Roland RMP-1 - The Band Directors Dream

STUDENT DRUMMERS ON HEADPHONES!

Those gum rubber practice pads are a staple among band directors and percussion students. How much more satisfying would it be for your drummers to practice on something that feels like an acoustic drum, manipulates sound like an acoustic drum and critiques like a drum teacher? And how much more satisfying would it be for you to have all your drummers on headphones, silently practicing to engaging and challenging rhythm exercises? While a gum rubber pad is great for repetitive drill, it won't help your student's timing the way the Roland RMP-1 Rhythm Coach Pack can.

Roland's new RMP-1 is incredibly fun to play. This very durable, portable (use batteries or a power adapter), electronic practice pad leaves students no excuse or desire to avoid practice. With the same mesh head used on the popular V-Drum Series, the RMP-1 feels like an acoustic drum head. And the heads are "tensionable", which means you can adjust the tension, just like an acoustic drum. Your students are practicing on a pad that is more similar to an actual drum head. This makes the transition from practice pad to acoustic drums almost seamless.

There are 28 drum sounds on-board so a student can experiment with the differences and sounds of many types of drum varieties not available in your bandroom. The complete set of sounds includes:

· Eleven snare sounds, from marching snare to maple and steel snares

· a marching tenor

· 7 toms including all varieties of marching quad-toms

· 3 bass drums, including an 18" and 24" Marching bass drum

· A high and low timbale

· Miscellaneous percussion sounds including cowbell and claves

· Even practice pad sounds!

Because it runs on either an AC adapter or battery power, the RMP-1 is as portable as a Gameboy, and a more constructive use of time. Portability was a big hit among students at The Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, Ca. who road tested the RMP-1 for us. "I want this because I can practice in the back of my mom's SUV on the drive home from school," commented a student. It's quieter than a drum pad, so it won't disturb the family. And we know that most parents would rather have their child practicing his rudiments in the backseat than playing a computer game.

A student can put the RMP-1 (did we mention durable?) piece in his backpack and with a set of headphones, play what feels like a real snare anywhere, at any time. Not only that, a student can plug in a portable CD or cassette player and play along with any CD on the market…or a tape you give him to practice with. Just the ability to play along with his favorite CDs and hear it in his headphones, is enough to make a student love the RMP-1.

"This is a total blast!" commented another OCHSA student, "I could play on this for hours." And that's the whole point. The more your students practice, the tighter that drum line is going to be and the better your band is going to sound.

The built-in Rhythm Coach will help support you as a teacher. The exercises in the brain of this piece are designed to build timing, accuracy, speed, strength and stamina. The rhythm coach will actually test your students against itself so a student is aware of his progress…or need for it. It can be programmed to gradually build speed, vary the tempo and set the time length for practice. You are able to adjust the sensitivity of the rhythm coach to increase the difficulty of the practice. It's like sending your kids home with a very unforgiving tutor. You will see dramatic improvement in the students who work with the RMP- 1. And not only that, you will be able to quantifiably measure their progress using the rhythm coach. The RMP-1 is a great assessment tool.

The built in metronome allows students to play in a wider variety of time signatures than most metronomes, from 1 to 13 beats per measure so odd time signatures are no problem. With the same great features as the DB-88 Metronome, a drummer practice to his choice of metronome sounds, from tra - ditional to human voice. The voice metronome actually counts for your student! Great for students who may lose track of ONE during practice and practice your ambitious festival piece entirely wrong.

The RMP-1 has an extra pad input. Depending on the trigger input settings, you may be able to connect two pads or one dual trigger pad. This allows the student to move from the single practice pad, to the next logical step toward a full drum kit.

Beside being great for practice, the RMP-1 can augment a live performance. It's a great addition to a pit orchestra, or to any performance in which you are using a PA system. The RMP-1 can be run through the mixer, and amplified just like an electric drum set. Use the RMP-1 to add fills or sound effects.

Now you have a tool to give your students a more interactive drum experience. We've student tested this piece and know that students are anxious to practice using the RMP-1. The RMP-1 makes the best use of their practice time, and is so engaging that it grabs some of that precious "wasted" time too.