Anyone use Roland V-Drums ???

B

BluMusic

New member
I own a Roland V-Session Set w/ TD10 Controller. I basically love this kit but getting my drums to sound descent in computer based recording(s) is quite a hassle. I am no where near master quality and I've tried all different types of settings.

1. Recording Dry
2. Recording w/ effects
3. Recording loud & soft
4. Flat on the low EQ then midway on the low EQ
5. With Compression and without.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated ... I tried to locate a thread regarding this issue but couldn't find one other than someone using a TD7 and his situation was very different than mine. Oh btw, I'm recording thru a Mackie CR1604 going into Cubase SX2
 
What are the specific problems you're having? I record a TD-7 through Joe Meek MC2 compressor to ADAT and have been pleased with the results.
 
HarleyDavid said:
I own a Roland V-Session Set w/ TD10 Controller. I basically love this kit but getting my drums to sound descent in computer based recording(s) is quite a hassle. I am no where near master quality and I've tried all different types of settings.

1. Recording Dry
2. Recording w/ effects
3. Recording loud & soft
4. Flat on the low EQ then midway on the low EQ
5. With Compression and without.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated ... I tried to locate a thread regarding this issue but couldn't find one other than someone using a TD7 and his situation was very different than mine. Oh btw, I'm recording thru a Mackie CR1604 going into Cubase SX2
Click to expand...

The best way to get e-drums to sound like a real kit is to use real cymbals instead of the ones on your e-drum kit. You can do this in different ways. You can put real cymbals up on your e-drum kit and use overheads to record them as you play the drum parts, but you run the risk of hearing some of the tapping noise on the pads. Or, you can use the cymbals that come with your kit and just turn down the volume on each electronic cymbal, and then record just the cymbal crashes on a seperate track. A ride cymbal on an e-drum kit doesn't sound as "fake" as the crash cymbals, so you should be fine in that respect. I have a Yamaha DTXpress kit and have found that using real cymbals with e-drums is the one thing that improves your drum tracks 1000 percent.
 
Hi All ~

Basic problem is the snare and toms. Everything else sounds great. btw, my cymbals are perfect. Did you ever listen to V-Drum cymbals (?) can't tell them from the real thing, right down to the sizzle ride and choking.

The (2) Mounted Toms & (2) Floor Toms either sound way too boomy or way too weak. I can't seem to grab that perfect in the middle sound. The sound I'm looking for is probably not what many of you listen given the names of Drummers I've read in these Threads, but I love the sound Dave Weckl gets especially on his CD [Hard Wired].

I searched Roland's database for drum patch settings and that didn't work for me. So I guess my question is this, being 85% musician and 15% engineer, is it better to record hot or not? Usually what I hear through headphones or floor monitors is not what Cubase is putting out. My soundcard is the Delta-66 M-Audio. (Maybe that's the problem)
 
Well. One thing you have to do is monitor from your computer or recorder and tweak the sounds as the come back in record ready. I have a sneaking suspicion that you are not doing that. If you don't hear what the recorder is recording you will be in trouble. This is problematic esp with drums because latency is usually introduced. 20 ms of latency will already be hard to deal with. So just get the sound right and then go back to monitoring wherever you need to to get the track. If you go too hot with the gain out of the electronic drums it's going to sound fake. Try a little bit of reverb on the track sometimes edrums sound too gated. maybe try just a little bit of plate reverb. Also, use real cymbals and overheads if you need to.
 
Are you mixing the drums within the TD-10 and sending out through the main stereo outs into your Mackie, or are you isolating various groupings within the TD-10 and sending them out via the assorted direct outs?

Depending on what I'm doing, I will normally tweak the sounds within the TD-10 and record the resulting stereo signal, but I have broken the various triggers out as well...
I find that when I isolate the toms and send them out through the Direct Outs, I lose the studio/ambient feel that are there when I keep them all tied together...
Usually not a big deal, because you can then tweak the tone within Cubase...

