Everyone knows Roland for their keyboards, but they're actually a drum company. Check out their drums, synthesizers and more in this video.

Video Transcription

Kevin: Welcome to WatchMojo. My name is Kevin. Today, we’re going to learn about some synthesizers and some electric drum kits from Roland. Alright, I’m here with Darren from Roland and he’s going to tell us a bit about some of the instruments they have. Everyone associates Roland with keyboards but really, they do a lot more than that. So what do you have here? Darren Schoepp: A lot of people know Roland for their synthesizers back in the 80s but Roland is an actual drum company and you can see behind me here, we have all the latest and greatest V-drums. V-drums are a technology that was introduced about 10 years ago now. They may not look like drums yet but they certainly sound like drums. It’s pretty much what everybody uses for recording these days actually. Kevin: So these drums recreate the sound of a drum kit? Now, are they recreating a certain type of drum sound or is it changeable? How does it work? Darren Schoepp: There’s something called COSM which is basically a modeling technology. So what that means is that they’ll take an acoustic drum and they will sample it and they will recreate all the little nuances that go into making that drum sound the way it does. By the time you strike it, by the time it reaches you, here are all those little subtleties in between. And one of the neat things behind these drums is not only can you determine the type of material that’s being used, whether it’s a maple shell or a birch shell or what type of skin you’re using. But you can also put that drum in a certain room whether it’s a big room like this or a small studio so you can actually model the environment that is around. Kevin: So you mentioned recording but also it seems like it would be a good thing for a practicing musician. Darren Schoepp: Yeah. Kevin: I mean, you can get quiet— Darren Schoepp: As you can see, we’ve got three full drum kits going here and a lot of this thing is sticks being hit together. There’s now way we could do this if it was acoustic drums. Kevin: And we turn to synthesizers. Is there anything new Roland is working on? How have they changed since the 80s as you imagined? Darren Schoepp: The synthesizers—yeah, it’s kind of funny how music and technology kind of comes around full circle. Some of the things that keyboard players were looking for were some of those old vintage keyboards. The modern technology now allows us to have the sounds of the early 80s back with all the modern digital technology. You can basically record a whole album right inside the keyboard. Everything that you would do in a studio, you can do right in your home with one keyboard. Kevin: I can’t wait to try one of these drum kits. They look really cool. Thanks a lot. Darren Schoepp: You’re very welcome.