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What is it?
The Strata Club is the newest addition to Alesis’ current line-up of electronic drum kits. This 4-piece configuration, plus hats, crash and ride pads is a downsized version of the Strata Core kitboth of which share the same powerful Core module.
Alesis’ current flagship e-kit is the Strata Primeand the Strata Club comes complete with a stripped back version of the Prime module. Despite some obvious differences, including a slightly smaller 7” touchscreen (rather than 10.1”of the Prime), a cable loom instead of individual trigger jack inputs, no direct outs, and less storage space – the Core still retains an impressive amount of features. These include a full colour touchscreen, BFD 3 powered sound engine, huge 25GB sample library with 75 kit presets, room to expand by up to 4 additional pads (two on the loom and two jack inputs on the back), Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, powerful FX engine, user sample import and much more, which I’ll explore throughout this review.
The hardware consists of a 12” dual-zone snaretwo 10” dual-zone toms and an 8” bass drum tower – all featuring mesh heads. The pads are super shallow which is a break from the new standard of deep, acoustic style wooden shells. The snare measures in at a hair over 2.5” deep. Most of this depth is dominated by the black metal hoops (complete with a thick rubber rim) and the black plastic base. Between the two hoops is little over an inch of a rather fetching red and black wrap, reminiscent of the old school Rogers Onyx finishes. The sleek aesthetic is completed with gold coloured tension rods for a classy overall look. This look is repeated throughout the Strata range.
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The hi-hat and crash pads are both 12 inches in diameter while the ride is a slightly larger 14”. Impressively these so-named ARC cymbals are all triple-zone (bell, bow and edge) with 360 degree triggering and choke functionality. The hi-hats also use an Active Magnetic Hi-Hat Controller, all of which mounts to a standard hi-hat stand. There are no separate foot controllers in sight here, just a good old fashioned bass drum pedal and hi-hat stand. Unfortunately neither of these are actually included with the kit so that’s something to budget for, although happily there is a snare stand in the box for the 12” pad.
So, where does the Strata Club sit in the range? At the time of writing, the prices for each model are: Strata Club, $1,799/£1,329/€1,569; Strata Core, $2,199/£1,599/€1,899; Strata Prime, $3,999/£2,499/€3,099.
I can’t help but notice that there isn’t much in it between the Core and Club prices, with the extra $400/£200 essentially affording you an additional tom and cymbal pad. The only caveat here is that the Strata Core comes with two 8” toms and one 10” tom while the Club uses two 10” toms – one up and one down.
In terms of actual floor space, the Club’s four-post steel rack is fairly compact and measures around 4ft wide by 2.5ft deep once expanded. Much of this is actually to allow for the module which is mounted on its own tube that protrudes from the left of the hi-hat stand (or right for those setting it up left-handed).
You can watch my sound demo of the Alesis Strata Club in the hands-on demos section.
Specs
- Configuration: All-mesh drum pads; 8-inch kick drum tower, 12-inch dual-zone snare, 2x 10-inch dual zone toms; 12-inch ARC triple-zone crash, 360° hi-hat cymbal with Active Magnetic Hi-Hat Controller, 14-inch ARC triple-zone, 360° ride cymbal
- Module: Core Drum Module with 7″ touchscreen, multi-core processor, powered by BFD3 sound engine
- Number of kits: 75
- Number of instruments: 25GB+ of all new, multi-layered factory content, 370+ kit pieces, 800+ articulations across 4 sound libraries from Alesis and BFD
- Module trigger inputs: 9 via cable snake, 2 x 1/4″ TRS (drum and cymbal triggers)
- Software: Free BFD Player, plus Core and Dark Mahogany expansion packs
- Included hardware: 4-post steel rack with locking rack connectors, 2x cymbal boom arms, snare stand
- Contact: ALESIS
Performance & verdict
Once the rack is together it’s plenty strong enough to support the two tom and cymbal pads. As previously stated, the snare pad is mounted separately using the included stand, helping lighten the load on the small frame. The 12” pad does also feature a mounting bracket which gives it the potential to be mounted from a tom arm instead.
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Although the purpose of the Strata Club is to be a compact e-kit solution for those drummers who lack space, or who don’t need a high pad-count, I couldn’t help muse on the idea of repurposing the snare pad as a floor tom and moving the 10” pad up as a second rack tom. This could be something to consider further down the line as there are plenty of options available for a larger replacement snare pad – there’s certainly ample expansion space on the module.
After waiting for the module to boot up (it takes a minute to get started), I’m greeted by a bright and eye-catching visual display. An illustrated image of the kit occupies most of the screen with the name of the kit displayed at the top, plus menu items down the right hand side and along the bottom of the screen. There are rotary dials corresponding to the parameters listed along the bottom which include ‘damping’, ‘attack’, ‘tuning’, ‘dynamics’ and ‘pan’. The element of the kit in question is easily selected by pressing on its image on the screen. This cleverly blends tactile controls with the touchscreen, making for an agreeable and user-friendly balance.
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To the left of the touchscreen there are more physical controls including a master rotary dial (which can also be pressed as a button for kit or sample selection), in addition to playback, recording and metronome controls. This facilitates the module’s functionality to import custom songs or backing tracks and also record your own drum takes, whilst keeping the drums and track separated.
The aforementioned menu items on the right of the screen give access to a list view of the kit patches, kit editing screen, mixer, imported tracks, trigger settings and overall settings such as Bluetooth and WiFi connections, system updates etc.
One of the cleverest uses of the touchscreen has to be the ability to audition sounds in a list, simply by simply pressing on its title. Tapping from left to right increases the velocity so it’s easy to hear each layer of an instrument before actually switching to it.
Unsurprisingly, the quality of the BFD library samples is generally excellent with the exception of a few slightly questionable ones. There is no question that there’s enough quality audio here to cater for every musical taste and present a massive amount of editing options. The ability to easily create sample stacks, individually apply multiple effects and quickly change tones with the twist of a dial or slide of a finger certainly makes the Strata Club module a powerful contender, particularly at this price point.
It’s worth mentioning before I close, the only drawback I found with this kit was the actual acoustic volume in the room – both the mesh pads and plastic/rubber cymbal pads are notably loud when compared to some other e-kit brands. The crack of the 12” snare pad and plastic-y thwack of the cymbal pads is something worth checking out for yourself, particularly if you’re a hard hitter and noise-reduction is your main reason for investing in an e-kit.
Hands-on demos
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