Published 2024-11-13.
Last modified 2026-10-24.
Time to read: 6 minutes.
av_studio collection.
This article continues from Roland VQD-106 V-Drum Kit and addresses how to work with Ableton Live and EZdrummer 3, using Windows 10. Since first writing this article in 2024, I migrated all my Windows computers to Windows 11 in 2025, and the information here is still valid. This article has been updated several times since with current Windows 11 information.
😁 😁Ableton Live 12 and EZdrummer 3 worked with the Roland TD-07 immediately.
I am not using a Mac these days, although I have an old Mac Mini sitting forlorn and cold in a corner. This article says less about working with Macs.
Roland V-Drum Sound Module
The TD-07 is one of Roland’s most basic drum modules. I was unable to find a Roland product page for this drum module, just entire drum kits that feature it. The TD-07 is not expandable and Roland offers nothing for it on Roland Cloud.
At the time this article was first written, the only compatible sound module
that was a step up in capability was the TD-17. r/edrums
has a discussion on the differences between the TD-07 and the TD-17.
However, if you are primarily interested in using V-Drums as a MIDI controller with a DAW that runs a drum rack or plugin like EZdrummer 3 or Ableton Live, then your sound module can be rather basic. Because the DAW will do the heavy lifting, having a more advanced sound module is less important.
MIDI & Audio
If you just want to use the TD-07 as a class-level MIDI controller, and you do
not want USB audio either, then you can skip this entire
section because you do not need to install
the special driver that Roland provides, and you also do not need to set
VENDOR mode in the TD-07 sound module.
Windows computers and Macs will automatically install the Roland driver for the TD-07 when it is connected to a computer via USB. The TD-07 support site also provides the Windows 10 & 11 and macOS drivers for MIDI and audio.
The only Roland documentation that mentions that the Windows Roland audio driver is an
ASIO driver
is the README, installed in the computer when the driver is installed.
For a Windows computer, the TD-07 driver README
can be found at C:\Program
Files\; see the Input/output device settings for your application.
The web page for the Roland TD-07 driver says:
USBDrv of the TD-07 to VENDOR.
Your computer automatically downloads the Windows 10/11 driver from the Internet when a product requiring the driver is connected to the computer. Downloading and installing the driver yourself is not necessary.
Under normal conditions, the driver installation is completed in several minutes.
Here is how to set the USBDrv of the TD-07 to VENDOR:
| Press | Comment |
|---|---|
| Wait until Drum Kit is displayed. |
| ⚙ Setup | The display should show Setup Pad ⯈, and [Enter] should be flashing. |
| ⯈⯈ | The display should show Setup System, and [Enter] should be flashing. |
| ⎆ Enter | The display should show LCDContrast 8⯈. |
| ⯈⯈⯈ | The display should show ⯇USBDrv Generic⯈. |
| ⎆ Enter | |
| Rotate wheel clockwise | The display should show USBDrv Vendor. |
| ↺ Exit↺ Exit | The display should show Drum Kit again. |
|
| The display should show Saving before shutting down. |
The next time the Roland drum sound module turns on, it will be ready to connect to a computer.
Fixing Driver Problems
I had no problem setting USBDrv to VENDOR.
However, the Windows driver installation described above did not work for me.
The Windows error message was unhelpful and somewhat misleading:
The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned,
and Windows does not recognize it.
Recommendation:
Try reconnecting the device.
If Windows still does not recognize it,
your device may not be working properly.
I had previously encountered a similar problem with the driver for the Roland Juno-DS61 synthesizer. The solution to each problem was different; if you encounter this problem, check out both articles for the two solutions.
This time I had used a regular USB extension cable with a short USB B-A cable because my DAW is some distance from the Roland drum set. When I tried installing the Roland TD-07 driver on a laptop without using the USB extension cable, it worked.
To aid in the installation process on the DAW,
I started Windows Device Manager.
The quickest way to do that on Windows 11 is to right-click on the Start button,
then select Device Manager from the menu.
Another way, which also works on Windows 10, is
to briefly press the Windows key,
type device, then press Enter.
Once Device Manager was open, I opened up the Other devices and the Sound, video and game controllers folders.
I then used an active USB extension cable instead of the regular USB extension cable, and the driver began to install automatically. An active USB extension cable is generally only required for very long USB cables, for example 20 feet long or more.
The installation process takes a few minutes. First, the driver appeared in the Other devices folder:
A minute or so later, the Roland TD-07 driver moved from the Other devices folder to the Sound, video and game controllers folder. Success!
New Windows Audio Device
After installing the Roland TD-07 Windows drivers, I noticed a new audio device in the desktop tray. It was called OUT (TD‑07), as shown in the image to the right.
New Windows Menu Item
After the driver was installed, I noticed a new menu item called TD-07 in the Recently Added
column of the Windows 10 Start menu.
Clicking on it launched "C:\Program Files\Roland\TD-07 Driver\Files\RDDP1219.EXE", which looked like this:
Choices for SAMPLE RAT were 44.1 kHz (the default), 48 kHz and 96 kHz.
Setting Audio Streaming Performance to the minimum value (1) caused the ASIO Buffer Size value to decrease to 48 samples, which I expected should work fine with my DAW.
