To Upgrade the Drum Module or Not To

[jacobbowen39]

Hi All,

So I'm debating upgrading my Alesis electric drum set (was maybe $1,100 when I got it new but I can't figure out what model it is they don't sell it anymore new at least) with a $1600 Roland V Drums TD-27 module that supposedly would integrate with my Alesis pads (I unfortunately don't have enough money to buy the Roland triggers and the Module). But my problem is I'm recording using the Alesis as a midi so I'm using sounds from a virtual kit. Is there anyway to utilize the high quality sounds from the Roland kit as the virtual instrument linked to the Midi trigger pads so that I can still rearrange notes and quantize more effectively than if I just recorded them live (I'm mainly a guitarist not a drummer so I tend to mess up a decent amount and have to edit the track after the fact). Just wondering if the upgrade would be a wise decision and help my recording quality or if I'd be better to just invest in better Virtual Drum samples. If thats the case, what are the highest quality virtual drumsets you can buy within a price range of $80 to literally $600 tops? Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Best,
Jacob

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Welcome Jacob.
I thought about something similar.
I have a Yamaha electronic kit with all hard pads (DT Extreme II, I think).
None of the drum sounds are wonderful, but I do also have a Roland Integra 7, which has a lot of good drum sounds.
If I midi the drum module out to the Integra 7, none of the drum sounds are mapped to an appropriate pad.
I believe it is technically possible to edit the pad settings to match them up, but I think that would be an uphill struggle.
For your problem, perhaps sell your grandma, rob a bank, and get the full Roland kit.
I'm no help am I?

 

[DM60]

I would think the MIDI out would record the MIDI drum hits, you might even be able to set each pad to a channel and map that channel to a track, give you more separation. When I use Superior drummer I use the "learn" function so that when the MIDI for that piece is hit, that corresponds to a MIDI note, SD looks for that note to trigger the drum sound I mapped it to.

Also (I didn't look) I would think Roland has a way to remap the notes of the pads to a different note output. I know my little crappy Yamaha drum pad allows me to remap. That way I can leave SD alone and bring up the SD mappings in the Yamaha pads to when I hit them, it triggers that sound.

Not sure I am making sense, but your VSTi drum plug in should have a "learn" feature. The Roland should have a assign notes, mapping, etc. feature in its brain. You will need to check the manual, but the MIDI should plug into the computer for output and just a matter of getting the DAW to receive it. For now, I would set it for all signals, set the Roland to whatever, since the MIDI track will receive all signals record them.

 

[jacobbowen39]

Welcome Jacob.
I thought about something similar.
I have a Yamaha electronic kit with all hard pads (DT Extreme II, I think).
None of the drum sounds are wonderful, but I do also have a Roland Integra 7, which has a lot of good drum sounds.
If I midi the drum module out to the Integra 7, none of the drum sounds are mapped to an appropriate pad.
I believe it is technically possible to edit the pad settings to match them up, but I think that would be an uphill struggle.
For your problem, perhaps sell your grandma, rob a bank, and get the full Roland kit.
I'm no help am I?

Maybe not so much help for this one my grandmas have both passed us on! I took no offense though haha. You would think they would design these things so you can use them as a midi and then the drum set sounds loaded on the module would function as the virtual instrument sounds. Really, I just want to justify the upgrade. If I didn't live with my parents I'd trade in my old set and buy the new set at Guitar Center and do their financing deal where I pay roughly $110 a month for 2 years. But my parents would kill me if I did anything resembling that. Just buying the module I can put a towel over it when I'm not using it and they're likely never to notice anything changed lol.

 

[jacobbowen39]

I would think the MIDI out would record the MIDI drum hits, you might even be able to set each pad to a channel and map that channel to a track, give you more separation. When I use Superior drummer I use the "learn" function so that when the MIDI for that piece is hit, that corresponds to a MIDI note, SD looks for that note to trigger the drum sound I mapped it to.

Also (I didn't look) I would think Roland has a way to remap the notes of the pads to a different note output. I know my little crappy Yamaha drum pad allows me to remap. That way I can leave SD alone and bring up the SD mappings in the Yamaha pads to when I hit them, it triggers that sound.

Not sure I am making sense, but your VSTi drum plug in should have a "learn" feature. The Roland should have a assign notes, mapping, etc. feature in its brain. You will need to check the manual, but the MIDI should plug into the computer for output and just a matter of getting the DAW to receive it. For now, I would set it for all signals, set the Roland to whatever, since the MIDI track will receive all signals record them.

I think you're making sense but only to someone more knowledgeable than I. I've heard people say you can have a software where you sample all the drum sounds from the roland and build your own virtual kit but that sounds time consuming. I may just be best to buy a better virtual kit. Right now I have 3 different sets through native instruments called kontakt, but I've heard toontrack is the way to go so I may invest in that here shortly and just save the upgraded electric set for a time that I can afford the upgraded trigger pads as well. I played one of those at GC yesterday and it was just epic compared to my Alesis.