Bose offer you amplification for your e-kit...

We regularly feature e-kits in the pages of our gear section, but not all e-kits are destined for the back bedroom. What about those drummers that use their e-kit live, or want a ‘noisy’ rehearsal? We thought it was time we looked at some suitable amplification that goes beyond a small amplifier. Endorsed by many top-flight musicians, including on the percussive front regular Drummer contributor and all-round e-kit guru Craig Blundell, Bose’s L1 system has proved to be a worthwhile companion to amplify your electronic gadgetry. But running in at over £2,500, is it a worthwhile investment?

Towering above the rest

The system we have here consists of two ‘Cylindrical Radiator’ speakers (totem pole-like in appearance) with two bass modules (the system is only supplied with one as standard, the second module seen here is an additional extra). The ‘ToneMatch Audio Engine’ powers the system and acts as a mixer, EQ unit and effects unit combined. The beauty of this system is that it takes up very little room, either when set up or in transit, with all parts being supplied with heavy-duty carry cases. Set-up is a breeze, with the fully modular locking system making it possibly the easiest PA system to set up and use. Leads are kept to a bare minimum, and all components for this system run from one power lead, connected to the powered base unit. The two top cylindrical speakers slot into this unit, one atop the other, with the supplied ToneMatch four-channel mixer attaching neatly to the tower and being powered by a single lead (no extra power needed). The passive bass bin is also attached by a single lead to the powered base, and the extra bass bin we have augmenting our set-up here is simply bridged from the first bin, so all in all, only four leads are needed for a full system!

In Use

Setting up took just five minutes. I plugged in my trusty V-Drums, turned up the volume, pressed play on one of the preloaded, and instantly I was blown away – for a system that takes up such little room and is so quick and easy to set up, the sound that emanates from it is incredible. Bass frequencies are handled perfectly, with the stomach-churning kick of the bass drum sounding full and fat, with absolutely no hint of the distortion you can sometimes get when putting such frequencies through less capable systems. Similarly the higher end of the tonal spectrum is equally well handled by the system, with cymbals, hi-hats and rim-shots all sounding perfect without distortion. I pushed the volume levels higher (much to my neighbour’s annoyance) and eventually the system did start to clip slightly, but this didn’t occur until it was extremely loud. This great system offers a fantastically clear, precise and true sound.

Conclusion

This is a fantastic piece of kit that delivers a beautifully clear, precise sound from a compact, neat and easy-to-use system. The strongest points for me are the easy, non-fussy set-up and stunning, well-defined clarity of sound at all frequencies. While the high price tag will obviously be a major hurdle for many of us, any drummer who regularly uses their e-kit professionally, and is serious about their performance, will seriously aspire to owning one of these systems.

A fully editable, USB-compatible e-kit from Alesis...

Alesis have been a name associated with the wonderful world of electronic percussion for quite some time. To this day many studios will somewhere contain one of their fantastic DM5 rack-mountable percussion modules, and when they brought out the DM10 e-kit a couple of years ago it was a true return to form for the company. Since the DM10’s launch, Alesis seem to have been very busy people, with new kits and associated products (monitoring systems, performance pads etc.) being released regularly. Here we have the company’s newest range of e-kit, the DM8 USB kit, for our perusal.

