Drum triggers on acoustic kit...
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Posted on Mar 01, 2008 10:10 pm
RockWood610
John
Member Since: May 06, 2007
Hey guys,
I am currently looking to gather some info for my new band's next recording. Here is what I am looking to use so far, and I need some blanks filled in. I hope someone can help me out here.
Currently, I am somewhat new to the recording thing. I have come here several times and learned a lot from the guys on this forum.
I only need a small setup at the moment, so I am only using the Presonus 1394 Inspire for my mic inputs/studio monitor outs.
For guitars (rythm, bass, and lead), I am using the Line6 gearbox setup with the Line6 GX box.
Drums are where I am stuck. I have not needed a set up for recording drums, because I have been using ToonTrack's EZ Drummer plugin within my Sony Acid Pro 6 DAWS. I love the sounds I get from EZ Drummer, especialy for the metal style I am involved with. The drumkit from hell setup is great.
I don't have the money, mics, time, brains, or patients for that matter to mic a full kit the proper way. I also have no decent room available to record in. So, here is what I was planning to do... please tell me if there is a flaw in this setup.
My drummer is using a 5 piece kit. So, I went ahead and ordered a small midi interface that connects via USB. This is the one I ordered:
www.musiciansfriend.com/p...face?sku=701258
I planned on buying the Alesis trigger I/O and some drum tiggers for the kit.
Alesis link:
www.musiciansfriend.com/p...face?sku=449754
Possable triggers link:
www.musiciansfriend.com/p...-Kit?sku=440025
I already went on the Toontrack forums to make sure the Alesis unit was able to work with EZ Drummer. So, if I hook the triggers to the kit, then plugged them into the Alesis I/O, then plugged the I/O into the USB midi interface and configured the hardware in Sony Acid, will it be the correct way to go about recording the drum hits through EZ Drummer?
Another issue I am having is cymbols. How would I get the hi hats triggered properly along with the other cymbols???
I am totaly new to midi hardware... so any help would be great! Thanks in advanced.
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Mar 01, 2008 10:34 pm Looks good! The D drum triggers are pretty solid.
I reckon you could use some rubber drum pads, or even blocks of wood for the cymbals, just strap a trigger on. Otherwise you could pick up some cheap drum pads, from the roland kits or the like. They have a TRS output which'll go straight to the alesis.
You'll need XLR - TRS cables for the Ddrums if you haven't thought of it already...
Mar 01, 2008 10:36 pm Oh, looks like the Alesis already has MIDI output via USB, so you might not need that M-Audio interface.
Mar 01, 2008 10:53 pm Thanks. I just thoguht about that. I bought the M-Audio device for a basic midi keyboard controller before I thought about going into the Alesis setup.
The only thing I am not sure about is hi-hat triggering. How can I get the open/closed hit hat effect? And chokeable cymbals? I am assuming if I get something that has the dual trigger feature I can set somrhting up that way.
I stumbled upon this video on Youtube where this guy is doing basicaly what i want to do, but he has a full e-drum setup. The drum kit he bought is from RET, and its designed to feel like an accoustic kit, but its all electric with triggers. He is using the Alesis I/O, but the cymbals he has are all fake trigger cymbals. This is what I would like to attempted somehow without breaking an already small budget. Good hi-hat simulation, and chokeable cymbals.
Could I also achieve all this using a Alesis DM5?
Mar 02, 2008 07:10 am Quote:
Hi-hat input for on/off or continuous control
Not 100% sure about this, but on a TD6 you use a hihat footswitch, I assume its the same thing.
Any dual trigger like the roland cymbals, can be programmed for choking, or open/closed hihats, splash/cowbell etc. etc.
You won't need a DM5 if you only want to tigger EZ drummer. The DM5 is a full on drum module, sounds and everything.
I'd go with the Alesis I/O, Ddrum kit a couple of roland cymbals, and try to track down a pedal for the hi hat.
$0.02
Mar 02, 2008 07:47 am Well the only reason why I asked about the DM5, was because my drummer is thikning about buying the Alesis 4 piece e-kit to go with it. He has wanted to buy a DM5 for a while now, but never had a reason to get one. Now that we are looking torecord though triggers, he is considering it.
After doing the math and looking at the DM5 features, he was leaning towards the whole e-kit.
The ddrum 5 piece trigger set is roughly $200.00, the Trigger I/O is another $150.00 and none of that includes the cables or other e-cymbols/hi-hats and controllers we will need to buy afterwards.
So after buying all of that, we could just buy this set up here for $370 (used) or $400.00/$500.00 new:
www.musiciansfriend.com/p...-Set?sku=449750
Its only a 4 piece, but we could buy this seperate pad for the 3rd tom:
www.musiciansfriend.com/p...city?sku=449752
I found this youtube video wicth shows a guy using EZ drummer with this kit. So I am assuming this would work the way we want it.
My only concearn so far with this setup is, my drummer plays hard, and we have a metal style with some blast beats. I am not sure if we would have to use the kick pedal that comes with this unit, or if we could fit his Iron Cobra double kick on it...? And I hear from time to time that with fast playing, the midi notes may not be recorded properly...?
Mar 03, 2008 01:54 am Sweet!
I dunno what a blast beat is haha, but no MIDI drums are perfect, especially triggers on an acoustic kit. You'll most probably need to edit the MIDI data after recording to get what you want.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Mar 07, 2008 05:34 pm I use Roland trigger pads, a rather large set up into either a TD-6 brain or an Alesis DM5 and it works great. I use dual kick triggers and blast beats are fine. I know several of the triggers can do a pretty good job. I use DW pedals for the speed but the Iron cobra pedals will work just fine as well. Most kick triggers are set up to use any pedal.
Mar 15, 2008 10:30 am Thanks a lot of the rplies. I'll be talking with my drummer to see what we want to do. If I have anymore issues, I'll be sure to post 'em!
Thanks!!!
