My E-Kit Journey

[Minerman]

Most of you guys know I've been frustrated with drum programming, so I've decided to bite the bullet & learn to play since I already have an e-kit...I've had the kit for 2 years now (holy fuck, it's been that long??? damn...), & by all rights I should be a lot better than I am, but most of you guys know learning to play drums wasn't exactly a high priority for me the last couple years, so, there's my excuse...From now on though, I won't have an excuse other than being lazy, so I'm gonna try to really buckle down here...I know it won't happen overnight, but I've been playing along with songs for 2-3 hours a day, sometimes more...This is the only way I'm gonna get where I wanna be: practicing...

Since the kit I have is pretty limited, I decided to expand it, by adding more pads/cymbals, but the DTX400's inputs are full...I bought a used Yamaha DTXplorer module (which arrived yesterday, looks brand new, & works great) so I can expand since the DTXplorer has 8 inputs, a couple of them being 2 & 3 zone (IE: a 3-zone ride cymbal will be able to trigger bow, bell, & edge/crash sounds...a 3-zone snare would trigger snare center, rimshot, & sidestick)...

One of the most un-inspiring things about the DTX400 is the hi-hat, it will only trigger 4 sounds: pedal chick, pedal splash, open tip/shank, & closed tip/shank...I found a mod replacing the on/off switch type controller with a force sensing resistor, which will allow me to trigger all the hi-hat articulations in all the drum vst's I have...I thought the DTXplorer module would remedy this, but I need the FSR to make it happen...My parts will be here in a few days, so I'll hold off on any pics for now, but will definitely give a little tour of my progress & results when I get the hi-hat thing lined out...

More to follow...

[ocnor]

You should be able to connect the midi out of the DTXplorer module to trigger your Superior Drummer program.

[Greg_L]

Miner I don't understand anything you said, but you seem excited, so cool!

[rammer24]

I don't know what level you're at drum wise. but one thing I tell my students is that, if you want to learn how to play rock drums, start with playing along to ACDC and Pink Floyd. Both have very basic drum parts. ACDC is as classic rock as it gets, and Pink Floyd is good because a lot of their tunes are slow and simple.

[Minerman]

Thanks guys...

Ocnor: I've already got the new (to me) DTXplorer module running with a midi cable connected to my interface...The DTX400 uses USB...Both the midi & usb cables I have my modules connected with are 25' long, my e-kit is set up in the corner across from my computer...I plan on buying another monitor with a wall mount so I'll be able to see what's going on in the daw from behind the kit...

Greg: It's pretty simple once you see the modules & cables that connect the pads/triggers...Most of the inputs are 1/4" mono, but there are a few on the modules I have that use 1/4" trs (stereo) to connect pads that have 2 or 3 triggers in 'em...Each trigger is assigned to a certain midi note/number, so if I get a 2-zone cymbal, I can use it as a ride cymbal, & trigger the bell sound, or the bow sound...And I am excited about this, instead of spending hours & hours using a mouse, eventually, I'll be able to just record a drum track in the time it takes to play the song back...I'm sticking to my guns here too dude, I do have the ability to edit the midi after I've recorded it, but I'm not gonna do that, instead I'm gonna learn to play these damn things...

Rami: I'm a beginner/newbie drummer dude, basic 4/4 beats here for now...When I do attempt a fill, I usually come back into the beat off time & pretty sloppy, but I'm working on it...Thanks for the tips about Floyd & AC-DC...

Got some good news this week too about a possible new pad to live in, so maybe I'll be able to get a real kit sometime this summer...I just have to play the waiting game for now...

[Minerman]

I'll probably start a new thread if this mod works the way I want, but for now, here are a few pics to explain what I'm trying to do here...

The hi-hat controller (foot pedal) for my e-kit only allows either open or closed articulations...I'm trying to mod the hh controller so it will have the "in-between" articulations as well...

Here's a couple pics of the inside of my hi-hat controller (this is the bottom of the pedal...the on/off switch is on the left, & the 1/4" jack is on the right):


This is the top of the on/off switch...when I push the pedal down with my foot, the pedal pushes the rubber boot closed, sending the midi cc value to the daw/drum vst:


As you can see, right now it's basically an on/off switch that determines which note the module sends to my drum vst's in the daw...I'll be replacing the on/off switch with a force sensitive resistor, which should fix the problem...hopefully...

Right now, the controller sends either "0" or "127" cc values (control change) via midi, nothing in between...The FSR will send varying values, depending on how much pressure I'm putting on the foot pedal...(IE: pressing the pedal about halfway down will send a value of "50", which would trigger one of the in-between articulations in the drum vst's)...

