If you did a survey on what are parents’ worst nightmares, I’d hazard a guess that their child wanting to take up the drums is right near the top of the list. Drum sets are loud, and they take up a lot of space. Both of these can be big issues in a household, and even worse if you live in an apartment. People that you share a wall with aren’t going to be too excited with hearing cymbal crashes day and night.
But thankfully, Roland makes several high quality, compact V-drums (virtual drums) that can take care of both the noise and space issues. They sent me one of their lower-end kits, the TD-07KV, to try out for myself.
What Is the Roland TD-07KV V-Drums?
The Roland TD-07KV V-Drums is an electronic drum set that includes a drum module with preset kits, a snare drum, 3 toms, two cymbals, a kick pad and a hi-hat. The set retails for $1,099, and is available at most major music stores or from the Roland store on Amazon.
While the TD-07KV does come with a kick pad for your bass drum, it should be noted that it does not ship with a kick pedal. Roland provided me with their RDH-100A Bass Drum Kick Pedal, as well as a RDT-S-U Drum Throne to play the kit.
Here are the features of the TD-07KV V-Drums:
- TD-07 module with 25 preset kits, 25 user kits, and 143 instruments
- V-Edit, EQ, ambience, and 30 multi-effects offer deep editing tools to create your perfect drum kit sounds
- Snare and tom pads with Roland’s legendary double-ply, tension-adjustable mesh drumheads
- One PDX-8 8-inch snare pad with independent head and rim zones for assigning different sounds and three PDX-6A 6-inch single-zone tom pads
- KD-10 kick pad offers realistic rebound and beater feel while minimizing noise and vibration
- CY-8 12-inch crash and ride cymbals with choke support
- 10-inch hi-hat cymbals and integrated foot pedal, with fine incremental control between open and closed positions
- Four-post drum rack stand with metal construction and sturdy clamps with strong grip
- Integrated Bluetooth lets you wirelessly stream sound from smartphones, tablets, and other Bluetooth devices and send MIDI data to music apps
- Advanced built-in metronome with the ability to adjust time signature, note value, and click tone
- Onboard coach function provides interactive tools to build timing skills and track progress
- USB for recording audio and MIDI data to computer music software
- Support for kit expansion with a second crash cymbal (CY-8 V-Cymbal and MDY-Standard cymbal arm sold separately)
Assembling the Roland TD-07KV V-Drums
All the components for the TD-07KV come packed very neatly and securely in cardboard inside the box. Of course, this means a lot of extra material to recycle, but it’s worth it to have everything arrive in perfect shape.
The assembly is easy to accomplish, by following along with the setup guide. The kit comes with several copies of the guide, each in a different language.
To assemble the drum kit, you’ll only need one tool. Roland smartly designed the assembly of the set around using the included drum key for tightening bolts when putting together the drum rack and attaching the drum elements. For readers not familiar with drum sets, a drum key is used for tuning drum heads.
The first step is to put together the drum rack. The lightweight metal frame is highly adjustable, and you can change up both the height and the width of the set.
Next, you’ll add the mounts for the cymbals and the pads. The instructions show setups for both right-handed and left-handed players.
Then, you will mount all of the hardware onto the rack, including the drum module.
The kick pedal and kick pad are not attached to the pad. Instead, the kick pad is freestanding, and you attach the pedal to it.
The final step is connecting the drums, cymbals, and hi-hat to the drum module. Cables are marked, and you’ll definitely want to take your time on this part to make sure everything is connected properly.
The kit does come with some cable clips and ties to help tame the cable connections.
Playing the Roland TD-07KV V-Drums
Despite a more compact footprint than an acoustic drum set, the feel of the TD-07KV is quite natural. This is largely due to the double-ply, tension-adjustable mesh drumheads. These drumheads give a response very similar to that of an acoustic drumhead. They snare and toms are smaller than a full-size drum set, but no one in my family had any trouble connecting with the drumheads.
The addition of a kick pad also helps the TD-07KV V-Drums feel more like playing a traditional drum set. It gives you the same type of physical feedback you’d get using a kick pedal on a bass drum. And, of course, you’re using the exact same kick pedal you would use with an acoustic drum set.
TD-07 V-Drums Module
The TD-07 V-Drums Module is the brains of the TD-07KV, and can also be found in the rest of the TD-07 line. It is the “brain” of the V-Drums, and provides many features useful to both beginners and more advanced players:
- 25 Preset drum kits, ranging from acoustic to electronic.
- 25 customizable user slots to create your own sounds.
- Editing tools to customize individual sounds by adjusting tuning, muffling (selecting coated, pinstripe, or clear head types), EQ, and ambient room effects.
- Built-in multi-effects engine featuring 30 dedicated algorithms to process and shape your drum tones.
- Integrated Bluetooth for wireless audio playback and MIDI streaming.
- USB audio/MIDI for recording directly to a computer.
- Built-in metronome in “Coach” mode.
As you can see, there’s plenty to dig into there. To be fair, there’s more than I have been able to take advantage of so far. There’s a pretty granular level of customization available to more advanced musicians. Without getting too deep into the weeds, just know that you can customize each pad, changing the volume, tone, effects, and more. Most beginner and intermediate drummers probably won’t even touch that feature, as there’s already a nice range of preset kits available in the Drums Module.
The preset kits all sound great, especially if you’re playing through a pair of headphones or a high-quality amplifier. Don’t judge them too harshly by the audio in my videos; I’m playing on a 25-watt practice amp.
The built in Bluetooth allows you to play along with songs on your smartphone, a feature most are sure to enjoy. You can also connect your computer, phone or tablet to the TD-07 via USB. This way, you can record your own drum tracks right to the computer. You’ll also use that USB connection should you choose to take advantage of the included 40 free lessons of Melodics, which is a lesson app that teaches you how to play the drums. Melodics will automatically sync up your Roland V-Drums with the app, giving you precise feedback on your performance.
Roland TD-07KV V-Drums – Final Thoughts
The Roland TD-07KV V-Drums have been an unexpected delight in our household. We have a musical family, with both piano and acoustic guitar, but we never thought we’d have a drum set. Yet it has become a fixture in our house, getting regular use. And surprisingly, it’s my girlfriend who has been enjoying it the most, and has been working to teach herself the drums.
With our cozy home, the compact footprint of the V-Drums allows us to keep the set in the front room and still have plenty of space to move around. And if we’re using headphones, anyone can play the drums at any time of the day or night and not disturb the household (or our neighbors)!
I love the responsiveness of the rubber cymbals and the mesh-head drum. It really does feel similar to playing a set of acoustic drums. Not only is the kit a pleasure to play, but you’ll be able to take what you’ve been practicing on the V-Drums and move it over to an acoustic set without too much adjustment. The snare and toms are a little smaller than what you’d have on a full-size drum set, but if anything, playing on the TD-07KV should make your playing more accurate as a result.
The Roland TD-07KV V-Drums is a great beginner to intermediate electronic drum kit, with plenty of room to grow. The TD-07 Drum Module has customization and recording features that you probably won’t use right away if you’re just learning, but will be there waiting for you when you’re ready. And you can even add a second crash cymbal to the module, or upgrade your cymbals and drum heads should you choose. You probably won’t be going on tour with this set, but that’s OK- that’s not what it’s designed for. But as a set to practice and learn on, and maybe even play in small venues, the Roland TD-07KV V-Drums are a great value that packs a lot of desirable features in for both beginner and more advanced drummers.
