Question From one leftie to another : 😉: do you like this roland drumkit ? I have a yamaha dd 65 now and am considering to upgrade. Do you fold the kit together often and is this easy to do ?
Hey there, Denis, I used to play a Yamaha DD-65 as well. Have had it for 7, 8 years, and loved it. Upgraded to these Roland TD-4KP about a year ago. It's a great upgrade, of course. But, if you have the space and the budget, you should get something better. For around US$ 1.2K you could get some better drums, Yamaha or Roland. I'd stick with Yamaha. Roland's work in their hardware is disappointing. Lots of plastic everywhere. The sounds in the drum monitor are horrible too. You'll surely need a 3rd. party software, like EZdrummer 2, in order to get some decent drums sounds. I got these drums because they're small. They're foldable. I live in Hong Kong, and flats here are awfully small. They're very portable too. You could fit them into a normal sized suitcase. If you got space, go with a superior model. Roland TD-4KP's module doesn't allow upgrades and expansions, like a 4th. cymbal, a 2nd. floor drum or using double bass drums easily. And, again, the drums sounds in the module are horrible. Yamaha's tones are much better. If you a lefty and buy these drums (TD-4KP), be aware that it's tricky to set up the bass drum pad. If you really get one, let me know, so I can put a video up, showing you how to improvise a lefty bass drum pad on the left side, as I did with mine. It takes me around 10 minutes to set them up and dismantle. I leave mine in a corner of my room, semi-folded. I'll just collapse the snare, the 3 cymbals and the floor tom, remove the bass drum and hi-hat pedals and put the drums against a wall. Drum throne, cables, earphones, sticks and pedals go into a small closet I have here. If you need more info, let me know. I kinda struggled on obtaining info on the setup of this drum set for lefties. 🤘🏻
Marcelo Zanuski thanks for taking your time to write such a clear answer. I really appreciate it. I am a hobby guitarist who wants to try some drumming to. I live in an appartement so space is an issue. I now have a yamaha dd 65. I connected a roland td 9 drum module to it, using a midi cable. My beaterless bass drum pedal (kt 9) and hihat controller pedal are directly connected to the roland module. I am quite happy with this setup. I know it is not the best but for my intentions it is quite ok., certainly with the roland drum module the sound is good enough for me. Only real problem for me is this : the rubber pads on the yamaha are quite noisy and I fear that I will disturb my neighbours with the tapping noise. I did some research and the compact kits of roland caught my attention. I really need a kit that I can fold together when I am not playing it. There is of course the td4 kp but in december roland will release the td1 kpx. This kit has the same frame as the td4 kp but has mesh pads (silent)and I think the cymbals are a bit "better" too. It has a lower end module though : td 1. Since I am using a beaterless bass pedal (again for noise reasons), I do not really need a bass drum pad... (but I am still interested in the modifications you made.) I also read about some hardware problems with the td 4 kp about the cymbals not holding position when playing. I hope this is solved in the newer td 1 kpx. My biggest fear is that the drumkit does wear out fast when it is setup and broken down on a daily basis. How is your kit holding up ? About the setup for lefties : did you know that there is a special base plate for lefties. On
Hey Denis, "Only real problem for me is this : the rubber pads on the yamaha are quite noisy and I fear that I will disturb my neighbours with the tapping noise.". The TD-4KP comes with 4 all rubber pads, which are as noisy as Yamaha's pads. Plus, you will have extra noise from the drum kick pad. Personally speaking and not wanting to sound inconsiderate, I think neighbors can stand a bit of tapping noise, during normal day hours. That still better than noise from a full acoustic set :D "There is of course the td4 kp but in december roland will release the td1 kpx. This kit has the same frame as the td4 kp but has mesh pads (silent)and I think the cymbals are a bit "better" too. It has a lower end module though : td 1". This TD-1KPX looks great. Didn't know about it. Mesh heads are awesome. They are highly responsive and will produce about 30% of the noise regular rubber pads do. But beware the lower end module: eventually you will start to feel its flaws. "I also read about some hardware problems with the td 4 kp about the cymbals not holding position when playing. I hope this is solved in the newer td 1 kpx.". Yes, this problem was solved by Roland, even for the TD-4KP model, with a specially designed cymbal holder that keeps the cymbals