The Kat drum pad has been making a lot of friends in the industry lately. Those who know brands like Yamaha and Roland can tell good quality in drum pads when they see one.
But is this drum pad really as good as they say? Well, we are about to find out.
KAT is one of the largest manufacturers of affordable electronic drum pads. And they make products of the highest quality, which is one thing I love most about them.
But with so many brands coming up every now and then, it is normal to wonder whether it is really worth the trouble. And in my opinion, it comes with everything you need to enjoy playing drums and practicing your skills.
What is so good about multipads?
When it comes to portability and the best practice for your drumming skills, you need something that sounds good and does not make a lot of noise. And this is where electronic drums kits come in.
But it is not just all any e-drum kit, but a drum pad. These items have become one of the biggest technological breakthroughs in the music industry.
If you don’t know what an electronic drum pad can do, you may think it is just a toy for kids, but wait until you start playing on it, then you will realize how important they are.
I was never a fun of these electronic staff myself. I depended more on the power of my acoustic drums kits.
Until I found myself in a situation where I had to give different percussion sounds in one performance; luckily, I had been practicing on these pads to create different sounds triggers and record them on my computer for future use.
You see, a drum pad is not only a portable practice instrument; you can use it for so much more. Some of them can be converted into a mini e-drum set.
Different manufactures have come up strong over the past several years to offer various features and functionality. Each of them wants to show how superior they are in terms of providing the best for modern consumption needs.
Multi-pad became popular shortly after the birth of MIDI. It seems the tone created a need for more instruments to be used in the setting.
Consider when a band needed to have different people to play different instruments? It was very costly for them since they had to pay each one of them separately.
An acoustic instrument sounds way better and natural than any of its electronic counterparts, but it will never have the portability and compactness of electronic components.
During the last few years, multipads have been gaining a lot of popularity and the right reason. They carry an incredible blend of electronics with acoustics, making sure the user gets the best of both worlds.
If you are looking for the easiest way to bring the musical river banks, then there is nothing better than a high-quality multipad to help out.
And the best part is, you can use them either as standalone or add to your acoustic kits for more flavor and flesh in your music.
A multipad will do even better in live performances. They expose you to possibilities you will just never find in any other system.
In other words, these gadgets would never have come at a better time.
Do you need to use a multipad?
The simplest answer is yes. I have been in the music industry as a drummer and a percussionist for a very long time. For this reason, I have a lot of experience in what makes music worth your listeners’ ears.
The world is changing, and consumers are becoming more and more demanding. You want to make sure you stand out from the rest of the group since the music industry is among the most competitive ones.
Technology has taken over many things we would have done with traditional applications. And everyone who wishes to make it today must be ready to embrace these technologies.
Multipads can easily be seen as the future of percussion. They are simple and single products that can trigger any sound you want.
Some of the best multipads come with huge memory, enabling you to play and store as many sounds as you wish. As if that is not enough, you can play them as electronic drums together with your acoustic pieces.
Another reason multipads have become very popular is their studio recording abilities. Once you have played and recorded your sounds on it, you don’t need to have the real drums with you at all times anymore. You just hit the pads that trigger your recorded sounds, and you are good to go.
Besides, when recording, you don’t need to play drums over and over again if you have made a mistake. The instrument allows you to connect your computer via a USB to edit the sounds any way you want.
However, it is also important to note that a multipad should not be replaced for a real drum kit. Yes, they are portable and offer different sounds, but they will never give you the feel and quality of true drums.
I have seen many drummer struggles with hitting the trigger they did not intend to, creating some discord in their performance, especially in live situations. This is one of the biggest challenges of relying so much on these items.
Nevertheless, we can never deny the vital part they are playing in modern music. They let the user tap into their imagination and wow their audiences with sounds they never heard before.
As stated above, consumer needs and demands have been on the rise over the past several years. As such, it may be hard to meet them without the help of technology.
Hence, it would be best if you had a multipad.
Besides, even the best musicians and percussionists in the world are using it. Meet any modern DJ today, and they probably have one.
So, it is not just about making music easily, but because this is the trend too. Your journey begins by choosing the right instrument.
Is the KAT Drum Pad Good?
The KTMP1 Drum Pad from Kat percussion is one of the most popular electronic drum pads today. It comes carrying more than 50 built-in sounds from kicks, snares, cymbals, percussion instrument, and many more. They have a modified sound based on pitch, volume, sensibility, pan & reverb.
