The bluetooth keyboard thing blew my mind. Naming kits on most modules is like going back in time to 1990s effect processors, using the scroll wheel and arrow keys to seek through 100 lower case, upper case, numbers and special characters. Takes forever.
Ya some of the leading brand modules are definitely archaic. However I think we are going to start seeing modules be a thing of the past as companies adopt standard midi interfaces to VST plugins similar to the DWe kit and Soundworks.
Been a long time subscriber for many years now. Your drumming and knowledge has come so far. This is an exceptional kit and you demonstrated it like a pro for sure. If this kit can't get the job done in a studio I don't know what will. The XTalk really blew me away!!!.... Great job brother!!
Came here to figure out the vacuum issues I was having with my 1983 AM Eagle Wagon .. Found out how to fix 'em in 15 seconds and learned a ton about the Alesis Strata Prime
Electronic drums have evolved a lot. I had an Alesis D4 module years ago and couldn't imagine at that time it would be possible to see an ekit with this sound quality and so many customization options.
Man i was an Advocate of edrums for years. I was certain i would get this kit some day. My kids started playing acoustic drums at other places amd really wanted a kit. Too big and too loud. My daughter decided she would buy used drums for her brother so they both could play. It completely took over the old drums and my synth setup. I ended up selling a bunch of gear and buying $1000 Of cymbals that we love. New heads and a tunebot since none of us can tune it properly on the first day. $1700 total for a pearl 5 piece with 6 cymbals. I played the alesis at GC and will probably never go back to edrums. I used to love them.
One thing I always loved about the expensive Rolands (TD35, methinks) was that you could really fiddle with your kit, since the sound was completely generated by a drum model. So you could fiddle with the room size and material, mic positions, drum dimensions (depth and width independently), head types, dampening material and position on the head, etc pp, until you had really dialed in the exact sound you were looking for and it felt like really fiddling with a drum, not just adapting the drum sample. The Alesis has a small fraction of those capabilities, but far from what the Roland was capable of. The only thing all Rolands lack imho is proper attack in the BD and Snare.
Wow that's quite a kit Dave. I didn't know it had all those special features. Any chance you'd do the same type of video with a Roland e kit? Cheers. Love your channel. It's one of my favorites
Yo, just a guy in the market for a higher end electronic kit so thanks for the review. Like your humorous spice on your vids and practical info. Subscribed
Honestly this kit is very over-hyped. Great ideas and some cool sounds, but it still has the classic 'oh no it's broken after 4 months' Alesis build quality. At the music shop I work at in the UK, both rack toms have broken and it was put on display on the day of release. For context, we've had a TD-17, TD-27 and VAD 507 on display for years and they are still fully functional whilst all the Alesis gear has broken after a few months
Hi, Just did the transcription for you. First, here is a legend for what stands for what. R and L --> accented r and l --> ghostnote ---- S=Snare K=Kick 1-2-3-4 = Toms 1 to 4 Sticking: RllK RllK RLRK llK(k) RLRL RllK RllK RLRL R/K Orchestration: SssK 3ssK S13K ssK(k) 1122 3ssK 4ssK 3243 K/splash Hope you try it out and have fun 🥁🥁✌🏼
@@CoBrAChiCKeN948 if your just talking Toms. Then it would be 8 or 10 if you have the expanded version. So 4 or 5 Toms with a different sound I. The rims. If that makes sense.
Did you happen to notice if you wanted to setup the kit in a "left handed" config if the the onscreen diagrams would display correctly and that the left/right fade would move in the correct direction? Left handed config in my world means playing the bass drum on the left root, high hat and snare on the right side of the kit with the toms going from high to low, right to left
I love your content and your dry delivery. That being said, because the information in your videos is so good, I sometimes forget how ridiculously sick you are as a drummer. Don't get me wrong, it's never lost on me that you are a great drummer. But, you'll be noodling along, showing the tone-blending capabilities of an Alesis e-kit and, all of a sudden, whip out a wicked-sick, super tasty, buttery-smooth fill that makes my tummy feel weird...but in a good way... I promise. Keep it up!
the 8th feature completely cracked me up. but to be fair, it isn't really that big of a stretch. title says "10 features [...] you didn't know about" and i have to admit, i sure didn't know about this one. XD ;P
Need a little help with triggering. When I hit a drum on the first hit, it sometimes doesn't trigger. What is going on with this? What are the best settings for toms? Also any good tips for the hihat? Please any info will help. Thank you!!!
