Welcome to the VAD103 V-Drums
Acoustic Design drum set, I'm Jules, and in
this video, I'm going to into detail
with the VAD103 and show you what it can
do.
V-Drums Acoustic Design drum sets
are a series of Roland
electronic drums taking all the technology
of acclaimed drum series
but adding an acoustic drum set
feel. The VAD103 is
a full electronic drum set.
Despite its convincing looks, there
is no acoustic drum sound, yet
the VAD103 has all the playability
sound feel and fun of playing
a regular acoustic drum set, but
with the advantage that you can use
headphones to lower the noise so
that the only person that's having
the drums is you, and you can access
a whole world of different sounds
and connectivity all from just one
drum set. The VAD103 drum set is
perfect for playing at home and even
live performance.
Its streamlined setup and simple
but powerful sound module makes
it ideal for those dipping into
drumming for the first time or those
already playing the drums and want a
class-leading drum set to get the
best out of your time at the kit.
So, let's take a closer look.
The VAD103 is what's known
as a four-piece drum set up,
referring to the kick drum, snare
drum and two toms that are in a
one up, one down configuration.
The VAD103 shares the same
DNA as the other V-Drums Acoustic
Design series higher up in the
range, all of which feature genuine
wooden shells.
That not only provides acoustic
looks but actually feels slightly
different to play too, thanks to the
larger size of the pads and the
stick resistance offered by the
wooden shells.
These shells have V-Drums technology
mounted inside.
So all of the things that make our
V-Drums feel like a genuine drumming
experience are also here inside
the VAD103.
The VAD103 uses our double-ply
mesh heads across the snare and both
toms.
The mesh head was a Roland first and
a technological breakthrough in
electronic drums that allows each
drum to rebound and respond
and feel like an acoustic drum head.
The reason that's important is
because all drums should play like
drums, whether they're acoustic or
electronic.
The V-Drums mesh head has two layers
of unique material, and the pad is
tension-adjustable, using the same
method for tuning an acoustic drum,
so, there is no significant
perceptible difference in playing
the two styles of drum sets and the
transition between the two is
seamless.
Our mesh heads are much quieter than
a rubber pad, very durable, and
designed for optimize triggering of
the sounds within the drum sound
module.
The VAD103 uses the TD-07
sound module to provide the sound.
This is the heart of the kit and
provides the authentic sound and
the behavior of a full drum kit.
The module allows you to play with a
host of different drum set types
across a range of musical styles,
and you can connect your phone,
tablet, or computer with the module
via Bluetooth to be able to play a
song from your device and hear it
through the headphones with the
drums so you can play along with the
track or even watch a video lesson
and play along.
Later in this video, I'm going to
show you some of the things you can
do with the powerful TD-07 module.
Let's take a closer look at the pads
that come with this drum set.
Starting with the kick drum.
This is the KD-180-L-BK
(not to be confused with the
KD-180)--it's
18 inch in diameter and is shallow,
so it takes up much less space,
but without compromising the look
and feel of the classic bass drum.
The KD-180-L-BK
actually has a pad that is mounted
to an acoustic drum head so as you
play the pedal and the beater makes
contact with the pad, you are
moving air and you get the
resistance that comes with it giving
the unmistakable feel of playing
a larger, acoustic kick drum.
The snare drum uses
the PDA120LS
twelve-inch pad.
This has a shallow wooden shell and
is mounted to a regular acoustic
snare drum stand which is sold
separately.
The snare part has different sounds
on the head and rims under the pad,
so you can either have a rim click
to accompany the snare sound or even
play a completely different sound
like a clap or a cowbell on the rim.
The tom pads are the PDA100L and
PDA120L
10-inch and 12-inch shells
respectively, both featuring the
same wooden shells of the snare
pad. For the cymbals, the hi-hats
used a 12-inch VH-10 model
which are mounted to an acoustic
stand that aids flexibility
of setup and creates a larger spread
of the pads. And for anyone that may
already have experience of playing
drums, they will feel instantly
familiar.
The crash and the ride cymbals
here are V-Cymbals which have playing
zones that are easy to strike and
transition between.
The 12-inch CY-12C is used
for the crash and the 13-inch CY-13R
is used for the ride, with the added
advantage that you can have three
playing zones for the ride, that's
the edge,
the bow, and the bell to be able to
play all those different sounds and
techniques of a ride cymbal.
All of these pads mount to
double-braced chrome finish drum
stands.
This helps the VAD103 to achieve
that classic look of an acoustic
drum set, but also helps a little
with the placement and positioning
of each of the pads.
These are sturdy and durable stands
and will hold everything in place
well. Two of the DCS-10 stands are
supplied with the kit which have tom
mounting arms that can be height adjusted
independently on the stand and
feature a strong ball clamp design
so that the toms can be positioned
exactly where you need them to be.
