True story: After a 20-plus-year career as a percussionist and music educator, I was seriously injured in an accident that effectively ended my professional playing career. I took a decade-long break from playing drums and percussion to spend time focusing on other projects.

I returned to playing snare drum last spring and have slowly worked my way back to a reasonable level of rudimental ability. This fall I purchased an Invader and have used it daily as part of my ongoing "recovery". The feel of this pad under my sticks is unlike any I've ever experienced before: responsive without being overly bouncy and out of control; and frankly easier on the hands and wrists than other pads that claim to replicate the feel of modern snare drums. I spend a great deal of time working on a practice pad and this has become my pad of choice.

Thank you for making an excellent product.

Beth Hamon

Portland, Oregon

I give the Invader 5 stars, two thumbs up 10/10, It truly is an excellent pad and has replaced all of the other pads in my arsenal... would seriously recommend this pad to anyone who is serious about improving their practice habits.

Nick Hrehor

Round Rock HS Alumni

Drumline Alum - 04-08

Drumline Captain - 07-08

(read Nicks complete Invader review here)

”This pad absolutely rocks. If you play rudimental percussion in any form than it is a must have. Amazing feel, great articulation, fun to play, and there is even a RIM.  Perfect for kit drummers as well - the INVADER is great way to keep your chops up for fast singles and clean doubles. Thanks to OffWorld Percussion for giving the world a fantastic drum pad!”

Terry Drysdale

Sherwood H.S. Percussion • Royal Houser

" I am Michael Lau. I come from Hong Kong. I am a snare player and I love get better on it. Well, we can't buy any practice pad better than the Invader in HK. It was shame. I never hear such beautiful sound before Invader V3. It's a cool pad. I am proud of it. Invader retake my heart when it landed in my home. I have the heart to practice more and more again.

The sounds are different. I like to clean it every day. Just tell a secret to yours, I put it behind of me when I sleep. Both surface of pad like a mirror. I told to my friends I get this pad already. One of my friend when try my pad, just said: what the greatest feeling !! Well, this pad have a lots of fun when you ' Play' with him. Some of friends are think to buy V3.

I did a video review in youtube, just show them how cool of V3. Our Band called ' Lavender ' which is the beautiful name, Right?  haha”   

Michael Lau 

Bass drum 1 2003-2004  

Tenor 2005-2007  

Snare 2008-now   

I first heard about Offworld’s Invader pad by messaging Banished Beyond on Youtube, and he was totally right about how amazing it is. Since I have gotten it, my chops have increased ten fold; as a matter of fact, last year I was fifth bass in my high school’s percussion program. I got my Invader pad this year approximately a month before auditions. I set out practicing intensely and my instructor put me on snare this year. This is a great pad and I am much obliged to the whole Offworld Percussion staff. This pad truly is something of another world.

Thanks,

Andrew Dutton

Cullman High School Percussion

Cullman, Alabama

The Rim :

I have always wanted a pad with a rim, both for personal use and for my students. Next time you are in front of your line, try this experiment: go down the line having each player try one single ping shot. Tell them that they only get one chance. I think you will find that there are a lot of misses. Try the same thing with claves, stick shots, etc. Inconsistency and poor quality of secondary sounds - such as rim shots, stick shots, stick-over clave, and rim clicks - is a big pet peeve for me. I can't tell you how many times I have stood in front of a top 12 DCI snare line and listened to them play a whole phrase clean, only to have 8 out of 9 guys miss the ping shot at the end. Or watched a snare line play a groove with a stick-over clave part and the clave sounds don't match player to player. These are pathetic occurrences, and they happen way too often. When individuals don't produce the correct sound (or no sound at all!), it creates a "hole" in the ensemble where that player stands, and that leads to bad musicality and ticks. To play proper secondary sounds on the snare drum, it takes a lot of practice. And even though many or these sounds involve using the rim, most people still practice on a flat surface. This creates a lot of bad habits. When you've practiced that ping shot a thousand times on your flat practice pad, it's hard to remember to lift the stick to the proper angle when you finally get on a drum with a rim. I've tried pads with rims made of wood; the rims lasts about a week. I've tried pads with plastic rims; it feels like the rim is made of putty. I've tried pads with metal rims; the rim is so solid that the pad can't take the force and it breaks away from the surface. I've tried to make my own rim, and even tried to glue a real snare hoop onto my practice pad. The INVADER pad has a rim. That rim feels like a real rim, produces rim sounds like a real snare drum, and is durable as a real metal hoop. It's really not just a pad anymore, it's a practice drum.

The feel of the pad :

I am picky about the feel of my drum pad. It is my wish simulate a real drum as much as possible. My current ritual of modifications to prepare a pad for practice involves several steps. First, I stack 2 or 3 pads on top of each other. A single pad just doesn't have the weight or "presence" enough to give that drum feel. One pad is just not sturdy enough, but 2 or 3 will lock it in. In order to do this, I have to have 3 pads handy. Next, I have a 13 inch drumhead with the hoop cut off that I place on the playing surface of the pad itself. This simulates the slick coating of a real drum head which in turn matches the rebound and "slipperiness" of a real drum. Just playing on the rubber alone creates a situation where the bead catches the rubber and rebounds in the opposite direction that it would if played the same way on a drum. The effect that rubbery bead action creates tends to hide slices and bad motion towards the head. Also, playing tricks on a rubber pad - back sticking, crosses, stick flips - feels way different than when the same thing is played on a drum. The downfall of using the cutout drum head is that it tends to fly off of the pad, especially when I'm outside and it's windy. Finally, I would tape a wooden dowel down on the pad to simulate a rim. The shortcomings of this approach are obvious - the dowels don't last very long, and glue from the tape gets all over the pad. The INVADER solves all of these problems for me with out the special modifications. One pad has the presence of my 3 stack. The feel of the playing surface matches a head much more closely than straight rubber. And, of course, it has an indestructible rim.

The durability of the pad :

Practice pads don't sit on a table in a nice climate controlled music studio collecting dust. Practice pads go on the road, up in the rack of the bus and crash down on to the bus floor when the guy in front of you un-crams his bag in the middle of the night. Practice pads go through hours of slams with the biggest drum sticks on the market, only to have pizza eaten off of them after rehearsal. Practice pads are locked into snare stands that get knocked over again and again. Practice pads get rained on and soda spilled on them. Practice pads fall apart. When one's practice pad finally gives in, it's sometimes fun to use the separated rubber part at a frisbee, or peel the layers of particle board back and watch the super structure disintegrate back into, well, particles. Some people have become real experts at re-mounting the rubber onto other boards. They know the right glue to use and how much pressure to put on the rubber to make it stay. (I was never very good at the remounting.)

The fun is always short lived, however, when it becomes apparent that one needs to buy a new pad. The INVADER doesn't fall apart. It's all one piece. I don't really understand what it's made of, but I know it's not going to break. Ever.

Larry Cauley

Marching Percussion specialist

Offworld Percussion,

The pad is amazing.  Every time a new vic firth pad would come out, i had to have it.  (I have seven or eight practice pads.)  Now with the Invader V3, i need not look further.  It feels great, the rebound is fantastic, it's durable, and no matter how many times i've dropped it, it doesn't crack.  I'd say it's the closest to perfection anyone will get.

Gunner V.

Columbus, MS