Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hey guys,

I've been playing my dtxpress for about three weeks, and I'm 
starting to feel twinges in my wrists underneath my palms.  
I'm wondering is this from banging on the harder surfaces of the
rubber pads as opposed to a softer real acoustic drumhead.  Anybody
else experience this?

Aaron

In the store I noticed that playing the rubber pads caused a higher 
strain on my wrists. A smaller part of the energy of the impact is 
transfered to the drums and more seems to be absorbed in the wrists. 
That last part may be because my own lack of technique, I don't know. 
What I do know is that if you start to feel painfull or annoying 
sensations in your wrist arm or shoulder/higher back, you should be 
carefull, really carefull. You could end up with a severe case of RSI 
or CTS(repetitive strain injury or carpal tunnel syndrome; these are 
caused by irritated nerves which are pushed to their limits, they 
then encapsulate themselves), which can only be healed with absolute 
rest. Especially if you have a job which involves a lot of 
computerwork your at risk if you don't rest your muscles. It could 
also be that you just are'nt used to playing this type of surface and 
that your body has to get used to it, build some extra muscles. 
The only thing I can advise you when the symptoms don't disappear is; 

- Always warm up your muscles.
- Take short rests (30 sec.) when practising, every couple of minutes.
- While resting do some exersises like shoulder rolling, juggling a 
bit with a small ball. Walk around a bit while doing this.
- Make sure you have a good position behind the kit. Always be at the 
right hight. Make sure to have a straight back. Set up your kit the 
way that you can reach every pad with the least amount of effort.
-Work on your stick technique, so that a minimum of the energy of the 
impact is transferred to the wrist and the least amount of energy is 
needed to strike hard.
- Listen to your body.

I am not a doctor nor a drum instructor, but I have seen some bad 
cases of RSI or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Not necesserally with 
drummers but a lot with people who work with computers (especially 
mousing). I have seen people having to stop their study for over a 
year because in the end they were unable to turn the page of a 
textbook or type a paper. I'm not saying that you have one of these 
injuries, this is a general warning to every drummer out there. When 
you first start noticing the injuries you're already at risk.

P.S. By the way, there's nothing wrong with aching muscles the day 
after a good drum work-out. ;-) Just beware of painfull nerves. If 
you're worried please see a doctor, he should know a hell of a lot 
more than I do...

The same thing happened to me when I first started
playing electronics.  I was hitting harder than I
normally do, the headphone volume is so low on the
dtxpress I couldn't help it.  I eventually after about
two months just learned to pay better attention to
what I was hearing and not muscle the beat so much to
make it louder.  The pain in my wrists went away.

  -Joe

--- aohoward <aohoward@...> wrote:
> Hey guys,
> 
> I've been playing my dtxpress for about three weeks,
> and I'm 
> starting to feel twinges in my wrists underneath my
> palms.  
> I'm wondering is this from banging on the harder
> surfaces of the
> rubber pads as opposed to a softer real acoustic
> drumhead.  Anybody
> else experience this?
> 
> Aaron
> 
> 


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I recently bought an spd-6.  Is it possible to connect
it via a midi cable and use it with the dtxpress? 
Does anyone have an idea of how to do so?  I've never
worked with two drum units before and I'm not sure
what the advantages/disadvantages may be or what new
options I have besides new sounds.  Any information is
appreciated.    -Joe


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My two cents worth:
Rubber pads definately make a more severe impact on the wrists. I use 
a mesh head on the snare, but toms and cymbals are rubber. I have 
never been a hard hitter. Your stick should be hitting the pad, not 
driven into the pad by your hands/wrists/arms. When I play, my sticks 
are almost falling out of my hands, because I hold them so loosely!
The main thing to remember: There is a volume control. Set this as 
high as you need it for loudest volume when hitting pads at a 
comfortable velocity, then play softer to get the dynamics. Let the 
electronics do the work!
Scott

--- In DTXpress@y..., "aohoward" <aohoward@p...> wrote:

> Hey guys,
> 
> I've been playing my dtxpress for about three weeks, and I'm 
> starting to feel twinges in my wrists underneath my palms.  
> I'm wondering is this from banging on the harder surfaces of the
> rubber pads as opposed to a softer real acoustic drumhead.  Anybody
> else experience this?
> 
> Aaron

Thanks for the info!   -Joe


--- S-E-A <sonicenergyauthority@...> wrote:
> Well Joe, it's good news and bad news..
> 
> Yes, you could connect the MIDI out of the SPD-6 to
> the MIDI in of the DTXpress, and when you hit the
> Roland's pads you should hear something from the
> Yamaha.
> It's might not be anything useful....
> 
> I've no idea if you can change the Roland's MIDI
> note numbers looking at a picture of the unit there
> doesn't appear to be any LCD display or anything.
> I use an old Roland Octapad II to add extra inputs
> to my DTXpress, works very well. I don't think you
> will have much control over what your SPD sends to
> the DTXpress.
> You might as well just use it as an extra sound
> source if your using it live,  but try connecting up
> with MIDI anyway, it could surprise you!
> 
> I've noted the lack of MIDI in on the unit, which
> means you will not be able to use it as a drum
> module to play sounds externally. Bit of a shame,
> Roland knew how to make good 'drum machine sounds'
> (the TR series). The only way to hear the Roland
> sounds is to hit the SPD's pads, and if you wish to
> record them into a sequencer, you better do it via
> audio, and then of course you will not be able to
> change sounds, or separate drum parts, etc.
> 
> the Sonic Energy Authority - a sound investment
> 
>  
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Joseph Palacki 
>   To: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com 
>   Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 3:02 PM
>   Subject: [DTXpress] spd-6
> 
> 
>   I recently bought an spd-6.  Is it possible to
> connect
>   it via a midi cable and use it with the dtxpress? 
>   Does anyone have an idea of how to do so?  I've
> never
>   worked with two drum units before and I'm not sure
>   what the advantages/disadvantages may be or what
> new
>   options I have besides new sounds.  Any
> information is
>   appreciated.    -Joe
> 
> 
> 