I just demoed the Strata Core (the smaller version of this kit) recently. - The module was fairly glitchy: it was a bit slow to respond to commands on the touch screen; at first it showed each instrument that was selected on-screen when each pad was struck, the rims were highlighted red when the selected drum 🥁 was struck at first and the center glowed brighter on-screen when hit harder, but then after I had to reset the module, it stopped showing them for some reason...I have no idea what changed as I didn’t mess with the settings; also, while playing, the snare pad and rack Tom 2 pad stopped reading the hits and went completely dead 🤔...I wonder if it was a tech issue or from people banging on them. I had to stop playing because I couldn’t fix the issue even after I turn it off and reset the module 2x. I had only played on it for about 30 mins after I finished tweaking the setup to my height preferences when the glitches began. The kit was setup as a floor model the day after it released...and was already broken... Also, the Strata Core module has a single snake input for all the pads with only TWO(2) additional pad inputs making this Extremely limited to expand on...I need at least 3 extra inputs which the Strata Prime has Many of... - I was able to adjust the setup of the pads to mostly where I wanted them to be; you can adjust the height of the toms and cymbals to the height of a standard acoustic kit with ease if you also adjust the rack arms 👍🏻. - The sizing of the pads on the Strata Core are: * snare: 12” * both racks tom: 8” * floor tom: 10” * bass drum pad: 8” * hi-hat cymbal: 12” * both crashes are 14” * ride cymbal: 16” - The hi-hat responsiveness was very poor and the volume was very quiet when compared to the other pads (even after I increased the individual pad sound to the max volume). - There were very few instruments for each pad to choose from in the module when compared to the Strata Prime module (perhaps it was in demo mode, but was disappointing); when selecting another sound sample, it’s simple to use but slow to load; each stock kit can be edited; if you tweak anything on a particular kit, it will ask if you want to save first before loading the next kit you select. - The mesh drum pads of the Alesis Strata Core and Prime kits were Very quiet even when compared to the Yamaha TCS pads (surprising), but the cymbal pads are fairly loud when struck. Also, the mesh pads had the closest feeling to Mylar that I’ve played on. - the bass drum pad has a nice sound to it with decent rebound like an acoustic drum, and is wide enough to accommodate a double pedal, but it Might bother neighbors downstairs so keep that in mind. Overall, it has a lot of potential, but needs a lot of bugs worked out of it, and isNOT the kit I would buy.
It’s a decent kit but at this price bracket I’m definitely going with the TD-27kv2 and second to that I’m going efnote 5x. Tho I will say the strata prime definitely has the best module on the market right now, but I think most companies will transition to standard midi interfaces to VST in the near future anyway.
Curious about something. Have e-drums made any advancements as far as playing with brushes is concerned? Last I checked, they wouldn't work as one may expect.
I don't think so. I think the work-around is to load a brush sound onto a pad and play the patterns with your sticks. My module has brushed snare sounds available so I am guessing that is what they are for.
I think Alesis has pretty much smoked everyone out there, especially the high dollar companies, the biggest nastiest version of this kit is under 4,100 bucks and sounds phenomenal
No tympani?? My 25 year old Roland TD6 has awesome tympani’s that are tunable with the high-hat pedal allowing full glissando’s! Another reason to keep it, even if I get a new e-kit.
Hmm, im not sure whether to get this or the td27kvx for my nezt ekit. The module looks and sounds great. The deum sounds are way better than roland. But the build quality is a worry
my guitar center has this kit and had it for a month or two and i noticed that the bass drum mistriggers alot and im scared of buing one incase it happens to mine
First off, great video, thanks for sharing. Second, let this serve as an example that a drummer will always possess an innate ability to make themself laugh with random percussion 😂
Oh wow! Sarah Kendzior reference / product placement. I was not expecting such biting political content on this channel all of a sudden! Right on, bro! #Resist
This will be the last ekit video I post, time to move back into the acoustic world 😎
NOO!! 😢
Yess 🎉🎉
When you getting a Granstar?
Thank gawg
😢
When Dave posts this cures my depression
Sorry that you are depressed, man.
@@Eddie848 no problem dave cured it :)
@@Dzwonek05 Permanently?
This kit has been in my Sweetwater cart for a few days and now I see this video... The algorithm is sending me messages.
Don’t do it!
I really want this set. Unfortunately I have the generation before this one (the $2,700 dollar one) so I won't be getting this anytime soon
@@mkxpro55I rent my old Yamaha dtx and I have ordered this on finance over 12 months , the rental will pay the monthly repayment on the ASP. 😊
@@mkxpro55same..it’s served me well for the past few years but I’m considering pulling the trigger on the new one 😅
The bluetooth keyboard thing blew my mind. Naming kits on most modules is like going back in time to 1990s effect processors, using the scroll wheel and arrow keys to seek through 100 lower case, upper case, numbers and special characters. Takes forever.
