Roland HD1 – Best Value Kit For You

Roland V-Drums are the most popular electronic drums in the world, but not everyone has the room or budget for a full Roland V-Drums kit. Roland HD1 were forged from the same technology as its predecessors, but it’s much simpler to use. Roland HD1 might look small, but the HD-1 sounds and performs impressively large. With Roland’s legendary V-Drum know-how at the core, this little kit is a dream for first-timer or casual players as well as for parents, since the volume level can be completely controlled via volume knob and/or headphones

Whether for a beginning drummer or a project studio owner or both, the HD1 Roland V-Drums Lite makes good on Roland’s promise to deliver the essential highlights of the V-Drum series in a compact, inexpensive package.

You will be hooked on it as a combination practice kit and MIDI drum controller. There are two main objections that we used to hear when customers are looking at electronic drum kits. Everybody wants one, but they’ll say “I can’t afford it” and/or “I’ve got no where to put the drums”. Well Roland have come up trumps on both counts with the new Roland HD1 compact electronic drum kit.

Firstly it’s been made to cleverly fit into the corner of a room. Roland have completely redesigned the stand that the HD1 Roland is mounted on, & as a result the HD1 takes up about half the space that a regular kit would take up. And next there’s the price! The HD1 will be Rolands best priced electronic drum kit yet – and suprisingly they haven’t skimped on the quality either. You get all the pads & pedals you need to simulate playing a 5 piece drum kit with hihat, crash & ride cymbals. You even get a mesh head snare drum – not one of the cheaper rubber pads.

Roland really put electronic drum kits back on the map with their V-Drum systems, not least because their modelling process allows electronic drums to respond more like their acoustic counterparts. Furthermore, the development of adjustable-tension mesh heads has made it possible for Roland to build drum pads that have a physical feel very similar to that of a real acoustic drum. However, all this technology comes at a price, which is all very well if you’re a gigging drummer, studio owner or session player, but what choices do you have if you need something cost-effective for practice or just to do the odd spot at the pub? Some of the kits at the lower end of the V-Drum range are quite affordable, but the Roland HD1 comes in at an even lower price, it takes up less storage space, and it has integrated kick and hi-hat pedals designed to reduce noise transmitted through the floor.

Much of the Roland HD1′s hardware is derived from concepts used in the V-Drum range, but there’s no modelling with this kit — all the sounds are sample-based. The whole physical structure has been specially designed to minimise noise nuisance when rehearsing at home, not only with the integrated pedals but also with the newly designed cushioned tom and snare pads. The styling is also a radical departure from the larger V-Drum kits, with everything hanging off a couple of closely spaced central support pillars rather than a U-shaped frame. The whole thing can be folded up without having to unplug any of the pads, and most of the wiring is hidden within slots in the frame to keep the appearance tidy. There’s also an optional PM01 monitor (see the ‘PM01 Drum Monitor’ box), which, although it doesn’t have the bass response of the larger drum monitors, could produce a credible sound for practice. The Roland HD1 whole kit can be folded up and stashed in a corner in just a couple of minutes, which is a big attraction for both home use and educational establishments, not to mention the convenience of being able to pop it into your hatchback and take it up to the pub for a bit of a knockabout with your mates.