Electronic Drums...

TelePaul

So I went the electronic drums route. Roland TD-4K, entry level but I still went over my budget. I'm excited though, I'm a complete newb on the sticks and it's great to have a quiet way to practice - it's nearly worth the money for that alone, as my mum is getting fairly pissed at the Phil Collins efforts coming from upstairs. However, I'm also excited about the recoridng capabilities - it really came down to whether to throw some money into new cymbals, skins, a D112 and an SM57 (and still contend with my poor room) or by-pass this and go with the electronic kit with it's MIDI ouput.

I have a few questions. Firstly, is controlling something like EZDrummer or even the LM57 VSTi that came with Cubase SE3 as easy as plugging ina midi cable, settting the Roland to input and the LM7 to output? I don't know much about drum mapping but I assumed it was fairly standard? Secondly, is taking an audio out from the module as simple as hooking up two TRS cables (L and R) and setting two line-in channels on my mixer to the same gain level?

Thanks guys.

TelePaul

Anyone happy for me?

PaulBrewer

Congrats TP!

Mataguri

TelePaul wrote: »

I have a few questions. Firstly, is controlling something like EZDrummer or even the LM57 VSTi that came with Cubase SE3 as easy as plugging ina midi cable, settting the Roland to input and the LM7 to output? I don't know much about drum mapping but I assumed it was fairly standard? Secondly, is taking an audio out from the module as simple as hooking up two TRS cables (L and R) and setting two line-in channels on my mixer to the same gain level?

Thanks guys.

Yes to both questions

ZV Yoda

TelePaul wrote: »

So I went the electronic drums route. Roland TD-4K, entry level but I still went over my budget. I'm excited though, I'm a complete newb on the sticks and it's great to have a quiet way to practice - it's nearly worth the money for that alone, as my mum is getting fairly pissed at the Phil Collins efforts coming from upstairs. However, I'm also excited about the recoridng capabilities - it really came down to whether to throw some money into new cymbals, skins, a D112 and an SM57 (and still contend with my poor room) or by-pass this and go with the electronic kit with it's MIDI ouput.

I have a few questions. Firstly, is controlling something like EZDrummer or even the LM57 VSTi that came with Cubase SE3 as easy as plugging ina midi cable, settting the Roland to input and the LM7 to output? I don't know much about drum mapping but I assumed it was fairly standard? Secondly, is taking an audio out from the module as simple as hooking up two TRS cables (L and R) and setting two line-in channels on my mixer to the same gain level?

Thanks guys.

TelePaul wrote: »

Anyone happy for me?

Good man… switching to vdrums was the best thing I ever did. I think you’re right to take that approach.

I use Superior Drummer, so not sure about EZ, but my understanding is that they both work the same way. Just connect 2 midi cables (in/out) between your TD4 & your audio interface. In Pro Tools, I just set up an instrument track & insert SD as a plug in on the track. As soon as I play the kit, it triggers the sounds instantly in SD via Pro Tools. In Pro Tools, the drum performance gets recorded as midi notes. I can then use the SD plug-in to select drums/cymbals/mic positions, process each individual track, mix & add effects. I don’t know how it all works, but it just does... I think it must use The Force or something…

If you have EZ drummer, I wouldn’t even bother using the Roland sounds… they’re really not great (on any of the TDs… considering the cost of a TD12/20 vs. the cost of SD, the Roland sound are average at best). Also, you just limited outputs (2 or 4 at most), so it's a PITA trying to get each drum as a separate audio file into your DAW. Midi all the way!!

Anyway… I’m happy for you . Don’t know if I’ll be any use with very technical probs, but if you need any help, give me a shout here on PM & I’ll share what little knowledge I’ve picked up so far.

Also, check out http://www.vdrums.com/forum these lads know their stuff…

PaulBrewer

ZV Yoda wrote: »

Just connect 2 midi cables (in/out) between your TD4 & your audio interface.

Why 2 ZV ? aren't you just going from drums to software ?

slavedave

I use EZdrummer with my Trapkat, Zendrum and Handsonic trigger controllers and used to use a Roland TD-8 module too. it is just a matter of hooking the midi out from your module into the midi in of your audio interface and then mapping the correct instrument sounds for the respective triggers. Hi-hat control can be a little trickier with EZdrummer (as opposed to Superior 2 for example) though Toontrack have the free SOLO application to use as a standalone host for EZD. The newest version has an option for selecting e-drum control for hihats which helps. The sounds on the TD4, TD9 are pretty good but you won't go back to them once you have tried a software drum module, I guarantee it.
Next best thing to a software kit though (for Roland modules) are the V-expression kits that you can buy / download from here http://www.vexpressionsltd.com/index.html
but they don't do kits for the TD-4 unfortunately. They really improve upon the stock kits that you get from Roland.