In detail

Upon opening the large box that the kit comes in, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that most of the sleek, lightweight, black rack system that houses the DM8 was already preassembled, leaving just two of the upright legs to be added to make things complete. Moulded black plastic clamps are used to hold the rack together, as well as to house all of the various clamps and arms. Once put together, the whole thing was more than solid enough to hold everything in place, giving an air of confidence that nothing was going to move at all once set. The supplied pads consist of three rubber single-zone pads for toms, along with a dual-zone snare pad, all of which attaches to the rack via L-shaped knurled rods, minimising any chance of unwanted movement under the heaviest of onslaughts. Cymbals-wise, the kit comes with an 8” hi-hat pad, 12” crash cymbal and 14” ride cymbal, all of which are constructed from highly polished black plastic with rubber playing surfaces covering roughly a third of each pad. These are attached to the rack via boom arms with clamps, which gives lots of adjustability for comfortable positioning, something that can sometimes be difficult to achieve with e-kits, particularly when the cymbal arms are integrated into the upright posts of the rack (especially if they are not full boom arms). The final component to attach to the rack system is the DM8 module, which is positioned to the left-hand side of the hi-hat. This is easily moved, though, and unlike some e-kits the wiring loom is plenty long enough to reach anywhere on the rack should you wish to position the module elsewhere. Rounding out the package is a stand-alone kick pad, which is designed to accommodate most single and double pedals, along with a solid hi-hat controller, both of which remain in place due to their weighty construction and their chunky, sharply spiked spurs. Wiring up the pads to the module is very quick and easy, with all cables labelled clearly at the pad end and attaching to the brain via a serial connector (very similar to the ones used on many e-kits available at present). All in all, the kit was very simple to set up, with clear, precise instructions helping to ensure that the whole kit was constructed correctly.

The DM8 brain

The highly useful DM8 module contains over 750 sounds, with 100 preconfigured kits and 100 user-programmable kits, with the sounds produced being very realistic. Many functions of the module are borrowed from Alesis’s flagship DM10 module, including the use of dual layering: each sound consists of two layers (A and B), which are both individually editable and combine to offer full, fat sounds. Editing-wise, the DM8, like its older sibling, is exceptional – all sounds are tunable either in semitone increments or less, trigger settings (velocity curves, sensitivity, crosstalk, threshold etc.) are all highly editable, ensuring that with a little time you can get the kit to respond exactly as your playing determines, and there are a host of various effects, including reverb, delay, compression, chorus and vibrato, to add to your sounds. Add to this a comprehensive metronome, 75 songs for you to play along to and an input for connecting an MP3 and you have a very good module indeed. But there’s more: the DM8 also features a USB interface, so that by simply connecting it to your PC orMAC you can periodically update the brain, or trigger sounds from external sound libraries. You can also record yourself directly into your PC or MAC. All of this makes the DM8 a very useful studio tool and practice aid, and will help to keep it sounding modern for some time to come.

In Use

I really enjoyed my time with this kit, finding it easy and comfortable to play. The rubber pads were fairly quiet, and while these types of pads don’t offer the same response as normal drum heads, they certainly weren’t unpleasant to play. Although there was a hint of crosstalk and double triggering to begin with, a mere five minutes of editing and things were responding perfectly to my playing style – every stroke, ghost note and roll were perfectly articulated. The inclusion of a dual-zone snare pad offering a more realistic playing experience is a big plus point, as is the dual-zone (bell/bow) ride, while the crash pad (featuring a choke function on the edge of the rubber section) and the hi-hat pad are both perfectly functional and quiet when played. If playing through headphones you won’t annoy any noise-sensitive neighbours. The hi-hat controller offers continual function, meaning that gradually changing pressure on the pedal leads to subtle changes in the sound (same as you would get from a regular hi-hat pedal), while the kick pad feels comfortable and very sturdy to play, with no hint of the creeping movement that you sometimes get with stand-alone units such as this. Added to this is the superb-sounding DM8 module, with its easy-to-use numerous functions. Overall, this is a very impressive kit for an impressive price.

Conclusion

Over the last few issues I’ve been fortunate enough to get to review some fantastic e-kits – from top-of-the-range, all-singing, all-dancing wonder technologies to some basic, simple-to-use starter outfits, all of which had many upbeats (and a few downbeats), but I have to say that the DM8 can be counted among the better kits I’ve played. The full range of features, along with the ease of use, means, in my opinion at least, that the DM8 is a well designed and made piece of technology that would benefit a wide spectrum of players. From the novice drummer just starting out who needs something quiet for practice purposes, through to the more experienced player looking to get into home recording, this kit has a lot to offer, including great value for money.

A studio-quality drum machine and sequencer at an affordable price...