perfectly in place. "My biggest fear is that the drumkit does wear out fast when it is setup and broken down on a daily basis. How is your kit holding up ?" Well... This kit looks and feels fragile. It even feels cheap, to be perfectly clear. It's made, except for the rack, of plastic and rubber. Seems like Roland focused on portability while sacrificing quality when they designed the kit. A wild guess here: I'd give a good 3 three years of daily setting up and breaking down until the small parts and accessories start to break. With proper maintenance, cleaning and lubrication the set should be able to last for a while. The main concern should be about bolts, screws and plastic connectors. Setting up and breaking down the kit everytime turned out to be very annoying. Actually, the setup is quick and easy; what takes time is adjusting the height and angle of the pads and the drum throne. Sometimes it will take me 30 minutes of playing to get it right; other times, I'll play a full 3 hour session and never get it right. You probably already know that, but correct posture is one of the most important things when you play drums. Get it wrong, you'll be prone to injuries, neck/back pain, tendinitis, etc... "About the setup for lefties : did you know that there is a special base plate for lefties. On the roland website there is also a special manual for a leftie setup". Yes, true. When I bought the kit I tried to get one of those plates, but my local music store didn't have any in stock, and they would take 2 months to get me one. So I had to improvise. Here's what the kick drum pad setup looks like: [url=postimg.org/image/svefjdmz9/][img]s10.postimg.org/svefjdmz9/IMG_0558.jpg[/img][/url] [url=postimg.org/image/6xhypl7yt/][img]s10.postimg.org/6xhypl7yt/IMG_0557.jpg[/img][/url] [url=postimg.org/image/ib4i0sihh/][img]s10.postimg.org/ib4i0sihh/IMG_0556.jpg[/img][/url] Please post a video when you get your new drums. Best of luck to you.
Marcelo Zanuski Thanks again fot your answer. I already decided that the td4 kp isn't the best solution for me because of the rubber pads. So I'll have to wait for the td1 kp at least. But not sure yet. Hopefully the td1 kp will have a little better quality (less plastic). The "suspension" of the toms seems to be in metal but I'll make a close investigation before even considering to buy! Maybe I'll stick with my dd 65 since I'm primarily a guitar player. I'll inform you zbout my decision!
lol I used to love this song as a kid
Beautiful song :)
Shalom.
Question From one leftie to another : 😉: do you like this roland drumkit ? I have a yamaha dd 65 now and am considering to upgrade.
Do you fold the kit together often and is this easy to do ?
Hey there, Denis,
I used to play a Yamaha DD-65 as well. Have had it for 7, 8 years, and loved it. Upgraded to these Roland TD-4KP about a year ago.
It's a great upgrade, of course.
But, if you have the space and the budget, you should get something better.
For around US$ 1.2K you could get some better drums, Yamaha or Roland.
I'd stick with Yamaha.
Roland's work in their hardware is disappointing. Lots of plastic everywhere. The sounds in the drum monitor are horrible too. You'll surely need a 3rd. party software, like EZdrummer 2, in order to get some decent drums sounds.
I got these drums because they're small. They're foldable. I live in Hong Kong, and flats here are awfully small. They're very portable too. You could fit them into a normal sized suitcase.
If you got space, go with a superior model. Roland TD-4KP's module doesn't allow upgrades and expansions, like a 4th. cymbal, a 2nd. floor drum or using double bass drums easily. And, again, the drums sounds in the module are horrible. Yamaha's tones are much better.
If you a lefty and buy these drums (TD-4KP), be aware that it's tricky to set up the bass drum pad. If you really get one, let me know, so I can put a video up, showing you how to improvise a lefty bass drum pad on the left side, as I did with mine.
It takes me around 10 minutes to set them up and dismantle. I leave mine in a corner of my room, semi-folded. I'll just collapse the snare, the 3 cymbals and the floor tom, remove the bass drum and hi-hat pedals and put the drums against a wall. Drum throne, cables, earphones, sticks and pedals go into a small closet I have here.
If you need more info, let me know. I kinda struggled on obtaining info on the setup of this drum set for lefties.
🤘🏻
Marcelo Zanuski thanks for taking your time to write such a clear answer.
I really appreciate it.
I am a hobby guitarist who wants to try some drumming to.
I live in an appartement so space is an issue.
I now have a yamaha dd 65. I connected a roland td 9 drum module to it, using a midi cable. My beaterless bass drum pedal (kt 9) and hihat controller pedal are directly connected to the roland module.
