Roland SPD30 Octapad Total Percussion Pad

zZounds' Take on Roland SPD-30 Octapad

With a redesigned layout, the Roland SPD-30 is optimized to handle the playing of even the most punishing drummers. For starters, it's got a super strong display sturdy enough to standup to all those misplaced stick hits that are bound to be a regular occurrence...

Complete isolation between pads eliminates cross-talk (when you hit one pad, it won't accidently trigger it's neighbor) and the triggers themselves are evenly distributed all the way across each pad. This is an extremely important feature that frees the percussionist from worrying about stick placement; even if you strike the edge of a pad, it will sound as clearly as if you hit it dead-center. And, for low-light situations, pad indicator lights show exactly where each pad is and let's face it, what club/bar/stage ISN'T a low light situation?

Maybe you want to rock a djembe or cajon with the same technique you use in real life...the Roland SPD-30 is sensitive enough to trigger with your hands and fingers so you don't have to adjust your playing technique. The SPD-30 Octapad is designed to ensure that you consistently get the sound, tone and feel that you meant with each and every stroke.

Expandable not Expendable.

The SPD-30 Octapad features 4 dual trigger inputs for connecting a host of other devices, pads and triggers. Want a portable mini-set you can bring to a gig that won't accommodate your 40-piece Super-Kit? No problem, just hook up a V-Kick Trigger pad with a bass drum pedal and a cymbal pad or two and you've got a full drum set that takes up a fraction of stage real-estate. Maybe you want to trigger loops that you've built in other programs right from your acoustic kit. Again, not a problem for the SPD-30 Octapad. Just hook that external sampler right up to the SPD-30, mount it all by your acoustic kit and BAM, powerful triggering in a compact housing.

Oh Yea, it SOUNDS Awesome Too...

The SPD-30 Octapad includes an impressive 670 internal soundscapes. Besides the realistic and pure drum and cymbal sounds, it also features an array of synths, basses, and melodic sounds so you're anything but limited. Ever wanted to be an ENTIRE DRUMLINE? Well, the SPD-30 includes incredible sounding drumline, orchestral percussion and world percussion sound sets that'll satisfy even the most outlandish craving.

Phrase Looper

An innovation in percussion triggering technology, the SPD-30 Octapad features Roland's "phrase looper" for instant live loop creation. The phrase looper allows for a layering of up to 3 parts which can be saved as a "phrase" to the instrument's memory bank or a flashdrive. These phrases can then be assigned to a single pad for quick and easy loop triggering. You can even apply a host of effects from the on-board effects engine for all the sweeps, EQing and drops that your crowd can handle.

Manufacturer's Description for Roland SPD-30 Octapad Total Percussion Pad

For decades, Roland has been a leader in electronic percussion technology. The original OCTAPAD was a revolutionary percussion instrument that was adopted by musicians worldwide and set the standard for future percussion pads. With the OCTAPAD SPD-30, an exciting new chapter in Octapad history begins. Combining cutting-edge drum and percussion sounds with the latest triggering technology, a Phrase Loop function, USB MIDI, and much more, the OCTAPAD SPD-30 is a rugged instrument that's versatile for any musical application.

Features

- Includes new percussion sounds from around the world, plus 30 types of multi-effects
- The latest pad-sensing technology developed for V-Drums(R) provides even and accurate pad triggering with excellent isolation between pads
- Four dual-trigger inputs, plus hi-hat controller for adding pads to create a mini kit, or for connecting triggers from acoustic drums
- Phrase Loop function inspires your creativity; record your playing in real time and overdub up to three layers
- USB connectivity for MIDI and memory storage
- Large backlit LCD and pad indicator lights for easy operation in low-light conditions
- Rugged, road-worthy design

World Class Sounds
The OCTAPAD SPD-30 includes more than 600 drum and percussion sounds from around the world suited to cover any musical style. Arranged in 50 kits, the sounds are dynamic and expressive, and range from traditional to contemporary to exotic. You can customize the sounds with the onboard controls for tuning, muffling, attack, pitch sweep, and more. You can also layer two sounds per pad to create an infinite number of sound combinations.

Multi-Effects
Based on Roland's world-leading effects technology, the SPD-30's multi-effects engine will take your performances to another level. There are 30 types of internal multi-effects onboard, plus EQ, limiter, and seven Ambience types.

Phrase Loop Function
The onboard Phrase Loop function is a powerful creative tool that lets you quickly record your playing in real time. You can overdub up to three layers per phrase, and store 50 phrases internally. Connect optional footswitches for seamless recording and hands-free operation. You can also save your phrase data to optional USB memory.

Advanced Triggering Technology
The OCTAPAD SPD-30 benefits from Roland's most advanced V-Drum triggering technology. Each pad is a separate, isolated unit, providing the ultimate in sensitivity with complete crosstalk rejection. In addition, you can connect four dual-trigger inputs, plus a hi-hat controller (compatible with Roland FD-8, VH-11) to create a mini drum set with external pads (Roland KD-/PD-/PDX-/CY-series). The OCTAPAD SPD-30 is also compatible with Roland RT-Series acoustic drum triggers for even more flexibility.

zZounds Expert Roland SPD-30 Octapad Review

Roland's SPD series of percussion samplers have been around since the mid 80s, but their latest SPD-30 Octapad has come a long way from those humble beginnings. The expanded feature set and revamped layout are sure to be a... hit... with modern drummers and percussionists.

