On paper, the Hart Dynamics Prodigy Pad Set is what we've been trying to get out of the big manufacturers for the last 10 years. An entry-level compact kit that feels like an acoustic kit, fits into a project studio and costs about the same as an entry level module does. Did someone finally build something that fits the bill? Well, almost.
You see, in our reviews, we like to detail not only what we find out about a product (like where it excels and falls short), we like to go a bit further and offer suggestions for things you (or the manufacturer) can do to overcome a product's shortcomings.
First off, it's time to get a small rant off of our minds. We get a little frustrated with
magazine reviews for drum equipment. For
example, a recent review of Pacific's Chameleon in
Modern Drummer (October, 2001) reviewed
hardware that is not included with the Chameleon. Double bass pedal? Rotating
tripod hi-hat? The stands included with the Chameleon aren't professional grade. Pacific
may have realized this, so they sent something different along. The review was then based on
the impressions from this substituted hardware.
Unless you read the review very carefully, you might assume the hardware they are raving
about actually comes with the kit. A leading consumer magazine on the other hand, buys their
own products straight off the shelf, tests it out and reports the results, warts and all.
Without advertising revenue from the manufacturer of the product and no opportunity for a bait and switch, an honest evaluation results. We like this method better. We will clearly illustrate with 'upgrade' notation, any deviation we made from what is shipped in the package and let you see how something better really is better in comparison. You will ocassionally see these 'Detours to the land of Logiztix' throughout our reviews. We'll even rip something apart if we have to in order to show you what we're talking about. We can so this since we don't have to give it back to the manufacturer when we're done.
We ordered our Prodigy straight from Musician's Friend. When it arrived, we documented our impressions during every stage of assembly and set-up. The item at the top of the box was a photocopied user's manual bound in a report cover. The kit was packaged well and arrived undamaged. In the warranty section of the manual, the following statement caught our attention: "Thank you for purchasing HDI products hand crafted in the USA." This means the Prodigy is made in the USA, right? It appears otherwise. The pads read 'MADE IN TAIWAN', and there are indications that the rack is imported as well. Perhaps there was some assembly of foreign parts on our soil, but much like waving an American flag that was made in China, imported patriotism seems a little tacky at this point in time.
This baby's hardware is the spitting image of that on the Remo Practice pad kit. If you've been unimpressed with the hardware of Remo Modular Practice Pad Kits of the past, there is even less to love with this new rack. Where most of the older Remo rack's clamps were held together with two screws, the Prodigy's are the new version having only one. It appears that this trend has carried through to the new Remo practice rack as well. This will be something to keep in mind when you consider either of these options.
Unless you are a heavy hitter, there is little worry for stationary applications. Everything attached to this rack is lightweight, so it should hold up fine unless you start abusing or adjusting it a lot. Hardware adjustment can be tricky. Things you can adjust with pads off are nearly impossible with pads on. Unless you can engineer a set-up where you can get to all of the adjustment screws with the kit assembled, we suggest you buy a shorter, right-angle hex key for such adjustments. The included T-handle hex key is too long for making easy adjustments in such a tightly arranged kit.
Aside from the rack there are five 8 inch pads, a 12 inch Crash, 14 inch Ride and 8 inch Hi-Hat pad. Also included is Hart's Hi-Hat footswitch pedal, 9 mono 1/4 inch cables, a T-handled hex wrench and standard drum key. Very little of the kit makes use of the standard drum key. In fact, only the module mount itself uses the drum key. The majority of the kit requires a hex key or Phillips screwdriver (not included).
The cymbals are very much like our converted practice cymbals with the thin layer of neoprene found in other designs. This neoprene is firmly secured by adhesive in addition to the same rivets that hold the trigger in place. This creates a small irritation in that you now have a couple of rivets to avoid in the middle of your playing surface. This could have been easily prevented by reversing the rivets and putting the neoprene over them after they were secured. Tiny neoprene covered bumps might have been preferable to playing around the rivets. This shouldn't be a problem with the crash as these are typically played by glancing off the edge of the cymbal anyway. As for the ride, you may choose to add something like Yamaha's PCY10 Bell Trigger like we eventually did for a dual-zone ride. This would nicely cover the rivets and gives you a bell surface for triggering additional ride variations.
