Roland Drum users?

japetus

japetus

Moderator
My brother and I are putting together a little jam studio in his basement. I have been playing a Roland TD-6 for a long long time, but it's outdated and falling apart. My brother wants to buy a new Roland kit, but I am totally not up on any of the new stuff. The one we are looking at is this: Roland TD 17

Does anyone have experience with this kit? Any positive/negative experiences? Any advice as a better route you would take?
 
TheRealDonnie said:
Have you looked at the Alesis stuff?
Always thought they've been better at the percussion stuff than Roland/Boss.

Same price as the TD.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DM10MKIIPro--alesis-dm10-mkii-pro-electronic-drum-set
Click to expand...
Yeah, to be honest I have been less than impressed with the Alesis stuff I have tried. Good sounds, but the hardware and pads left a lot to be desired. I am going to be using some imported drum samples anyway, so really the overall feel is much more important to me.
 
65 Drums YouTube channel has a full Roland lineup breakdown, decent for a high level overview of all of their kits and pros/cons.
I am currently looking at the TD27 series or jumping to the 50s…but have no other useful information
 
Roland has the track record and the hardware is solid. Playability and sensitivity are superb.

Alesis will fall apart on you in the long run if you're not gentle. Modules are fine 'though.

I was a big fan of the Alesis modules of the late '80s->early '00s.

HR16 - fantastic
D4 - Awesome and so versatile with all those trigger inputs. Inspired me to make my own E-kit with piezo mic's.
DM Pro - Excellent as well. Spent probably a year creating the perfect snare on it.

Since the Alesis journey I've used Roland brains exclusively, no actual kits 'though.

TD-20
TD-20W
TD-30

Superb sounds. Coupled with their E-kits, the mind boggles, which is why I've hankered after and recommend Roland wholeheartedly.
 
3391A135-4E9D-4912-AE19-65512995582A.jpeg

Good taste Nicky!
 
Yup, that's the one Brother B!

I used that one and an HR-16B in the studio in 1988. They were the 2nd & 3rd DM's I ever used in-studio after the Korg DDD-1.

Previously I'd only used the Roland TR-606 at home for fleshing out ideas. One-trick pony but it did sound great.

EDIT:
We were all astounded by the clarity of the high hats on those Alesis units. It was new territory for us.
 
Monkey Man said:
Yup, that's the one Brother B!

I used that one and an HR-16B in the studio in 1988. They were the 2nd & 3rd DM's I ever used in-studio after the Korg DDD-1.

Previously I'd only used the Roland TR-606 at home for fleshing out ideas. One-trick pony but it did sound great.
Click to expand...
My analog recording setup grows nearer to completion as the sands of time pass slowly by. Also I found out the HR16B had the preset drum beat to 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins.
 
Just added an edit you might like to that post brother.

Yeah, I'm tempted often to go back to analogue (mostly). A DAW for tracking only instead of a reel-to-reel machine, of course (impractical), and ADATs would be a PITA to keep aligned... and source HQ tape for.
 
Monkey Man said:
Just added an edit you might like to that post brother.

Yeah, I'm tempted often to go back to analogue (mostly). A DAW for tracking only instead of a reel-to-reel machine, of course (impractical), and ADATs would be a PITA to keep aligned... and source HQ tape for.
Click to expand...
I feel as though I am stuck in a perpetual 1996 timeloop of gear and recording, I just love the 4 tracks....would LOVE to find a really high quality 8 track. Amassing a lot of tapes these days. The hats always sounded....very piercing to me. I'm just gonna make a track tonight with it.
 
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I've had the Roland TD15 for about 5 years now. It's outdated but works perfectly fine for some at home jams. I did buy a few of the V-expressions packs which sound great and really opened up the TD15's capabilities. I suck at trying to get a decent custom sound, the V-Expressions does all the work for you. The packs I got were the Evolution & Masters 1&2.

https://www.vexpressionsltd.com/15.html

You can probably hop over the the VDrum forum and get more info about both

https://www.vdrums.com/forum
 
I have the alesis strike pro kit. I'm pretty heavy handed but it's held up for 3 years with me and I bought it second hand. I had to replace the ride cymbal due to a dead edge zone. But that's the only issue I've had. I grew up with an acoustic kit and this is my first e kit. The drums feel great imo. The cymbals are certainly not like acoustic cymbals from a feel perspective but I'm not sure any of them are. In any case, alesis has worked well for me and feels like a real kit. Its their most expensive kit but still cheaper than any Roland with this many pads.
 
That's the thing, Alesis will do the job but the Roland stuff is next-level.

Glad all you had to deal with was 1 replacement. Expect 2 or 3 over a 10-year period. If you can live with that, great! You might get lucky and never encounter another issue.
 
I'm still rocking a TD-6V since the 2003 ish so I feel ya man. Over the years I upgraded everything to mesh and used a splitter to max out the toms and cymbals.. but lost rim shots n stuff cause of that. Did you try hooking the brain up via midi to your pc to use drum vst's?
 
I have a Roland TD17KVX and my buddy has the Alesis Strike Pro. I would say he has the better module but I have the better hardware having played both. He’s had to replace several triggers and the hi-hat had all kinds of issues. We both prefer the rebound of the Roland mesh but that’s personal preference.
 
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