14 DAY TRIAL // You've probably heard of electric guitars and violins, and keyboards of course, but drum kits can be created in a similar vein as well. Case in point, California-based e-drum maker Simmons has introduced the SD500 5-piece kit.
The product is rated at a price of $500 / €500, but you might not find it for less than $700 / €700 if you're unlucky. VAT, shipping and retailer-added costs have to factor in somewhere.
Admittedly, the price probably shouldn't be so much higher than what Yamaha's Simmons Product Manager said it would sell for.
Still, when it comes to this price range, the SD500 will probably look like a godsend regardless, considering that it's actually a full-size kit instead of a down-sized version.
The Simmons SD500 drum kit
As is the case for all other electric / electronic musical instruments, it's not the sound of the percussion that you'll hear when striking the drums.
Instead, you'll get one or several of the pre-loaded drum sounds, or whatever other sounds you decide to add after purchasing the thing.
There are 64 voice polyphony sounds, 352 drum sounds spread over 35 kits, and 60 songs with 50 drum patterns for practice.
Altogether, they take up 64 MB, and you should be able to expand this drum library over time if you know where to get the files.
The drum kit is composed of the following by the way: a 9-in dual zone snare drum pad, three 8-in tom pads, a 10-in hi-hat and pedal, a 10-in crash cymbal with realistic choke and a 12-in ride cymbal, plus a pedal and a detachable rest for the sticks.
As for the trigger module we mentioned above, the SD500 drum module has a blue LCD screen with 16 characters and a single multi-pin connector featuring eight trigger inputs. These can be kicked off remotely, or programmed, via a computer-based DAW or sequencer software accessible via USB MIDI. Play-along practice is possible as well, through the stereo TRS audio input.
Finally, the Variable Attack Response technology will allow pads to easily respond to players, replay sections of tunes and overall improve performance compared to other drum kits in this price range.
Availability
The Simmons SD500 drum kit is up for order through Guitar Center and Musician's Friend websites. But do try not to be too disappointed by the price listed there. Maybe the company will crack down on the retailers in the future, but for now, price inflation is what you get. At least $700 / €700 is still a lot better than a thousand or more.