Last month we looked at the new Alesis DM8 USB kit. We stated in that particular review that Alesis are a well-known name in the world of studio equipment, as well as electronic percussion, and are a company that don’t tend to rest on their laurels. Their new PerformancePad Pro was launched earlier this year for the Winter NAMM show. An upgrade of their already popular PerformancePad, the PerformancePad Pro features more sounds, patterns and songs than its predecessor and draws on the technology used in many of Alesis’s drum machines, such as the SR16 and SR18, which have been best-selling products in both pro studio and consumer markets alike. Let’s take a closer look.

In Detail

The PerformancePad Pro features eight velocity-sensitive rectangular pads, as well as inputs for kick and hi-hat pedals, giving you all you need to create patterns and fills in a physical way (rather than via a keyboard or computer). There are 500 sounds to choose from, including drum kit, percussion and bass, any of which can be assigned to any pad or pedal. The PercussionPad Pro contains 100 user-editable kits as well as 100 preset kits. The built-in sounds use Alesis ‘Dynamic Articulation’ multilayered samples (similar to their DM range of e-kits), but the Pad Pro can also be connected (via MIDI) to other external devices (samplers, modules etc) to trigger other sounds. The PerformancePad Pro also contains a range of effects that can be added to the preset sounds, including reverb, EQ and compression, as well as controls to pan sounds right/left, various gate effects to define the length of bass notes, quantise settings and a comprehensive metronome. The main purpose of the Pad Pro is to sequence your own patterns and fills and accompaniment. In order to do this, it has a very powerful, three-step sequencer so you can easily record, edit and trigger kit parts, percussion parts and basslines, as well as various loops. Each recordable pattern (there are 100 empty user patterns to record onto, as well as 100 preset patterns to play along to) is created by recording four ’sub’ patterns: two main A&B patterns, as well as fills, meaning that each song pattern has different sections for each part of the song, such as verse/chorus, as well as corresponding fills to bridge between each one. Any of these patterns (either preset or user) can be assigned to any of the eight pads, so that if you wish to use the PerformancePad Pro to play along to in a live setting, you can simply strike a pad to either begin the pattern straightaway, or it can be programmed to start after a specified number of beats. For example, if you are playing along to one pattern, you can program a different pattern to start four/eight/sixteen beats after the pad has been hit, giving you time to change what you are playing to suit. Once you have sequenced the different sections of your tunes, you can then link them or any of the preset patterns (or combinations of both) together using the Pad Pro’s song mode. This allows you to program the different patterns, loops and basslines to play in a specific order each time you choose that particular song. Other noteworthy features include an auxiliary input for connecting and mixing in external CD/MP3 players, as well as the option of mounting the Pad Pro on a cymbal stand or rack. 

In Use

The PerformancePad Pro is quite a complicated bit of kit; if you’re anything like me, I don’t tend to read manuals unless absolutely necessary, usually trying by trial and error to figure things out for myself. In this case, reading of the manual was a must. But after I had spent some time with the Pad Pro, I soon found it a joy to use. Most of the internal sounds are pretty good and convincing, with the drum kit sounds being tunable to further edit them to your particular taste. Recording and editing patterns is a breeze, and assigning them to the pads or programming them in a particular order in song mode was also just as simple. The playing surface of the pads themselves deserves special mention: each one is nice and responsive. By adjusting their respective volume levels they are more than adequate for triggering sounds and recording or triggering patterns. The only thing missing is USB connectivity, as most of the time I could see this being used for building a sample or guide drum track in the studio (both home or pro). But the addition of a MIDI connector does overcome this somewhat. 

Conclusion

With Alesis, you do benefit from years of experience from a company synonymous with high-quality studio and professional audio equipment. The PerformancePad Pro’s internal sounds all sound decent, with great editing capabilities contained within the unit. Most sounds are customisable to match whatever sound you are looking for. After some familiarisation, the sequencer and song functions were easy to use. The PerformancePad Pro has good range features that go a long way to making this a useful studio tool for any musician, including drummers … at an affordable price tag too.