general question...

[scottboyher]

ok this is my first post in this section so anything I say will prolly sound stupid.

I have a Alesis SR-16 and the Alesis D4 and a Yamaha So3.

I need to get a handle on the cheese drums that I have now. Is there anyway to get better control of the drum sounds in the D4 by using the Yamaha?


I guess what I am saying is, is there a better way of controlling the D4? Maybe with the keyboard?


Thanks!

[Toad Rush]

As long as the keyboard has midi out and the drum machine has midi in, i don't see why you couldn't do that.

[jake-owa]

Yeah, I know what you mean. The SR16 has some cheesy patterns and sounds. I would go with the Alesis D4 for drum sounds and forget about the SR16, but thats just me. Hook the MIDI out of the keyboard to the MIDI in of the D4 and find your drums on the keys. I label the instruments with stickers so I don't miss in the middle of a recording, a bongo instead of a crash can kill a rock song.
Now I am finally very decent at playing drums this way but I must say it will take some practice. The payoff is huge all your mixes will sound much more organic and real as opposed to sounding liek a robot joined the band (I hate drum patterns).
Eventually your ears will get very tired of the cymbals in the drum modules, they all kinda suck. I now use a Roland SPD6 pad for snare, kick (on a momentary switch pedal) and toms, and all real cymbals. The difference is night and day...no joke. I was worried that going from keys to sticks would be difficult but I was amazed to find that after getting the sounds out of keys the transition was fairly trouble free. Now I play the hybrid kit for an hour or so everyday and am rapidly improving. Keep on the path to improving the drums and your music will thank you for it.

[scottboyher]

Thanks for the replies guys! That is what I shall do!