Did you read your edrum manual? If so, you are in the extreme minority of electronic drum users. I know this sounds shocking, but the experience I have gained in my years owning an edrum shop has proven this fact over and over again.
Sure, there are some crap edrum companies that do not provide a manual at all or only provide rudimentary instructions, most often written in poorly translated English (or other language). However, quality edrum manufacturers provide amazing documentation on their products filled with everything you need to know in order to operate, maintain and enjoy your electronic drums for years to come.
This light-hearted post explains why you should go back and actually READ your electronic drum manual carefully, even if you are a veteran user. Don’t take the attitude of this post too seriously… It is meant to be tongue in cheek, but DO take the message to heart that is IS worth reading your manual!
Please Read Your Edrum Manual
In my opinion, it is irresponsible to shirk the responsibility of reading your manual and then go online complaining about problems you are having with your new edrums. Literally every day, multiple times a day, I see posts on various drum groups where a user can not figure something out, can not understand a product or feature, or has a complaint about a product or feature that is thoroughly explained in the user manual. In essence, if they just took the time to actually READ the manual, there would be no issue and they would be happy with the product. Instead they go online to some social media platform and complain (mostly to others who ALSO did not read the manual and suggest ridiculous and incorrect fixes!). It is truly comedy to me!
I have left literally thousands of comments on drum groups telling lost users exactly where in the manual to find the info they are searching for. Some can not even find the manual itself… As if searching Google for (for example) “Roland TD-17 Manual” never even occurred to these people! Did you know that every quality edrum manufacturer has ALL of their product manuals online on their official website? Roland has their manuals on tons of sites in all different languages! Furthermore, these manuals are in .pdf format, which can easily be searched for specific words or phrases to find exactly what you are looking for in 2 seconds!
There is NO excuse for NOT reading your manual and keeping it on all your devices for reference. Reading will give you a proper education in your product. The product costs you a lot of money. Respect your purchase and financial investment… Learn to use the product the right way, the way the manufacturer intended, rather than asking similarly clueless people answers to questions that are literally right in front of your face in the manual!
Why Should I Read My Manual?
Every edrum product has unique features. It is worth taking the time to learn your product in order to use it optimally to its full potential. There is no reason NOT to read through the manual. It is s small time investment that can pay real dividends in terms of product satisfaction.
Many users complain that they do not have the time to read the manual. However, they will spend hours a day searching forums and social media for answers to questions that can literally be solved with 2 minutes invested in searching the manual. The manual is the DEFINITIVE resource for users of a particular product. Why not use it?
The real question should not be why read it, but instead, WHY NOT? It’s free. It’s written by literal experts on your edrum product. It is designed to help you. Also, reading the manual might just prevent you from looking like a complete tool asking all sorts of duh-sounding questions on social media! LOL!
Read Your Edrum Manual. I am Begging You!
Ok, so you probably know by now that I speak my mind. I have a pointed sense of humor, but make light of things for the sake of getting through to people without (overly) offending them. However, my message here is really very simple, so take it for what it’s worth…
Please read your manual. Please look for answers inside it, rather than asking questions that allow others to provide incorrect answers to your questions, since they did not read the manual either. The paper trail of false information online is endless, mostly because people have no clue about what they are talking about!
Don’t be one of these people. Educate yourself. Help yourself. Then, you can help others too!
As an aside, I really appreciate the people who have taken the time to read their manual and invest themselves in learning how edrums truly work. These people are the gems on forums and social media who point the countless sheep back to the pasture of product satisfaction safely. Lol. I am always happy to help when I can provide an answer for anyone. However, just because I am there, or anyone else with knowledge is available, does NOT excuse you from taking responsibility for yourself and your edrums and learning to find the answer under your own power. The best way to do this is by… Yup, you guessed it… READING YOUR MANUAL.
Thank you.
