Big Drum Thump

Drum and Drummer News and Photos

Category: Roland

  • Roland Celebrates 50 Years With New Concept Drums

    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.

    Roland Alpha Drums circa 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.

  • Roland’s Octapad SPD-30 Is in Stores

    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.

  • New Roland V-Drums

    Sweet! Roland has introduced a new series, the TD-9, to fill out its venerable line of V-Drums. Those of you lucky enough to be attending NAMM (our badges, alas, appear to be lost in the mail) will be able to try a kit out. No word on pricing yet, but the series is mid-level. $2,000?

  • Thomas Lang at the Montreal Drumfest

    Courtesy of Vic Firth’s video podcasts (what happened to posting weekly, guys?), Thomas Lang shreds it up on his Roland V-Drums. He’s also rockin’ some anti-Teutonic long locks.