Need help(drum triggers, midi?)

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nimr0d42

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basically what i want to do is this. I'm in a band lets say a harder edged synthy-power-pop-punk band(hard to describe). Anyway we have some parts of our songs that are kinda dancy(and use the synth heavily). Anyway what i'm looking to do is have another bass pedal, that would be like the one on an electronic drumset, and just have that hooked into my powerbook, so that everytime i hit it, it produces a louder more computerized bass drum sound, rather than a regular acoustic drumset sound.

So say if i got this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=perc/s=electric/search/detail/base_pid/449921/

what would i need to make it so i can plug the output of that(what does it output the trigger signal in anyway? midi cable? 1/4"?)into my computer, then out of the headphone jack of my computer into an amp, to play the sound that i choose on my computer.

What interface do i need and what kind of computer program would i use? I'm not new to the world of drumming, and not new to the world of computers by a long shot, but i'm having trouble understanding this midi thing. Thanks in advance for your help!
 
My suggestion would be to look for a Used Alesis DM5, and purachase a new ddrum brand Kick trigger.
Then buy a footswitch to turn the Dm5's bypass on and off.

Put the trigger on your kickdrum, and you would just play the bassdrum part on your regular kick - just turn the Alesis output up louder in the mix. (if you wanted to get fancy, you could patch a y-cord out of the Alesis outputs into the key-function of a noise gate or a compressor, and have the kick drum running through this.
When the key indicator receiverd the electronic signal - it would reduce the volume level of the kick's microphone, so that only the electronic kick sound would be heard.
That process is called "ducking", and it's how they automatically fade everything down really low when a DJ comes on the readio to talk.


Tim
 
thanks for your help! i'll look into that drum trigger and the alesis. The only thing i dont like about the DM5 is that i cant add my own sounds to it, and getting a module where i could add my own sounds would be wayyy out of my price range, which is why i want to find a way to hook up a trigger to my powerbook, since it would only cost me $100-$150 or so(the trigger plus the interface). Any ideas?
 
I believe the KD-8 trigger you're looking at outputs to quarter inch. You would have to run this into a trigger module (something like this http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=perc/s=electric/search/detail/base_pid/442374/ or something that has the same functionality of trigger to midi) and then run the midi signal into your computer. If you don't have a midi interface on your computer, you'd have to get one of those as well, but there are some pretty cheap ones.
 
nimr0d42 said:
thanks for your help! i'll look into that drum trigger and the alesis. The only thing i dont like about the DM5 is that i cant add my own sounds to it, and getting a module where i could add my own sounds would be wayyy out of my price range, which is why i want to find a way to hook up a trigger to my powerbook, since it would only cost me $100-$150 or so(the trigger plus the interface). Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Well, any Trigger to MIDI Interface is probably going to cost you at least $250 no matter what you buy. They just aren't cheap. YOu could build one from a PAIA Kit, but I don't have any idea how good that unit works when compared to what is available commercially.


Tim
 
Tim Brown said:
Well, any Trigger to MIDI Interface is probably going to cost you at least $250 no matter what you buy. They just aren't cheap. YOu could build one from a PAIA Kit, but I don't have any idea how good that unit works when compared to what is available commercially.


Tim
Click to expand...

hmmm allright then it looks like the alesis DM5 is my best bet. Anywhere online where i can hear some of the sounds it has? anyone have any experience with it, keep in mind i'm looking for more of a dance, or fake sound, rather than a "real kit" sound, as i already have one of those.
 
nimr0d42 said:
hmmm allright then it looks like the alesis DM5 is my best bet. Anywhere online where i can hear some of the sounds it has? anyone have any experience with it, keep in mind i'm looking for more of a dance, or fake sound, rather than a "real kit" sound, as i already have one of those.
Click to expand...


I had the Dm5 and it is probably exactly what you are looking for - It's got tons of sounds in it that could be untilized for Dance type music including "Bass drops" (like a booming car) but the actual drumset sounds aren't all that impressive to me.


Tim
 
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