I'm still dialing in various sounds and keep happening upon new ones I end up saving every week (I have them broke out as 'Live' and 'Studio' depending on how I have the outputs set) and so far have been very pleased with the results, but I haven't been able to work with anything coming 'dry' out of the TD-10 with any sort of satisfaction...

:)
 
BentRabbit said:
Are you mixing the drums within the TD-10 and sending out through the main stereo outs into your Mackie, or are you isolating various groupings within the TD-10 and sending them out via the assorted direct outs?

Depending on what I'm doing, I will normally tweak the sounds within the TD-10 and record the resulting stereo signal, but I have broken the various triggers out as well...
I find that when I isolate the toms and send them out through the Direct Outs, I lose the studio/ambient feel that are there when I keep them all tied together...
Usually not a big deal, because you can then tweak the tone within Cubase...

I'm still dialing in various sounds and keep happening upon new ones I end up saving every week (I have them broke out as 'Live' and 'Studio' depending on how I have the outputs set) and so far have been very pleased with the results, but I haven't been able to work with anything coming 'dry' out of the TD-10 with any sort of satisfaction...

:)
Click to expand...


I'm coming out of the TD10 stereo L/R going into the Mackie (1) channel for each. When you say "Are you mixing within the TD10, I consider you're refering to if I do any tweaking in the head. Yes, but of course. I've own this kit for about two years or more and I'm still trying to figure compression settings, EQ settings and head tensions.

This kit is very complexed (I Love It) but the end results are not giving me what I need. When I add a little reverb via the TD10, it sounds good through my phones or monitors but Cubase can't handle the extra processing it needs to do. However if I record dry, the reverb in Cubase just doesn't sound professional.
 
HarleyDavid said:
I'm coming out of the TD10 stereo L/R going into the Mackie (1) channel for each. When you say "Are you mixing within the TD10, I consider you're refering to if I do any tweaking in the head. Yes, but of course. I've own this kit for about two years or more and I'm still trying to figure compression settings, EQ settings and head tensions.

This kit is very complexed (I Love It) but the end results are not giving me what I need. When I add a little reverb via the TD10, it sounds good through my phones or monitors but Cubase can't handle the extra processing it needs to do. However if I record dry, the reverb in Cubase just doesn't sound professional.
Click to expand...

If you have a soundcard capable of multiple In's from your Mackie:

Try a setting with just a hint of room ambience on all the drums... Not too much...
Then in your TD-10 mixer output settings, pipe the kick and snare out through 'master', Rack toms and floor out through 'Direct One', Ride and Hats to 'Direct Two' and your Cymbals out 'Direct 3'.

Then, in your TD-10 mixer pan settings, take the kick hard right, snare hard left, rack toms hard right, floor toms hard left, ride = right, hats = left and then your cymbals the same way as well.

This will direct output from each individual trigger to the assigned output ports, and into separate channels into your Mackie or sound card. If you don't have multiple In's, you can still try and tweak just the toms in your Mackie and perhaps utilize any outboard reverb you might have (?)

You might find that pulling the toms out from the rest of the drum mix to tweak on individually might help in your quest.

I've never utilized the TD10's compression... I'll usually add it later through either my VF16 or my Composer 2200 if I think it's needed on the drums...

Hope this helps a least a little...

:)
 
bentRabbit ~

Most imazing thing just happened. After reading all the recommendations, I remembered that in my rack of out-board gear, I own (never really used) a T.C.I Electronics M-One Reverb Unit. So I pulled the feads out of the Mackie, patched them into the M-One and back out to the Mackie.

OH MY GOD !!! What a fat sound I'm getting from this on all the drums. Butr the real proof was when I shot a recording of a nice long drum solo. I can't believe the difference I'm hearing back from Cubase. It's like I had exactly what I needed all the time and never would have thought of it until you or someone mentioned try using a small plate effect. I was thinking what do I have besides what's in Cubase or the TD10 that can give me that and I remembered the M-One. I think I found my solution through everyone's help and feedback.

I'm going back down to play with it some more and try a few more things but I think I'm on the right track now <--- no pun intended :)


thanx big time
 
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