Kat is a reputable brand in the electronic instrument world. They have been around for a long time, making a high-quality product to meet modern user needs.
One thing that sets them aside is their focus on innovating and implementing new ideas. They have realized the importance of keeping up with contemporary user needs and are using the same to offer great products to the market.
Kat KTMP1 is the best example of what they can do. You can play the instrument using both sticks and hands. You can also incorporate a hi-hat and bass trigger to ensure the most convenient sounds at the end of your performance.
Even though they seem simple and small, multipads can be very expensive. But this Kat percussion pad is much cheaper. Therefore, it will let you enjoy the beauty of many instruments in one place at the best price possible.
Beginner drummers often find it very hard to access the quality of higher-end products because of the prices. It is not even recommendable to invest a lot of money in a beginner drum kit.
The Kat KTMP1 drum pad is among the most affordable products out there. It allows drummers to easily add extra percussion to a performance without tearing their pockets.
And because it comes from a trusted manufacturer, you can be sure of what it promises.
Compact and useful
The Kat KTMP1 is one of the smallest and affordable drum pads on the market today. It features four surfaces. You can play with either hand or stick, depending on your liking.
I loved playing with hands more. Every pad is made from soft rubber, and it is very responsive. This means it will not be too hard on your hands, enabling you to play as long as you want.
And if you want to expand the kit into a mini e-drum kit, you can simply do it by adding on a kick and ahi-hat controller.
This means you can play enjoy playing even more if you have the right setting in place. You can then go ahead and record all the sounds you need, save, and use them whenever you want.
Four playing surfaces means you have a wider playing surface. You can assign each surface to a different drum set, enabling you built a useful drum set with the smallest footprint.
It comes with 50 onboard sounds, which covers the most common drum and percussion sounds. The sound is pretty decent too.
Even though I wouldn’t say I liked these sounds, I found them still useful in many ways. You can assign different sounds on each pad to create beautiful percussion sounds with the simplest approach.
Even better, you can venture outside the factory sounds and create your own desired tones. The KTMP1features both MIDI output and a USB jack. This allows you to connect to your computer and fire up some new and exciting sounds. You will never get bored using this drum pad because of its versatility. It is very simple too, yet highly functional.
It has a single volume know that controls both the pair of ¼-inch master outputs and a mini-jack for headphones.
When you want to edit your music, this is a very easy-to-use and straightforward machine that will ensure you take the least time possible. Unfortunately, it is quite limited compared to other multipads on the market.
Nevertheless, it is equipped with controls for selecting the sound you wish each pad to trigger.
You can also control other aspects of the pad, including the level, tuning, pan, reverb, pad sensitivity, and MIDI note number.
Note that the multipad also offers very limited values here, apart from the limited number of controls. This means you may not be able to get as much from this item as you would expect.
For instance, the tuning range and pan set is restricted to nine positions only. This may not be an issue for beginners, but experienced drummers will not like it very much.
Another limitation is that you can only use channel ten to send and receive MIDI. To experienced users, this a huge limitation. But for newcomers to the electronic percussion world, this is a very useful feature. It offers great simplicity with its fewer features and options.
Also, you cannot save kits in this pad. I found this to be my greatest disappointment. Anyway, there is not much you can expect from any product at this price range. Perhaps it is enough that you can connect USB and MIDI to expand your library.
You can apply sounds and edits to the pad after turning the power off and back on. But this is not enough to call up a saved set of sounds and edits. For instance, you will be forced to reprogram the pads to switch from the conga to drums set sounds. For me, this is a huge pain, and something the manufacturer will have to do something about. This pad
would have been so much useful if these extra features were added. But then, that would mean an issue for the on-budget buyer. So, I think it is a pretty decent product overall.
In a nutshell, the KAT KTMP1 is a great choice for those who only need a few extra sounds without breaking the bank. It sells for just over a C-note, which is why I cannot complain a lot about its features.
You may not get any other less expensive way to add electronic sounds to your kit than this. You will all fire up your computer using sticks without having to spend too much money.
Pros
Right from the box, this Kat multipad delivers 50 sounds. Now, this may not sound like much. But the 3 bass drums, 5 snares, 4 cymbals, 4 bongo, 3 conges, 3 timbales, and percussion & effects are enough for a beginner. They are all useful sounds that will leave you satisfied with your production.
