Roland HPD20 Handsonic Hand Percussion Instrument

The Roland HPD-20 is a versatile Instrument that offers a tactile experience for anyone who wants authentic sounding drum sounds with hands one touch and control.

The Most obvious use would be for a live percussionist who wants a variety of sounds all within easy access via the banked presets. The Roland HPD-20 is also ideal for music producers who want to lay down drum tracks manually and retain the feel and nuances of playing that they would get with an acoustic drum.

Here's what Roland say about the HPD-20

The HandSonic HPD-20 is a unique instrument that's ideal for a wide range of music creators, from percussionists and drummers to electronic dance music performers, composers, and producers. Equipped with the renowned SuperNATURAL sound engine and powerful multi-effects, the HPD-20 offers 850 dynamic sounds, plus the ability to import your own samples via USB flash memory. 13 pads provide ultra-sensitive response and flexible control options for playing onboard sounds and external MIDI instruments with an incredible range of expression.

The HPD-20 also excels in computer music applications, where it's perfect for playing virtual instruments, recording MIDI and audio performances in DAW software, and much more. And with convenient trigger inputs, you can easily expand the HPD-20 with a Roland pad and hi-hat controller to build a super-compact percussion set.

• Powerful hand percussion instrument for live performance and studio music production
• 850 drum and percussion sounds from around the world, along with melodic instruments, tones for modern electronic music, and more
• Roland's acclaimed SuperNATURAL engine delivers unparalleled sound quality and expressiveness
• Import up to 500 of your own WAV sounds via USB flash memory and assign them to pads
• Deep editing capability allows you to tweak and layer instruments and process tones with three independent multi-effects engines, ambience, and EQ
• 13 silicone rubber pads provide ultra-sensitive velocity response and a comfortable feel
• Dynamic pad assignments let you dampen, mute, and tune sounds for authentic performances of acoustic hand percussion like congas and tabla
• Roll button and Realtime Modify knob; D-BEAM for controlling sounds and effects with hand movements
• Easily capture performances and ideas with the Quick Rec function and export them as WAV audio files to USB flash memory
• Inputs for connecting a Roland pad and hi-hat controller (sold separately) to create a super-compact drum set
• USB Computer port for audio/MIDI communication with popular music software, including DAWs and standalone virtual instruments

Discover the power of HandSonic

Going far beyond typical pad controllers, the HandSonic HPD-20 is a sophisticated hand percussion instrument with an amazing level of expressive power. It features 13 velocity-sensitive pads arranged in a circular configuration, with different pad sizes for maximum ergonomic efficiency. You strike the pads to play sounds, of course, but you can also touch or press a pad to dampen or mute another pad's tone, adjust its pitch, and more. This lets you use traditional acoustic hand percussion techniques with authentic results, and also create dynamic, unique textures that are perfect for electronic dance music and other modern styles. On the two largest pads, you can play with natural tonal variations, depending on where you strike the pads. Further sound control is available with the Roll button, Realtime Modify knob, and the famous D-BEAM, a cool way to play sounds and manipulae effects with hand movements in the air.

Packed with SuperNATURAL sounds

The HPD-20 comes with 850 onboard sounds that are instantly accessible and ready to play. At your command is an enormous library of ethnic percussion instruments from around the world, as well as melodic and orchestral percussion. Traditional drum kit sounds are also available, plus a large selection of electronic tones that are ideal for current dance music. All the sounds offer an incredible range of dynamic expression, thanks to the powerful combination of Roland's SuperNATURAL sound engine and the ultra-sensitive response and functionality of the HandSonic pad interface. The HPD-20 provides 200 kits in total -including 100 kits filled with ready-to-go setups-and you can freely modify any kit so it suits any style or playing situation.

Import your own samples

In addition to its built-in sounds, the HPD-20 lets you import up to 500 of your own WAV sounds and play them from the pads. Just load up a USB flash drive with your favourite sounds from your computer, connect it to the HPD-20 to import them, assign them to pads, and create your own kits. The types of sounds you can use are not limited to short percussion strikes-with up to 12 minutes of time available, you can customise your HandSonic with longer audio phrases, sound effects, backing music, and more. Once your sounds are in the HPD-20, you're free to use them just like the onboard sounds, with complete editing and effects capabilities at your disposal.

Deep editing and dynamic multi-effects

Inside the HPD-20 is a set of powerful tools for creating all-new sounds. When building user kits, you can edit every instrument individually by modifying its volume, pitch, decay, and more. You can also layer two sounds together and assign parameters to blend or switch them dynamically based on your playing velocity. Three independent multi-effects engines-each equipped with 25 different effects-provide rich sound-shaping options, from standard chorus and echo to intense effects such as distortion, filter, and bit crush that are ideal for dance music and electronica. The Realtime Modify knob allows you to tweak pitch and effects as you perform for expressive sound shaping on the fly, and ambience effects and EQ can be applied to an entire kit for final sweetening.

Quick Rec and USB

The Quick Rec function lets you capture a performance or idea at the touch of a button. Play along with the built-in metronome for steady time as you record, or go without to capture playing without being constrained by a set tempo. Saving your recordings to a connected USB flash drive is just as easy-just hit the Export function button, adjust level and other parameters as desired, and save! You can back up your HPD-20 user kits and other settings to USB memory as well. The HPD-20's USB Computer port makes it easy to connect to a Mac or Windows computer and use the powerful HandSonic pad interface to play virtual instruments and record beats in audio/MIDI music production software.

Trigger inputs and MIDI

The HPD-20 excels as a standalone percussion instrument, but you can extend its capabilities even further with external devices. Via the TRIG IN jack, you can connect a wide range of Roland pad types for stick playing, or a kick pad for banging out beats from the floor. Add a Roland hi-hat controller to the dedicated jack and you've got a versatile and super-compact percussion kit. MIDI I/O provides even more possibilities, allowing you to trigger HPD-20 sounds from V-Drums, SPD-series pads, keyboards, and more, or play the sounds from other instruments via the HandSonic.