Recently I was asked to relocate for business reasons. Currently I have been both an electronic and acoustic drummer with a house practically to my self and room to bash away at the DW and Pearl kits I prize. It dawned on me that relocating would place me in an apartment and possibly transform me into a full time e-drummer. Most guitarists play both acoustic and electric guitars! Why should I sacrifice my acoustics completely!

Remedy, Concept One's "radical, round, red, retro-fit, rubber pads"!

Concept One Percussion is an American electronic drum company that produces many pads and accessories but is probably most noted for their great concept, trigger pads that fit over acoustic drumheads. The round red rubber Artist Set as well as their more affordable (black) Week End Warrior pads are available in all conventional acoustic drum sizes ( 8", 10", 12", 13", 14", 16", and 18" as well as custom configurations.

This "concept" in electronic drumming is a sure remedy for drummers who want to retain the look of their acoustic kits as well as maintaining the structural sizing and basic feel.

I received a custom sized kit designed to fit my prized DW kit consisting of a 10", 12", 14", 16" for toms, additional 14" for snare, 14" high hat pad, 14"& 16" cymbal pads, bass drum pad, Concept One case, Hosa switch pedal, cord ties, cables & instructions for all.

At first look one will notice the bright red Lynatex rubber playing surface that has a nice stick rebound. According to Concept One designer Tom Lewan, it is an expensive natural rubber made in Malaysia that is formulated for its feel and durability. I’m sure Tom gets allot of calls requesting "other colors" but to most drummers, feel and durability are first signs of a quality product. I found the red and black combination attractive but it may look "Christmassy" on a green acoustic drum kit and "sunny" on a yellow.

The pads are light weight but seemingly durable constructed of a black ABS plastic disc to house a single piezo transducer. The bottom surface of the drum pad is a thin disc of Neoprene rubber similar to common drum muffles. This is obviously chosen to mute the acoustic drum sounds which it did nicely. Actually better than most drum silencers. The Neoprene also seemed to help hold the pads in place along with the supplied plastic cable ties. The cymbal pads were a sandwich consisting of rubber on top, ABS, Neoprene, then ABS again on the bottom. Both the Pieazo transducer and standard ¼" jack were nicely placed in a black plastic housing on the top of the drum pads and bottom of the cymbal pads. The housing is cosmetically appealing and durable enough to take stick hits. It is placed in the common acoustic drum trigger location at the 12:00 position and did not get in the way of my flamboyant Keith Moon/John Bonham playing style.

The cymbal pads (except for the high hat pad) have a black plastic "T" in the center which reinforces the rubber surface. The rubber surface is slightly exposed in the center of the pad allowing the cymbal to swing similarly to an acoustic cymbal when using a cymbal spring. This was some what intriguing. The cymbal washers and felts on a standard cymbal stand must be completely removed as the wing nut will lock down on the mentioned "T".

The bass drum pad was well designed and felt nice to play. Of course the "concept" is for a drummer to be able to switch from acoustic to electronic and back to acoustic with ease. The bass drum pad is designed to slide into two metal brackets that mount to 4 bass drum tension rods with ease. One could fit the acoustic bass drum into most bass drum cases with the metal brackets installed but they are easy to removing by completely loosening the 4 tension rods. The bass drum pad is also constructed of black ABS plastic, Neoprene, thick white ABS sandwich combination. Black ABS "wings" slide into two blocks of the thick white ABS on the two metal bars. Once installed, I had no problems with the pad moving around or sliding out of the metal brackets. I did have to lower my bass drum beaters about ½" in order to hit the center of the pad. I played with both single and double bass drum pedals with much success. The actual playing surface is a black rubber "pillow" with a Neoprene core.

The entire "sandwich" is coupled together with attractive black Allen bolts and has one ¼" jack. I used an 18" X 22" DW bass drum for the review. Tom states that the Concept one kick pad will fit both 22" and 24" bass drums with no additional hardware or modifications.

The Concept One bass drum pad was easily placed or removed from the bass drum which could then be used as an acoustic drum with out removing the

The acoustic drum pads all had a uniform feel due to the fact that all materials are of the same thickness and densities. The feel was more like a tightly tensioned snare drum with a good rebound around the entire kit. Of course the cymbal and high hat pads had the same uniform feel with the exception of the swing of the cymbals which I also liked. The cymbals were some of the better feeling electronic cymbal pads I have played. With my eyes closed (psychological), they almost felt like I was playing acoustic cymbals with slightly more rebound and significantly less noise.

The bass drum pad was comfortable and I had no problem playing "Good Times, Bad Times" (triplets) bass drum licks. It would be likely to compare the feel to a 22" bass drum with medium to tight tension. Not to hard, not to soft, not too bouncy. All the pads are relatively quiet and dampened quite a bit of the acoustic drum sound. Actually more than I expected being used to drum silencers.

Concept One recommends the use of the Alesis DM5 module with the drum pads but my Alesis module was not presently available so I decided to be a booger and use my new Roland TD-10 V Drum module for the tracking test.

I experienced a impressive sensitivity across the entire playing surface on all of the drum and cymbal pads from 10" to 14". The larger 16" pad started to lose sensitivity close to the edge at the 6:00 position but it was very minor and was easily supplemented by tweaking the parameters slightly on the module. Even with out changing the parameters, most drummers are not going to ever play that close to the counter hoop on a floor tom unless they are a very bad shot!

The bass drum pad again tracked nicely and caused no double triggering as with some other bass drum pads set in the modules factory default.

No hot spots were evident on any of the pads. I also had no problems with double or false triggering. Pretty impressive!

The supplied Hosa brand momentary switch pedal was not of the quality of the rest of the kit. It did perform the opened and closed high hat functions but was a little light for my taste and commonly slid on a carpeted floor. A couple of strips of hook and loop (Velcro) on the bottom of the pedal may have helped this minor problem. Tom states that Concept One offers a much nicer high hat pedal as an option which more resembles an acoustic high hat rather that a foot switch. I would highly suggest the XJ-12 upgrade at a seemingly reasonable price! The optional XJ-12 Hi Hat Controller lists for $99.95.

As mentioned, the kit comes supplied with a gig bag that will hold everything mentioned except the two metal bass drum brackets. My suggestion is to leave the brackets mounted to the bass drum while transporting or place them in you hardware case with your cymbal stands etc.

The bag (actually a TKL brand cymbal bag) is of a durable black padded nylon with both a large and small Concept One logo printed on both sides in white. The back also has a spacious pocket on the out side that is a great place for your supplied 10" cables and Hosa pedal etc. I managed to get the bass drum pad into the out side pocket with some room to spare.

The whole Concept One package was very complete and portable. The Concept One pads are a sure remedy to the apartment player or student who is forced to play drums at odd hours and is built well enough and responsive enough to be played on stage or in the studio by professionals. They provide flexibility and a consistent feel for both electronic and acoustic drummers. The Concept One "concept" is a sure winner and is a must for all serious practicing and performing drummers!

The Artist Set (standard 5 piece acoustic kit with cymbals)

• 4 Pad Style Drum Trigger Pads
• 1 Bass Drum Trigger Pad with brackets
• 2 Cymbal Trigger Pads
• 1 Hi Hat Cymbal Trigger Pad with foot switch
• Carrying case, cables and all necessary hardware
• List price: $1049.95

Prices and specifications subject to change without notice.

Concept One Percussion Products
P.O. Box 244
DeSoto Wisconsin 54624

Phone: 800-822-9602

Fax: 608-648-2397

Email: xrythm1@msn.com

Web Site: www.concept1perc.com