DDrums: RIP

[scottuk]

http://www.mikedolbear.co.uk/story.asp?StoryID=886

[minimalist]

"It looks like the electronic drum world has claimed its first victim." Apparently he completely forgot about SIMMONS drums. Remember them? Or SYNARE, or MPS, or IMPAKT (the 1st E-drums played by Michael Shrieve with Automatic Man and GO back in 1975), or various other E-drum manufacturers over the years.

[scottuk]

"It looks like the electronic drum world has claimed its first victim." Apparently he completely forgot about SIMMONS drums. Remember them? Or SYNARE, or MPS, or IMPAKT (the 1st E-drums played by Michael Shrieve with Automatic Man and GO back in 1975), or various other E-drum manufacturers over the years.

I don't think those guys are old enough to remember. They also forgot about tama techstars.

[-Brian-]

...and they aren't dead, just a new owner. I don't see how this is considered a bad thing. The Swedish company couldn't keep DDrum afloat, so they sold it to an American company. Big whoop... Or am I missing something???

On the 29th January, Swedish parent company Clavia sold Ddrum to its American distributors Armadillo Enterprises for an undisclosed sum. This followed various production problems to do with outsourcing production and Clavia have said they want to concentrate on their synth products.

[scottuk]

The criticisms I have heard of DDRum:
1) Poor reliability
2) Expensive

The DDRUM 3 was supposed to have been the shizz.

http://upyourtee.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/fg_doyou.jpg

[CoronaLou]

From what I saw at NAMM, DDrum is shifting to acoustic drums with electronic accent. There were no electronic only setups in the Dean booth.

[tcraw1010]

From what I remember, the DDrum 3 WAS the shizzle. As the article stated, it seemed as though EVERY mainstream drummer was using a DDrum3 configuration in one form or another. I remember sitting at one in a Drum Shop when I was younger and thinking that it was the best thing since sliced bread. of course, it carried a Cadillac price tag along with it.

In my opinion, DDrum's biggest mistake (and ultimate downfall) was going with the scaled down DDrum4. The pads were ugly, the playing surfaces were horrible, and the drum module seemed as scaled down as the new hardware. In a word - cheap.

Again, IMHO, DDrum allowed the likes of Roland to completely overtake them and kick their eDrum ass. The Roland V-Drum Pro is, essentially, the DDrum3 of today.


Oh well . . . The times they are a changin'.




TOM

[minimalist]

I don't think those guys are old enough to remember. They also forgot about tama techstars.

You are probably right. I sometimes forget how old I am. ;)

[Woody]

And the original Yamahas and the Pearl Synsonic or whatever it was called.

W.

[SteelProphet]

awww, maybe they'll drop the price a little because I always found the ddrums a little too pricy for what they delivered. The samples on the module were superior, even to the roland td-20, but not much adjustability options compared to the higher rolands

[scottuk]

You are probably right. I sometimes forget how old I am. ;)

I had a set of TAMA techstars in 1984. Initially, I was caught up in the effects. But after the purchase honeymoon, I got sick of the fake-y sound. IMO, the real drumhead was superior to play on than simmons. However, I knew simmons were far more capable with the midi-capable brains and range of sounds. Too bad it was like playing on a concrete slab. I think I paid $899 for the tamas. I replaced them a month later with a set of silver metallic (platina?) imperialstar drums.

I saw DDRum 3 in the day and lusted but could not part with the money at the time. Jeff "TAIN" Watts used a DDRum or two on "Arsenio Hall" ("Give me some dumpster funk!!!!")
And Neil Peart of RUSH replaced his simmons with DDRUM, but moved on to Roland for "reliability" reasons. >cough< endorsement money >cough<

IIRC the Cars used a synare on a few of thier albums, like Candy-o. White noise or a tone like the Techstars.

[mikeellis]

I don't think those guys are old enough to remember. They also forgot about tama techstars.

C'mon, you know as well as I do there's plenty of examples of 'Drummeranis Midlifecrisisum' frequenting that place!!!

I remember Simmons - I've still got my SDS2:
"Pyeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwfzzzzzzwwwwwwwwwwfzzzzzzzwwwwwww w......."

[scottuk]

C'mon, you know as well as I do there's plenty of examples of 'Drummeranis Midlifecrisisum' frequenting that place!!!

I remember Simmons - I've still got my SDS2:
"Pyeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwfzzzzzzwwwwwwwwwwfzzzzzzzwwwwwww w......."

Hi!
I was hoping you'd smell a mild critique of the Dolbear guys and post. :D

I think you guys have the only other truly worthy drum site besides GN. I enjoy it a lot.

[Stoovey]

I think a big "missing in action" with the Ddrum modules (3/4) that has caused Roland et al to take over is the lack of modifiable sounds. It's great that Ddrum handles samples, but the youth of today want to tweek sounds with a click or turn of the knob.

Cost was a bit of an issue as well, but really...for what they offered, it wasn't that bad. Perhaps they could have lowered the prices a little.

