Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- adamh52683 wrote:
> I was wondering how some of you guys make your favorite crash and 
> open hi-hat sounds.  I'm pretty much satisfied with what I use in 
> all but those two areas.  Thanks!

Crash sounds are those that I am most fickle about, and change most 
often. I still haven't found a combination I stick with for more than 
a few weeks.

I think I figured out why the e-cymbal sounds are so difficult to 
live with, and it came to me when I played an acoustic kit for the 
first time in 28 years just recently.

From the throne, real cymbals sound VERY different to the way the 
audience hears them. From the throne, you hear the stick impact with 
crystal clarity, you hear the attack build (even if it's very fast) 
you can hear all the tonal components, and you hear the decay.

The audience hears it differently. Unless it's a very small acoustic 
gig, they get more of a "blurred" sound. They get the overall 
impression, but not the detail. This is much more the case than with 
drum sounds, in my view.

The problem is, the e-cymbal samples are mostly how the cymbal sounds 
from an *audience* perspective. They are nothing like how a cymbal 
sounds from the throne. When setting up e-cymbal sounds, I have found 
if I bear that in mind then I am much more willing to accept the 
sounds. I would therefore imagine (but I haven't tried it) that the 
best way to tweak e-cymbal sounds is to record your playing, leave it 
for a few days, and then listen to the recording as if a member of 
the audience.

Oh dear. The early morning ramblings of an old man with too little 
caffeine on board.

Stewart