Electronic drums sets

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I just got a yamaha electronic set and I am looking for info on how to record them. So far with sonar it does not even sound as good as my old drum machine even though Im putting the audio that I was sending to my amp straight into the soundcard.

any ideas?
 
Which Yamaha set? What is you recording path? It sounds like you are going direct from the sound module into your computer - am I correct.

What exactly don't you like compared to your old drum machine???
 
Gonna need a preamp. I would suggest looking into small mixers to allow for stereo and room for expansion later. Depending on your budget, I like my Behringer UB1832 for the price ($240). Lotta bang for the buck, quite as a mouse and the preamps are a far improvement from thier "lower" models, and the damn thing just sounds good! Mackie is another good choice, but gonna run you a little more, and do a little less. I think Mikeh was onto something suggesting you give a little more info on just what it is you want to do, and what you have to work with now (soundcard, sound modular, etc.).
 
mikeh
you asked "Which Yamaha set? What is you recording path? It sounds like you are going direct from the sound module into your computer - am I correct."

Yes
I am going straight in to the soundcard from the sound modules analog output. Its a yamaha dtxpress.
What I dont like is that the sound on the recorded track is very weak compared to what I get from the phones in the module or the amp. there is no punch and the meters peak at such a low sound level that you cant hear it over the rest of the tracks!
the drum machine carried threw the other tracks and sounded meaty.

Toker41
Im going into an sb audigy direct from the modules out. what will the preamp help? I can already drive the input to cliping. and additional $ are tough to find right nowafter just buying this.
 
band 4 hire,

since you double posted I was not sure where to respond - but since you directed a comment to me here.....

While a pre can add presence and definition to a signal, I'm not completely convinced that is your primary problem. Sometimes it's too easy to simply suggest get a mixer or use a preamp. I will offer some basic suggestions, since I have no way of knowing your level of audio knowledge.

First you need to check your various gain levels. The DTExpress have the stereo gain but it also has individual gain controls for each sound within the module parameters. Sonar has gain controls and I must assume audigy has some gain controls. That's 4 places you can adjust gain and you need to find some level of unity.

I would start with the individula level controls in the module - get those to a mid level. Then do the same with the main stereo output. Then adjust the audigy and the Sonar levels to a mid point. Then you need to play around to find the best level at each stage.

If that doesn't work run the DTExpress to whatever amp you made reference to. If the amp has a direct out use that, if not try to mic the signal coming from the speakers. If that still doesn't work (and naturally you've confirmed all cables are working and you've tested other signals - such as your old drum machine - into the computer) at least you have eliminated several possible problems.

It is possible a pre-amp (or a mixer acting as a preamp) could help, but don't buy stuff just to buy stuff - trouble shot what you have first. Good luck!!!
 
I am lucky to have the best of both worlds as i have a roland concert session in my room and a yamaha hipgig for gigs.
I think electronic drums have come a long way and you can listen to the trax we recordd using my vdrums, recorded into a yamahaaw16g then mixed in cubase sx.
The music you will hear is very different to normal.
The guitarist and the sax player are in Texas while the bass player drummer and vocalist are in scotland.
We have never physicaly met the guys in the US, this collaboration was done via FTP of wav files recorded.
Visit www.globetraxters.com for more info, the site will be live within two weeks.
meantime polease check out ftp://public:aw16g@b00mboy.dynu.com/ to download these tracks
 
this dtexpress kit is real cool now that I figured out how to record it. Its gona take a while to figiure it all out. the cymbals kinda suck but maybe Ill figure them out for a better sound to.
Thanks mikeh for your help
 
band 4 hire,

About a year ago, I spent an entire weekend trying to tweak my drummer's DTXpress kit to get a sound I was happy with, and IMO, the kit's internal sounds just didn't cut it at all. No matter how much I polished, it was still a turd.

I finally ended up using the kit to trigger a Zoom 234 drum machine and it was a thousand percent better. If you still end up liking your drum machine's samples better, you might want to go that route - best of both worlds.

If you're recording with a computer, you could also use the kit to record the MIDI performance, and use a sampler plugin.

...just a few options...
 
My $.02, forget the Roland VDrums. Up until last year, I owned a VClub and it was great for practicing and messing around in the bassment, but when I went to set up a project studio, I quickly realized the limitations. All that COSM stuff is cool, but if the drums sound and play fake, what good is it when you're trying to get as close to real drums as possible?

So I Ebayed the VDrums and bought a set of Ddrum4SE's and will never look back! They play and sound so much more like real drums, it's amazing. Plus they were about $1500 SD cheaper than the Rolands and I could download my own sounds or about 1400 free sounds from Clavia's web site. I don't know how much they retail for, but I picked up my set used (just barely) from a place called AJ's Pro Percussion in Florida for about $2200. New, I think they're around $2600 so shop around...
 
My $.02, forget the Roland VDrums. Up until last year, I owned a VClub and it was great for practicing and messing around in the bassment, but when I went to set up a project studio, I quickly realized the limitations. All that COSM stuff is cool, but if the drums sound and play fake, what good is it when you're trying to get as close to real drums as possible?

So I Ebayed the VDrums and bought a set of Ddrum4SE's and will never look back! They play and sound so much more like real drums, it's amazing. Plus they were about $1500 SD cheaper than the Rolands and I could download my own sounds or about 1400 free sounds from Clavia's web site. I don't know how much they retail for, but I picked up my set used (just barely) from a place called AJ's Pro Percussion in Florida for about $2200. New, I think they're around $2600 so shop around...
 
Electric Kits

Well i just found this out. My friend and i were playing on his electric set. Now check this out. You can be trying to do a drum roll on an electric snare pad and if u do something like a half drum roll the trigger will pick up the roll and then it will finish it for you then you try to do it on an acoustic drum and it's not going to come out the right way. For recording that might be a little devistating if you switch from electric to acoustic. JKD
 
Electric Kits

Well i just found this out. My friend and i were playing on his electric set. Now check this out. You can be trying to do a drum roll on an electric snare pad and if u do something like a half drum roll the trigger will pick up the roll and then it will finish it for you then you try to do it on an acoustic drum and it's not going to come out the right way. For recording that might be a little devistating if you switch from electric to acoustic. JKD
 
Electric Kits

Well i just found this out. My friend and i were playing on his electric set. Now check this out. You can be trying to do a drum roll on an electric snare pad and if u do something like a half drum roll the trigger will pick up the roll and then it will finish it for you then you try to do it on an acoustic drum and it's not going to come out the right way. For recording that might be a little devistating if you switch from electric to acoustic. JKD
 
That means he needs to set his dynamics up (or maybe there's something wrong with the pads/brain/etc..)

Sensitivity, Velocity, Dyn, Thresh, etc...
 
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