Roland TM1 Trigger Module

Hybrid drum setups are everywhere these days, from stadium concerts to small clubs and bars. Busy working drummers love the ability to bring studio-style impact to their core acoustic sounds and be able to cover the electronic percussion parts that are so essential to modern music styles. At first, creating a hybrid acoustic-electronic setup can seem daunting. But with the TM-1, it’s easy for any player to start their hybrid journey. Just mount one or more Roland trigger devices within your setup, connect them to the TM-1, and access any sound you need. With dedicated controls for sensitivity, pitch, and more, there’s no technical knowledge required for operation—simply turn the knobs until the sound is right to you and start playing!

When playing on stage with just your acoustic kit, it’s difficult or impossible to change your sound on the fly. But with a hybrid drum kit, changes can be made in an instant. Now you can play the sound of that unique drum you couldn’t bring to the gig, or incorporate samples and loops to enhance and expand your main drum sound. Out of the box, the TM-1 has 15 ready-to-go kits with two instruments in each. The free editor app unlocks access to a library of over 150 additional sounds, including kick, snare, and other drums, and even synth loops. And with the ability to add your own sounds via the editor as well, the sonic possibilities are virtually endless. Whatever you want to achieve, changing your kit’s sound during the set has never been easier.

A hybrid drum setup lets you choose and customize the sounds for your entire setlist, so each song gets the perfect drum sound. With the TM-1 Editor, you’re able to access all the module’s internal sounds, import your own original samples, assign sounds to each trigger pad, and quickly customize them however you like. Samples up to six seconds long can be imported from your computer, tablet, smartphone, or even cloud storage. And you don’t have to take your laptop to the gig to change up sounds at the last second—just use your smartphone!

Your acoustic drum sound is king, but it can nearly always benefit from some sonic reinforcement at live gigs. The kick and snare are the backbone to a band’s sound, but it can be a challenge to get them to cut through when playing with loud guitars, bass, and keys. By using Roland’s RT-series acoustic triggers, you can layer samples from the TM-1 with your own kick and snare and amplify them together through the PA, providing increased punch, clarity, and depth that perfectly complements your core acoustic sound. For years, metal drummers have been enhancing their kick drums with electronic samples—especially when playing fast double-kick phrases—as it really helps cut through a dense mix. But this technique isn’t just for speed players; every drummer can take advantage of these powerful hybrid benefits with the TM-1.

The TM-1 is also a great way to expand the variety of sounds available from your acoustic drum kit. By adding an electronic drum pad, you can perform with any sound assigned to it. There are two trigger inputs available, allowing you to connect two single-trigger pads or one dual-trigger pad. Most Roland drum pads work with the TM-1, including the compact BT-1 Bar Trigger Pad, KT-10 Kick Trigger Pedal, V-Pads, and V-Cymbals. It’s even possible to connect BOSS footswitches like the FS-5U or FS-6 and use them as compact floor-based triggers. And don’t forget that you can use the TM-1’s built-in footswitches to trigger sounds as well.

The TM-1’s compact size lets you take it wherever you want, and the stompbox-style design fits easily alongside your other floor-mounted gear. Better still, support for battery operation eliminates the hassle of finding AC power when you need to set up in a hurry or perform outdoors. The TM-1 is lightweight enough to throw into a bag or instrument case, and robust enough to travel thanks to its metal-body construction and rugged footswitches.

Whether you’re producing at home, working in the studio, or performing live, you sometimes need to send a MIDI signal when you hit a pad. The TM-1 performs this trigger-to-MIDI conversion simply by connecting it to a computer via USB, allowing you to trigger sounds in drum samplers and plug-in instruments, record MIDI tracks in a DAW, or control clips and other functions in performance software like Ableton Live.