Roland V-Drums

V-Drums is a variety of electronic drums, drum brain modules, and related electronic percussion product manufactured and trademarked by Roland Corporation.
The primary V-Drums products are complete electronic drum kits. These vary in price and complexity, ranging from a few hundred dollars to approximately US$7,499 (MAP-Minimum Advertised Price). Components such as additional pads, cymbal pads, triggers, mounting hardware, and modules are also sold individually to augment an existing kit.
Like most electronic drum modules, V-Drums drum modules are MIDI-capable. This enables the player to use a V-Drums kit to control not only the kit itself, but other MIDI-capable instruments, such as digital samplers. MIDI also allows V-Drums kits to be controlled by other MIDI-capable instruments. V-Drums, like most electronic drum kits, can output to an amplifier, recording device, or headphones.
The Roland V-Drums System.
Each V-Drums kit is composed of the following:
Trigger types.
V-Drums trigger devices are of four major types: mesh-head drum pads, rubber pads, cymbal pads and acoustic drum triggers. Mesh-head pads look very similar to acoustic drums, and attempt to emulate their feel. The simpler, more generic type is a rubber pad, which is less expensive, but also looks and feels less like an acoustic drum. There are several models of cymbal pads (also called V-Cymbals). The more expensive ones attempt to emulate the physical properties of acoustic cymbals of various types (e.g.: hi-hat, crash, ride), while the simpler, less expensive cymbal pads are less realistic. Acoustic drum triggers can be used to provide trigger signals from standard acoustic drums.
From an electrical point of view, trigger pads can be of the following types:
Rubber pads.
Round rubber pads were introduced with the TD-7 drum module in 1992 (previous Roland pads were polygonal) and were universally used as trigger pads for drums and cymbals. Since the introduction of mesh-head drum pads and cymbal-shaped trigger pads, standard rubber pads are only used as tom-tom and (until recently) bass drum trigger pads on Roland's less expensive drum kits. More expensive kits don't include any rubber pads at all any more.
The downsides of rubber pads are their less realistic rebound and their relatively high ambient noise level (compared to mesh-head pads), but their lower price, and increased durability, still makes them a better choice in some cases.
Cloth-head pads.
Cloth-head drum pads were introduced with the KD-9 in 2011, using a cloth-like material as the drum head with an underlying, relatively thick layer of foam. These pads are softer than rubber pads and feel more realistic, while producing less ambient noise. They are only available in small sizes though, and the head tension cannot be adjusted like on mesh-head pads.
Mesh-head pads.
Roland V-Drums mesh-head triggers resemble acoustic drums in both appearance and feel. The striking surface is a two-layer taut woven mesh of fibers fitted with several electronic sensors. This allows the mesh-head trigger to respond to the play of a drumstick in a manner that feels more like real drums than their earlier rubber predecessors. Roland developers have stated that the design of the mesh-head V-Pad was inspired in part by a small toy trampoline.
In 1997, Roland developed and patented an updated version of mesh-head drum triggers, a key feature of the V-Drums line. As such, the name "V-Drums" sometimes refers specifically to Roland's mesh-head based drum triggers. The company began marketing the mesh-head triggers under the "V-Drums" name in 1997, in conjunction with the TD-10 drum module.
Roland mesh-head V-Drums have a playable rim which has its own electronic sensors (and corresponding sounds). Many drummers who formerly eschewed electronic drums because of their lack of authentic feel have adopted V-Drums and other mesh-head drum products due to the recent advances of mesh-head technology.
Mesh-head triggers have created an expanded market for electronic drum kits because electronic drum kits, especially mesh-head based ones, make little or no unwanted ambient noise.Mesh heads used in V-Drums kits today are made by the American drumhead company Remo.
Acoustic drum triggers.
Roland also makes acoustic drum triggers, which can be mounted on the rims of standard acoustic drums and provide a trigger signal from those drums, effectively turning them into trigger pads. The acoustic drumhead can either be left on the drum, to get the acoustic sound as well as a trigger signal, or the drumhead can be replaced with a mesh-head to lower ambient noise, if only the trigger signal is needed.
Cymbal pads.
In the early 2000s, Roland moved away from using standard rubber pads as cymbal triggers and introduced new cymbal-shaped trigger pads with a rubber surface, which they call "V-Cymbals".
The more expensive cymbal pads can swing freely after being hit (only rotation of the pad is prevented by a special cymbal mount), so they feel more like real cymbals, while the less expensive cymbal pads are not movable and always stay in their fixed position, thus feeling less realistic. Most of the movable pads also feature a third "bell" zone, which is triggered when hitting the bell area of the cymbal pad. These cymbal pads are called three-way cymbals because of their three trigger zones (bell, bow and edge).
Electronic hi-hats.
Electronic hi-hats are always made up of two components: a trigger pad to detect hits, and a variable resistor-based hi-hat controller to detect the foot position, so the drum module can determine whether the hi-hat is supposed to be open or closed (or somewhere in between).
