Being a drummer ain't no picnic. Sure, you've got legions of adoring fans who never want you to stop rockin', but you've also got neighbors, roommates, various domestic partners. . . all of whom would rather you rock in silence or at select and brief periods. You may think you can just ignore them at first, but it doesn't take that many breakups or official complaints to the local authorities to start cramping your care-free, caution-to-the wind lifestyle. So what's the alternative? Practice pads are good for warm-ups but they're no replacement for a full kit. You may have thought about electronic drums, but then you thought about how much they cost: thousands of dollars for a set that feels anything like a real kit, right? Wrong! Say hello to the Roland TD3SW V-Compact Electronic Drum Kit. The world's top professional drummers tour the globe with Roland V-Kits, and now you can grab a piece of that same action. . . for under a thousand bucks!

The TD3SW may be the most affordable kit in the V-Drums series, but they're still V-Drums, and that means they sound and play more like real drums, and are built to last a lifetime. With its rugged hardware, good looks, and the amazing sounds of the TD3 Drum Module, you might even be inspired to bring your new V-Compact kit on the road!

Mesh With The Best
The breakthrough that made Roland's V-Drums the most respected name in the game is their mesh V-Pad trigger. The first electronic kits had rubberized triggers that were little more… read more than wired practice pads, making playing on one feel more like drumming on a table top than an instrument. Enter the revolutionary V-Pad with its tension-tunable mesh-composite head for an impact response and dynamic sensitivity nearly indistinguishable from a real snare drum. Suddenly, V-Drums were an acceptable, even superior alternative to acoustic kits for professional stage and studio work. The compact, five-piece TD3SW kit is built around a mesh V-Pad in the snare position, where nuanced technique and organic feel are the most important. The PXD-8 is a two-zone snare trigger with a 10" diameter and separate head and rim trigger zones. The dual zones for center snare and rim sounds make for more realistic playing, and the generous head diameter make it easier to avoid accidental rim shots (save those for the punch-line, kid). Not only does the mesh snare trigger feel as expressive as a real snare, but it eliminates the fatigue caused by vibration-inducing rubber snare triggers. Practice all night without waking the neighbors or cramping up!

Swingin' Cymbal Triggers
After the snare, the feel of a set's cymbals are of utmost importance, so Roland outfitted the TD3SW kit with their fully-round, free-swinging CY-5 cymbal triggers. Like the mesh snare pad, the CY-5s feel and react more like the real thing for expressive performance and reliable action. These cymbal triggers are 12" in diameter and swing like real cymbals because they mount like real cymbals. Thrash away at them and you get the satisfaction of a moving instrument that reacts naturally to your playing. The dual-zone design allows for separate top and edge sounds, so all your dynamic accent work is transmitted to the V-Compact's central brain, and then out to your headphones.

Don't Be Married To One Drum Sound; Play The Field
The brain of the V-Compact Kit is the Roland TD3 Percussion Sound Module. You may love the sound of your acoustic kit, but the TD3 provides 32 distinct kits assembled from 114 high definition sounds for you to experiment with, all in the comfort of your own home. Curious about the difference in tone between birch maple kits? The amazing samples in the TD3's sound bank accurately recreate those nuanced tonal flavors. Dream of playing in an electro-synth band? We won't tell anyone, but we will tell you about the radical synth-pop, hip-hop and dance kits the TD3 contains as well. Beyond its variety of drum kits, the Roland TD3 module lets you add reverb, EQ and compression to fine tune your sound and make it feel like you're playing in a huge concert hall or a state-of-the art studio. It'll make practice interesting, sure, but it's also like having an infinite variety of tuned drum isolation rooms for recording. You even get MIDI outs for connecting the set to your DAW and tracking more realistic sounding drum parts than you could ever program. When you are using your V-Drums for pure rehearsal, be sure to check out the on-board Rhythm Coach feature, which provides exercises and performance feedback that'll help fine-tune your playing in a way that mere practice can't.

If you thought improving your playing and improving your interpersonal relationships were incompatible goals, you need to introduce a little Roland TD3SW V-Compact into your life. You'll practice more, you'll practice more effectively, and you'll be having a blast in the meantime, all without breaking the bank or the local noise ordinance. Your band will love you, your fans will love you, your significant other will continue to love you, and you'll be forever in love with your new Roland V-Drums. The only relationship in jeopardy now is the one between you and your old acoustic kit. . . read less