onthew3 Practical Home Recording Information and Tutorials Roland V-Drums Overview I have used Roland V-Drums pretty much since their availability.  Prior to getting the Roland kits, I had a few other electronic or hybrid kits, but none of them quite got there.  With the TD-20 module (shown to the left) based kit, especially now with the TDW20 expansion card, the options for getting great drum sounds have increased dramtically.  The days of being able to tell immediately when electronic drums have been used are growing a distant memory and the lines between the quality of the sample library based VST drum modules and the hardware modules are becomming more blurred. TDW20 expansion card I am so impressed with the changes that this upgrade card brought.  At first, it wasn’t an immediate “Thank God I got this” kind of moment, but after playing a bit with the new kits, new settings, and increased sesitivity and detail, it is harder to use the older kit setups I’ve got stored.  I have some pretty good sounding kits, even some purchased from vExpressions and the new expansion card just blows them all away.  I’m sure Alan and the others at vExpressions will be coming up with some brilliant expansions using these new abilities. A Few Highlights The new sounds I was initially a little disappointed in the quantity of new sounds added with the TDW-20 expansion, but after getting more familiar with the sounds that lurked beneath the presets, I found a treasure chest of nice, dry, more modern sounds.  My descriptions below are based on the preset kits that come on the card and some of my own editing experiences.  Note that to get the most out of any device or software, you have to learn the details of it - this includes looking far beyond the presets and really diving in and editing to “make it your own”. I’m especially drawn to good sounding snares and kicks and the expansion adds some really nice ones.  Something that is often lacking in kick Drum Sounds is a feeling of the head moving and air moving as opposed to just a sound of the slap and bottom end.  Some of the new kicks, like the 22” N.Carolina Maple or the vintage 24” VLite have a great thick sound to them.  Check out the Video to the right entitled “Vintage sounds” for examples of these and some other big, open sounding kits. On the other end of the spectrum are tight or really dry kits.  A few notable ones are the Ctrl Room kit and the 80s Funk.  Ctrl Room reminds me of a lot of dry 70s drum kits.  You could probably produce this kit into something like Queen’s “The Game” album or one of the many hits from Steely Dan.  The 80s Funk kit has a tight piccolo snare, high tuned toms and generally crisp sounding cymbals.  This is a great little kit for snappy, short sounds and a kick with a real punch - get in and get out without a lof of bottom, leaving plenty of room for the Bass player!  Check out the video to the right entitled “Tight Sounds” for some examples of these and other dry and tight kits. Then, as is usually the case with Roland drum brains, there are a ton of extra electronic sounds and various noises.  This time around, I think I like the choices better.  I can only listen to so many 808 and 909 sounds.  The TDW20 takes these to the next stage and adds a lot of others that really open up some possibilities without sounding so repackaged.  There are a few drum ‘n bass oriented kits, some hip-hop oriented, a few electronica ones, and even one called 1985, which does a pretty good job hitting “that Simmons sound”.  Check out the video on the sidebar called “Electronic Sounds” for examples of how some if these kits sound. The cymbal options have been increased by quite a number as well, adding additional hi-hats and rides and a bunch of stacked cymbals as well as a nice assortment of other special cymbals.  There’s a good variety of things on offer here, though I would like a little more time spend on the cymbal end of things.  They are so much better than they used to be (like on the TD10, etc), but still not quite there.  For most purposes, however, you’d be challenged to pick them out in a recording or live show if played correctly. More Coming Look for more information in the coming weeks about some of the editing features and a walkthrough from start to finish using the VDrums to record midi, convert to audio, and do a mix.  I hope it will be an interesting look at how someone else does this stuff. Sonar V-drums Line6 Home about contact Video Content for articles Vintage Sounds If you are interested in getting into Electronic Drums, the Roland kits are the top picks as far as I’m concerned.  Whether you want a whole new set of VDrums, an acoustic drum set, or just some accessories, please consider purchasing them through zzounds.com.  By using the links from this site, you are purchasing from a great company and helping support this website as well. Did you find this site useful? Let me know!