Owner`s manual

The World’s Finest Electronic Drums and Percussion. PERIOD.

How Roland Became the Biggest Drum Company in the World

Roland has been designing innovative electronic

percussion products since the company was founded

in 1972. Over the years, Roland has released many

breakthrough percussion products, like the classic TR-

808 in 1980, the original Octapad-Pad 8 in 1985, and the

R-8 Human Rhythm Composer in 1989. In 1992, Roland

introduced the rst complete electronic drum set, the TDE-

7K.

In 1997, Roland introduced the revolutionary V-Drums

- the TD-10 V-Pro Series. Featuring mesh head pads,

cutting edge sounds, and a unique user interface,

the original V-Drums set was a major technological

breakthrough that was embraced by drummers, producers,

recording engineers, educators, and others in the

worldwide music community. Not surprisingly, professional

drummers in virtually every musical style have accepted

Roland V-Drums as an essential tool for their work in the

studio and on stage.

This nearly 40-year commitment to electronic percussion innovation has elevated Roland’s stature to

become the biggest drum company in the world.

Here’s an account of three V-Drum milestones, as told by Roland’s Hiroyuki Nishi and Steve Fisher.

1997: Birth of the V-Drums

Nishi: After Roland released the VG-8 (V-Guitar) in 1995, we

had many requests to utilize our COSM® technology for drums.

“Develop the V-Drums in addition to the V-Guitar!” they said.

This COSM technology was mainly related to the sound module

(TD-10) development, but we think the biggest turning point for

V-Drums was the completion of the mesh head, which replaced

the previous rubber pad, the PD-7.

In the PD-7, we used a oating structure to pull the rubber down

to the edge of the pad, oating on the pad frame, which did not satisfy us.

Fisher: Plus, we felt the gum rubber pads were more like “synth” action (in keyboard terms), and we

wanted to help drummers get an acoustic feel. The challenge was to get the acoustic feel without

the acoustic noise. We knew that if we could provide drummers the “electronic counterpart” to

V-Drums —the History