Ya some of the leading brand modules are definitely archaic. However I think we are going to start seeing modules be a thing of the past as companies adopt standard midi interfaces to VST plugins similar to the DWe kit and Soundworks.
Me, reading video title: "I don't care"
Me, seeing rdavidr: "okay I'll watch it"
1- scrapes! I have been wanting this to be a thing for *ages*!
2- saving the film removal 'til last was HNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG
Last chapter on repeat.
I tested out the Strata Prime kit a few days ago... very impressive.
Been a long time subscriber for many years now. Your drumming and knowledge has come so far. This is an exceptional kit and you demonstrated it like a pro for sure. If this kit can't get the job done in a studio I don't know what will. The XTalk really blew me away!!!.... Great job brother!!
Been lurking for years, all I have to say is DRUMS! 🥁
Rotobons are a genius idea.
Also less cowbell reminded me of Detroit techno
Pump up the jams, amirite?
@@Abakato yup
Agreed! The Rotobahns sound absolutely amazing. If only there was an actual acoustic drumkit that sounded like that!
@@Bellendrophone same, that was pretty cool
Came here to figure out the vacuum issues I was having with my 1983 AM Eagle Wagon .. Found out how to fix 'em in 15 seconds and learned a ton about the Alesis Strata Prime
Hey man! Thanks for the inspiration to keep on drumming!
47 and still get ideas from RDavidR
That cymbal stacking feature is really cool!!
Always happy to see you post. Pass on these commercials but enjoy the refurbs.
Electronic drums have evolved a lot. I had an Alesis D4 module years ago and couldn't imagine at that time it would be possible to see an ekit with this sound quality and so many customization options.
YOOOO DAVID I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EARLY!!! IM CURRENTLY RE-WATCHING YOUR OLD VIDEOS!!!! BEST OF LUCK
Played the one on display here at the guitar center in Richmond. Man it’s an impressive kit
Man i was an Advocate of edrums for years. I was certain i would get this kit some day. My kids started playing acoustic drums at other places amd really wanted a kit. Too big and too loud. My daughter decided she would buy used drums for her brother so they both could play. It completely took over the old drums and my synth setup. I ended up selling a bunch of gear and buying $1000 Of cymbals that we love. New heads and a tunebot since none of us can tune it properly on the first day. $1700 total for a pearl 5 piece with 6 cymbals. I played the alesis at GC and will probably never go back to edrums. I used to love them.
I still have an Alesis DM5 kit boxed in my bedroom. Glad to see they still make ekits.
One thing I always loved about the expensive Rolands (TD35, methinks) was that you could really fiddle with your kit, since the sound was completely generated by a drum model. So you could fiddle with the room size and material, mic positions, drum dimensions (depth and width independently), head types, dampening material and position on the head, etc pp, until you had really dialed in the exact sound you were looking for and it felt like really fiddling with a drum, not just adapting the drum sample. The Alesis has a small fraction of those capabilities, but far from what the Roland was capable of. The only thing all Rolands lack imho is proper attack in the BD and Snare.
Wow 😮 that e kit looks like a ton of fun 😊, I've never owned an e kit, but this makes me want to get one, great video David r.😎👍
Wow that's quite a kit Dave. I didn't know it had all those special features. Any chance you'd do the same type of video with a Roland e kit?
Cheers. Love your channel. It's one of my favorites
Thanks for this review and all the explications, greaties from Switserland, big Up and thanks for all the work 🥁🤘
naming the mic distance as dB is both confusing, and a effective way to bury a a feature that took a whole bunch of work to implement.
your playing is awesome
10:30 was such a nice transition
I knew there would be a vid today love rdavidr
Hi David, huge fan of the channel thanks for the great content
Nice little satisfying asmr trigger there at the end...
2:43 man got that "GAME OVER RETURN OF GANON" ass laugh
Terrific RDR. I might even buy one. 🎉
IMO #9 is the most logical!
Alesis is really impressive! I wish I had one!
Some of your beats take me to 60's cop movies.
Id like to hear your thoughts on remo masteredges
This kit actually sounds pretty good.
YAY. David posted again
The peel is satisfying
Happy rdavidr Saturday!!!
4:06 sounds like epic drums from a halo game hehe
You should do a video on using 2 ply drumheads on the batter and resonant side and other odd combinations in drums
Yo, just a guy in the market for a higher end electronic kit so thanks for the review.
