Drum Trigger Questions

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Executivos

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I own a drum set but can't play it in my apartment because of noise. I just bought some rubber pads for my drums and now I can play them here...It's great because I really need the practice.

I'm finding that since they don't sound accurate, I don't enjoy it as much and I know this will keep me from practicing.

I've done a little bit of research into setting up a triggering system which I can use for practice, and then I might as well use for recording as well. Fruity loops is great, but I'd rather "play" then enter patterns by mouse.

First....I'm seeing that I need to buy a module of some sort. I looked at the alesis dm5 and on ebay the prices are affordable. How exactly does this work? I've read the sounds in it are pretty good, but I'd probably like to use my own sounds. I could record them in protools and then use sound replacer to go through each track but that seams like a waste.

Can I use my own sounds with this module? I assume I could send midi out of the dm5 to a sampler program (like fruity loops)

Secondly...Triggers themselves..I read the articles on buying buzzer's from radio shack...I can handle that no problem, but will they have any sort of dynamics? Will these triggers work if I fit them under the rubber pads that now are ontop of my acoustic drums, or am I better off buying or building new pads?

If there's any other similar modules I can get used for under $200 please let me know.
 
You can't use your own sounds in the DM5. It is a sample "playback" unit, but it can't sample and you can't load sounds into it.

You are correct that you can use the MIDI out to trigger samples from a sampler.

The way the DM5 works - it accepts 12 - 1/4" jacks (I think it's 12, I haven't looked at the back of a DM5 in a long time). Most drum triggers have a female 1/4" jack, so you plug a guitar cable into the trigger and the other end into the DM5 (Note: Some drum "pads" are duel zone, which means they use a stereo plug - but then the module must be able to accept the stereo signal).

I've never tried to trigger from a rubber "silencer" pad, but I'm thinking it would not work well (if at all). The trigger needs to pick up the vibration and the rubber silencers absorb the vibration.

We did have a decent result putting Hart triggers on a set of Remo practise pads and triggering an Alesis D4. Naturally you won't get the level or playing dynamics you would get with a dedicated drum pad (like the Roland, Yamaha, Pintech, Hart, etc).

I think you would be better off buying drum pads and useing them to trigger the Alesis module - Hart and Pintech are reasonably priced . Or you could buy the Yamaha DTExpress for $1,000.

The DM5 is a very good sounding module (as is the D4). However, if you play to only use it as a "MIDI converter" (to trigger other sounds) you probably don't care about the sounds.

In any case, I would think a D4 or a DM5 off e-bay would be the most cost effective module.
 
where do you put the triggers? I was going to put them right under the rubber pad pretty much at the place where it hits.
 
Most triggers are connected near the drum rim. However, the Roland and Yamaha electronic kits do have the triggers located under the middle of the head.

I really don't know how well the triggers would work with the rubber "silencers" Good luck.
 
yeah after rethinking the whole setup, i think I will buy those remo practice pads, and just save my drums for gigs.

Do the remo practice pads have a better feel? The rubber pads I have are kinda sluggish.

If I get the remo's and build my own triggers, would I still mount them on the top or mount them inside the practice pad?
 
The Remo pads are hard plastic, so they don't have the best feel (certainly nothing like a mesh head.

The only time we tried triggering from Remo pads, we attached Hart triggers to the top of the pad. - I don't think there would be a logical way to get at the "inside of the pad".

If you are pretty sure you want to trigger, you may want to get the module, and try to trigger with one pad (to see how you like it). If it works you can get more pads. If it doesn't work the way you want - you at least have the module and can then decide if you want to buy dedicated electronic pads.
 
yeah i think I'm going to do that...I'll just buy the module and test a lot of diff solutions. I'm not an experienced drummer, so if the feel is off a bit, I don't care at all....as long as it's not off in a sluggish way.

What kind of triggers would work best with practice pads?
 
The only experiance I've had triggering pads was with Hart triggers. I've also used Hart triggers on accoustic drums with good results.
 
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