Roland HandSonic HPD-20 Digital Hand Percussion Controller, 10"/13 Sections/Pressure-Sensitive Pad, Graphic Display, USB Interface

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 execute 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, which provides a cool way to play sounds and manipulate effects with hand movements in the air.

Inside the HPD-20 is a full set of powerful tools for creating all-new sounds. When building user kits, it’s possible to 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 Real-time Modify knob allows you to tweak pitch and effects as you perform for expressive sound shaping on the fly, and ambiance effects and EQ can be applied to an entire kit for final sweetening.