Hopefully Armadillo can turn the thing around.

[Kurhby]

The name ddrum is not going to be dead, just the future electronic endeavor part. Armadillo, the company that bought them, is going to try and bring out acoustic kits and sell them based on name. They have one of the guys formly of Peace drums on board who has designed the kits and is having them made overseas for them. They are coming out with some what I call "Left Coast" stuff. For instance they are going to have a 4pc kit with a 20" x 22" kick, 9" x 12" rack tom with rims mount and a 15" floor tom and 6.5" x 14" 8 lug Snare Drum with hardware (chain driven kick pedal, sd stand, hh stand, Boom and Straight Cymbal Stand) and the topper is that it has red or black powder coated hardware with contrasting wrap finish. The selling price is going to be between $500 and $600 -mahogany shell of course. The idea is to sell that popular OCDP/PorkPie inspired kit for less. I know there is a couple of other configurations and that they are going to do acrylic kits (and I think an acrylic "Bonham" style kit is also going to appear). I think I have heard they are doing acoustic-electronic hybrid kits too. I know my store passed on them for now, because A) Drummers are real conservative about finishes B) Too big of a buy in to get best net (about 8 drum sets plus freight) and C) They fit the Peace/Taye no name recognition category.

I know I was hoping ddrum would come out with a ddrum 5 brain. I remember talking to Jake at Armadillo about it and probing his mind on what he knew. He didn't know much but about what had been talked about possible features (built in click, and some other roland features) but nothing was planned for production. I know they would have had to do a lot to really out do themselves. For one thing, they really have been doing the same thing for years, just with better technology. All the ddrum brains have been based on layered samples and over time the quality of sample and equipment to capture it has gotten better. The micro processors have too. To me the only real big difference in a ddrum2 and a current ddrum4 is that technology has helped shape the sounds better. The navigation and layout isn't that much different. The biggest departure was of course the ddrum3 with its built in sampler, 10 in and 8 outputs, pressure and positional sensing on all channels, and a host of other features. List price when it came out was $4850 for the brain only. If you were a dealer you could get one for $2910 ('b' mark) net plus freight. This is according to my price list I have from 1995 sitting here next to me in my room. That is course why they made approx. 600 of these units, very pricey. These still pop up on ebay occassionaly and sell for $1200 or more.

Yeah the addition of built in songs, click track, easier sound editing layout, goofy sounding roland type setups, and better focus on cymbals, ddrum would have probably sold better. I don't feel it was unreliabilty that killed them. I had a ddrum2 brain from 1986 and one from 1988 that I bought secondhand and a ddrum AT from 1991 and all three of them performed flawlessly. A friend of mine also has a ddrum4 kit from 1997 with upgraded software that performs great. It didn't help that roland came along with the mesh head and killed the competition. Personally I still prefer the real head feel and don't care for the bells and whistles roland puts in their brains. I know there is a whole bunch of ddrum fanatics over at ddrums.com that are not happy. I certainly know that ddrum products aren't for everyone though.

[scottuk]

I hope they are successful. Too many times grand ideas hit cost overruns or a tough market and the product dies and the name becomes a hollow moniker. >cough< Rogers >cough<

Anyone think Slingerland is going to take off again???

[tcraw1010]

From what I saw at NAMM, DDrum is shifting to acoustic drums with electronic accent. There were no electronic only setups in the Dean booth.


It's funny how time answers all questions . . . . I just thought this was a prophetic statement - considering DDrum is, in fact, trying to make a name for themselves in the acoustic drum market in a big way.

Wonder if they will ever reach the heights of DW - as it kind of feels along the same vein (to me, anyway).

[smoke_n_drums]

It's funny how time answers all questions . . . . I just thought this was a prophetic statement - considering DDrum is, in fact, trying to make a name for themselves in the acoustic drum market in a big way. Wonder if they will ever reach the heights of DW - as it kind of feels along the same vein (to me, anyway).

I've checked them out at a local music store. With a VERY affordable price tag, neat wraps, black hardware and 20" deep BDs, DDrum should take some of the market share.

[jrfrond]

It's a shame that Armadillo buried DDrum electronic kits, because, contrary to popular belief, they were of the highest quality (like their Nord Lead keyboard counterparts), and were THE choice of professionals when it came to electronic drums. They were also the most responsive and dynamic of all electronic drum kits, mainly because the trigger inputs were a pulse-triggered system, not converted to MIDI to fire the samples. MIDI limits you to 128 steps of anything, including dynamics. DDrums dynamic steps number over 1000. True, DDrum should have countered Roland and Yamaha with a Bells & Whistles system to boost competitive sales, but that was not DDrum's gig. It was a stripped-down, professional system meant to build around with a mixer, EFX processors, etc. The 3 and the AT were their crowning glory. To me, the 4 was a step in the wrong direction.

I do hope that they go back to electronics someday, but I wouldn't hold my breath.