Besides, you can modify each sound independently on the pitch, volume, sensibility, pan, and reverb. This makes it more useful than other products at this price range. With such a huge array of options, the multipad offers you the flexibility to modify the sounds.
Hence, even though you will not save new sounds, you allow your creativity to flow through the existing ones. It also enables you to carry percussion accessories like cowbells, maracas, tambourines, and jingles in one place.
This device is not different from any other multipad in terms of ensuring portability. Where you would have to hire different players, you provide the services for these extra components; you can easily carry this one device, and your life becomes a lot easier.
MIDI capability is one of the most notable features of this product. You can use it is a MIDI controller through USB, along with you to play drum and percussion instrument via any VST plugin. It is compatible with both PC and Mac, as well as iPad/iPhone.
Above all, this is one of the cheapest options you can ever get for electronic sounds. You will expand your drum set without having to spend too much. Besides, if you don’t want to but a full electronic drum set, this product will do the trick impressively.
It is a very small and compact product, making it more appealing to drummers to wish to add handclaps, tambourines, and other basic sounds needed for the gig.
Cons
If you need a high-end feature, this not the most recommended instrument to go for. It comes with very many missing features compared to Roland SPD-SX or the Yamaha DTX-multipad.
In terms of price, the KTMP1 is the only fraction of these giants, which may explain the lack of features.
There are three main flaws that fail this product. One, it comes with dated sounds and does not have internal memory for saving more. Compared to free VST or even the GarageBand, these are some of the industry’s oldest sounds. The company has no excuse for this.
Don’t get me wrong, though; it does not mean the sounds are not useful. Only that there are better and newer sounds that do a lot more good work than these.
Secondly, it features limited play zones. It only has a four-zone four-zone pad, which may not be efficient for all drummers during a gig.
The third drawback is that the pad is a bit unidimensional. The KTMP1 feels one-directional, which limits user creativity. Every time you change the pads sounds, it feels like starting ma new scene all over.
If you want to get the sounds back, you will need to keep very accurate notes of your setting and program them every time you want to use them. Not everyone has got time for that.
Add Ons
Even though the Kat Percussion KTMP1 multipad is among the smallest pads, you can convert into a small drum set. This is because it offers two external trigger/controllers.
The bass trigger
The bass trigger is the first and very useful trigger. Because of the small design on the multipad, this bass trigger could also be the smallest you have ever seen.
This is made to change the trigger position downward, which one can play as an inverted tennis ball beater, included in the box.
It feels like a tennis ball hitting the rubber pad, which is different but significantly reduces the volume.
The KTMP1 multipad is also compatible with bass drum triggers from other brands. But the Kat Kick Pad1 is the best for space and portability.
KTCH1 hi-hat controller
The KTCH1 hi-hat controller is another wonderful trigger you get with this drum pad. And, like the kick pad above, this controller integrates smoothly with the KMTP1, exposing you options of programming open, close, and chick hi-hat sounds.
But this trigger is not very reliable in terms of function. You will feel occasion false triggers on open or close sound.
If you want to eliminate this issue, you can reduce the sensibility of the multipad. However, some sort of control tightening would have been so much better.
Alternatives
The KTMP1 is a great multipad, especially for entry-level users. However, it lacks some of the basic features that make such products more useful. Fortunately, there are several alternatives for you.
The Alesis SamplePad Pro comes as another affordable product. It Alesis’ newest entry in this market and is better than the Kat drum pad.
This samplepad has eight pads arrange in two rows of three with two edge pads at the top. The machine has a bass drum and hi-hat controllers at the back, which makes it even more flexible.
It has an LCD screen that gives you everything you need in a simple view, making programming very easy.
It supports two layers of sounds under the same pad controlled by velocity. But you can only use this feature if you are accessing the memory card.
Use a USB cable to mount the memory card on your computer while inside the SamplePad Pro. This lets you change the names of your samples, copy new samples to the card, and change the kits’ names, among other features. With the 200 onboard sounds on this machine and the ability to add more, you can create any music you want.
Roland Octapad SPD-30
Another great alternative is the Roland Octapad SPD-30. Apart from the eight main pads on this machine, you get jacks for four additional stereo inputs. This is a higher-end option, which means it costs a lot more. But the worth price features it comes with, like ‘phase loop’ which you can use of record phase.
Conclusion
The Kat drum pad is a useful multipad. It is simple and highly portable. But I would not recommend it for professional use. Beginners will however find it quite applicable.
