Roland turns the big 5-0 this year, and they are celebrating with a new e-drum concept called the D-Flux. The triangular pads look a lot like Roland’s Alpha drums, the company’s first foray into electronic bangables way back in 1985.

The D-Flux, however, will build on all of Roland’s considerable experience and success with the sounds and mesh pads of its venerable V-Drum series. The really interesting part of the new D-Flux is its take on the kick drum—now essentially two horizontal belts that purportedly replicate the dynamic feel of a drumhead.

I’m intrigued for sure. The triangle-shaped pads do make sense in terms of saving space (you can nestle them right against each other), but I still profoundly love the look of Roland’s gold-standard V-Drums, especially the Acoustic Design series. It could just be that my old-ass eyes can’t see the future very well.

The D-Flux isn’t for sale yet or perhaps ever, but it is supposed to be out on a “global tour” where some lucky drummers can get sticks on it.

Roland has also put together a retrospective of their e-drums. Though clearly a marketing piece, it’s still a good read if you are interested in some of the major moments in the history of electronic drums.

More pics and a vid of the D-Flux below.

And it will only set you back $799 (MSRP). Those eight bones get you eight trigger pads, 50 built-in kits and hundreds of cutting-edge drum and percussion sounds, 30 types of multi-effects, and a bunch of external trigger inputs. The SPD-30 also has a Phrase Loop recording feature that allows a player to loop recorded sounds in real time and then overdub additional parts or sounds.

But no one really cares about that stuff. Here’s how cool it looks with a full Roland kit.

Yep, we still got a big old crush on Alesis’s new Surge cymbals. We reported that they were shipping in September, but now we know exactly how much cash they’ll set you back. Check out the press release below.

[Press Release]

Cumberland, R.I. (Dec. 10, 2008) – Alesis, the world’s leading manufacturer of professional audio equipment and studio electronics, announces that its series of SURGE Cymbals is now shipping. Crafted from lathed brass cymbal alloy and acoustically dampened with a clear vinyl layer, SURGE Cymbals features integrated piezo triggers in rugged ABS housings. The cymbals deliver acoustic-cymbal look, feel, and response with the added benefit of electronic-sound module flexibility: SURGE Cymbals’ sound.

SURGE Cymbals are available in two complete sets and five individual models, enabling drummers to customize their setup to their taste. SURGE Cymbal Pack contains a SURGE 12” Hi-Hat Cymbal, a SURGE 13” Crash Cymbal, a 16” Dual-Zone Ride Cymbal, and connection cables. SURGE Cymbal Pack with choke contains a SURGE 12” Hi-Hat Cymbal, a SURGE 13” Crash Cymbal with choke capability; a 16” Dual-Zone Ride Cymbal with choke capability, and connection cables. Models designated ‘with choke’ feature a large strip on their underside, which, when squeezed by a drummer, sends a message to the connected sound module to stop the associated sound that is playing. SURGE 12” Hi-Hat Cymbal, SURGE 13″ Crash Cymbals with and without choke, and SURGE 16” Dual-Zone Ride Cymbals with and without choke are each available separately, included necessary connection cables.

SURGE Cymbals are included with Alesis high-end electronic drumsets including the DM5 Pro Kit with SURGE Cymbals and the USB Pro Drum Kit. SURGE Cymbals are compatible with most major manufacturers’ drum-sound modules and nearly any cymbal stand or mounting system for use with electronic and acoustic drumsets.
“SURGE Cymbals are the perfect way to upgrade or add onto your drum kit,” noted Adam Cohen, Director of Business Development, Alesis. “There is simply nothing like SURGE available from any other electronic-drum manufacturer.”

SURGE Cymbals are now shipping to musical instrument and pro audio retailers and are available at the following MSRPs: Surge 12” Hi-Hat Cymbal, $199.00; Surge 13” Crash Cymbal, $249.00; Surge 13” Crash Cymbal with Choke, $299.00; Surge 16” Dual- Zone Ride Cymbal, $349.00; Surge 16” Dual- Zone Ride Cymbal with Choke, $399.00; Surge Cymbal Pack, $579.00.

