Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "vantre1" <adrianoc@d...> wrote:
> Hi folks.

Hi Adrian. Welcome to the party.
 
> Can I connect the kit up to cubase so that I could record every pad 
> to a different track for later editing?

Yes, just give each pad its own MIDI track. The default track for e-
drums is 10, but you can depart from it manually.
 
> Can I use the kit to trigger seperate samples via cubase (again 1 
> sample per track per pad ), so that I'm bypassing the kit's own 
sounds?

Yes, just adjust MIDI notes for each pad to match the MIDI notes for 
your target samples.

>How much punishment can the kit take? I have a buddy who is 
> an 'aggressive' drummer & would like to know how careful you need 
to 
> be with it...!

e-drums are built to withstand a fair amount of punishment. We don't 
receive many posts about pads failing because of mistreatment, 
although occasionally it happens. The great majority of rubber kits 
survive the onslaughts of converted acoustic heavy hitters without 
too much trouble. That said, drummers making the transition should 
keep in mind that strength is more likely to result in punishment 
than reward on e-drums. Since they're hitting electronic elements 
inside the pads, control rather than force dictates how they are 
going to respond. Once the module is programmed for its widest 
dynamic range, you'll quickly notice how easy it is to reach peak 
gain. Drummers who flail away recklessly risk making sounds that they 
don't intend, not making sounds that they do, hearing way too much 
stick noise, and possibly damaging their components. This is not to 
say the normal exuberance that drummers feel when they play is out of 
place on e-drums; it isn't. But force achieves the law of diminishing 
returns faster than with acoustics; let the module do the heavy 
lifting. Of course, well-mic'ed acoustic drums aren't totally 
dissimilar in response; they don't require much force to achieve a 
big sound either.

> Thanks for the help & lastly, would anyone recommend anything other 
> than the dtxpress for this sort of thing? (although I'm guessing 
that 
> maybe an illegal sort of question around here!!)

We're denominationally nondenominational. We have a healthy respect 
for everything, though we try to remain sensitive to cost. Any kit 
with a module--Yamaha, Roland, or otherwise--will mate with a 
sequencer on a PC. If you intend to bypass a module's sounds for 
samples on a regular basis, you might consider a used or otherwise 
inexpensive module for the MIDI connection. Otherwise the tone 
generator would be a waste for you. 

So far as feel and robustness are concerned, the rubber pads of the 
Yamaha DTXtremeIIS kit are much less jarring on the joints than those 
on the DTXpress, and they feel more like acoustic heads. The mesh 
kits made by Roland, Hart, Pintech, and a few other companies 
arguably simulate the acoustic experience best of all, given that the 
drums are shells with silent woven heads rather than mylar ones. Many 
companies make cymbals intended to look and play like acoustics. The 
round Yamaha rubber ones are a good option, but so are those from 
Pintech, as well as the acrylic ones from Visu-lite, the metal ones 
from Hart or Smartrigger, etc. Be forewarned, however, that not all 
components from other companies mate perfectly with Yamaha modules. 
Unless they specify otherwise, they usually have Roland's in mind, 
though they will generally work with ddrum and Alesis as well.

Modules become more versatile, sensitive, user-friendly, and refined 
in both sound and nuance with price. Pound for pound, Roland 
equipment costs more than anything else, not necessarily because 
it's "better" by all comparisons but because it is the strongest name 
in the market. If you stick around, you'll get a sense of the wide 
range available.

Ed