Electronic Drum Set

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wakeupbomb

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Does anyone know if you can hook up a regular drum machine to some drum pads?

I want to get an electronic drum set, but I don't want to spend a crapload on the drum module. I have an Alesis SR-16 drum machine, and wanted to know if I would be able to buy a whole electronic drum kit (sans module) and hook up my drum machine via MIDI or something. THanks.
 
Good question...

...I just asked the same thing in a different thread. Hope ya don't mind me jumping in here. I'm anxious to hear the answer to this one. Thanks.
 
Not with and SR16. Most table top drum machines only have MIDI in which can be used to trigger the machine sounds using a keyboard or MIDI pads.

However, e-kits have pads that run a 1/4" jack which must be plugged into a converter.

So a rule of thumb is - if the drum module does not have 1/4" inputs, you can not trigger it with drum pads.
 
what he said + unrequested info

Hey, my first post! Hope I can help out a little with it.

As stated above you do need a midi drum brain to convert your pad hits into midi notes. However, you can get used ones for pretty cheap (compared with a brand new system). The Alesis D4 for instance has twelve inputs for trigger pads and will convert those hits into internal drum sound or external midi allowing you to control other instruments. I did a search on e-bay just now and came up with eight for sale right now none of which have exeeded $100 yet, that's a lot cheaper than a Roland V-drum.

Don't think that I am promoting the Alesis, I don't own one myself and have never used one, I just thought this might steer you guys in the right direction.

Check into this and any other drum brains out there, I'm sure you can find something that isn't going to break the bank. There are also a lot of DIY pad building sites out there if you don't want to shell out an arm and a leg for the drum pads either. (like me)

Jesse
 
thanks for the suggestions...

So, basically a drum module and a drum machine are two seperate entities and cannot be used interchangeably?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm planning to buy a drum machine for use in some live performances, but I'd also like to make/use some triggered drums for recording and to incorporate into my acoustic kit.

It would be awesome if there was a unit that would serve both purposes, #1 because it would be more budget friendly (theoretically) and #2 because the same sounds could be easily used for both purposes.

I appreciate any feedback since I'm new to the concept of electronic drums having played only acoustic drums in the past.
I'm trying to understand the various options.

THANKS!
 
maybe I found the answer

I found this quote about the Alesis SR-16 in an online user reveiw: "The SR-16 itself is both a drum synthesizer AND a sequencer in its own right and can work as a sound module if you want to feed it a stream with drum pads."

Is this correct??

The entire reveiw is located here:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Alesis/SR-16-Drum-Machine-01.html

Can anyone confirm this??

Would be very cool (and affordable) if it's true.
 
Thanks everyone. So the basic conclusion here is that you can't use an Alesis SR-16 as a drum brain, is that what I'm getting out of this? Someone mentioned a website about building your own pads, what's that site? Thanks again.
 
here's the thread with info about building your own pads:

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=117364

Because of the review I found on Harmony Central (mentioned above) I'm thinking it MIGHT BE POSSIBLE to use the SR-16 as the brain, but I'm trying to confirm this and find out how it would work.

Anybody who knows for sure about this, please help us out.

Thanks!
 
It has been a long time since I looked at the back of an SR16 - but I am almost positive it does not have 1/4" trigger inputs and does not have converters. So - it can not be triggered by external pads/triggers.

To clear up a couple of items.

The term "drum machine" is normally used to reference a tabletop unit that has small pads on the face (to play with your fingers) and sequencing ability (to create patterns - which can then be comg=bined into "songs"). These units do have on board sounds that can also be controlled by MIDI (from another unit such as a keyboard.

The term "drum module" normally is used for a rack mount unit that contains on board sounds, but does not had built in pads. These units have anywhere from 4 to 12 - 1/4" inputs to accept triggers (either from drum pads or from triggers attached to an accoustic kit).

A drum machine and a drum module can both be "triggered" - but the machine can only be triggered by MIDI whereas the module can be triggered by external pads/triggers or by MIDI.

Now, Roland does make a unit that is a trigger to MIDI converter, which allows you to hook triggers (I think 4) to the unit and the unit converts the signal to MIDI which can then be fed to something like an SR16.

At this time the Alesis D4 module (used at about $80-$100 is the least expensive trigger option (naturally you still need to invest in pads and triggers.
 
drum triggers modules

hi, don't know if this is the right area for this? but you seem to be on similar line of interest as i am.

i've just got my hands on a cheap set of pads with a module ( usb interface no midi sockets) and i,m wanting to use it to trigger midi events but it,s only showing up as a (HID)joystick, how can i configure it to be used in midi based software? :(
 
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