for
>how many pounds you think it must weigh when trying to lift it) *or*
*snort* :D
>Buy a 20' stereo RCA cable (has male on both ends). Buy 2 RCA male
>to 1/4" mono male adaptors. Put the adaptors onto one end of the
>cable.
>Plug that end into your stereo outputs. Plug the other end into the
>stereo's AUX or CD input. And if you don't have one of those inputs
>then use the PHONO input. And if you don't have any of these, I
Whoa there. I say WHHOOAOAOA there. Unless you have some audiophile
system that requires an external phono pre-amp, then the phono inputs on
the receiver/pre-amp/whatever have a pre-amp built in, so plugging
anything except a magnetic phono cartridge into them will result in some
groovy distortion that would rival a Marshall stack with a Power Soak. :)
And remember, using a low power stereo system is worse on speakers than
using too much power. Distortion is the killer, not power. Especially when
it concerns the raw, uncompressed, unlimited input of a electronic musical
instrument.
MuffinHead
Drummer, Mac geek Armpit Studios VIII
http://www.winternet.com/~muff/ Plymouth, MN
______________________________________________________________________
With MINT FROSTING!!
--Lt. Worf
Terrill
This is a response to your message dated 9/28/95 concerning the Roland
TD-7 kit.
I purchased the extended version of the Roland kit (TD-7Ke) in January of
1995 and have run it though the mill over the past nine months. Overall,
I’m happy with the kit but I have run into significant problems that may
or may not impact your buying decision.
Before you lay out your hard-earned cash for this unit you should
understand all the “real” issues specific to electronic kits, specifically
the Roland units.
If you would like I can email my “top 10” problem list to you. Also, I can
give you the best available pricing (Roland recently increased pricing on
their percussion line).
Neal Prakash
i too am a td7 owner of over a year and would like to see your top ten=20
list of problems and pluses. as would from other electronic users.
lets see mine would be---
problems--
1) pd7 too small
2) pd9 doesn't last as long as pd7 (with the one i tried)
3) rack system could be better, its hard to get some pads exactly where i=
=20
want=20
4) can't loop a pd7 to the kick and use both the kick sound from the kick=
=20
pad and a rim sound from the pd7 (plus the kick sound from the center)
5) not enough preset cymbal sounds--crashes (3), rides (?), splash (2),=20
china (2) uh, that's all i can think of right now
pluses
1) hihat control!
2) midi
3) choke, sustain features
4) sequencer, and sound on sound "sampling"
5) layering of sounds
6) dual zone pads
7) nice variety of latin/percussion/kit sounds
On 6 Oct 1995, Terrill wrote:
>=20
> I purchased the extended version of the Roland kit (TD-7Ke) in January of
> 1995 and have run it though the mill over the past nine months. Overall,
> I=92m happy with the kit but I have run into significant problems that ma=
y
> or may not impact your buying decision.=20
>=20
> Before you lay out your hard-earned cash for this unit you should
> understand all the =93real=94 issues specific to electronic kits, specifi=
cally
> the Roland units.
>=20
> If you would like I can email my =93top 10=94 problem list to you. Also, =
Idrum4u
list if you please. I happy with mine and they do everything I had hoped.
Thanx,
idrum4u
Terrill
I am one of the may owners of a TDE-7K Compact Drum Kit. I have owned the
kit since January of this year. I have played acoustic kits for over ten
years and would like to give everyone qualified feedback on the unit.
First off, I am happy with the kit and couldn’t image going back to an
acoustic set. The high quality sound and kit variability simply put the
TDE-7K way out in front of any acoustic offering. I would like to point
out that (in my opinion) the basic design compromises within the TDE-7K
have prevented most acoustic drummers from making the move.
Here are my top-ten complaints:
Kick Trigger: Over the past seven months I have gone through three
triggers. The problem starts with intermittent trigger misses then
graduates (over several weeks) to a completely dead trigger.
Small Pads: This is probably the greatest hurdle for acoustic drummers.
The 7.5 inch pads are just too small! I know most drummers can adapt to a
smaller playing surface but if Roland truly expects to ease the
transition, kits should be upgraded to the nine inch pads.
