Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hi Joel,

I feel for you, but you should have time to put something melodic 
together using the voices on the DTXpress and/or those on a computer 
soundcard or sequencing software. But you'll need to learn MIDI 
basics first. The DTXpress isn't really a melodic device per se, 
though you can trigger melodic material by hitting pads. Here's a 
link to information that will get you started. It will give you 
enough background to ask musicians and digital mavens closer to your 
orbit for specific help and to get the feel of using equipment by 
yourself without freaking out. Go to 
http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to%20articles.html. In the sidebar to 
the left on the home page, you'll notice that the top link is to an 
article for MIDI newbies. Read it, get the equipment that it 
recommends for your computer (don't worry, it can be cheap), and 
make sounds. What you should be able to do in crash-course time is 
compose a melody of some sort(as simple or as complex as you need) 
on the computer software (sequencer), record it as a user song on 
the DTXPU on one track, and then figure out a drum part for it. That 
drum part could include up to three other short melodic phrases, 
triggered by your pads, also composed on the sequencer. You can even 
record yourself playing it on your song's second track. That should 
impress the examiner.

After or during the learning process, I'm sure that members of this 
group will be able to give you tips and answer particular questions. 
But making, and understanding, the MIDI connection to your computer 
is essential. And it wouldn't hurt to have a friend for moral, if 
not technical, support, whether musically inclined or not. Do you 
think that you could team up with someone else in the class and do 
the project together?

I hope this helps a little bit. You can use your pads and module to 
make music, but you'll need a little external musical information to 
finish the job.

Ed


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "mrjoelroberts <joelsdrums@h...>" 
<joelsdrums@h...> wrote:
> hi,
> 
> i am doing GCSE music (dont know the american equivelant, its 
> important though, im 15, do the exam when i'm 16).  anyway, i took 
> this after being told that I could do basically all the work on 
> drums, it was a very open ocurse etc.  8 weeks into it, it has 
been 
> all melody work.  Now, I have to compose a melodic piece, and I 
have 
> 2 weeks.  I only play drums, and I was talking to this guy that 
works 
> with 6 of us musicians that don't play classical like the rest of 
the 
> class, and we think that i can put chords and a bassline on my 
kit.  
> Am I right? can i put a bassline on my bass drum that changes 
every 
> time I hit it? can i put a chord on, say, my snare? how do I do 
this? 
> can I change the voices? Can I record guitar voices from the 
computer 
> onto my kit? where could I get these? Can I change the length of 
each 
> note etc? Does MIDI help? If so, explain it like your talking to a 
> dummy because I dont have a clue about MIDI.  Sorry for all the 
> questions but its a vital piece of work.  PLEASE HELP!
> 
> Joel