Like your humorous spice on your vids and practical info.
Subscribed
Honestly this kit is very over-hyped. Great ideas and some cool sounds, but it still has the classic 'oh no it's broken after 4 months' Alesis build quality. At the music shop I work at in the UK, both rack toms have broken and it was put on display on the day of release. For context, we've had a TD-17, TD-27 and VAD 507 on display for years and they are still fully functional whilst all the Alesis gear has broken after a few months
Idk man I had a 500 CAD alesis e-kit and nothing ever broke… i hit pretty hard too
2:48 top notch eurodance percussion track!
Hey Dave, any luck on finding one of those triangle drums? Also any plans on trying to get your hands on that $10,000 Tama star maple factory reserve?
I’m gunna miss this kit too Dave 😢
Hi, awesome video! where can i learn the fill at 4:12 ? thanks!
Hi, Just did the transcription for you. First, here is a legend for what stands for what.
R and L --> accented
r and l --> ghostnote
----
S=Snare
K=Kick
1-2-3-4 = Toms 1 to 4
Sticking:
RllK RllK RLRK llK(k) RLRL RllK RllK RLRL R/K
Orchestration:
SssK 3ssK S13K ssK(k) 1122 3ssK 4ssK 3243 K/splash
Hope you try it out and have fun 🥁🥁✌🏼
This ekit is currently the best bang for your buck 🤘
Can you choose different sounds for each of the tom rims?
Yes.
@@outforit692 so essentially this is a 15 piece kit then...could have octobans and cow bells on the tom rims...
@@CoBrAChiCKeN948 if your just talking Toms. Then it would be 8 or 10 if you have the expanded version. So 4 or 5 Toms with a different sound I. The rims. If that makes sense.
2:42 808 COWBELL MENTIONED LETS GOOOO
Interesting and fun video. I wish you had talked some about the quality of the kit.
Did you happen to notice if you wanted to setup the kit in a "left handed" config if the the onscreen diagrams would display correctly and that the left/right fade would move in the correct direction? Left handed config in my world means playing the bass drum on the left root, high hat and snare on the right side of the kit with the toms going from high to low, right to left
I love your content and your dry delivery. That being said, because the information in your videos is so good, I sometimes forget how ridiculously sick you are as a drummer. Don't get me wrong, it's never lost on me that you are a great drummer. But, you'll be noodling along, showing the tone-blending capabilities of an Alesis e-kit and, all of a sudden, whip out a wicked-sick, super tasty, buttery-smooth fill that makes my tummy feel weird...but in a good way... I promise. Keep it up!
Hey David... what's the carburetor on?
AYOO FEATURED IN AN RDAVIDR VIDEO
This Alesis kit seems to address some of my main issues with E-kits.
Was that snare layer sample a little bit of Mississippi queen?
But what is the hack to ensure long term support and durability?
Could you do a yamaha rydeen 22" or 20" drum set, also I love your videos 😊
I wonder if there is mouse support for more precise control or whatever
How big (dimensions) is the rug that the kit is sitting on? I'm trying to get a feel for how much space I would need for this Alesis. Thanks 👍🏼
Thanks for the Vaccum leak tip” 😂😂😂
The cowbell groove at the end kinda went pretty hard tho
i literally said to my self he's gonna make a strata prime video. he has to soon
That cowbell kit needs to be an official kit in the module. lmao
the 8th feature completely cracked me up. but to be fair, it isn't really that big of a stretch. title says "10 features [...] you didn't know about" and i have to admit, i sure didn't know about this one. XD ;P
I really want this set, but unfortunately I have the Strike Pro, which ig could be considered one generation older?
Do you know why they only are using 4 cymbals instead of 5 like the previous model?
Need a little help with triggering. When I hit a drum on the first hit, it sometimes doesn't trigger. What is going on with this? What are the best settings for toms? Also any good tips for the hihat? Please any info will help. Thank you!!!
Alesis might be alright with the TOTL stuff but ymmv with the entry to mid-tier stuff.
I just demoed the Strata Core (the smaller version of this kit) recently.
- The module was fairly glitchy: it was a bit slow to respond to commands on the touch screen;
at first it showed each instrument that was selected on-screen when each pad was struck, the rims were highlighted red when the selected drum 🥁 was struck at first and the center glowed brighter on-screen when hit harder, but then after I had to reset the module, it stopped showing them for some reason...I have no idea what changed as I didn’t mess with the settings; also, while playing, the snare pad and rack Tom 2 pad stopped reading the hits and went completely dead 🤔...I wonder if it was a tech issue or from people banging on them. I had to stop playing because I couldn’t fix the issue even after I turn it off and reset the module 2x. I had only played on it for about 30 mins after I finished tweaking the setup to my height preferences when the glitches began.