Expandability (or lack there of): This one’s a killer! I’ve now shelled
out $2,000.00 for my electronic drum kit and I can’t add more pads without
buying a new sound module (for $700) or a SPD-11 (for about the same
price) plus the cost of each pad. It will cost me almost $1,000.00 to add
two pads to my kit!
Dual Triggers: Great marketing/competitive concept, poor practicality!
Having two sound triggers for every pad sounds great but simply doesn’t
work. Acoustic drummers are familiar with this concept (and
implementation) for the snare drum and cymbals, but it’s completely
impractical for toms! Try to consistently hit the rim (or rimshot) on the
toms during a set of fast rolls or a during a solo, it’s almost
impossible! Roland should keep the feature but let the drummer branch the
rim signal to another single or dual trigger pad (for expansion). This
would also resolves point three above.
Support: I followed the traditional channels to get my kick trigger
repaired. I could not find one service center in the Chicago area that
could replace or repair my unit in less than four weeks! After screaming
at my dealer and chasing down Roland reps I finally had my trigger
replaced (this process took four weeks). Roland should considered
dedicated regional service for their equipment.
Documentation: I’m sure this one tops the TDE-7K technical support list!
Drummers with no prior MIDI experience will find most of the documentation
almost useless. I do have MIDI experience and still find the documentation
difficult (at best) to decipher! There’s just no excuse for this one.
Sampled Sounds: This product contains some great sampled sounds.
Unfortunately, there are some gapping holes. it contains over fifty snare
sounds yet only three crash cymbals, over thirty kicks sounds but only two
ride cymbals, over 60 tom sounds but only two reverse (or Chinese)
cymbals. Roland has some of the best sampled sounds in the industry, they
simply left out the cymbals.
Sound Module User Interface: How quickly can a new electronic drummer
re-arrange kits, alter sounds, change individual sound volumes, combine
sounds, add effects, trigger other sound modules, use a sequencer to
trigger internal sounds? Answer: he/she can’t without the documentation!
Enough said!
Software Support: Does Roland provide software for the PC or Mac to
control settings for the sound module? How can a user back-up his/her new
settings? How can the user quickly make adjustments in the sound module
during a recording session or live performance? How can the user quickly
try hundreds of different sound/effect combinations to create that perfect
kit? How does the user select kits by song name during live performance.
The answer to these and many other 90’s electronic music questions lies in
dedicated software application support. It’s just not available for this
unit.
Training: Unfortunately, I missed Craig Yamek’s Electronic Percussion
Clinic at the Drum Pad in Palatine (not one advertisement from Roland or
the Drum Pad). Training for perspective customers and end-users would be
quite helpful.
Know that I’ve given you the bad news, here’s the good news. Roland the
basic foundation for a GREAT PRODUCT! Basic sound quality is good, the
sound module is quite flexible (once one learns how to use it), pad feel
is great, the kit is extremely durable and the unit is quite mobile and
easy to set up. They’re certainly on the right track!
Todd Shafer
>
>I am one of the may owners of a TDE-7K Compact Drum Kit. I have owned the
>kit since January of this year. I have played acoustic kits for over ten
>years and would like to give everyone qualified feedback on the unit.
>
>First off, I am happy with the kit and couldn’t image going back to an
>acoustic set. The high quality sound and kit variability simply put the
>TDE-7K way out in front of any acoustic offering. I would like to point
>out that (in my opinion) the basic design compromises within the TDE-7K
>have prevented most acoustic drummers from making the move.
While there are compromises, it's still the best electronic setup for the $. I
wouldn't say it's better than an acustic set though. If I was gonna do
strictly small club type jazz or blues, I would want an acustic set for the
expression possibilities that you just can't get with an electronic set.
>
>Here are my top-ten complaints:
>
>Kick Trigger: Over the past seven months I have gone through three
>triggers. The problem starts with intermittent trigger misses then
>graduates (over several weeks) to a completely dead trigger.
What are you hitting it with?! I've had mine for year and it works great...
>
>Small Pads: This is probably the greatest hurdle for acoustic drummers.
>The 7.5 inch pads are just too small! I know most drummers can adapt to a
>smaller playing surface but if Roland truly expects to ease the
>transition, kits should be upgraded to the nine inch pads.
