In the following guide, we’ll go through setting a kit up at home as well as tips for how and what to play.
We’ll explore the features of the TD-07KV that are designed to help you become a great drummer starting today!
Contributed by Simon Ayton for the Roland Australia Blog
In this guide we will:
As far as drumming goes, V-Drums are designed to give you the experience of drumming without the fuss, noise, mess (broken heads, sticks and wood chips everywhere!) and on-going expense of an acoustic kit. They are also very easy to use and setup even if you’ve never played the drums before. Firstly, let’s look at the similarities between V-Drums and acoustic drums and then setup the kit.
Even if you are new to drums, setting up the TD-07 takes around 30 minutes from unpacking to playing.
Setup V-Drums left or right-handed. Choose your preference.
Clear a space and unpack all the items checking them off while referring to the manual as you go.
Start by building the V-Drums rack then attach the pads and cymbals.
Once the rack and pads are in place, connect the module and run the cable loom.
Finally, connect your drum hardware including pedals and stool.
even though there are so many options out there as far as the pedals, stool and sticks go, it doesn’t need to be overwhelming.
If you don’t have these optional items yet, see the Roland options here and choose the ones that fit your budget.
Also consider a rug or drum mat to protect your floor or carpet and keep the kit from sliding. As far as moving the kit, having it all on one mat allows you to slide it around the room for easy respositioing.
These drum mats are specially designed for drums with a soft rubber base to absorb vibrations and stop the mat from moving. On top, the tighly woven, short ply carpet acts like velocroe which stops the drum components from moving around.
As for the make up of the kit, the TD-07KV consists of the sound engine or sound module, a rack to hold all the components and the pads and cymbals. The pads and cymbals also called trigger pads, send signals to the module to trigger the sound depending on which trigger input they are connected to.
See the labelled cables for which pad or cymbal goes where.
The Bluetooth audio/MIDI streaming feature of the TD-07KV is designed for fun and effective drumming sessions.
For a really fun and rewarding practice session, connect your smartphone directly to the TD-07 module and stream audio through the audio output or headphones directly.
Getting continual and accurate feedback on your playing is the most effective way of improving your drumming.
The TD-07 has four specially developed coaching functions built-in so you can identify your weaknesses and tackle them head-on in a fun and rewarding way. There’s also a regular metronome/click available.
Coaching modes are a button press away and consist of TIME
CHECK, QUIET COUNT, AUTO UP/DOWN, and CHANGE UP.
Each of these coaching functions is specifically designed to help you refine your technique and develop your internal clock. Two things all great drummers have in common.
Good technique allows you to comfortably play what you want as you feel it without limitation.
Great posture , steady breathing and a relaxed grip on the sticks are key to consistent and steady timing on the drums.
TIME CHECK gives you a visual display of your timing compared to the internal click or metronome. By watching the meter and keeping a nice steady pace, you will be able to reach 100%.
Building a strong sense of internal clock allows you to keep a steady and dependable beat for fellow musicians to follow. They are listening to you!
TIP: Read this for more ideas on building your drumming skills 10 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DRUMMING SKILLS
When it comes to adjusting the kit sounds to suit you, a simple tweak of the knobs is all it takes to create your favourite drum sound.
The most common controls like tuning/pitch, volume and sustain or muffling, are available for all sounds right there on the front panel.
With drum tuning and sound, there are no rules so feel free to experiment. Many drummers tune the pitch of their drums up or down to match the music they’re playing. For example, if you are finding it hard to hear the kick drum, adjust the pitch slightly below or above the bass guitar so it cuts through.
Likewise, tune the toms so the high tom T1 is a similar pitch to the highest common note of the singer and the floor tom a similar pitch to the low notes. This can help to make the drums sound more connected with the song.
If sounds are sustaining for too long such as the snare drum or toms, use the muffling control to reduce the length of the drum sound in stages until it’s perfect for you. Muffling really helps to clean up the sound of the drums so more detail in the music can be heard. A simple trick the pros use is to adjust the muffling on the snare so it only sustains until the kick drum strikes. This reduces the overlap between the two sounds and makes for a cleaner sounding drum groove.
Simply press the kit edit button to begin customizing your kit.
Snare head & rim for example each have their own uniquely tuned and muffled sounds.
Use your phone camera to scan the QR code to go directly to the product page for the TD-07KV
Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones uses a technique where he doesn’t play the hi-hat on top of the snare on beats 2 and 4. This means the snare is always on its own which helps it cut through and makes it sound solid and fat without the ‘chink’ of the hi-hat taking away from its tone.
Watch in the live performance below how he moves his right hand for beats 2 and 4 and air drums to keep him steady without actually striking the hi-hat.
