ON TEST Alesis DM10 Studio Electronic Drum Kit You might be surprised by just how much you get for your money with Alesis’s DM10 Studio kit... MARK GORDON lesis are no strangers to electronic percussion, having produced such A pioneering products as the first affordable digital drum machine, the HR16, and the award-winning SR16 — released, amazingly, in 1990 and still selling today. Over the years, they’ve covered almost every kind of studio product, but you might not have realised that they’ve been a significant force in the electronic drum market for quite a while now, and currently ship nine kits. The newly updated DM10 Studio fits in just below the top of the range DM10 Pro, and includes the same RealHead drum pads and DM10 brain module as the flagship kit. Hardware The DM10 Studio comes with four eight-inch tom pads, a 10-inch snare pad and an eight-inch kick-drum pad. There are two 12-inch crash cymbals, along with a 14-inch ride and a 12-inch hi-hat. All the drums and cymbals attach to the new ‘Stagerack’ system, apart from the free-standing kick drum. professional look. The Stagerack is one of the ‘new for The only potential weak point would 2011’ features of the DM10 Studio, and be the kick drum, which is entirely free appears to be a significant improvement standing. As it’s comparatively light, it did on the previous Stealth Rack, in terms of snare exactly where I wanted it would be have a tendency to move a little if played both stability and construction. Based on difficult, but I couldn’t have been more hard, but it’s nothing a little gaffer tape a sturdy four-post system, the aluminium wrong! The clamp allowed for an amazing wouldn’t solve (and bass-drum creep is rack is held together with familiar-looking degree of movement, and the same nothing new to most drummers). The clamps which, although made of plastic, was true of the hi-hat pad, which again alternative would be to fix the kick to the do the job perfectly well. The drum pads connects to the rack system rather than rack, but that would limit the positioning themselves attach to the rack with similar having a stand. of the pad and might lead to some clamps, this time with wing screws, so you The arms that support the two crash cross-triggering through the rack. can easily adjust their position without cymbals are proper, chunky boom arms, The DM10 brain module mounts neatly reaching for your drum key. and slot into the main upright post of on the left arm of the rack, with pads The kits I’ve looked at in the past the rack. This is another upgrade on the connected to it via a colour-coded, clearly (admittedly more expensive ones) use 2011 version of the kit and is a welcome labelled loom. Cable lengths are even a standard snare stand rather than change from more fragile offerings I’ve tailored to reach each drum with minimal attaching the snare to the rack, which encountered. The ride cymbal is supported slack. This is a nice touch, but does mean is not the case with the Alesis. I was by an equally sturdy straight cymbal that you’re limited to the module mounting a little concerned that positioning the stand, giving the whole kit a very solid and on the left. 124 November 2011 / www.soundonsound.com All the drum pads (apart from the controller-type pedal kick) are dual-zone, featuring both rim connected to the brain The DM10 Studio’s heads can be swapped and head triggers. They are made from module. This can give out for the heads of your choice. a plastic tray onto which one of the two a slightly unnatural, piezo pickups is attached to capture drum detached feel when triggers. A shallow wooden drum shell with you’re playing the bearing edge and black plastic wrap sits hi-hat, as there is on the tray and is filled with layers of foam. no movement from The second piezo pickup is mounted on the cymbals when a metal plate attached to the underside you’re ‘opening’ and to take care of head ‘closing’ the pedal. triggers. An Alesis- Nevertheless, it works branded black well and allows for Mylar drum-head a smooth transition fits over the shell from a fully closed, and is held in place tight hi-hat to an open with a regular drum and splashy sound. hoop, then a rubber ring fits over the hoop to Control Module reduce the impact and This well-featured, noise of rimshots. This clearly laid-out module has a rear panel liked the large ‘Drum Kit’ button, which acoustic drum-style crammed with jack sockets. There are 12 takes you straight back to the main Drum construction results in trigger inputs, labelled for the individual Kit page from any