RECORDING January 2023 - 61

oak-ish. The 3X moves up to a pair of
14 " Tru-Motion hi-hats, and you also get
a couple of 16 " crash cymbals and an
18 " ride. Lastly, the kick, while still of the
compact variety, is a 12 x 4 " kick with a
double-mesh drum head.
Five
Moving to the EFNOTE 5 (and 7)
series sets, they feature double-headed
traditional shells made of 6-ply birch.
The stock sets are wrapped in white
sparkle, while the X models are again
black oak-ish.
The EFNOTE 5 is a 4-piece kit. It has
a 12 x 5 " 7-sensor snare, a 10 x 7 "
tom, a 12 x 12 " free-standing floor tom
and a 16 x 12 " kick. It comes with 14 "
Tru-Motion high-hats, an 8 " splash, a
16 " crash and an 18 " ride, plus cymbal
stands and mounting hardware.
The EFNOTE 5X adds a 13 x 13 "
floor tom and a second 16 " crash.
Seven
The EFNOTE 7 is also a 4-piece set
with a full-size 14 x 5.5 " 9-sensor snare,
11 x 11 " rack tom, 15 x 15 " floor tom
and 20 x 15 " kick drum. It has 14 "
Tru-Motion high-hats, a 16 " crash and
a 20 " ride.
The 7X adds a second 13 x 13 " floor
tom, an 8 " splash and the world's first
stackable 17 " effects cymbal. While I
did not get one for review, I played it
at the NAMM show stacked with the 8 "
splash, and it's a pretty wicked concept.
Again all stands (minus the hi-hat and
kick pedal) are included.
The Module
A 7 x 4.5 x 1.5 " compact sound
module is at the heart of each kit.
The sounds and routings of each are
tailored to the series model. The unit
is made of metal with a monochrome
90s-esque soft-touch screen and a
single push-button navigation dial.
On the left side of the unit, you
will find an 1
1/8
/8
" headphone output,
" audio input and a power socket.
On the right is a Micro USB port
to connect to your computer as a
MIDI controller and 8-channel audio
interface (Mac and Windows). Further
connections-1
/4
" stereo outputs,
traditional 5-Pin DIN MIDI and all
TRS drum triggers-are made via two
D-Sub/ breakout snake connectors.
The drum module handles kit selection
and drum tuning, panning, levels and tailoring.
You can also tweak triggers and
zones to fit your playing style and touch.
There is also a custom audio routing matrix,
drum/cymbal routing matrix, a metronome,
stroke analysis, practice tools, an internal
groove recorder and a setlist function.
When adding additional or rearranging
kit pieces, the module automatically
adjusts to that drum (or cymbals) sensor
and zone configuration.
Wireless
The unit also works with Bluetooth. It
allows you to jam by playing along with
songs and sounds from your smartphone
or tablet. If you download the free EFNOTE
app, you can trigger kit pieces remotely,
edit levels (while the module plays
a groove), and quickly swap trigger/pad
routings. You can also store your custom
kits and trigger/playing profile, which is
handy when multiple players might be
playing the same kit. Additionally, it has
Bluetooth MIDI In and Out.
The Sounds
EFNOTE kits are entirely sample-based
using what EFNOTE calls Tru-Aco™
sound technology. According to the
company, you get high resolution, truestereo
raw sampled sounds with zero
resynthesis or modeling.
Approximately 95% of the drum sounds
are acoustic-based, with only the 3 and
3X containing some gentle old-school
electronic/drum machine leanings.
As mentioned, you can tweak each
drum's tuning, damping (decay) and EQ
and add ambiance from one of eight reverb
offerings. You can change the panning
and levels of every drum and zone,
and you can build custom kits from any
available drum or cymbal.
If you are after alien sounds, electronic
glitch, ethnic offerings, or the ability to
model a 40 " bass drum virtually, these
may not be your cup of tea.
You get a cross-section of classic
acoustic drums and cymbals in various
styles spanning loose, booming big
band, super-dry 1970s kits, arena rock,
funk, jazz, modern pop and more, including
a Metal Master kit with baked-in
compression and pre-EQ.
The 3 Series kits come with 16 preset
drum kits made up of 50 instruments
with 34 user slots. The 5 Series offers 17
preset kits and 128 instruments with 83
user slots, and the 7 Series has 20 presets,
128 instruments and 80 user kits.
This may sound a tad limited, but the
focus here is on playable, high-quality
acoustic sounding kits, not deep-twisted
sound design.
That said, I did find a few curious omissions.
While there is a single snare's off
option, no brush, rute or mallet offerings
are available so far-all quite popular
in jazz, contemporary worship and
modern folk genres.
ELISE™
The EFNOTE playing experience is
brought to you by ELISE sensor technology.
ELISE translates the nuances of your
playing from the drums and cymbals to
the drum controller with remarkable consistency,
stability and low latency.
Drum Notes
Each drum contains multiple sensors
designed to eliminate hot spots on the
playing surface. The drums all use traditional
drum hoops and tuning lugs, so
you can adjust the heads to physically
respond to your playing style and get
the best response from said sensors.
Each tom is a two-zone drum. You can
play the head and the rims, which are
covered in a high-impact rubber.
The full-size snare drums are 3-zone
offerings with head, rim (shot) and side
stick. The side stick is implemented by
a robust rubber-tipped metal plate attached
to the snare.
RECORDING January 2023 61
RECORDING January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of RECORDING January 2023