Yup. 'Specially the snare.
>
>Expandability (or lack there of): This one’s a killer! I’ve now shelled
>out $2,000.00 for my electronic drum kit and I can’t add more pads without
>buying a new sound module (for $700) or a SPD-11 (for about the same
>price) plus the cost of each pad. It will cost me almost $1,000.00 to add
>two pads to my kit!
Actually, you can pick up a midi controller from roland (can't remember the
model number for sure. Something-16?) for like $200 that allows you to plug in
up to 16 triggers. You can get 6" Dauz pads for like $99...
On expandabilty, I'd like to add (again) that it sucks you can't plug in some
flash/rom card with more sounds.
>
>Dual Triggers: Great marketing/competitive concept, poor practicality!
>Having two sound triggers for every pad sounds great but simply doesn’t
>work. Acoustic drummers are familiar with this concept (and
>implementation) for the snare drum and cymbals, but it’s completely
>impractical for toms! Try to consistently hit the rim (or rimshot) on the
>toms during a set of fast rolls or a during a solo, it’s almost
>impossible! Roland should keep the feature but let the drummer branch the
>rim signal to another single or dual trigger pad (for expansion). This
>would also resolves point three above.
I think the thing that kills this is that you don't have the choice! I'd like
to buy a stereo to dual mono "Y" cable and have two pads, but it doesn't seem
to work. I think it's with how they implemented the rim shot. The "rim" is
not the trigger. It's the combination of the "Rim" and "pad"...
>
>Support: I followed the traditional channels to get my kick trigger
>repaired. I could not find one service center in the Chicago area that
>could replace or repair my unit in less than four weeks! After screaming
>at my dealer and chasing down Roland reps I finally had my trigger
>replaced (this process took four weeks). Roland should considered
>dedicated regional service for their equipment.
>
>Documentation: I’m sure this one tops the TDE-7K technical support list!
>Drummers with no prior MIDI experience will find most of the documentation
>almost useless. I do have MIDI experience and still find the documentation
>difficult (at best) to decipher! There’s just no excuse for this one.
I feel that if a person can read learn to use most software (like a
spreadsheet) from a manual, the Roland manual isn't so bad. It could be better
sure, but I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker.
>
>Sampled Sounds: This product contains some great sampled sounds.
>Unfortunately, there are some gapping holes. it contains over fifty snare
>sounds yet only three crash cymbals, over thirty kicks sounds but only two
>ride cymbals, over 60 tom sounds but only two reverse (or Chinese)
>cymbals. Roland has some of the best sampled sounds in the industry, they
>simply left out the cymbals.
While there are 60+ toms, they are all grouped in 4's, so the number of tom
sounds are really 60/4. I think there are too many "distorted" sounding toms,
and not enough clean, resonate type toms.
And on that, I still hate that reverb/etc effects are patch based and not
trigger based. I' like to have say a delay on a cymbal, but not on the snare,
and the only way to do that is to edit the SEND1 level in the SOUND menu...
>
>Sound Module User Interface: How quickly can a new electronic drummer
>re-arrange kits, alter sounds, change individual sound volumes, combine
>sounds, add effects, trigger other sound modules, use a sequencer to
>trigger internal sounds? Answer: he/she can’t without the documentation!
>Enough said!
>
>Software Support: Does Roland provide software for the PC or Mac to
>control settings for the sound module? How can a user back-up his/her new
>settings? How can the user quickly make adjustments in the sound module
>during a recording session or live performance? How can the user quickly
>try hundreds of different sound/effect combinations to create that perfect
>kit? How does the user select kits by song name during live performance.
>The answer to these and many other 90’s electronic music questions lies in
>dedicated software application support. It’s just not available for this
>unit.
That's midi in general! Buy any sequencer/synth/etc. and you have the same
problems. Midi has a pretty steep initial learning curve because every company
has diff. definitions to what's what. Sound vs. voice vs. instrument etc.
>
>Training: Unfortunately, I missed Craig Yamek’s Electronic Percussion
>Clinic at the Drum Pad in Palatine (not one advertisement from Roland or
>the Drum Pad). Training for perspective customers and end-users would be
>quite helpful.
