Questiona about sequencers and e-drums

themarcus

Hi, I play drums and have just ordered my first electronic kit. I'm completely ignorant when it comes to electronic equipment and I can't seem to figure this out:

Can I use the midi-out on my drum module (Alesis DM5) to trigger sounds on a sampler like an AKAI S series or MPC series?

I've heard mixed views on the DM5's samples and was hoping to hook it up to an old sampler/sequencer (I don't even know the difference) and source better sounds for that.

Would any of this work or am I way off?

(Oh, apologies if this is the wrong board for this!)

fitz

Should work.
Better yet, if you're a laptop user, try an audio interface with midi and a copy of BFD, Addictive Drums or DFH.

themarcus

fitz wrote: »

Should work.
Better yet, if you're a laptop user, try an audio interface with midi and a copy of BFD, Addictive Drums or DFH.

Thanks Fitz. Yeah I'm thinkin it makes a lot more sense to do that, was just attracted to the cheesy retro style of the samplers! Have a copy of Reason already, would that work?

danjokill

It will work.

fitz

The advantage of the software options are that you'll get presets that will give you that cheesey 80's-ness, but you won't be limited to just that sound.
See if you can try these things out before you buy though...make sure you get something you know will suit what equipment you have and give you the results you want.

themarcus

Sound advice, thanks. A friend of mine has a usb interface, so I might borrow that for a bit and grab a demo of BFD or something and see how its goes.

Cheers.

digmymusic

I sent this question to Alesis yesterday: see this and reply. Looks like all you have to do is assign the samples to whatever pads you want to play. Don't know the technicalities of this though:

Question/Comment :
Hi,
For recording purposes, can the DM5 Pro Drum Kit trigger a PC based drum
application such as Toontrack's EZ Drummer, via it's Midi out/thru
connection, rather than having to use the audio outs?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

---

Hi ,

Through a midi connection you can trigger a program like this as long as the midi channel and midi note numbers from the DM5 match up to what is set in EZ Drummer.

Best Regards,
Justin Baro

Alesis Technical Support
200 Scenic View Drive
Ste.201
Cumberland, RI 02864
401-658-5760

Dagon

If you want to do some rock music or metal, the best drum samples by far are Steven Slate:
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/

They're all EQd and ready to go, and have been used on a lot of famous artist's recordings.