other edit page — a great-looking pad drums, and the kit uses all but one a kind of ‘take me home’ panic button! that can be tensioned of these, with the four ‘PERC’ inputs Finally, on the left of the module are the like a real drum to suit accommodating the additional tom and level controls, comprising individual Main your playing style. cymbal pads this kit configuration offers. Out and Headphone volume knobs plus an I found the Two Main Out sockets and a further two impressive six-fader mixer section to adjust standard heads a little Aux outputs are provided on quarter-inch the level of each drum. The mixer has two hard and unforgiving. jacks, and there’s a pair of phono Aux banks and you can flip between them using but as you can fit any inputs to bring in external sources such the Mix Bank button, to access all the standard drum-head as CD or MP3 players to play along to. It drums, metronome and accompaniment (including mesh heads), appears that there’s no facility to adjust levels. This allows for very fast and easy there’s plenty of scope the volume of the input on the module balancing of the individual elements to change them. itself, so this would need to be done at within a kit — a very welcome feature and The DM10 studio source. MIDI In and Out sockets and a USB something I’ve previously only seen on ships with three types socket for direct connection to a computer more expensive kits. of cymbal, plus a hi-hat. complete the selection of I/O, and power All are constructed from is provided via a 9V adaptor that’s a cross Playing hard black plastic with between those horrible wall-wart affairs After the initial splash screen, the DM10 a softer rubber coating and a regular IEC mains lead — so you end display defaults to its main ‘Drum Kit’ covering just under half of up with a small connection into the module the playing surface. This but a solid three-pin plug. improves feel, and also The front panel has a surprising number Alesis significantly reduces stick of knobs, faders and buttons for a kit in DM10 Studio £670 noise. The crash cymbals this price bracket. A large backlit LCD are both 12-inch, single-zone sits in the centre of the panel, with four PROS cymbals, but one lets you choke the Function buttons below it corresponding • Great sounds. sound by grabbing its edge. It’s not the to whatever the display is showing. A large • In-depth editing. best electronic choke I’ve heard... but it value wheel, along with up and down • Expandable via USB. • Great value. does the job. cursor keys, enable easy, fast navigation The Ride cymbal has three trigger zones and data entry. There are transport CONS (edge, bow and bell) and works extremely controls for the built-in sequencer, a large • Kick drum could do with more weight. well. It’s possible to move very smoothly tap-tempo button and two up/down • Cymbal choke not the best. • Ten-inch pads appear slightly more from the bow of the cymbal to the bell, data-entry buttons. These duplicate the sensitive than eight-inch pads. and even crash the edge, followed by data-wheel function but are better suited fast hits on the bow and bell, without to small parameter adjustments. SUMMARY notes cutting short. The hi-hat is another Dedicated buttons in the centre of the The features, sounds and construction of single-zone, 12-inch pad and mounts panel give direct access to the Utilities the DM10 Studio kit take it way beyond those of the entry-level kits, but at a very directly onto a fixed cymbal arm. Control Menu, Trigger options, Instrument and affordable price. of the hi-hat is via a remote, continuous Accompaniment edit pages. I particularly www.soundonsound.com / November 2011 125 ON TEST ALESIS DM10 STUDIO screen, which shows the kit name, number, The eight-inch pads appeared a little and a large graphic representation of the less sensitive and didn’t quite pick up Expandability type of kit selected. Across the bottom some of the very light touches, but the of the LCD are 12 ‘doughnut’ shapes that drum sound assigned to the pad also had Should you ever tire of the 1047 sounds of your DM10 module, it’s heartening to represent the head and rim triggers of the a bearing on this. In general, the snare know that Alesis have this covered! An pads and these ‘light up’ as you hit each sounds are more sensitive to the grace entirely new sound set can be loaded in pad, which is very handy for seeing which notes and lighter playing than the toms, via USB, though the only set currently pads are being triggered and to help you which is how you tend to play a kit anyway.