One up Two Down becoming the "new normal"?

D

DrummerCA35

Senior Member
I don't think so. And yet, Roland's new kit (TD-50KV) is one up two down:

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server...6usqp_CAY__03380.1476134075.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

Seems like an unusual move to me. I guess you could put one of the "floor toms" up on the rack, as though it were a second rack tom, but the "floor toms" look like bigger pads than the one rack tom.

As long as I can remember, Roland's flagship kits were either two up, one down, or two up two down.
 
Uh, but they're all just pretty much identical electronic pads, so "up" and "down" really only relates to where you put them... I mean, they don't even have to be toms for that matter. You can set your "high tom" to sound like monkey noises if you like, or your low tom can have the sounds of a high tom.

FREE YOUR MIND!
 
Dr_Watso said:
Uh, but they're all just pretty much identical electronic pads, so "up" and "down" really only relates to where you put them... I mean, they don't even have to be toms for that matter. You can set your "high tom" to sound like monkey noises if you like, or your low tom can have the sounds of a high tom.

FREE YOUR MIND!
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I think most of us who own e-kits are aware of that. It's more about the fact the "two" down are larger and some of us may not WANT two "rack toms" of different sizes, in case you missed the point.
 
Sorry I missed the "point". Most drummers are totally used to different size drums and it's weird to have them be the same. On my e-kit, I don't really care what goes where, because all of it is the same.

I think Roland just figures that if you've got the dough for their stuff and you're particular, you can just buy whatever pad you want. What's one more ridiculously priced "tom" in a kit of that price?
 
I had a TD-30KV some years back and having 2 10" rack toms felt strange to me. I put the second floor tom up and had 10/10/12 up top with a 12" floor. That felt fine.

I just dont like that you get less pads with this new TD-50 setup and you pay more money.
 
Tommy_D said:
I just dont like that you get less pads with this new TD-50 setup and you pay more money.
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Are they bigger than they used to be? Is that the justification?
 
Tommy_D said:
I had a TD-30KV some years back and having 2 10" rack toms felt strange to me. I put the second floor tom up and had 10/10/12 up top with a 12" floor. That felt fine.

I just dont like that you get less pads with this new TD-50 setup and you pay more money.
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I know what you mean. Why less pads with the flagship set?
 
$7,500!!!!! BARF-GAG! Oh boy, Roland must love selling those. The profit margin must be well beyond jaw dropping.
 
Dr_Watso said:
Are they bigger than they used to be? Is that the justification?
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I guess the snare is now 14" instead of 12" and has some new sensing tech in it. The larger size is welcome, but my TD-30KV was awesome in the snare response department, so I'm not sure why this needed "improvement". The ride cymbal is 18" instead of 15". Not that big of a deal, IMO. I found the 15" ride to be plenty comfortable playing on. The new ride has some sort of new sensing tech in it as well. Again, I didn't find the previous pad to be problematic.

After having owned the TD-30KV, I can safely say its a fantastic kit and clearly the top runner in the world of electronic drums. Fit and finish was beautiful. Everything worked really great together. I ended up selling my kit and doing an acoustic/electric conversion with a TD-30 module and Roland cymbals. The conversion isn't a cheap thing to do if you want it look great and play great. There is a lot of trial and error along with tweaking that has to be done to get the kit to respond and play it's best. In the end, I think my conversion was somewhere in the low $4K range, where the TD-30KV was ~$5500.
 
$7,500 for a Roland sounding kit? No thanks.
You can get a custom built triggered acoustic style kit (any setup you want) and 2Box brain and cymbals for half that, and get actual samples, for crying out loud.
 
DrummerCA35 said:
Seems like an unusual move to me. I guess you could put one of the "floor toms" up on the rack, as though it were a second rack tom, but the "floor toms" look like bigger pads than the one rack tom.

As long as I can remember, Roland's flagship kits were either two up, one down, or two up two down.
Click to expand...

It's marketing.

Nothing more. Nothing less.
 
I don't know if it's the new normal, but it is trending. I played that way for a year or so, and enjoyed the hell out of it. I may go back.
 
First 2 up 2 down set I saw was The Knack, and it looked really strange to me in 1979, when everyone else was playing either traditional small kits (1 or 2 up, 1 down) or monster kits.
 
So far as the Roland's are concerned, I noticed the default "Rock" kit as an example shows 12, 16, 18. It's been like that for years, yet the pads were traditionally set up as 2 up 1 down. Sure makes it look like a new concept for them though. I'm sure they will sell the hell out of them.
 
It is my new normal. With a 2 snare set, this feels great to me.
 
I don't think there is a norm, but there are trends and fads and these change over time. When I bought my Gretsch used it came 3 up 1 down, and I bought a rack to accommodate those drums. I am now playing 2 up 1 down.
 
The one up two down has been the new normal since the 1930's

genekrupaColorKrupa.jpg
 
I'm pretty sure the second floor tom was just for setting your Martini on, back then.
 
I wanted to make 1 up 2 down my new norm, until I found out Ludwig wanted to gouge me $1300 for a Legacy floor tom.
 
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