handsonic for occasional performance and often for programming grooves and loops
for production and performance...

I use a zendrum. It´s a strap-worn piece of wood with lots of trigger pads that can be used to trigger an exterbal sound-source, in my case a software sampler. You can see it here in a duo with a darbuka player: vids.myspace.com/index.cfm

>Do you guys play these electronic pads with your hands or with sticks? Do you find that you can get authentic feeling parts when you emulate a doumbek or a tabla, or any other drum that is not played like a conga?

The handsonic is played with fingers/hands and the SPD series are played with sticks.
You can absolutely get authentic sound and feel. I much prefer the electronics to their accoustic counterparts and I'm adept at both. For instance the left hand snap to make a good tek on a real dunbek requires a lot of effort and technique. I get very tired after 20 minutes. Not so with the electronics. I can be assured to get the sound I want even if it's a muted hit, a soft or hard hit. Roland has been working on these for years and years and they truly have made pads that work like the real thing.
The pads are fully dynamic and the sound is different on the edge and middle - just like the real thing. You might be surprised at how many recordings are done with these Roland instruments instead of using the real drums. Plus I have the full assortment of sounds. Even tuned drums that can be altered with an invisible D-beam. A pad in the center can be used to bend the pitch just like pushing on a skin. I can even layer sounds on a single pad so if I need a cymbol behind my djimbe I can put on there. The belly dance troupe I perform with is currently doing a bit that sounds like about 20 drummers but we are only 4 drummers. BTW - the tabla sounds on these are the bomb. I use them more than any other drum sound.. The new handsonic 10 is slated to be released at the end of this month and is very reasonably priced.

great thread this, and to hark back to an earlier ?, I use hands as I'm primarily an
electirc violinist and never mastered sticks, though I do use mallets sometimes
as I played surdo as token honky for a group of black brazilians and that was all
they'd trust me with, heh...

do you still have wave drum if so give me a call 913 523 5662 thanx....Ed