The cymbals are also mounted to
these stands which feature telescopic
arms that can be converted for a
straight cymbal stand or a boom
stand set up and also a gear
tilter, so the cymbals are securely
locked in position.
The APC-10 clamp is also supplied
for mounting the module securely to
the stand within the kit.
It's worth mentioning here that you
will need to supply your own hi-hat
stand, snare drum stand, kick
pedal, and drum throne as these are
sold separately from the VAD103.
So that's the kit.
Let's take a closer look at the
sound module.
Inside the module itself, we have
143 different instruments.
Because a drum kit is made up of
different size and different types
of drums and cymbals, every drum kit
is slightly different.
And that's exactly what you get
inside the TD-07, a huge
collection of individual drums and
cymbals that have been carefully and
professionally captured.
Then each one is placed inside the
TD-07 module so that you
can select any combination from
these and create your own drum sets.
But there are 25 preset kits.
Those are kits that are already
created for you by top drummers and
are ready to play already inside the
module.
The great thing is each one of those
presets can be played as they are
or customized further. The sound
and tone of an acoustic drum can be
adjusted to suit the situation and
style of music.
For example, by tuning it or
adjusting the tension, or by placing
some damping material on top like a
tile or some fell over the drum
head, V-Drums can do exactly
the same thing.
For example, I can take an
individual drum within the TD-07,
like the snare drum, and I can swap
it for a different snare drum type
for an alternative sound, but then I
can tune the pitch up or down, add
muffling to it, and
I can even shape the sound using EQ,
such as add more bass or low-end
or more treble or top-end, and
going further, I can even use a
transient shaper to add more attack
or make the sustain on the drum or
cymbal longer or shorter.
I also have over 30 different
effects inside the TD-07 and each
one can be added to individual drums
and cymbals. Using multi-effects,
it's really easy to
take a kit from something that
sounds fairly routine to something
that sounds totally different.
The TD-07 also has different
playing spaces that you can explore.
Imagine your drums placed into
different environments.
The TD-07 can be played in a series
of virtual rooms that are accurately
based on physical spaces, which
alters the ambient character.
These environments can also be
tweaked or changed too.
One of the most exciting features of
the TD-07 is Bluetooth connectivity.
This allows you to pair a
smartphone, tablet, or computer with
the module so that you can stream
audio.
This means you can choose a favorite
song on your device, stream the
audio wirelessly to the module so
that you can hear it through the
headphones or an amplifier, but you
can jam along so that the sound of
the V-Drums is combined with the
track.
But you can also take things a step
further. If you're watching an
online lesson or tutorial to support
your drumming, then you can watch
the video on your device, but hear
the audio along with your V-Drums
in headphones. If you're into
advanced uses for your V-Drums, you
can even stream MIDI data over
Bluetooth so you can capture MIDI
data wirelessly.
One of the key advantages of using
electronic drums is the onboard
tools and further resources that you
can connect with that can help you
to learn drums or develop your
playing to the next level if you're
already drumming.
The most important quality for a
drummer is the ability to play in
time, and the more you play,
the more in time you will become.
Being in time also helps your drum
beats to sound more together and
tighter too.
The onboard coach tool is a virtual
partner that you can use to help you
focus and tighten up your timing and
your drum beats.
There are five different coach
exercises that you can use to
challenge and test your timing, some
of them scoring your efforts so that
you can see where you were
improving. All V-Drums also
come with 40 free lessons from
Melodics, which is an application
for desktop computers and iPads
that teaches you drum beats and
fills in the context of a song.
There are lessons or tracks that you
can choose in a range of music
styles and in a range of difficulty
levels or grades from total beginner
through to advance playing and each
one breaks the beat down into
component parts so that you can
learn it.
Each lesson also tracks your timing
and accuracy, showing you where
you're getting it right, but also
where you have room to grow your
skills. All you need to do is
download the app at
melodics.com/vdrums, sign
up for a free account, connect
the cable to the USB output of the
TD-07 module, connect the
other end of that cable to your
computer, and you'll be ready to use
Melodics.
The same USB audio output can
also send stereo audio to your
computer for easy recording.
Most computers come with some kind
of simple and easy to use recording
software and some more advanced
music creators will use dedicated
applications called Digital Audio
Workstations or DAWs.
Just by connecting the TD-07
with your computer via one USB
cable, you can record a stereo mix
of your V-Drums easily.
This can be useful for recording
yourself and listening back to your
performances or recording drums
for an online drum cover video, or
recording some of your drums and
sharing the audio with friends to
write a track.
So that's the VAD103 V-Drums
Acoustic Design kit.
Check out more details by visiting
roland.com or search online for
VAD103 V-Drums Acoustic
Design and also check them
out for yourself via a Roland
authorized retailer.
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