The Alesis Nitro Max is a compact and easy-to-use electronic drumset for beginners that boasts a range of features which are somewhat unusual at such an affordable price point. The most eye-catching of these is almost certainly the fact that all of the drum pads are equipped with mesh heads, which provide a significantly more authentic playing feel than hard rubber pads. Less conspicuous but equally advantageous is the set's Bluetooth function, which allows budding drummers to wirelessly connect a tablet or smartphone and play along to their favourite tracks. The module offers a total of 440 high-definition sounds taken from the BFD Drum Library, and the user can also connect two additional pads. The authentic playing feel is further enhanced by the dual-zone snare pad, which allows rimshot and rim click sounds to be played, and the crash cymbal pad, which features a choke function.
The Alesis Nitro Max Kit comprises three 8" single-zone tom pads, a 10" dual-zone snare pad, and three 10" cymbal pads (a crash, a ride, and a hi-hat, the latter of which comes complete with a foot controller). All of the Nitro Max Kit's components are mounted on the included drum rack, which is stable and light in equal measure - in fact, the whole kit weighs less than 15kg and can be moved even by players of smaller stature. The heart of the Alesis Nitro Max Kit is its sound module, which in addition to the 440 sounds mentioned above contains 32 drumkits, 60 play-along songs, and a performance recorder and also features a USB port to allow it to be connected to a computer or MIDI sound source so that external sounds can also be triggered.
As mentioned above, the Alesis Nitro Max Kit is equipped with low-noise mesh heads, which make the kit so quiet that it can even be played at home - making it ideal for those who are starting out on the drums and want to learn and practise in their own four walls. The kit's Bluetooth connectivity is of course ideal here, allowing players to jam along to their choice of songs or play-along tracks without cluttering up their living room with cables. The onboard performance recorder also allows players to record themselves and track their progress. What is more, the dimensions of the rack are adjustable, enabling the kit to be adapted to players of different sizes and allowing even children of pre-school age to reach the pedals and pads.
Alesis was founded in 1984 by Keith Barr in Hollywood, California, and has become one of the leading manufacturers of signal processors, drum machines, synthesizers, and other studio equipment. The company’s most successful products during its early years were the MIDIverb, the HR-16 drum machine, and the ADAT multitrack digital recorders. In 2001, Alesis was acquired by Numark owner Jack O’Donnell and is now part of his InMusic parent company alongside brands like AKAI, Denon, and many other well-known names in the audio manufacturing industry. Alesis has also been a major player in the field of e-drums for many years and offers a large choice of products in all price ranges.
Children love variety and are easily inspired by new and exciting sounds - which in turn makes playing more fun and helps them to learn more effectively. And the ability to provide a sufficiently extensive range of sounds is precisely what separates electronic drumsets from their acoustic counterparts. There is an endless amount of fun to be had - by adults as well as children - in exploring new sonic worlds, from the electronic drumkits popular in the 1980s to natural-sounding Jazz kits, African percussion, and crazy sound effects of all kinds. The Alesis Nitro Max Kit puts all of these and many more at the player's fingertips, and best of all, users can edit the sounds to suit their own taste and put together up to 16 kits of their own, so the possible scope for creativity is virtually endless here.