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Here is something close to my heart as I remember how Bass Drum Pedals used to be and how they are today. Jojo Mayer has invented the Perfect Balance Bass Drum Pedal and Sonor Drums have put it into production for his excellent idea. It has taken Jojo quite a few years to design this as he wanted to achieve perfect swing balance of the beater.

His experiece of today’s pedals are that drummers demanded more thrust forward with the beater in order to achieve greater power. The problem with this is that it would need to be out of balance to achieve this and what you had coming back would be a bit “sluggish” as Jojo puts it. I most certainly agree with this because nearly every pedal I have ever owned, I have ended up changing the spring mechanism in order to achieve the feel and response I am seeking. Some pedals give you quite a range of adjustment but somehow they still do not achive that ‘Perfect Balance’

So it is ‘Well Done’ to Jojo for devoting such time to achieve this, perhaps other manufactures will sit up and take note of what drummers really need rather than what they think they need. Have a look at Jojo’s YouTube clip to give you some idea:-

Here is something I just don’t know how I missed – Pearl Drums – Tru Trac Eelectronic Drum Heads. I know it has been done before converting an acoustic set of drums into Electronic, but Pearl have been around a few years now and certainly know a thing or two about drums.

Their consideration from an electronic point of view is how they feel and Tru-Trac Electronic Drumheads have the same size and response as real heads. They are available in pre-packs and individual components so you can convert your own acoustic kit into an electronic kit. Both of their pre-packs include (5) No Drill Adapters and all necessary parts and tools to complete your kit’s conversion from acoustic to electronic. All you need to do then is connect the pads to your favorite drum brain like the Roland TD20 or TD30. The conversion process is just like changing a Drum Head.

The two packs are: EPAD-25S contains the following: TTP-B Bass Tru Trac Electronic DrumHead, TTB-10 10″ Tom DrumHead, TTP-12 12″ Tom DrumHead, TTP-16 16″ Tom DrumHead, TTP-14 14″ Snare DrumHead, NDA-1 Non-Drill Adapter (x 5), CH1JB 16″ TRS Cable, DZC15 15″ Long Cable, 52MM Tension Rods (x30), 63MM Tension Rods (x30), NP485 Velcro Tape (x10), BDMTP Hole Position Template, PDPTP Paper Ruler, HPC6 Hole Punch and BDC Foam Bass Drum Cushion.

EPAD-25 contains:-TTP-B Bass Tru Trac Electronic DrumHead, TTB-12 12″ Tom DrumHead, TTP-13 13″ Tom DrumHead, TTP-16 16″ Tom DrumHead, TTP-14 14″ Snare DrumHead, NDA-1 Non-Drill Adapter (x 5), CH1JB 16″ TRS Cable, DZC15 15″ Long Cable, 52MM Tension Rods (x30), 63MM Tension Rods (x30), NP485 Velcro Tape (x10), BDMTP Hole Position Template, PDPTP Paper Ruler, HPC6 Hole Punch and BDC Foam Bass Drum Cushion.

Why not take a look at our drum page – http://www.tonylongmusic.co.uk/drums/ , with plenty to see, laugh about and learn. It is full of interesting clips with Michael Schack, Ian Paice, Korg Wavedrum, Dave Smith Tempest, Arturia Spark, Native Instruments Maschine, The Corrs own Caroline Corr with her Bodhran – lovely, Roland TD-20 and TD-30, The Who, Drum Lessons, Gen 16 Zildjian Electro Acoustic Cymbals, Super Mario Bros 3, The Shuffle, How to make a Porthole in your Bass Drum head, Wishbone Ash classic drum rolls, Urban Drumming, Black Eyed Peas – Drums in the Snow, Double Bass Drum Pedal, Jeff Porcaro, Battle of the Drummers, Stick twister lesson, The Wedding Drummer, Backstreet Girl – Everybody, Birch Drums, Steve Gadd and more.

If you love drums why not bookmark the page :- http://www.tonylongmusic.co.uk/drums/

EZ DRUMMER – TOONTRACK’S DRUM KIT VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT

Toontrack, whilst being amongst some of the leaders of drum software (like BFD from FXpansion and Stylus RMX from Spectrasonics), were one of the first to provide realistic multisampled acoustic drum-kit sample libraries with their aptly named Drumkit from Hell and DFH Superior. DFH Superior was amazingly large with over 35 GB of drum and percussion sounds. Some however, found that the interface was too complicated and so Toontrack developed something much simpler in the form of EZ Drummer. I love messing around with Drum Sounds, so I thought I would test the user-friendliness of this software from loading to laying down a track in my DAW.

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Alesis have a new five piece drum kit – the DM7. It has over 400 sounds on-board, 50 kits, 52 songs to play to and a three-zone snare drum. It also has a 1/4-inch mix input for playing along with external music sources. The DM7 USB Kit also works with virtually all MIDI software including virtual sound modules and recording, sequencing and programming applications.

For more information visit :- http://www.alesis.com/epercussion

The Invisible Drum Kit by Rowan Atkinson

I just loved this and thought that I just had to share this with you. If you haven’t seen this before you are in for a treat as it is far better than Air Guitar – Tony:-

How To Sound Like A Professional With Roland V-Drums

One of the main reasons why a novice sounds so bad when he attempts to play an acoustic drum kit is that he hits part of the drum kit that he doesn’t intend to such as the metal rims or he doesn’t hit the drum on the best part of the head to “make” the sound. With Roland electronic drums these issues can easily be eliminated.

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Here is something I would like to see and hear – the new Simmons Digital Multi Pad Electronic Drum Set (The SDMP1). It is an entire Simmons kit and drum machine in one package. Simmons state that this is the perfect addition for practice, performance or recording beats and is able to be integrated with any drum or percussion set up, and can be mounted to a stand or an accessory clamp. It will connect to a PC with a USB port, while the included auxiliary input allows you to play along with a CD or MP3 player. The price seems very reasonable and I wonder how this compares on quality, sound and feel  with Roland’s SPD-20 and SPD-S or Yamaha’s new DTX-MULTI 12 Electronic Percussion Pad? The features and specifications look very good:-

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