Triggers Rule: If you want to keep up with the speed of modern metal guitarists, triggers are a necessity. There is no way, especially live, you can keep a consistent drum sound with the tempos of many grind and death metal bands. You’re already probably getting drowned out by your band members and their asshole amounts of gear. You’re up there to play, and the kick drum drives so many songs that if you can’t be heard then the song suffers. Think of the song. With the Red Shot Kick Drum Trigger from ddrum, you barely need to carry any gear and you don’t have to worry about pads muffling the tone. Even the fastest feet on Earth, Tim Waterson, uses triggers and he’s, well, the fastest fucking feet on Earth. Triggers rule, they aren’t going away, and you need to get on the right side of history.

Triggers Drool: Why in the fucking world do you want your kick drum to sound like a giant typewriter? So you can play faster? I got an idea: practice. Talk to someone like Dave Witte who does single foot blasts with no triggers and ask him if he can play fast enough for your shitty “shredding” metal circus. And where is the feeling? You may as well just play a tape of you drumming while you sit there and toss sticks in the air. If you need to be heard, tell your band to turn down or get the sound guy to turn you up. Or use your trigger money to buy a bigger kick. Anything so I don’t have to hear that sound. And even if you like the soulless tapping of triggers, I can’t imagine anything less metal than having a little glowing sound module right next to you. That should be reserved for your beer, pussy.

So who’s right? Feel free to use this rating system and let us know:

1. Triggers suck all of the shit.
2. Triggers suck shit, but I could envision a world where they could possibly only suck.
3. Triggers kind of suck, but they’re getting better.
4. There are some perfectly good reasons to use triggers, which I would like to tell you about.
5. You can have my triggers when you pry them from my cold, devil horn-shaped fingers.

• 99 preset patterns and 99 user patterns
• Backlit LCD
• Bright, glowing, backlit pads that follow the beat
• Microphone input and headphone output
• Pattern Play Mode (different patterns can be triggered from individual pads)
• Drum Roll/Note Repeat feature
• $499 MSRP

Whatever the case, Alesis’s flagship electronic kit comes outfitted with the venerable DM5 sound module, which features more than 500 studio-grade sounds and 21 programmable drum sets recorded at 48kHz in stereo with ambient effects.

800 bucks also gets you a dual-zone snare pad, three tom pads, and a kick pad with 8″ mylar, tension-adjustable drumheads and 2.3mm triple-flanged counterhoops. Surge cymbals are made of brass cymbal alloy and feature built-in triggers; a 12″ hi-hat, 13″ crash, and a 16″ dual-zone ride are included. Pretty damn sweet.

…But if you insist on the details, here are some easy-to-follow bullet points:

• The Mandala plugs into a PC or Mac with a USB cable.
• One pad can accommodate up to seven different sound zones.
• The surface detects 128 strike positions from center to edge.
• There are 128 strike velocities (from soft to hard) with no false triggers.
• Each pad is handcrafted and thoroughly tested before it is shipped.
• The Mandala will set you back $349.

First up is a new Stage Custom kit in birch. It’s described as Yamaha’s “first mid-priced birch kit,” but in fact it’s Yamaha’s individual reaction to the industry-wide panic precipitated by PDP. Once DW’s younger bro started offering affordable kits in what were once considered premium woods (maple and birch), other manufacturers had to follow along. Even Pearl finally caved in with its Vision series. If you want the best now, Big Drummer Brother tells you to buy bubinga.

Of course, you could just forget the wood altogether and go electronic. Yamaha’s got you covered there too with its redesigned flagship e-kit, the DTXTREME III. It comes in regular and special flavors. Both get you three-zone drum and cymbal pads, over 1,000 onboard sounds, and over 100 MIDI voices. The special edition also comes with Yamaha’s new Hex Rack System. Take a gander below. And as always, stop drooling on the screen.