Roland SPD-S, KD8 & FD8
with Bobby Kennedy - Op Shop

We take a quick moment with noted New Zealand drummer Bobby Kennedy, from the chart topping Kiwi icon band Op Shop, to talk about how he uses the Roland SPD-S Sampling Pad.

Roland SPD-S

My Roland SPD-S has proved invaluable for getting pattern ideas down in hurry when I don't have access to my kit.

"The best part is that I can plug in some headphones and not annoy the neighbours or keep the household awake."

I even use it live. The SPD-S comes with a bunch of great sounding samples but I can expand my sounds even further by hooking it in to my MacBook Pro running my favourite drum samples.

Roland KD8
(showing front and back)
(kick pedal not included)

Roland FD8

If I then add my KD8 Kick Pad controller and my FD8 Hi-hat controller I can get a full kit sound all in a compact set-up.

"I call it "Drumkit-in-a-bag".  Its awesome!"

Bobby Kennedy

Editors Note : The KD8 and FD8 simply plug into the reverse of the SPD-S allowing you to assign  sounds to the two pedals.  Using the 6 pads and 3 edge pads you can then program up your favourite kit. Two feet, two hands - you're all set.

With the onboard sequencer and sampler, you can also record patterns and export them via flash cards, or midi to other devices.

As Bobby says, this literally means that you can have a basic kit in your bag ready to go with in a few minutes.