As with most kits in the entry-level market, the tom and snare pads are relatively small. While the 8" pad surfaces should encourage accuracy at an early stage, even the best will find themselves striking out once in a while. If you're planning on going to a dual zone snare you might want to consider getting something a little bigger. You might also consider purchasing our RIMZ Silencer kit to eliminate the loud 'whack' that occurs when you hit the rim of the pad. Enough material is included in our kit to complete the entire Prodigy pad kit.
The pads themselves are un-stuffed shells of a tunable practice pad, although they appear to be more like the Gibraltar variation with chromed Phillips screws. They are actual 8" pads, which will accept other 8" heads (Roland, Pearl, etc). (Typical practice pads are an 'undersized' 8", closer to 7.75", so these heads are not interchangable.) Unlike the 8 'tuning screw' Remo pads of the same size, these 8" pads have only 6 screws on each rim. This shouldn't be a problem if you don't tension the heads too tightly. The mesh-headed tom and snare pads are not as quiet as you might expect. Two layers of thick mesh over a hollow plastic shell is more audible than most of the mesh set-ups we've played. It's right near the stick noise level of a PADZ converted practice pad and well above a Roland pad or converted Rhythm Traveler or Chameleon.
Under the 2-ply mesh head there are 3 stiff foam cylinders. One of these is integrated into a trigger under the pad base. The remaining two are presumably there to provide vibrational calm to the head when struck.
The trigger itself isn't complex. Simple shock transfer from mesh head to foam to plastic plate to piezo. This should facilitate simple on-spot repairs if necessary.
The trigger casing is screwed to the bottom of the pad, while a large hole allows for passage of the foam cylinder through the pad base where it continues up until it makes contact with the mesh head.
The threads on the pad's hardware mount are made of brass, also like the Gibraltar version. Softer than steel, these could be a point of future failure as has been experienced on other practice pads. When you twist them on, there is little control over positioning the pad. When it snugs, there it is. The bolt ends on the mounts are quite short and only follow through to about half the length of the pad's threads. All of this adds up to an easily strippable mount. There are no neoprene washers between the pad and mount either. You will want to get some of these. They have proven helpful in the past in reducing crosstalk and giving some positioning wiggle room. If you plan on transporting the kit, pick up some longer bolts and nuts of the same thread while you're getting your neoprene washers.
When you return from the hardware store, take your pads off the mounts and remove the mesh heads. Run your new, longer bolts from the inside of the pad out and add a couple of neoprene washers. Now you can position the pads exactly how you want and eliminate the brass fitting as the biggest wear factor of the set-up. Utilizing the entire length of brass thread (which will now remain snugged to the bolt), while changing the wear point to steel on steel should greatly lengthen the life of your mounts.
We nearly had to get out the micrometer to assist in set-up. Placement is tight with a rack this small using the pre-installed clamp layout. Moving the cymbals and clamps to side rack arms would allow you to get the kit spaced a little more naturally.
Further re-arrangement of the clamps may yield a more usable setup than the out-of-box configuration. You may consider using Gibraltar's Cymbal Arm Clamp. This clamp allows you to attach the cymbal arm to the top of the horizontal rack tubes.
Logos on the pad's triggers hint that they should be positioned with the trigger to the top of the pad. This resulted in hot spots in our experience. It wasn't long before we rotated all of the triggers on their pad bases to serve as a reminder of proper placement. This also rotated the jacks to the side of the pad nearest the module, making cable runs cleaner. Of course, you can tell by the picture that we've yet to concern ourselves with the cosmetics as we likely won't keep the stock set-up for long.
Of course, due to the method of mounting, it was not possible to change the trigger position of the kick pad. This isn't a problem as the pedal strikes the same place every time.
The kick trigger is responsive, yet a little bouncy. The kick pedal tends to wander and bring the whole rack with it on the Remo racks. Same design with the Prodigy, same problem experienced. If there was a pad that needed a better clamp, this would be it. Since you have to provide your own pedal, you might want to get one with a solid footboard that you can apply some industrial strength Velcro to. This and a good rug will give it a fighting chance of staying put. As a side note, why do electronic drum manufacturers insist on leaving out the kick pedal?
Our kit arrived with one of its cords defective. There was no visible damage, yet it failed to pass the 'pad and module' cable tester. While it would be a show stopper for many, we have more cords than we know what to do with. We ended up replacing two before we were done to accommodate a bit of a clearance problem on the cymbals. Right-angle cables should have been included to properly clear the stand hardware with the cable exiting the cymbal's trigger casing. An aquarian cymbal spring would also improve clearance. For other reasons that we will get into later, add a couple of these to your list.
