Caleb Flood, who we supplied with a Roland SPD-SX, speaks of his experience using the sampling pad.

“I’m Caleb, a 15 year old drummer from West Yorkshire. I started drumming around the age of 5 because my Dad is a drummer. At the time we lived in a semi-detached house so a full acoustic kit was out of the question. My Dad had a Roland TD-6V electric drum kit which was brilliant. I still use it to this day and it works like it’s brand new. When I was 14 we decided to buy a drum pad, either the Roland SPD-30 or the SPD-SX, both outstanding pieces of equipment. I felt I needed something I could play live and possibly use as a drum kit for semi acoustic gigs. I ended up getting the SPD-30 as it has an extensive bank of sounds on it which I felt was ideal. I was able to use this in my band just as I had hoped. I took it into the studio and it worked a charm.”

Caleb Flood

“However, I’ve been thinking recently that I wanted something more, not just for the band but for general use and practice. (By this I mean messing about on the drums ;)) So we decided to buy the SPD-SX as my band BLYSS have a Battle of the bands competition at the 02 Academy in Leeds for Martin house children’s hospice and I felt it would fit perfectly. As soon as the SX came, I fell in love with it. I am able to use my Roland triggers with it, the samples and sounds are stunning, it is extremely easy to use, in my opinion easier than the SPD-30. It has enhanced my playing in a way I could not have imagined. I used to despise the thought of having electronics mix into my drum kit, yet now I can’t imagine my kit without it.”

Please enjoy this track by Calib Flood and his band BLYSS : “Alive”.