Clicking on Show "README" displayed
C:\Program Files\ in the default web browser.
Audio Path Testing
My DAW is on the other side of the studio from the drum kit. I constantly need the drum sound module to emit some sort of audio signal that I can use for debugging audio paths. The easiest way to do that is to turn on the metronome on the sound module by pressing the metronome button.
Another option is to attach the Roland FD-9 hi-hat pedal to a mono 25' long, 1/4" TR extension cable. This allows the pedal to be used across the room from where the rest of the drum kit resides. Anytime a noise is required to test something, I can press my foot on the hi-hat pedal next to me. No need for a second person.
Default MIDI Settings
MIDI channel 10 Tx/Rx/Sw On ProgChg Tx On ProgChg Rx On Local Ctrl On Choke Shot On Device ID 17 SysEx Tx Off SysEx Rx On
Louder Drums
I found that the drum volume was OK on maximum through headphones, but when played through speakers, it was much quieter than other signal sources, such as my DAW. I increased the overall volume of the kit as follows:
| Press | Comment |
|---|---|
|
| Wait until Drum Kit is displayed. |
| Directly under power button Kit Edit | The display should show Kit Edit / Instrument⯈, and [Enter] should be flashing. |
| ⯈ | The display should show Kit Edit / Kit Volume, and [Enter] should be flashing. |
| ⎆ Enter | |
| ⯈ | The display should show Kit Volume / Kit -7.0dB⯈. |
| Rotate wheel clockwise | The display should show Kit Volume / Kit +6.0dB⯈. |
| ↺ Exit↺ Exit | The display should show Drum Kit again. |
The volume should be much louder now for drum module’s headphone and audio outputs, and the MIDI notes will also be louder.
Local Control
When a MIDI device uses its internal synthesizer / sound generator to generate sound, this is called local control. Local control allows you to play the TD-07 without a computer attached via USB.
When local control is enabled and your computer is connected to the TD-07, you may hear doubled notes when MIDI from the drum is echoed back from the computer as sound.
If you want the TD-07 to be recorded by a DAW, or to control another synthesizer, and you are listening to the sound emitted from the computer's audio interface, and you do not want to hear the built-in sounds from the TD-07, you have the following options:
- In your computer's audio interface, mute the TD-07 channel or turn the volume all the way down.
- In your DAW, disable monitoring for the TD-07 channel.
- Disable local control.
Instead of disabling local control, I usually employ the first two options. To disable TD-07 MIDI local control:
| Press | Comment |
|---|---|
|
| Wait until Drum Kit is displayed. |
| ⚙ Setup | The display should show Setup Pad ⯈, and [Enter] should be flashing. |
| ⯈ | The display should show Setup MIDI, and [Enter] should be flashing. |
| ⎆ Enter | The display should show MIDI Channel 10Ch⯈. |
| ⯈⯈⯈ | The display should show ⯇Local Ctrl ON⯈. |
| Turn the dial counterclockwise, until you see ⯇Local Ctrl OFF⯈. | |
| ⎆ Enter | |
| Press the large drum set button at the lower left. | The display should show Drum Kit again. |
For more information, see the TD-07 Owner's Manual.
DAW Directory Creation
I made a test directory structure using my
song_create
script:
$ song_create roland_td07_test Creating a new song subdirectory structure in '/mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test' /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/daw /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/dvrArchives /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/inputs/images /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/inputs/videos /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/outputs/mp3s /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/outputs/stems /mnt/e/media/songs/roland_td07_test/outputs/youTube Opening E:\media\songs\roland_td07_test
EZdrummer 3
-
Select the Settings / E-Drums / MIDI In menu.
A list of MIDI devices will be shown at the top left of the window.
- Enable the TD-07 MIDI device.
-
From the Preset chooser at the top of the window, in the middle of the window,
select Roland and then choose one of the drum sound modules.
Unfortunately, the TD-07 is not one of the available choices.
Most of the choices provided are for obsolete Roland drum sound modules.
The TD-1 is the lowest common denominator, so I selected that one.
Success! Pressing on the hi-hat pedal caused EZdrummer 3 to respond by showing the on-screen hi-hat move in concert with my foot. EZdrummer 3 also generated the appropriate sounds.
I wish everything in life was this easy!
Ableton Live
This was written using Ableton 12.1 Suite on Windows.
Enable the TD-07 MIDI input port in Ableton Live.
- Start Ableton Live.
- Select the Options / Settings menu.
- For Live 12, select Tempo & MIDI; for older versions of Live, select Link, Tempo & MIDI.
-
Enable Input Ports / TD-07 / Track. If you also want to
use the TD-07 for MIDI mapping in Live, then also enable Remote.
For more information, see the Ableton Live manual sections for routing and I/O and MIDI and Key Remote Control
- There is no need to enable anything in the Output Ports / TD-07 section.
Assign the MIDI input from the TD-07 to an Ableton Live MIDI track.
Assign an instrument, such as the Africa Drums drum rack, to the same Live MIDI track.
Now, when you play the Roland VQD-106 drum kit, Ableton Live should generate sound.
Videos
