Topic: Drum Pad/Sequencer

[Larry Rankine]

I'm looking into getting an electronic drum pad for the primary purpose of triggering loops during live performance.  And having the ability to add some electronic percussion "stuff" would be a great thing too!  To say that I'm a novice in this topic would be a gross understatement so can anyone give me a little primer (or point me in the right direction) as to what equipment I would need to accomplish this?  Also any equipment recommendations would be appreciated as well!

[Ryan Smith]

Hi Larry,

I don't pretend to be an expert on this.  I've played around with this at home, but haven't tried it live yet.

The SPD-SX and DtxMult-12 are similar.  Both have built-in percussion sounds and you can be loaded with custom samples.  The SPD has far more capacity for sampling than the Multi-12.  9 pads on the SPD, 12 on the Multi12.

If you don't want to haul around a laptop, you could load your loops and samples on the SPD and then assign them to a pad.  Roland had some videos with Johnny Rabb playing on the older SPD.

If you want to trigger loops on a laptop, then either the SPD or Multi12 can trigger internal sounds, or you can assign the MIDI out for each pad to play a loop in your sequencer.  Ableton Live is very popular and you can get the Intro version at a very reasonable price.

If you don't care about built in sounds, you could use the Alesis which just provides the Midi trigger.

I recommend getting Donny Gruendler's "Creating and Performing Loops" DVD and his book, "Playing with Drum Loops"  They are very good resources.
As a side note, Donny gives guidance on how to blend with loops, by varying your time, feel, note density and voicing. This has helped my playing in general by applying those same concepts when playing live with other musicians.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=1177

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/drums/drums_digital_percussion/muilti_pads/dtx-m12/dtx-multi12/?mode=model

http://www.alesis.com/controlpad

[Larry Rankine]

Thanks Ryan!   Will definitely check out Gruendler's stuff!  I'm leaning toward the Roland SPD-SX but need to do some more "market research" before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

[Jon E]

Larry, another non-expert here....

I used to own Roland SPD-8 and really liked it. It had tons of features and was expandable and had trigger inputs, etc.  I still regret selling it.

[Larry Rankine]

That's good to hear Jon, thanks!

[Larry Rankine]

Hey guys....did y'all run your stuff through the PA or did you have your own small amp?  I'm thinking PA but want to be sure.

[Ryan Smith]

The SPD-SX looks like a good buy. I haven't found one is stock locally to play around with it.

PA would be easiest if it can handle it, otherwise keyboard amps provide decent low end.

[Larry Rankine]

My man Ryan!  Thanks Bro!  Just pulled the trigger on the SPD-SX!  Got your PM and will check out your recommendations!

[Ryan Smith]

Very nice!  Be great if you could give us a review once you get some playing time on it.

[Larry Rankine]

Will Do!   

[Larry Rankine]

Well.....my copy of DRUM magazine arrived today and what do you know?  They've done a review of the SPD-SX!  I'll still let y'all know how a novice finds it to work with!  The beast arrives tomorrow!

[Jim Martin (cavanman)]

Congrats on the SPD-SX Larry! I own the SPD-S and haven't used it as much as I'd have liked to. But when I have, it's been very useful.

I also just recently bought a Korg Oriental Wavedrum. I plan on using the two together once I have more of a handle on the Wavedrum. Right now I'm running them through a small mixer and using headphones. I'm also debating whether to get an amp or powered speaker. I'm leaning towards using the mixer with a powered speaker - which is basically a one speaker PA solution.

One thing to consider (at least I am) is what sound reinforcement situations you find yourself in more often. Although I do come across gigs where there is a pro sound man and robust PA solution with detailed separate monitor mixes, that's not the usual situation.
I probably will use this at my church first. Churches as a rule, have 'iffy' sound systems and volunteer sound people. The bigger the church the more likely you'll get a more pro style solution but again, that's not as common for me.

Therefore having your own way of monitoring electronics seems to make sense to me. With a small mixer and a powered speaker with say, a 12" speaker in it, you can get a good level on stage that you yourself control. Most small mixers have  at least one aux send that you can send to the house (FOH as well as monitors for other players).

If you want an all-in-one solution, The Roland KC series keyboard amps seem to have some of the features above and I've heard good things about them with electronic drums. They are however a bit heavy. I don't know about you but I have to load up and down stairs every so often. Gear weight matters more at my age (53)  than it has in the past. 

If you rely on a sound man and the PA/monitors that are available, you have less control. I'm much more comfortable playing to loops when I'm in control of my monitoring.

Would love to hear about your experiences with the SPD-SX!

Jim

[Larry Rankine]

That's really great stuff Jim, thanks so much for "weighing in!"  I'm not gigging a lot but when I do weight is an issue for me as well (just turned 58).     I've been searching for a monitoring method and the small mixer idea of yours sounds golden!  I've got IEM's that I use and have been struggling with getting an even mix of all the instruments and vocals.  I'm thinking that's probably the answer for both issues.  I'll be sure to post something more on the SX once I've had a chance to really get into it.