Following Hart's advice, "PRODIGY set requires no adjustment and is ready to play with the ALESIS D4/DM5", we reinitialized our carefully programmed DM5 and plugged everything in. It played well out of the box, but there was plenty of room for improvement. Cross-talk was an immediate problem that needed addressed. We found that a few gain tweaks (down on the pads, up on the cymbals) were necessary too. It still played better than many demo kits in music stores do.
The hi-hat pad is a 'DRUMMERS FACE' practice pad with a trigger screwed to it. It feels very much like the 'ROK PAD' brand which feels very little like a hi-hat. It also causes other pads to trigger when hit. If there is a pad to replace on this kit, we've just found it. We believe the hi-hat to be one of the most important components of a drum kit, yet manufacturers tend to give it the least amount of attention. The hi-hat pedal is a fancy housing for a simple switch. With traditional rack leg placement the hi-hat pedal can't be placed in the optimal position. As with the Remo pad kit, a leg whacking session may be in order.
If you aren't ready to get your hacksaw out you can simply skew the rack leg to accommodate your hi-hat foot pedal. You might also decide to lose the hi-hat or get a stand-mounted snare pad, freeing one of the shorter arms as tubing for the left rack foot as shown in the photo of our converted Remo practice pad kit.
The tracking is pretty good on the Prodigy, considering the simplicity of the trigger's make-up. The dynamics of the pads are smooth if you stay off the hot spot (easy to do if you can position the trigger on the edge closest to you). The cymbals trigger well, but rotate out of position when played. The only easy way to solve this is with an Aquarian cymbal spring. This will kill two birds with one stone as we discussed before.
We have yet to try the kit with a more advanced module as there is nothing to suggest any of the advanced features of these modules would be utilized. With off-set trigger placement, positional sensing is out. There is nothing to choke on the cymbals and the snare is a single zone. It also stands to reason that since you wouldn't buy a helmet that cost more than your head, you won't buy a module that's worth more than your pad kit. The Prodigy is being marketed to the entry-level drummer, hence we stuck with an entry-level module. UPDATE: Musician's Friend now offers the Prodigy in a kit with the Alesis DM5. It remains to be seen if this will become a standard with other Hart dealers.
Would we buy this over a converted Remo practice pad kit? Maybe. If you aren't going to use real cymbals with your kit, the Prodigy offers pre-triggered convenience of conventional practice cymbals. However, the Remo rack can still be found with better clamps and is a good $300 cheaper without the cymbals. If you can find $300 of value in the additional components, the Prodigy makes an excellent entry-level starting point. It is simple enough to maintain and build on to, as we have shown in the limited time we have had the kit. We'll continue to work with the Prodigy and see if we can't find some cost-effective ways to help you get more out of it.
The Good
Price, Price & Price... Good triggering for an entry-level kit... Compact and lightweight
The Bad
Throwaway hi-hat pad... You have to go kick pedal shopping... Hardware details unrefined
The Ugly
Definition of 'Made in USA' not appreciated
Items you will NEED to add:
A drum module (Alesis DM5 is recommended)
A drum throne of choice (You have to sit somewhere)
Headphones of choice (You need to hear it too)
Kick Pedal of choice (Grrrr!!!)
Drumsticks of choice (Pretty obvious)
Items you will WANT to add:
A couple of Aquarian cymbals springs
10 Neoprene washers
5 longer bolts
Shorter hex key
Other Suggested modifications:
Turn your snare to dual zone (see ElectronicDRUMS.com projects)
Shorten the rack foot by the hi-hat
Gibraltar cymbal arm rack clamps to better locate cymbals
Yamaha bell trigger or other dual-zone ride
Silence your pad's rims buy it here
Related Items - Where to Buy:
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Hart Dynamics Prodigy Electronic Drum Set and Alesis DM5 Module Kit
|
RIMZ Silencer
Click for Details |
LOGIZTIX™ is not responsible for any and all injuries or other claims that may arise from your use or attempted use of these instructions. Certain skills are a prerequisite for following these plans successfully. The use of manufacturers and/or other companies' names does NOT constitute an endorsement... All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
