Performer takes a closer look at the Logjam Prolog Drum Pedal in its latest gear review.
Bringing drums and percussion into the electronic world has been problematic in the past for some players. However, Logjam has found a unique way of making it easy and natural sounding at the same time with the Prolog drum pedal.
It looks like a very well-crafted foot pedal, made from sapele, and at the rounded end there is a simple 1/4” output jack. The bottom side has a nice non-slip rubber surface. Simply connect it into a PA/Amp/DAW interface, and the technical aspect is done. Now the fun part start: stomp on it. Naturally placing the ball or tip of the foot along the rounded edge, and tapping on it produces a percussive sound without a percussionist.
What’s inside that rounded end is a little piezo pickup, the same kind used in acoustic guitars. It picks up the vibrations of the impact of tapping and translates it into sound. Now it doesn’t sound like the real thump of an acoustic kick drum, but it gives a similar overall effect. Some EQ might be needed, depending on how much “thump” and “cut” is desired. The user’s shoes, believe it or not might, make a difference; harder soles of boots gave more pronounced hits than a pair of Converse Chucks in our tests.
The larger heel plate also picks up vibrations, so using the heel to give the upbeat, and the toe for the down beat, is a great way to get more sounds out of it.
So, who’s this for? Solo guitarist/singer/songwriters might appreciate the Logjam Drum Pedal as it’s an easy way to add percussion to a stripped-down sound without a lot of extra gear of personnel. Drummers might like this as a way to add a more direct bass drum-ish sound, supplementing an existing kit. For the percussionist who’s using a Cajon or other hand drums, this would be an easy way to add more texture to their palette. Even using it plugged into a DAW can add an interesting, non-synthetic level of percussion to an existing drum loop or rhythm track.
It brings of the simplicity of acoustic drums/percussion into some proper amplified situations without the hassles of MIDI triggers/brain units or programming. Logjam does make some other variations on this neat little device, and a creative percussionist could easily make one or more of these a great way to go electric, without feeling like a cyborg.