A WORLD OF PERCUSSION
ROLAND recently introduced the new Octapad SPD-20X percussion pad with new features and sounds as an upgrade from the still popular SPD-20 . Featuring all the original sounds from its predecessor plus a large selection of new sounds for Indian percussion styles , Octapad SPD-20X has eight cushioned rubber pads that provide a great feel and accurate triggering . The travel-friendly OCTAPAD SPD-20X is a ready companion from small groups to large-scale ensembles .
Interestingly , the SPD-20X features over 700 total sounds and 99 patches including percussion instruments from around the world , acoustic and electronic drum sounds and many sound effects . The pad also includes 45 Indian percussion sounds newly recorded for the SPD-20X .
For all percussion board users , SPD-20X comes as a good news , especially for SPD- 20 users since the board is just as easy to operate and comes with the addition of a friendly matrix menu on the top panel that makes navigation a breeze and an LCD that shows patch / sound names and other information with buttons are illuminated for visibility in dark playing environments .
A versatile , self-contained percussion instrument which is briefcase size for easy travel , the SPD-20X includes a broad selection of world percussion , with eight cushioned rubber pads that provide even and accurate triggering with excellent isolation between pads . They are connect-compatible accompanied by ROLAND pads and pedals to the four trigger inputs to create a mini drum kit or expanded percussion setup . It is also easy to enhance percussion sounds with the six onboard effects .
The SPD-20X also includes an SD card slot , a feature not available in the original SPD-20 which allows players to store patches and setups for different gigs , and to share them with other SPD-20X users .
Among the effects , reverb and delay are on hand for rich spatial ambience . There ’ s also a chorus effect for adding width and depth , as well as a flanger for achieving all kinds of tonalities . The SPD-20X also includes compression and EQ and other powerful tools for adding studio-quality punch and polish to your percussion sounds .
The OCTAPAD SPD-20X gives you a diverse arsenal of top-quality percussion sounds in one portable instrument . You have sounds for any musical situation at your fingertips , all of which are freely assignable to the pads in any arrangement you like . There ’ s no need to haul around a large collection of acoustic percussion instruments anymore — the road-tough SPD-20X has everything you need in a convenient , briefcase-size package .
The Score Magazine
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