Alesis Drums and Zildjian have announced a partnership that brings sampled Zildjian cymbal sound into Alesis electronic drum kits and BFD software, giving electronic drummers access to cymbal tones drawn directly from Zildjian’s own sample library rather than generic presets.
The deal pairs two companies that approach drumming from very different directions. Zildjian has been making cymbals since 1623, longer than almost any manufacturer of anything has been in business. Alesis has spent the last four decades building affordable electronic percussion, the kind of gear that put a full kit within reach of a bedroom musician for a few hundred dollars. Putting the two together is a fairly direct trade: Zildjian’s tone, Alesis’ accessibility.
Sampling the Vault
The sounds come from Zildjian’s Artist Vault, a collection normally set aside for the company’s own endorsed players to choose cymbals for their signature sound. For this partnership, the BFD Drums team went into that library and recorded a selection of cymbals using its own multi-layer sampling process, the same approach BFD has used for its acoustic drum libraries.
“The Artist Vault is sacred ground. For decades this is where the world’s greatest drummers have come to choose their cymbals and find inspiration,” said Michael Weber, Director of Marketing at Alesis Drums. “Capturing them with the BFD team’s meticulous sampling process means that when an Alesis player strikes a cymbal, they’re experiencing the nuanced sound of those cymbals, with all the depth and character that makes a Zildjian a Zildjian.”
Alesis is a familiar name to anyone who has priced out an electronic kit. The company’s Nitro line built its reputation on getting a complete, playable electronic setup down to a beginner-friendly price without cutting too many corners, something we found when we reviewed the Nitro Electronic Drum Kit from Alesis. That same logic carries into the Strata series the new sound packs are built for: keep the entry point reasonable, and let sound quality do the rest of the work.
Zildjian, for its part, has been the reference point for cymbal tone for most of the instrument’s modern history. John Stephans, CEO of Zildjian, framed the move as an extension of that role rather than a departure from it. “Our partnership with Alesis Drums allows more musicians than ever to experience the sound of authentic Zildjian cymbals,” Stephans said. “It directly aligns with Zildjian’s vision to inspire people to express themselves through music, and that has always meant meeting drummers wherever they play.”
What’s Next
The Nitro line didn’t stay still after that kit. When Alesis launched the Alesis Nitro Mesh Drum Kit, which brought mesh heads for a more natural feel, and that same push toward better feel and sound at an accessible price runs straight through to Strata today. The first release under the new partnership, Zildjian Session Mix Vol. 1, is available now. Additional sound packs are scheduled for late August, with more expansions planned throughout the rest of the year, pulling from both older cymbal families and newer ones. The packs run across BFD Player, BFD 3.5, and Alesis Strata modules, so the same sounds are usable whether a drummer is triggering pads on a kit or working entirely inside a DAW.
Both companies describe this as a starting point rather than a one-time release, with more collaboration planned across Alesis, BFD, and other inMusic brands.
For electronic drummers, the practical difference will show up in how a struck cymbal actually sounds and decays rather than in any single new piece of hardware. Whether the packs hold up depends on how the samples translate once they’re actually mapped to pads and played, something that’s easier to judge with a kit in hand than from a press release. Real cymbal sampling has been part of higher-end electronic kits for a while; what’s notable here is putting a name-brand version of it into Alesis’ more accessible line rather than keeping it at the top of the market.