I am quite happy with this setup. I know it is not the best but for my intentions it is quite ok., certainly with the roland drum module the sound is good enough for me.
Only real problem for me is this : the rubber pads on the yamaha are quite noisy and I fear that I will disturb my neighbours with the tapping noise.
I did some research and the compact kits of roland caught my attention. I really need a kit that I can fold together when I am not playing it.
There is of course the td4 kp but in december roland will release the td1 kpx. This kit has the same frame as the td4 kp but has mesh pads (silent)and I think the cymbals are a bit "better" too. It has a lower end module though : td 1.
Since I am using a beaterless bass pedal (again for noise reasons), I do not really need a bass drum pad... (but I am still interested in the modifications you made.)
I also read about some hardware problems with the td 4 kp about the cymbals not holding position when playing. I hope this is solved in the newer td 1 kpx.
My biggest fear is that the drumkit does wear out fast when it is setup and broken down on a daily basis. How is your kit holding up ?
About the setup for lefties : did you know that there is a special base plate for lefties. On
Marcelo Zanuski On the roland website there is also a special manual for a leftie setup .
Hey Denis,
"Only real problem for me is this : the rubber pads on the yamaha are quite noisy and I fear that I will disturb my neighbours with the tapping noise.".
The TD-4KP comes with 4 all rubber pads, which are as noisy as Yamaha's pads. Plus, you will have extra noise from the drum kick pad.
Personally speaking and not wanting to sound inconsiderate, I think neighbors can stand a bit of tapping noise, during normal day hours. That still better than noise from a full acoustic set :D
"There is of course the td4 kp but in december roland will release the td1 kpx. This kit has the same frame as the td4 kp but has mesh pads (silent)and I think the cymbals are a bit "better" too. It has a lower end module though : td 1".
This TD-1KPX looks great. Didn't know about it. Mesh heads are awesome. They are highly responsive and will produce about 30% of the noise regular rubber pads do. But beware the lower end module: eventually you will start to feel its flaws.
"I also read about some hardware problems with the td 4 kp about the cymbals not holding position when playing. I hope this is solved in the newer td 1 kpx.".
Yes, this problem was solved by Roland, even for the TD-4KP model, with a specially designed cymbal holder that keeps the cymbals perfectly in place.
"My biggest fear is that the drumkit does wear out fast when it is setup and broken down on a daily basis. How is your kit holding up ?"
Well...
This kit looks and feels fragile. It even feels cheap, to be perfectly clear. It's made, except for the rack, of plastic and rubber.
Seems like Roland focused on portability while sacrificing quality when they designed the kit.
A wild guess here: I'd give a good 3 three years of daily setting up and breaking down until the small parts and accessories start to break. With proper maintenance, cleaning and lubrication the set should be able to last for a while. The main concern should be about bolts, screws and plastic connectors.
Setting up and breaking down the kit everytime turned out to be very annoying. Actually, the setup is quick and easy; what takes time is adjusting the height and angle of the pads and the drum throne. Sometimes it will take me 30 minutes of playing to get it right; other times, I'll play a full 3 hour session and never get it right. You probably already know that, but correct posture is one of the most important things when you play drums. Get it wrong, you'll be prone to injuries, neck/back pain, tendinitis, etc...
"About the setup for lefties : did you know that there is a special base plate for lefties. On the roland website there is also a special manual for a leftie setup".
Yes, true. When I bought the kit I tried to get one of those plates, but my local music store didn't have any in stock, and they would take 2 months to get me one.
So I had to improvise.
Here's what the kick drum pad setup looks like:
[url=postimg.org/image/svefjdmz9/][img]s10.postimg.org/svefjdmz9/IMG_0558.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=postimg.org/image/6xhypl7yt/][img]s10.postimg.org/6xhypl7yt/IMG_0557.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=postimg.org/image/ib4i0sihh/][img]s10.postimg.org/ib4i0sihh/IMG_0556.jpg[/img][/url]
Please post a video when you get your new drums. Best of luck to you.
Marcelo Zanuski Thanks again fot your answer.
I already decided that the td4 kp isn't the best solution for me because of the rubber pads. So I'll have to wait for the td1 kp at least. But not sure yet. Hopefully the td1 kp will have a little better quality (less plastic). The "suspension" of the toms seems to be in metal but I'll make a close investigation before even considering to buy!
Maybe I'll stick with my dd 65 since I'm primarily a guitar player. I'll inform you zbout my decision!