>
>Know that I’ve given you the bad news, here’s the good news. Roland the
>basic foundation for a GREAT PRODUCT! Basic sound quality is good, the
>sound module is quite flexible (once one learns how to use it), pad feel
>is great, the kit is extremely durable and the unit is quite mobile and
>easy to set up. They’re certainly on the right track!
Mobile! You bet. I fit the whole thing plus my amp ,crossover, and 18" sub
cabnet into the hatch on my mitsubishi eclipse!
Try fitting 500+ drums in the same space!
P.S. I HATE the fact there are no **jingle bells** in the brain!!!!
,
--
______________________
| | Todd Shafer, CPIM
| THIS SPACE FOR LEASE | Inventory Shaman
| (CHEAP!) | Silicon Graphics Inc.
| CALL 415-390-3791 | Mtn. View California
------------------------
|| || What I say ain't SGI's fault
Todd Shafer
guitar, bass guitar sounds also!
And a sequencer so you don't need no other stinkin' musicians to get in the way
of your TR808 solos!
Neal Prakash
bunch of good stuff deleted
>
> P.S. I HATE the fact there are no **jingle bells** in the brain!!!!
>
yeah!! and no gong either!
-neal prakash
aka shrapnel
Todd Shafer
>>
Well the Gong is easy enough... On one of my Kodo sets I just tuned a cymbal
down (I thing #2). The attack is a little quick for a gong, but...
Speaking of the attack, this goes on a little farther for the bitch against the
lack of some sounds: Why is there no soft mallet cymbal sounds? Like for a
timpani mallet roll or something? I've tried messing with the attack dampening
paramenter in the instrument section, but to no avail...
I hope roland is watching, but I doubt it...
>
>-neal prakash
>aka shrapnel
Neal Prakash
are you using the kd5 or the kd7? i often wondered what the difference
was between these 2 kick triggers...
how's your pd9 holding up? does it wear away faster than your other
triggers? mine did.
On 13 Oct 1995, Drew Turock wrote:
> In article <45fs55$c...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, ter...@aol.com (Terrill) writes:
> > Here are my top-ten complaints:
> >
> > Kick Trigger: Over the past seven months I have gone through three
> > triggers. The problem starts with intermittent trigger misses then
> > graduates (over several weeks) to a completely dead trigger.
>
> Ahhhh! I'm a beginning drummer (5 months) learning on a TD5/TD7*
> hybrid and I've been thinking that this must be the way I was playing.
> So pretty soon my kick won't be making any sound at all!
> Overall it's a nice system, it really is. I've had great fun playing it.
> Drew
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-neal prakash
aka shrapnel
http://meded.com.uci.edu:80/~nprakash/neal.html
"In addition they seemed to spend a great deal of time eating and drinking
and going to parties, and Frensic, whose appearance tended to limit his
sensual pleasures to putting things into himself rather then into other
people, was something of a gourmet. (tom sharpe, 1977)
Terrill
From: Todd Shafer <sha...@mfg.sgi.com>
Date: 11 Oct 1995 21:45:34 GMT
Message-ID: <45hdtu$s...@murrow.corp.sgi.com>
ter...@aol.com (Terrill) wrote:
>
>I am one of the may owners of a TDE-7K Compact Drum Kit. I have owned the
>kit since January of this year. I have played acoustic kits for over ten
>years and would like to give everyone qualified feedback on the unit.
>
>First off, I am happy with the kit and couldn’t image going back to an
>acoustic set. The high quality sound and kit variability simply put the
>TDE-7K way out in front of any acoustic offering. I would like to point
>out that (in my opinion) the basic design compromises within the TDE-7K
>have prevented most acoustic drummers from making the move.
While there are compromises, it's still the best electronic setup for the
$. I
wouldn't say it's better than an acustic set though. If I was gonna do
strictly small club type jazz or blues, I would want an acustic set for
the
expression possibilities that you just can't get with an electronic set.
I agree
>
>Here are my top-ten complaints:
>
>Kick Trigger: Over the past seven months I have gone through three
>triggers. The problem starts with intermittent trigger misses then
>graduates (over several weeks) to a completely dead trigger.
