Yamaha Drums premieres its new, complete lineup of DTXdrums electronic drum sets at Musikmesse, the world’s largest musical instrument trade show. All but one of the new kits feature the innovative DTX-PAD with Textured Cellular Silicone (T.C.S.) playing surface, which debuted in the DTX 900 series and won “Best In Show” last January at the 2010 Winter NAMM industry trade event. The DTX-PAD lives up to its reputation for providing natural feel and response and allows for the development of acoustic drumming techniques.

“The DTX900 electronic drums have shaken up the drum market,” said Athan Billias, Director of Marketing, Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division. “Now, we’re bringing this great technology to a much wider range of drummers, who have more choices than ever to experience the DTX-PAD.”

 

Beginning with the Musikmesse product launch, Yamaha is using a numbering system to designate their different series of electronic drum kits based on the drum “brain” used in the configuration. All the kits in the 500 series feature the redesigned DTX500 Drum Trigger Module, which includes 427 drum, percussion and effect sounds, along with 50 pre-set drum kits and 20 user-editable kits. It also features on-board practice tools, play-along and recording functions, MIDI out and 12 trigger inputs compatible with a the full range of DTX-PADs and cymbals.

 

The entry model is the new DTX500K, a five-piece kit based on the best selling DTXPLORER, and while it is the only kit that does not have a DTX-PAD in the box, it is the only one that includes a real Yamaha bass drum pedal. The DTX520K features the new three-zone XP80 8” DTX-PAD snare, the new three-Zone PCY100 10” crash cymbal and new RS500 rack system. The DTX530K includes the same drum pad configuration but adds the RHH135 vertical motion hi-hat system and the three-zone PCY135 13” cymbals for ride and crash. Finally, the top model in the 500 series, the DTX560K, features three new XP70 7” DTX-PAD toms for a full DTX-PAD play experience all around the kit.

“Naming the kits in our new drum series this way gives Yamaha a lot of flexibility to create new configurations of DTX-PAD kits”, says Tom Griffin, Yamaha Product Specialist. “And all of these new lower-priced components will make it easier for drummers to integrate the DTX-PAD into their setup and potentially step up to different components whenever they choose.”

 

For the intermediate 700 series of instruments, all models feature the new DTX700 Drum Trigger Module, with 1,268 drum sounds, powerful DSP effects and 128 keyboard and melodic sounds drawn from the flagship MOTIF-XF synthesizer workstation. Additionally, drummers can import their favorite audio samples into the 64MB of Flash-ROM for customizing the sound set. Fully computer compatible, the DTX700 module includes a USB port for storing and loading files, and a USB-to-Host port for sending MIDI in and out to the included Cubase AI Digital Audio Workstation software.

 

The DTX700K uses the same pad, cymbal and rack configuration as the DTX560K, but the DTX750K ups the ante with three-zone DTX-PADs for the snare and toms, two crash cymbals, and a larger PCY155 15” ride cymbal all on the new RS700 rack with real drum hardware. The DTX790K uses larger DTX-PADs for all drums, including a large kick pad, and each drum has a control knob for adjusting the tone right from the pad.

Yamaha designed its innovative new DTX-PAD with input from the company’s legendary roster of drum artists. The Textured Cellular Silicone head features a proprietary manufacturing process that introduces small air bubbles into foamed silicone to provide playability and feel unlike any pad introduced to market. With years of designing and building some of the world’s finest drums, Yamaha DTXdrums’ new series of instruments lets drummers express their passion for rhythm just as they can on an acoustic kit. These drum kits are perfect for quiet practice, playing live or as a controller for VST instruments.

Prices for the new drums are as follows: the DTX790K (MSRP: $5,752), DTX750K (MSRP: $4,825), DTX700 (MSRP: $3,467), DTX560K ($2,779), DTX530K (MSRP: $1,874), DTX520K (MSRP: $1,649) and DTX500K (MSRP: $1,197).