The kit was setup as a floor model the day after it released...and was already broken...
Also, the Strata Core module has a single snake input for all the pads with only TWO(2) additional pad inputs making this Extremely limited to expand on...I need at least 3 extra inputs which the Strata Prime has Many of...
- I was able to adjust the setup of the pads to mostly where I wanted them to be; you can adjust the height of the toms and cymbals to the height of a standard acoustic kit with ease if you also adjust the rack arms 👍🏻.
- The sizing of the pads on the Strata Core are:
* snare: 12”
* both racks tom: 8”
* floor tom: 10”
* bass drum pad: 8”
* hi-hat cymbal: 12”
* both crashes are 14”
* ride cymbal: 16”
- The hi-hat responsiveness was very poor and the volume was very quiet when compared to the other pads (even after I increased the individual pad sound to the max volume).
- There were very few instruments for each pad to choose from in the module when compared to the Strata Prime module (perhaps it was in demo mode, but was disappointing); when selecting another sound sample, it’s simple to use but slow to load; each stock kit can be edited; if you tweak anything on a particular kit, it will ask if you want to save first before loading the next kit you select.
- The mesh drum pads of the Alesis Strata Core and Prime kits were Very quiet even when compared to the Yamaha TCS pads (surprising), but the cymbal pads are fairly loud when struck. Also, the mesh pads had the closest feeling to Mylar that I’ve played on.
- the bass drum pad has a nice sound to it with decent rebound like an acoustic drum, and is wide enough to accommodate a double pedal, but it Might bother neighbors downstairs so keep that in mind.
Overall, it has a lot of potential, but needs a lot of bugs worked out of it, and isNOT the kit I would buy.
It’s a decent kit but at this price bracket I’m definitely going with the TD-27kv2 and second to that I’m going efnote 5x. Tho I will say the strata prime definitely has the best module on the market right now, but I think most companies will transition to standard midi interfaces to VST in the near future anyway.
My personal choice is the efnote 3x
This thing is awesome
Can you hurry up and make a pvc pipe drum kit!
Ok the stack feature is pretty fucking cool
I've wanted this kit for so long I'm so tired of not being able to afford it
How does the strata compare to efnote 5 not talking price?
Sadly I can only watch this video and dream, anyone that’s like me?
Our time will come dear friend, Our time will come.
What kind of car do you have? Looks like a pretty engine. Doesn’t suprise me if you have something nice. Maybe a classic car?
THE Alesis Strata Prime is my dream drum kit dude its sexy asf
Curious about something. Have e-drums made any advancements as far as playing with brushes is concerned? Last I checked, they wouldn't work as one may expect.
I don't think so. I think the work-around is to load a brush sound onto a pad and play the patterns with your sticks. My module has brushed snare sounds available so I am guessing that is what they are for.
Cowbell set was straight out of an N64 game.
I really enjoy that kid seems like it’s a really expensive drum kit
I think Alesis has pretty much smoked everyone out there, especially the high dollar companies, the biggest nastiest version of this kit is under 4,100 bucks and sounds phenomenal
Alesis really cooked with this drum module
No tympani?? My 25 year old Roland TD6 has awesome tympani’s that are tunable with the high-hat pedal allowing full glissando’s! Another reason to keep it, even if I get a new e-kit.
Hmm, im not sure whether to get this or the td27kvx for my nezt ekit. The module looks and sounds great. The deum sounds are way better than roland. But the build quality is a worry
C'mon man, this is an Alesis. The build quality is pretty competitive.
my guitar center has this kit and had it for a month or two and i noticed that the bass drum mistriggers alot and im scared of buing one incase it happens to mine
Sounds way better than DW E-Kit
First off, great video, thanks for sharing. Second, let this serve as an example that a drummer will always possess an innate ability to make themself laugh with random percussion 😂
Cool!
Sounds better than the DW ekit
I haven't had a gong scrape since before my hair fell out.
I finally found out what too much cowbell is
Oh wow! Sarah Kendzior reference / product placement. I was not expecting such biting political content on this channel all of a sudden! Right on, bro! #Resist
Dave’s laugh cures my depression
I just noticed that they collaborated with pearl and ludwig???
I feel like removing the plastic from the screen made it un-returnable. They should probably let you keep it at that point, it's not even salvageable
2:01 story of my life
Hi hagrid