Yamaha DD55C 7-Pad General MIDI Digital Drum System

by Yamaha

Product Features

• Digital drum system with 7 touch-sensitive drum pads
• 174 stereo-sampled percussion voices assignable to any of the pads
• 2 assignable foot pedals; 100 built-in rhythm styles
• 50 programmed drum kits and 1 user-programmable drum kit
• Pair of 5-watt stereo speakers; 22.3 x 6.9 x 14.2 inches (W x H x D)

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 25 x 18.2 inches ; 15 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 16 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006645LS
• Item model number: DD55C
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,231 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #22 in Musical Instruments > Drums & Percussion > Electronic Drums > Drum Machines
  • #85 in Musical Instruments > DJ, Electronic Music & Karaoke > Electronic Music

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Yamaha DD55C is an ideal transitional instrument for burgeoning drummers. While not as robust as a full-size digital drum set, it's far more versatile than most beginning sets, with a host of built-in stereo-sampled voices and a bass boost system that gives added bombast to your beats. The set's seven touch-sensitive drum pads offer adjustable sensitivity, letting users tap out a sensitive cymbal-heavy jazz beat or a festive hand-thumped Latin rhythm. Drummers can assign the 174 percussion voices to any of the pads or the pair of foot pedals, though many will choose the kick and hi-hat voices for the latter. The set also includes 100 built-in rhythm styles to accompany your playing (great for practice or when simulating a professional rhythm section), along with 50 programmed drum kits and a single user-programmable kit. Built in to each of the voices are reverb and chorus effects for added depth.

The DD55C is compatible with general MIDI, so drummers can download additional MIDI voices by computer. Drummers will also appreciate the pair of 5-watt speakers, which employ digital stereo processing to produce a rich, complex beat. Additional features include a three-digit LED, a headphone jack for private drumming, and a one-track sequencer. The set measures 22.3 by 6.9 by 14.2 inches (W x H x D) and carries a one-year warranty on parts and 90 days on labor.

What's in the Box
Seven drum pads, two foot pedals, user's manual.

Product Description

The Yamaha DD55C 7 Pad General MIDI Digital Drum System is a serious musical instrument to extend the creative latitudes of a professional or amateur drummer. It works on batteries or an optional PA5D AC adapter. 100 Built-in Rhythm Styles for accompaniment 50 Programmed Drum Kits One User Programmable Drum Kit to store a favorite setup Reverb and Chorus Effects Large 3-Digit LED display screen General MIDI and MIDI In/Out for computer connectivity Headphone Jack Stereo Speakers with Bass Port and 5 Watt per channel amplification deliver exceptional sound Port for hookup to an external amplifier Download songs from Internet and play them Includes 2 Drum Sticks Battery requirement information not available at writing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic way to learn to play the drums, January 22, 2005

By 

J. Gorny (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha DD55C 7-Pad General MIDI Digital Drum System (Electronics)

I bought this item after testing it out for a few minutes at a local store, and found that it is much more versatiel that it may first appear. Pads are responsive, but not too responsive - sensitivity is adjustable. I recommend trying to find the kit with the drum stand included - it makes it very easy to have a setup at home.

Drum sounds are great, comparable to more MIDI modules that would otherwise come separately, or if you want to you could run the MIDI through the wavetable on the soundcard of your computer (or run virtual samplers or whatever off of it - everything comes across standard channel 10 (drum channel) but you can also program is for other channels or even separate pads by channel.

You may read complaints about the hat being hard to use... I found that if you hold the sticks properly this becomes less of an issue - the set is designed to trim back double-hits and so if you are sloppy, you will not get the clean hat sounds you are looking for - so yes, it works, clean up your playing! :)

The rubber pads also have a very similar feel to rubber practice pads used by teachers and students all over... so the feel of the drum hits is excellent. As I have gotten better and more confident I find I am able to bash away at the set and it's responsive nature is excellent.

However I have two recommendations -

1. Get headphones - you can practice anytime!

2. Get a carpet - this is an old trick to keep gear in place while you play, but it really works for this kit. The trigger pedals are plastic and light and so although they have rubber feet, they have the tendency to bounce if you are a good stomper! So you hear the trigger of your stomp but then the trigger when the pedal hits the floor! On hardwood floor this happens easily. So get yourself a small carpet or else attach some sort of plate to the bottom of the pedals so they won't slip...

Word has it this kit can use the fancier Yamaha pro kick and hat pedals also, so if you really want to get serious about it, well there you go.