The SPD-30's sound palette has been greatly increased, offering 670 distinct tones, seven ambience settings, and thirty multieffects for additional tone-sculpting. This Octapad goes well beyond basic sample triggering, with the ability to create and store looped phrases. You can stack sounds to create patches up to three layers deep, then play an assortment of looped and one-shot material from the eight trigger pads. The playing surface has also been upgraded, providing better isolation between pads. This helps prevent crosstalk and mis-triggering when you're really whaling away with your sticks.

Sticks On

I've used the older SPD-20 on a few occasions in the past, and really liked the changes to the newer Octapad's layout. Instead of having the controls arrayed above the pads, they're all off to the right side, making the unit a little wider but less deep. It only weighs 8.5 pounds, so it's very portable and easy to integrate into an acoustic kit if you like. You can use Roland's APC-33 mounting clamp (not included) to affix the SPD-30 to most drum hardware.

I spent the first few minutes just whacking the pads to get a feel for the rebound and response. They feel a little softer than the SPD-20 pads, but not as spongy as some other trigger pads out there. There was a good amount of rebound and I felt I had plenty of stick control without having to radically adjust my playing technique. You can probably play the SPD-30 with hands and/or fingers too, but I prefer sticks.

Upon powering up the Octapad with the included adapter, I was impressed with the size and clarity of the LCD display. It looks well-shielded against stray stick hits, and provides lots of useful information including which play/edit mode you've selected, pad assignments, and more. In looper mode, the display tells you the tempo along with which bar and beat you're playing/recording.

The rest of the control layout was well thought out and easy to understand without having to crack open the manual. Separate headphone and master volume controls made it easy to set levels, and scrolling through the preset patches was a breeze. The phrase loop controls were equally intuitive, with dedicated transport buttons for play, record, mute, erase, and more. I was able to build and save a custom pad preset and create a basic loop with no trouble. Granted, I have some prior experience with the SPD line, but I think most beginners will find the controls very comfortable to use. After spending some time with the manual, I discovered there are plenty of deep-tweaking opportunities for those who really want to customize their sounds.

The SPD-30 Octapad can certainly be used as a standalone trigger pad, but Roland includes a generous amount of I/O to make it very easy to integrate into a variety of musical situations. There's a 1/4-inch headphone jack for silent practice sessions, plus a pair of 1/4-inch outputs to route to external speakers, a mixer/PA system, or recording interface. The SPD-30 has both USB MIDI and five-pin MIDI IN and Out, allowing you to run in line with the rest of your MIDI gear or even trigger samples direct from your computer. A second USB connection is available for storing patches and phrase/loop data to thumb drive. Beyond the eight onboard trigger pads, the Octapad has a total of four external dual-trigger inputs (kick, snare, hi-hat, and ride, plus hi-hat control), effectively allowing it to be used as the brain for a standard electronic drum kit. These inputs can also be used with Roland's acoustic triggers to expand the functionality of an acoustic kit. Another 1/4-inch footswitch connection can be used to switch presets record phrases, and more.

How Does It Sound?

Scrolling through the preset sounds, I was impressed with the wide range of available tones and their evident quality. Many of the typical acoustic drum kit emulations were there, along with a good collection of orchestral, world music, miscellaneous percussion instruments, and some of the classic TR-series electronic tones. Tympani and orchestral crash patches were believable, and a variety of Latin, African, Middle Eastern, and Oriental instruments were represented. Some of the patches offer nice variations on a traditional tone, such as the sound of cymbals scraping together, or the pitch modulation you get when striking a conga or djembe and using hand pressure to change the head tension. When used in conjunction with their counterparts, you can create an added level of realism. As usual, Roland couldn't resist including a few wacky oddball patches which I rarely find to be of much use, but there are thankfully only a few.

The layering ability also adds to the realism and expression available on the SPD-30, allowing you to stack variations of a particular sound or completely separate sounds and trigger based on velocity. The per-patch multieffects and the global ambience settings were fairly easy to add and tweak, and did a good job of making a stock setup sound custom.

Overall, the SPD-30 Octapad is a very usable percussion sampler. With a few external triggers/pedals, I could see it being a nice standalone electronic kit, and it's super easy to integrate into a variety of existing rigs for recording or live performance. My only real complaints are the APC-33 mount isn't included and you can't load external sounds into the SPD-30; it seems like either of the USB connections would be able to support this but maybe the functionality is cost-prohibitive. That said, the mount isn't exactly required for operation (though it makes integration a lot easier) and the ability to trigger external samples via MIDI is probably an acceptable workaround in some situations. Both are fairly minor quibbles compared to all you're getting with this Octapad.

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Dimensions and Weight in Packaging

Base Item

Shipping Weight: 9 lbs

Shipping Dimensions: 22 x 11 x 4 in