Trigger Help - A few Questions

[vegasdrummer]

I'm gonna try to explain this all in one shot


I've been trying to record at least a decent demo at my house. The equipment I have:

Computer
Delta 66 Sound Card
Peavey Unity 2000 Board
SM57s, SM58s, Audio Technica Kitpak drum mics, Samson Q3 for kick

It's been impossible for me to get an acceptable drum sound, mainly kick of course. I've been setting up the board this way:

*INS*
Kick - Channel 1 panned Left
Snare - Channel 2 panned Right
Tom 1 - Channel 3, slider down, Mon A for volume
Tom 2 - Channel 4, slider down, Mon A for volume
Tom 3 - Channel 5, slider down, Mon A for volume
Hi Hat - Channel 6, slider down, Mon B for volume
Overhead 1 - Channel 7, slider down, Mon B for volume
Overhead 2 - Channel 8, slider down, Mon B for volume

*OUTS*
Main Out L to in 1 on Delta - Kick
Main Out R to in 2 on Delta - Snare
Mon A to in 3 on Delta - Toms
Mon B to in 4 on Delta - Hi-hats & overheads

I assume this is a pretty typical setup for what I have. I have to mix the toms together on the board before dumping them to the Delta, and I have to mix the hat and overheads before dumping them. This way I have full control of the kick and snare independently on different tracks, one track for all the toms mixed together, and one track for the overheads and Hi-Hat mixed together.


My problem:

I have enough trouble mixing it evenly, besides that, I am not getting good sounds. I know the mics suck, and the board isn't ideal, but I'm tired of messing with it, I need triggers.

I am looking at getting an Alesis A4 module and DR-1 triggers as seen here: http://www.drumtrigger.com/dr1.htm I probably should go with DDrum triggers, but I'm hoping you guys won't tell me those DR-1's are pure crap, cause they're about 5 times the price.

My main question is on the module, in pictures, I see 4 outs, Main L and R and Aux L and R (I think, I can't tell exactly). Does that mean mixing is done on the module, and then sent to the Delta, or to the board, then the Delta? Or can I set each sound to go out a different out, and then continue to do what I'm doing on the board?

You guys have been an enourmous help in the past, so I'm hoping you can hook me up here. Thanks in advance!

 

[Commander]

The Alsesis D4 has 4 outputs; L&R and Aux L&R, meaning that you would normally mix the entire kit within the D4 and send it via the main L&R stereo outputs to the desk as an entire drum mix. These units work very well with drum triggers and you should get a good result, the only downside being the hi-hats which can sound quite weak. If you need to treat each drum differently then this is not the unit for you, although this situation is somewhat alleviated with the inclusion of the Aux outs.

Something you need to check though: when you send the snare (for instance) to the aux output on the D4 is it removed from the main stereo outputs?

 

[Simman]

I believe that the D4 has midi out. I'd record the drummer's midi performace, then asign samples for each drum/midi note. This gives you the ability to change samples/drum sound anytime you want.

 

[zaragemca]

You might need to pay attention to the equalization of the tracks,(but that is only good when recording individual items),once you packed differences items together, the equalization is not of much help.