For years drummers have wanted to record themselves playing the drums. Recording video has gotten easier as phones have improved but the audio has always been tricky. This is especially the case when on a budget and without a huge a lot of recording knowledge. Luckily you no longer have to worry as this is where the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module comes in.
What is the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module?
The Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module is exactly as it says on the tin. It is a drum module that allows you to record your entire acoustic drum kit using one handy sensor that is then plugged into the main drum module. From there you can use the audio capture for live performances or recording your acoustic drums audio.
How does the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module work?
The best thing about the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module is its simplicity. You just need to plug it in and it does all the work for you. There are two components to the EAD10.
The EAD10 Sensor
This is the bit that you need to connect to your drum kit. Ideally, you want this to be connected to your bass drum so that it can pick up a high-quality stereo image of your entire kit. This sensor is connected to the main module with a cable.
The EAD10 Module
This is where the magic happens. The module transforms the audio picked up by the sensor into a great recording of your acoustic drum kit. From here you can do a couple of things to transform your sound using the module.
- Volumes
- Reverb
- Built-in effects
- Trigger your drums
What are the main uses for the Yamaha EAD10?
The EAD10 has been designed to be flexible for multiple uses. Therefore there are a fair few things you can do.
Plugin your headphones and use it as a module
One of my favourite things about electronic drum kits is that you can change the sounds at the touch of the button. It keeps practising fresh and fun. You can now do that on your acoustic kit with the Yahama EAD10. Just plug in your headphones as adjust your sound on the fly.
Mic up your drums at live gigs
The EAD10 can just as easily be plugged into a PA system for a high-quality live sound. If we are going, to be honest, if you are touring professionally you will more than likely have a sound guy with a full set of mics. This isn’t designed for that. Think more cover band that needs a little bit more volume or mix control at slightly larger gigs.
Record your drums onto your computer
Either using a USB flash drive (for up to 90 minutes of audio) or directly into your computer with a USB cable you can do record your drum audio to your computer. This allows you to use DAW (digital audio workstation) to process the sound further as you would when recording drums with mics. The audio recorded can also be used to be placed on the latest drum covers you have been making for YouTube.
Make videos with the Yamaha Rec’n’Share app
Using the Rec’n’Share app you can record you EAD10 audio and phone video in one go. This makes it easy to record drum videos with high-quality audio on the fly.
What sound quality can I expect to get when recording with the EAD10?
We have to be honest, the sounds quality is extremely impressive for something at this price and simple to use. Because of this reason, it has become popular among YouTube content creators. Here are a couple of examples of drummers recording with the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module.
ZackGrooves drums always sound on point.
And El Estepario Siberiano is just flawless. It is hard to believe his kit isn’t fully mic’d.
It is incredible how good the recordings sound. It is a clear capture of the drum sounds without any distortion or over processing. Extremely impressive.
Where can I buy the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module?
You can get the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module from most online drum retailers or your local drum shop. If you are ordering online here are some of our top picks.
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Frequently asked questions
You sure can! You can have a total of 6 pads and triggers including the 1 built-in to the sensor placed on your kit. This gives you the flexibility to create a fully hybrid drum kit with just the EAD10.
Yes, you can. Just like most instrument the audio can be imported into a DAW such a ProTools, Cubase, Ableton Live, GarageBand or any others.
If you use triggers on the drums they can be plugged into the EAD10. You can then choose the drum sounds you want from the module while the cymbals are picked up through the EAD10 sensor.
Our thoughts
If you are looking for a way to record your acoustic drums without breaking the bank, this is the best option currently on the market. From under £400 ($500) there is nothing that delivers the simplicity of use and number of features as the EAD10.
It is great to see Yamaha innovating and creating a truly great product for drummers. We highly recommend the Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module.
4 Comments
Can you plug the Ead10 into the Yamaha mg82cx mixer using the standard host cable a usb to usb female adapter piece and a usb to 1/4 jack cable even tho the mixer is a analog mixer in theory I thought this would work then I could mic the kit as well as use the Ead10 at the same time , p.s. I have a snare that collision drumsticks said they had Yamaha custom make and that only 2 were made it had a puzzle pattern finish and it’s all maple is there any truth behind that?
Hi Dillon! I will be honest, I am not 100% on the USB adaptors and if this will work. I would suggest using the 1/4 jacks from the EAD10 into the desk if you have enough slots. I haven’t heard anything about the Collision drumstick custom snare but there are loads of custom snares around. I bet the puzzle finish looks amazing!
Thanks I actually figured it out I figured out a way to run the Ead10 into the mixer which I couldn’t get my daw to wanna record that way but I also found out how to run the mixer into the Ead10 then with some volume adjustment it’s good to go my only question/concern is would using phantom power on the mixer plugged into the Ead10 Roscommon messing the Ead10 up or do you think it would be fine?
Hi Dillon! Thanks for the update. I am glad you have found a way to make it work. I think if you can find a way to do it without phantom power that would probably be best as this is designed for microphones, not electronic drum kits.