What are you hitting it with?! I've had mine for year and it works
great...
Based on my informal survey, it seems as though some of these units are
good (maybe yours is an older unit) and some are bad. Those who receive
good units never seem to have problems, those with bad units can never rid
themselves of the problem.
I play heel-up but I only weigh 170 pounds!
>
>Small Pads: This is probably the greatest hurdle for acoustic drummers.
>The 7.5 inch pads are just too small! I know most drummers can adapt to a
>smaller playing surface but if Roland truly expects to ease the
>transition, kits should be upgraded to the nine inch pads.
Yup. 'Specially the snare.
>
>Expandability (or lack there of): This one’s a killer! I’ve now shelled
>out $2,000.00 for my electronic drum kit and I can’t add more pads
without
>buying a new sound module (for $700) or a SPD-11 (for about the same
>price) plus the cost of each pad. It will cost me almost $1,000.00 to add
>two pads to my kit!
Actually, you can pick up a midi controller from Roland (can't remember
the
model number for sure. Something-16?) for like $200 that allows you to
plug in
up to 16 triggers. You can get 6" Dauz pads for like $99...
This is new to me (and Roland). I’ve called them about this specific issue
and they’ve never mentioned any MIDI trigger unit.
On expandabilty, I'd like to add (again) that it sucks you can't plug in
some
flash/rom card with more sounds.
I agree.
>
>Dual Triggers: Great marketing/competitive concept, poor practicality!
>Having two sound triggers for every pad sounds great but simply doesn’t
>work. Acoustic drummers are familiar with this concept (and
>implementation) for the snare drum and cymbals, but it’s completely
>impractical for toms! Try to consistently hit the rim (or rimshot) on the
>toms during a set of fast rolls or a during a solo, it’s almost
>impossible! Roland should keep the feature but let the drummer branch
the
>rim signal to another single or dual trigger pad (for expansion). This
>would also resolves point three above.
I think the thing that kills this is that you don't have the choice! I'd
like
to buy a stereo to dual mono "Y" cable and have two pads, but it doesn't
seem
to work. I think it's with how they implemented the rim shot. The "rim"
is
not the trigger. It's the combination of the "Rim" and "pad"...
This is correct (I’ve verified it with Roland).
>
>Support: I followed the traditional channels to get my kick trigger
>repaired. I could not find one service center in the Chicago area that
>could replace or repair my unit in less than four weeks! After screaming
>at my dealer and chasing down Roland reps I finally had my trigger
>replaced (this process took four weeks). Roland should considered
>dedicated regional service for their equipment.
>
>Documentation: I’m sure this one tops the TDE-7K technical support list!
>Drummers with no prior MIDI experience will find most of the
documentation
>almost useless. I do have MIDI experience and still find the
documentation
>difficult (at best) to decipher! There’s just no excuse for this one.
I feel that if a person can read learn to use most software (like a
spreadsheet) from a manual, the Roland manual isn't so bad. It could be
better
sure, but I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker.
I recently purchased the SPD-11 (for expansion) the manual was written in
concise, clear English. Within less than an hour I had successfully worked
with each adjustment. The TDE-7K documentation clearly stinks.
>
>Sampled Sounds: This product contains some great sampled sounds.
>Unfortunately, there are some gapping holes. it contains over fifty snare
>sounds yet only three crash cymbals, over thirty kicks sounds but only
two
>ride cymbals, over 60 tom sounds but only two reverse (or Chinese)
>cymbals. Roland has some of the best sampled sounds in the industry, they
>simply left out the cymbals.
While there are 60+ toms, they are all grouped in 4's, so the number of
tom
sounds are really 60/4. I think there are too many "distorted" sounding
toms,
and not enough clean, resonate type toms.
I agree. Check the pitch adjustment, several tom samples are pitch shifted
which makes them sound fairly funky.
And on that, I still hate that reverb/etc effects are patch based and not
trigger based. I' like to have say a delay on a cymbal, but not on the
snare,
and the only way to do that is to edit the SEND1 level in the SOUND
menu...
I haven’t played with this one enough to comment.
