Drum Workshop DW Soundworks

Selecting a drum or cymbal in the Kit Designer reveals a host of information, from the size and material of the drum to which heads were fitted and the choice of microphone used to capture it.

Drum Workshop bring their considerable experience of drum hardware to the virtual world.

DW — or Drum Workshop, to give them their full title — are one of the leading manufacturers of acoustic drums. For many years there has been speculation that they’ve been developing electronic drum technology and, in a surprising move, at the end of 2022 the Roland Corporation bought DW.

In the documentation that was released as part of the acquisition, Roland explained that they were “buying game‑changing technology that allows us to accelerate the introduction of the next generation of hybrid drums.” Jump forward two years and DW have released the DWe kit, a groundbreaking combination of high‑end acoustic drums and cable‑free, Wi‑Fi triggering. The kit is unique in the world of electronic drums in that it doesn’t ship with a sound module, all of the sounds instead being generated by DW Soundworks, a virtual instrument for Mac and Windows that is also available to purchase as a standalone application and a VST/AU plug‑in.

The DWe kit itself is probably a little too deep into ‘drummer’ territory for a full Sound On Sound review, as it actually is an acoustic kit (see ‘The DWe Hardware’ box), but the Soundworks virtual instrument is absolutely fair game, so here we go!

In The Works

In the only obvious link with Roland, the Soundworks application and kit libraries are downloaded through the Roland Cloud. Installation is very simple, although personally I find navigating the Roland Cloud quite confusing. I’ll put that down to a lack of familiarity on my part.

Soundworks ships with six included libraries — DW 50th Anniversary, DW Maple Mahogany, DW Pure Almond, DW Pure Maple, Gretsch USA Custom and Slingerland Vintage — each weighing in at around 8GB. Fortunately, DW own the iconic Gretsch and Slingerland brands (hence their inclusion), which allows for the varied range of kits within the package. Currently, the only additional ‘kit’ available for purchase is the DW True‑Cast Snare, which features the DW Bell‑Bronze True Cast Snare and will set you back an additional $29.99.

Visually, the software uses a familiar VI format, with three main windows: Drum, Mixer and Grooves. The Drum window is where you’ll probably spend most of your time and features a graphic representation of a drum kit in the centre, a channel strip to the left, and editing and instrument selection windows to the right and below. In addition to the kit view, there’s also a ‘Cell View’ option that displays each element of the kit in a grid pattern and allows you to audition elements dynamically by clicking in different areas of the drum. The Mixer and Grooves screens are accessed via tabs across the top of the main display, along with a drop‑down browser menu for loading and saving preset kits, transport controls and a processor activity meter.

All kits are presented in a seven‑drum format, comprising five toms, a kick and a snare. Cymbal configurations change subtly with each kit, but are based around a hi‑hat, crash and ride combination, plus various splashes and china/effect cymbals.

As you might expect from a drum company, the Soundworks preset kits sound exceptional. Clicking on the Kit Browser opens a drop‑down menu listing all the kits in alphabetical order. Each library includes between eight and 10 presets, except the DW 50th Anniversary library, which features 20 presets. In addition to the preset name, Genre and Ambience tags are provided to help identify and categorise the kits, but it doesn’t seem possible to sort the kits based on any of these criteria. Although you can ‘favourite’ kits by clicking the star icon, it would be useful to be able to sort by genre or ambience. You can also add a kit to a SetList, a feature designed for using Soundworks in live performance (see ‘The Dwe Hardware’ box).

Clicking on the small play button next to a preset’s name plays a short snippet of the drums in action, which is a handy way to audition a kit within the browser before you load it. In terms of styles and genres, the DW kits span the majority of rock and metal categories, and the Gretsch and Slingerland kits offer great options for a poppier or more jazzy sound.

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