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I know its a sin to mention roland drum gear in this group, but I'm 
going to do it (it'll be brief).  I plugged my spd-6 into the 
dtxpress via a midi cable, I think I'm getting the dtx's sounds.  
Does anyone know how to change the sounds I'm getting on the spd-6 
from the dtxpress?  And one more question, does anyone know of any 
place I could go on the net (group like this one or website) to get 
more info on the spd-6.  Any info is appreciated, thanks.  -Joe

Are you trying to trigger dtxp sounds from the spd-6? Or are you 
trying to trigger spd-6 sounds from the dtxp?
Scott

--- In DTXpress@y..., "palacki808" <palacki808@y...> wrote:

> I know its a sin to mention roland drum gear in this group, but I'm 
> going to do it (it'll be brief).  I plugged my spd-6 into the 
> dtxpress via a midi cable, I think I'm getting the dtx's sounds.  
> Does anyone know how to change the sounds I'm getting on the spd-6 
> from the dtxpress?  And one more question, does anyone know of any 
> place I could go on the net (group like this one or website) to get 
> more info on the spd-6.  Any info is appreciated, thanks.  -Joe

I'm trying to trigger dtxpress sounds with the spd-6. 
I know there's a way to change those sounds but I keep
getting an error message.   -Joe

--- hairytrigger <artifax@...> wrote:
> Are you trying to trigger dtxp sounds from the
> spd-6? Or are you 
> trying to trigger spd-6 sounds from the dtxp?
> Scott
> 
> --- In DTXpress@y..., "palacki808" <palacki808@y...>
> wrote:
> > I know its a sin to mention roland drum gear in
> this group, but I'm 
> > going to do it (it'll be brief).  I plugged my
> spd-6 into the 
> > dtxpress via a midi cable, I think I'm getting the
> dtx's sounds.  
> > Does anyone know how to change the sounds I'm
> getting on the spd-6 
> > from the dtxpress?  And one more question, does
> anyone know of any 
> > place I could go on the net (group like this one
> or website) to get 
> > more info on the spd-6.  Any info is appreciated,
> thanks.  -Joe
> 
> 


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Hi Joe,

I think you need to get into the User Drum Map (part
of the Utility functions) - this is where you can
associate voices with MIDI note numbers.  You'll have
to know which note numbers the SPD-6 is sending for
each pad, and possibly resolve any conflicts between
the MIDI note numbers your kit uses and those that the
SPD-6 uses.  Walt
--- Joseph Palacki <palacki808@...> wrote:
> I'm trying to trigger dtxpress sounds with the
> spd-6. 
> I know there's a way to change those sounds but I
> keep
> getting an error message.   -Joe
> 
> --- hairytrigger <artifax@...> wrote:
> > Are you trying to trigger dtxp sounds from the
> > spd-6? Or are you 
> > trying to trigger spd-6 sounds from the dtxp?
> > Scott
> > 
> > --- In DTXpress@y..., "palacki808"
> <palacki808@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > I know its a sin to mention roland drum gear in
> > this group, but I'm 
> > > going to do it (it'll be brief).  I plugged my
> > spd-6 into the 
> > > dtxpress via a midi cable, I think I'm getting
> the
> > dtx's sounds.  
> > > Does anyone know how to change the sounds I'm
> > getting on the spd-6 
> > > from the dtxpress?  And one more question, does
> > anyone know of any 
> > > place I could go on the net (group like this one
> > or website) to get 
> > > more info on the spd-6.  Any info is
> appreciated,
> > thanks.  -Joe
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
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Thanks for the explaining in english (unlike the
manual).  The help is appreciated.   -Joe

--- Walt <wgardus@...> wrote:
> Hi Joe,
> 
> I think you need to get into the User Drum Map (part
> of the Utility functions) - this is where you can
> associate voices with MIDI note numbers.  You'll
> have
> to know which note numbers the SPD-6 is sending for
> each pad, and possibly resolve any conflicts between
> the MIDI note numbers your kit uses and those that
> the
> SPD-6 uses.  Walt
> --- Joseph Palacki <palacki808@...> wrote:
> > I'm trying to trigger dtxpress sounds with the
> > spd-6. 
> > I know there's a way to change those sounds but I
> > keep
> > getting an error message.   -Joe
> > 
> > --- hairytrigger <artifax@...> wrote:
> > > Are you trying to trigger dtxp sounds from the
> > > spd-6? Or are you 
> > > trying to trigger spd-6 sounds from the dtxp?
> > > Scott
> > > 
> > > --- In DTXpress@y..., "palacki808"
> > <palacki808@y...>
> > > wrote:
> > > > I know its a sin to mention roland drum gear
> in
> > > this group, but I'm 
> > > > going to do it (it'll be brief).  I plugged my
> > > spd-6 into the 
> > > > dtxpress via a midi cable, I think I'm getting
> > the
> > > dtx's sounds.  
> > > > Does anyone know how to change the sounds I'm
> > > getting on the spd-6 
> > > > from the dtxpress?  And one more question,
> does
> > > anyone know of any 
> > > > place I could go on the net (group like this
> one
> > > or website) to get 
> > > > more info on the spd-6.  Any info is
> > appreciated,
> > > thanks.  -Joe
> > > 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More
> > http://faith.yahoo.com
> > 
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
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> Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More
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> 


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