I tried taking lessons on a conventional drum kit and found that it made too much noise and that I wouldn't practice because I hated having people hear how bad I was... This kit eliminates that problem, and you can focus more on the essentials of separating your limbs and on timing... It includes an onboard metronome also, and the black circle is a dialing control that can be used to select kits, sounds, songs, and metronome speed...

Alternative in pad mode, you just hit the pad you want to change and it cycles through the sounds and roll patterns until you find one you like. I find myself dialing back and forth playing around with different sounds.

Also, there are voices with multiple patch triggers based on velocity - meaning that one those voices, not only will the sound be louder as you hit harder, but the sound will changed from a more subdued snare sample to a rimshot or a louder snare sample as well as get louder.

Final rec, if the sounds themselves don't do it for you, I have found two things help expand the possibilities of this kit:

1. a POD or Roland Cube15 or another modeling amplifier - like having a drum mic mixer in your home...

2. an actual mixer... I suggest one of the home varieties - I personally run it through a Peavy RQ100 along with my stereo and play along - 30 hour jam sessions and you can play along great. My brother just bought the small Behringer home mixer and really likes it as well, although it is geared more towards being portable with the Peavey RQ100 has inputs that are computer friendly...

Well that's about it - it's a great starter kit for someone who has always wanted to try drums - that was me 2 months ago, and now I am actually doing it thanks to this machine.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Versatile percussion, February 24, 2005

By 

Jesus C. Alba (Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha DD55C 7-Pad General MIDI Digital Drum System (Electronics)

This drum is the instrument of choice to begin in the professional percussion. If you are an appassionate of real drums, you will miss the feel of a traditional drum (the sound of the perimeter of the snare, the multiple variations in the sound of the ride cymbal, the subtleness of opening and closing the hi-hat -though this drum system is sensible enough to allow some basic opening/closing playing-). If you are not, you'll get high quality drum sounds (hard to distinguish from real ones), together with a nice atmosphere (due to the DSP effects that the DD55 includes).

Moreover, if you turn the hand-percussion mode on, you will enjoy some basic (yet high quality again) percussion instruments.

All the pads and the bass drum pedal provide fine sensitivity, so you will usually not need to strike them hard - simply give gentle touchs and enjoy

The MIDI implementation is also very good, so you can record your performances or use the DD55 as a external sound module.

In sum, it's probably the best choice in its price range.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptional Value, August 8, 2005

By 

Kurt H. (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha DD55C 7-Pad General MIDI Digital Drum System (Electronics)

No, It's not as good or as realistic as a real set and not as good a digital drum set as a Roland V Drum setup, but for what it is, it's excellent. As a beginning recreational drummer, this was a great buy since it allows me to get acquainted with playing without taking up tons of room, being loud to play and cumbersome to transport.

I wish such an instrument was available when I was in college in Minnesota when other band members and I had to help our drummer move his set and cymbals across campus to and from evening practice in the freezing Winter. Although this digital drum pad would never completely replicate a real set for practice / jam sessions, it would definitely get the job done by plugging into the sound system via a direct-input box. Also this DD-55 would have been much smaller and lighter to transport and we wouln't have wasted 20 minutes per practice for set up / take down time.

If you're interested in learning drums without buying a full-blown set that takes up lots of space, can't be played with headphones, requires additional sound insulation and costs more it would be a well-placed purchase. It would also be a good buy if you already have a set and want to practice at night and/or need to move your gear frequently to and from practice and jam sessions.

Now, if anyone from Yamaha Products is reading here are my recommendations for changes / enhancements in new models:

- It would be great to be able to store drum kits, songs and settings remotely via a USB device. DD-55 drum kits and settings are lost when the unit looses power.

- 7 levels of drum pad sensitivity are good, but 12 would be much, much better -- particularly for the cymbals.

- The DD-55 unit has one 1/4" stereo output. It would be great if the unit also had two mono 1/4" outputs and/or two RCA outputs.

- Two more small drum pads would be great.

- The built-in DD-55 speakers are very wimpy and can be dispensed with. The sounds come across much better through headphones or an Amplifier / PA setup.

- A more sturdy fiberglass casing would make the unit much more road-worthy.

- The size of the unit is a bit irregular and hard to fit in many gig bags. It would be great if soft-padded or hard-shell case bags are available.

Although these changes may add between $50 and $100 per unit, such enhancements would make the unit a more professional grade, easily transportable practice unit.