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1. Ludwig Drums’ Ulysses Salazar. 2. Remo’s “Da Lion” Leon Mobley. 3. DW Drums’ Mike Sutton. 4. Max Iishi, president of Pearl Drums, speaks during the company’s 80th annivesary booth celebration. 5. Roland’s James Petercsak. 6. Toca Percussion’s Jim Rockwell. 7. Yamaha Drums’Brett Siskosky.
“We want to make sure that we offer greater options for creativity and hybridizing an acoustic drumset with electronic devices,” Salazar said. “We’re going to continue to build the buzz around what we’re doing in Ludwig electronics.” Two new additions to Roland’s elec- tronic V-Drums line — the 3 Series and the 5 Series — have joined the company’s flagship 7 Series. “The exciting things about all these is they all share the same sound engine, meaning they all have the same sounds — from the 3 Series, which is our mid-low price point, all the way up to our 7 Series,” Salazar said. “So, if you have one of our flagship kits at a house of worship or a venue, you can take all your drums you might have on a smaller 3 Series kit in your bedroom and bring them to the performance on an SD card. All the editing features, all the sounds, the sound combinations, they’re all the same, so you have that continuity
now behind the 3, 5 and 7 Series.” Integration between the Roland products and Drum Workshop’s DWE line continues to grow, according to Mike Sutton, DWE brand manager. “We want to make the best- feeling electronic kit ever,” he said, noting new DWE kits bundled with Roland’s V51 and V71 control modules. “There are lots of applications for using a drum kit like this: houses of worship, big tours, and then everybody in music production and content creation who needs to record tracks fast. With DWE you can use DW Soundware software or one of the Roland V-Drums modules and record directly in your DAW.” Toca Percussion once again found ways to put a modern spin on traditional percus- sion instruments and gear with a range of product introductions that included a surprise hit: the Percussion Tray Accessory Mount. “Ninety percent of the trays out there don’t have a built-in racking system where
you can mount bells and blocks and tambou- rines and so forth,” said Toca Percussion’s Jim Rockwell. “So what you’d have to do instead is get a mic stand or a cymbal stand and then mount it to that. But we’ve come up with something that mounts directly to the pole of the tray. It’s just a simple thing.” WHERE LEGACY ENDURES Even as manufacturers pushed digital in- novation and modern hardware solutions, NAMM also served as a reminder of the long history that continues to shape the drum market. Pearl Drums celebrated its 80th anniversary at the show, a milestone that brought together company executives, high-profile endorsers and longtime dealers. “We look forward to creating a new chapter together with the old as one Pearl, and we shine together,” said Pearl President and CEO Max Iishi. “That’s our slogan this year: We all shine together.” MI
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