The simpler, less expensive solution uses a simple fixed V-Cymbal pad in combination with a separate foot pedal controller, which allows the drum module to replicate the "sound" of a hi-hat, but does not emulate the feel and scope of expressiveness of acoustic hi-hats.
The more expensive V-Hi-Hats integrate trigger pad and controller into a set of two opposing pieces, designed to be mounted on a conventional hi-hat stand. Because the hi-hat pad moves with the position of the pedal and can swing freely when the hi-hat is opened, this solution feels much more authentic. The most complex and most expensive VH-13 V-Hi-Hat and the older VH-12 can also detect different amounts of foot pressure in the closed position, but they are only compatible with the TD-30 and the older TD-12 and TD-20 drum modules. The simpler VH-11 can be used with more modules, but it cannot sense foot pressure in the closed position.
Pad/Module Compatibility.
Generally, all Roland drum pads and cymbal pads can be connected to any input on any Roland drum module, and the head/bow zone will always work. However, when more capable pads are connected to less capable inputs, some zones (e.g. rim/edge or bell) on the drum pad cannot be used. Connecting less capable pads to more capable inputs usually lets you use all zones of the pad.
Drum pads and cymbal pads from other manufacturers are also generally compatible with Roland drum modules as long as they use a piezo as the head/bow trigger, but zones other than head/bow are sometimes problematic, especially on three-zone pads. Also, the module settings may need some tweaking. Hi-Hat controllers however are not usually compatible between manufacturers.
There are different kinds of stereo pads and stereo inputs. While all types of stereo pads and inputs do have two channels, they are still electrically different, so not all combinations of stereo pads and stereo inputs let you use all zones/features.
There's also a detailed compatibility chart for current Roland trigger devices and drum modules on one of the last pages of Roland's V-Drums catalog, which is also available as a PDF download from their home page. Discontinued modules are not included in their chart though.
Roland drum modules.
Roland drum modules range in features and price from the top-of-the-line TD-50 to the TD-27, TD-17, TD-4, TD-1 and HD-3 (although the TD-1 and HD-3 brains are not sold separately, as they connect with a proprietary 25-pin parallel connector to the frame and pads). Higher model numbers denote more advanced models, while lower numbers are used for less expensive ones. The TD-30, TD-25, TD-20, TD-15, TD-12, TD-11, TD-10, TD-9, TD-8, TD-7, TD-6, TD-5, TD-3 and HD-1 are out of production.
Drum module input capabilities.
It is important to note that not all drum module inputs have the same capabilities. Besides the obvious differences between mono, stereo and three-way inputs, which support mono (single-zone), stereo (dual-zone) or three-zone pads accordingly, there are additional differences in the capabilities of stereo inputs. While some stereo inputs only support pads with a piezo and a switch (piezo/switch inputs), others also support pads with two piezos (piezo/piezo inputs). Also, some stereo inputs are only intended to be split into two mono inputs by using an insert cable (mono/mono inputs). Certain pairs of stereo inputs can be configured to form one three-way input.
On some drum modules, some inputs may support additional features such as positional sensing or brush sweeps.
The capabilities of drum module inputs are listed in the table below. For details about which type of trigger pads are compatible with which type of drum module input, see section "Pad/Module Compatibility" above.
The column 'Connector Type' shows the number of trigger inputs with audio jack sockets and the number of trigger inputs with audio jack plugs on a proprietary wiring harness. If a module uses a wiring harness, inputs that feature an audio jack socket are indicated with an asterisk (*) next to the input type.
Drum sets.
Roland V-Drums components are typically sold as drum sets, which are made up of drum and cymbal pads, a hi-hat pad and controller, a drum module and a drum rack. Sometimes, additional hardware such as a kick drum pedal and a hi-hat stand is also included (usually only as limited offers).
High-end V-Drums sets.
Roland's most advanced and most expensive V-Drums sets include:
In the past, Roland also sold V-Stage drum sets, which had smaller pads and came with a slightly stripped-down drum module (first TD-8, then TD-12) with fewer inputs, but still most of the advanced features of the flagship modules. The V-Stage drum sets were discontinued in 2012 when the TD-30 was introduced. Instead, Roland is now also offering a V-Pro drum set with smaller and less expensive pads.
Mid-tier V-Drum sets.
Roland's mid-tier V-Drums sets include:
Entry level V-Drum sets.
Roland's entry level V-Drum sets include:
Older drum sets.
Older drum sets with the TD-7 and the (less expensive) TD-5 drum module had all rubber pads as drum and cymbal pads, simple kick-drum pads, and a rubber pad and foot controller for the hi-hat. Although they were not marketed as V-Drums at the time, they used the same technology and the trigger pads continued to be used in later V-Drum sets. TD-7 and TD-5 drum sets were discontinued in the late 1990s when the TD-10 and TD-8 were introduced.