>
>Sound Module User Interface: How quickly can a new electronic drummer
>re-arrange kits, alter sounds, change individual sound volumes, combine
>sounds, add effects, trigger other sound modules, use a sequencer to
>trigger internal sounds? Answer: he/she can’t without the documentation!
>Enough said!
>
>Software Support: Does Roland provide software for the PC or Mac to
>control settings for the sound module? How can a user back-up his/her new
>settings? How can the user quickly make adjustments in the sound module
>during a recording session or live performance? How can the user quickly
>try hundreds of different sound/effect combinations to create that
perfect
>kit? How does the user select kits by song name during live performance.
>The answer to these and many other 90’s electronic music questions lies
in
>dedicated software application support. It’s just not available for this
>unit.
That's midi in general! Buy any sequencer/synth/etc. and you have the
same
problems. Midi has a pretty steep initial learning curve because every
company
has diff. definitions to what's what. Sound vs. voice vs. instrument etc.
I’ll buy that.
Mark E. Gall
Recently I rented a TD-7 kit for one month to try it out. During
that time one of the tom pads went dead. Overall I had a great
time with the kit. One thing I did not like was balancing the
volume among the drums. It seemed to me that the ride and crash
cymbal volumes were to low. I was using a large keyboard amp,
had the volume maxed on the cymbals and drum sounds volume
turned down.
With regard to the double triggers on the pad....
During a visit to the local music store, I had the chance to play the
Drum Kat using the roland TD-7 midi out. To me the Drum Kat
had a better response and also appeared to have a better dynamic
range. It was louder. You still got all the sounds too, center of
the pad sound as well as rim shot sounds. Each sound activated by
hitting a specific pad on the Drum Kat.
This got me to thinking.......
In the past I have constructed my own pads using latex rubber and
piso electric buzzers. I plugged them into the TD-7 brain and they
worked fairly well.
The Question:
Would it be possible to control my home made pads by using the
midi out on the TD-7. This way I would have a separate pad for
each center pad sound and rim shot sound.
Mark
--
Todd Shafer
>In article <46324a$l...@madeline.INS.CWRU.Edu>, co...@cleveland.Freenet.Edu
>(Mark E. Gall) wrote:
>
> Um, I don't think so. I know Roland is using FSR's instead of piezos,
Is that true? I'm not positive, but thought that KAT's big thing over Roland
was that roland still uses Piezo's. I ripped my pads apart, and it looked like
a little transducer to me...
>and I'm pretty sure KAT is too. The rim sound is triggered in the TD-7
>when the center and rim pads are triggered at the same time. The brain is
>looking at both, not just the rim. If I understand FSR's correctly (Force
>Sensing Resisters), they don't generate voltage like a piezo does. They
>resistance the voltage in the trigger, which the brain interprets as a
>data spike. So, if that's correct, two piezos wouldn't have the same
>effect, that is, they couldn't trigger the rim sound on a TD-7. I could be
>totally wrong.
>
>MuffinHead
>Drummer, Mac geek Armpit Studios VIII
>http://www.winternet.com/~muff/ Plymouth, MN
>______________________________________________________________________
>Nice Mopar!
> --Some chubby girl to me
Mark E. Gall
It's my understanding that the roland pad uses Piezo's
in the center of the pad and FSRs in the rims. It's the FSRs
that allow you to get that chocking effect.
--
Derek Senestraro
Prakash <eam...@rigel.oac.uci.edu> writes:
>
>i think that's right--i've opened up the pd7 and pd9--they both have a
>small gadget soldered under the center of the base with a couple wires
>coming out (i guess that's the piezo?) under the rim is a flat torus
>shaped piece of plastic that has several concentric sensors. (fsr?)
the
>wires form the piezo and the sensors meet in a small circuit board in
the
>base of the pad that connects to the output socket.
>
The Roland pads are piezo and a switch, not FSR. The rim "trigger"
actually switches to another sound. That's why they don't work as a
real two zone pad, they only work with the Roland brain. KAT FSR is a
film underneath the rubber the sends continuous information. That is
what makes them so different from the Roland stuff. You can sustain a
melodic sound, aka piano, by holding down the playing surface, thus
sending continuous information. I like to think of it just like a
keyboard key. That's my $.02.
Derek