An electronic drum module is an electronic or digital music device in an electronic drum kit that serves as the

central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...

and

sound module A sound module is an electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a piano-style musical keyboard. Sound modules have to be operated using an externally connected device, which is often a MIDI controller, of which ...

. The drum module creates or produces the

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

sounds or other sounds selected by the drummer. By itself, a drum module cannot play or sound drum beats. It only produces drum sounds when a performer strikes electronic drum pads or acoustic drum kit instruments that have electronic "triggers" (or sensors) attached to them. When the electronic drum pads or trigger-equipped instruments are struck, this sends a signal to the drum module, which produces the corresponding electronic drum sound (or other sound). Even when drum pads and/or triggers are connected to a drum module, the drum module by itself does not make any audible sound. Like other electronic instruments such as the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, the drum module only outputs an electronic signal. The performer can hear this signal by connecting

headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an a ...

to the drum module (i.e., for individual practice) or by plugging the drum module into an amplifier and loudspeaker or

PA system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

for audible practice or live performances. The drum module's output signal can also be patched into an

audio console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instr ...

for concerts or

sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording ...

. The nomenclature varies (see below). For example, electronic drum modules are called "percussion sound modules" in the case of

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has f ...

, or sometimes simply modules. A common colloquial term for this device is drum brain. (see below). Electronic drum modules are included with most complete electronic drum kits (which include a drum module and a set of drum pads). Electronic drum modules can also be purchased as stand-alone units. In this case, the performer must also purchase drum pads and/or triggers which she can attach to regular acoustic drums. An electronic drum module is a special-purpose electronic device which accepts input from the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

via external triggers that are hit with regular

drum stick A drum stick (or drumstick) is a type of percussion mallet used particularly for playing snare drum, drum kit, and some other percussion instruments, and particularly for playing unpitched percussion. Specialized beaters used on some other p ...

s. With an electronic drum kit, the player hits triggering devices as a synthesizer player would strike the keys of the synthesizer keyboard. Triggers may be pads or cymbal-shaped devices or piezo-electric pick-ups similar in function to a

guitar pick-up A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these to an electrical signal that is amplified using an ins ...

. When the triggers are struck or activated by the vibration of a drum or other instrument, the electronic drum module interprets the signal and outputs the specific voice assigned to that trigger. The sound (or "voice") may be a sample or synthesized reproduction of any of a wide variety of drum, cymbal, percussion or other instruments, or even vocal sounds. It is similar in concept to modern

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

musical keyboard workstations or

s especially in that any sound available within a given module can be assigned to any trigger plugged into the module. Most electronic drum modules come with a number of pre-programmed "kits" or "sets" - collections of

voices assigned to specific triggers which emulate a traditional drum set (e.g., including drum and cymbal sounds). Many modules allow the player to save their own collections of sounds as additional kits and allow the player to recall them as desired. In effect, a single set of triggers may serve the same function as several traditional drum sets or collections of miscellaneous percussion instruments. Some modules may allow kits to be saved with labels such as: " rock kit", "

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

kit", and " hip-hop kit." Others simply assign a number to each saved kit. Modules may allow varying degrees of control over individual sounds such as the relative volume of each trigger input or add electronic effects such as

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...

or other effects. Most manufacturers also include more eclectic sounds in their modules, such as sounds from well-known drum machines, plus a large variety of ethnic percussion instruments,

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initial ...

sounds, handclaps, and general percussion instruments or even vocal sounds. Manufacturers of electronic drum modules such as

have often built unusual playable sounds into the sound banks of their electronic drum modules to showcase the capabilities of the technology. Electronic drum modules also provide advanced features such as the ability to drive digital samplers. When used in conjunction with an electronic or digital sampler, the sounds that can be played with a drum module are practically unlimited. A drum module could be used to make any type of musical or natural sounds, from a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

to ocean waves or other

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...

Nomenclature

"Drum Brain"

While manufacturers such as Roland use "Percussion Sound Module," such a term only describes a subset of the device's functions. "Drum brain" is a term used by drummers, equipment sellers, and other industry professionals to be more descriptive. The term "drum brain" is used to denote the fact that its primary function is to act as the central

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...

device within an electronic drum kit.

Electronic drum modules vs. "drum machines"

Furthermore, an electronic drum module is not to be confused with a drum machine, which is an earlier innovation. Similar to electronic drum modules, drum machines reproduce drum sounds and programmable sequences of drum patterns. However, they are essentially limited to this purpose. "Drum machines" were introduced in the 1980s as an accompaniment device, essentially, an "artificial drummer". In contrast, an electronic drum module is designed to be an integral part of an electronic drum kit—an

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

ly playable device, played (usually live) by an actual drummer as part of his or her electronic drum kit.

Electronic drum modules vs "sound modules"

Technically speaking, an electronic drum module typically ''contains'' its own "sound module". Although Roland refers to their electronic drum modules as "percussion sound modules", the term sound module is misleading in this context. In its purest sense, a

is a device that merely contains its own unique variety of sounds. The electronic drum module referred to in this article may be considered to ''contain'' a sound module; however the distinction of an electronic drum module is that it contains the logic circuits to serve specifically as a conversion device: its first goal is to "read" drum play, its second task is to convert that "play" into audible sounds. It may be considered a combination of two components: an

analog-to-digital converter In electronics, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal. An ADC may also provide ...

, which converts the drum play (analog) into digital signals, with the latter task ''alone'' being the domain of a true "sound module".

Examples

* Roland V-Drum drum brain modules * Forat F16 16 bit digital sampler drum brain * ION iDM01 drum brain

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electronic Drum Module Electronic musical instruments