Here's the resistor (it's pretty small, 1.75" x 1.5"):


Here's a link to the FSR:


And here are some pics (not mine) of the mod using a real hi-hat stand (I'll be doing basically the same thing, wiring the FSR to the output jack in the foot pedal, & putting some foam on top of it, so it can "sense" how much the pedal is open/closed when I press/release with my foot):






I can't do shit until my parts get here, which will be Monday or Tuesday...Wish me luck, I hope this works...Quite a few people in another forum have had success with it, so again, hopefully this will work for me...

[Greg_L]

Lol. That's pretty slick. Hope it works for you.

[Minerman]

Just letting you guys know my part(s) didn't arrive today, they'll be here tomorrow...I'm actually excited & stoked about this...I hope it works like I want, but if not I have a backup plan of taking an X-Box/Playstation controller apart, & using some of the parts from it...

I'm gonna concentrate on getting the hi-hat working how I want before I add anything else to my kit...Again, hopefully the part coming tomorrow will solve the issue for me...

Using both modules eventually I'll have a monster little e-kit...Both modules have a 3-zone input on 'em, & the DTXplorer has another 2-zone input...I'm thinking about using one 3-zone input for the snare (head, rimshot, sidestick), & one 3-zone for the ride (bell, bow, edge/crash)...Of course I won't be able to do the 3-zone thing until I buy pads that have 'em, but that shouldn't be too far off...

The prices on these multi-zone pads are fuckin' ridiculous though, so I'll probably buy used...The ride cymbal I mentioned is about $150 new, without any hardware...I've seen 'em used online for about half that much, including the hardware/boom arm & clamps I'd need...It's even worse with the 3-zone snare, new that thing is like $300...

[Minerman]

Giving this a bump for Tadpui, he replied to my YT vid, & I told him to take a look at the mod here...

Tadpui: It's really easy to do man, just snip the red/white wires going to the 1/4" jack, & connect the FSR to 'em...I used crimp-able connectors because I was afraid I'd melt the FSR with my soldering iron..Then I stuck my FSR on top of the rubber pad the hh pedal hits when you step on it (it has an adhesive backing, just peel & stick), you may wanna put it somewhere else, but it just seemed the easiest for me by putting it there...I took a piece of sponge & stuck to the bottom of the pedal where it would touch the FSR, again, you may have a better solution, but for me, this was easy...

It is really sensitive, & I'm still trying to work out a solution, but a little re-mapping in the drum vst will make it a little better, though it's still far from perfect because of the sensitivity...

I'm interested in your results if/when you get around to this dude...For me, it was the old "learn as I go" thing, so you may bring something I hadn't thought of to the table...

[Minerman]

Instead of starting a new thread, I just edited the title of this one, trying to keep my shit together a 'lil bit here...

Most of you know I've been hammerin' away, attempting to learn to play drums, & I've been buying things for my e-kit a little at a time to build it up like I want...Well, instead of just buying one thing at a time, I've decided to just pull the trigger on a whole new kit, & combine the pads/cymbals I already have to make the monster kit I want...

Toward the end of next week, I'm just gonna bite the bullet & spring for this:

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-YAM-DTX532K-PAK

If I could go back in time about 2 years, I would've bought this instead of the shitty little DTX400, but live & learn...On the bright side, I'll have plenty of things to add to the new kit though, & should be able to put it all together to look something like this:

Miner's Franken-Kit.png

Another good thing is everything in the pic will be running from one module, & I'll have extra pads/cymbals for backup, plus 2 other modules...I'm pretty damn excited to be honest, & it's been quite a while since I've had GAS like this...Pics & clips to come guys...

[WhiskeyJack]

Im not sure what impresses me more? Minernuggs ability to frankenstien an ekit or photoshop things.

Good job man. This should add a sense of realism to your drums.

[Minerman]

Im not sure what impresses me more? Minernuggs ability to frankenstien an ekit or photoshop things.

Good job man. This should add a sense of realism to your drums.

Thanks man!!!! I'm just trying to let folks see what I'm gettiin' at here, they'll be real pics in a week or so....

I haven't been this excited about gear in a long time dude...

[Greg_L]

Haha congrats and good luck with it.

[Minerman]

Haha congrats and good luck with it.

Thanks Greg...I'm pretty damn stoked about this, like I mentioned, I haven't been excited about any gear like this in quite a while...On my amp/cab journey, I've figured out I'll sound like me regardless of what I play through, & to be honest, I've got all the guitar/amp/cab stuff I need...

There are a bunch of things with this kit that I think are cool, but the cymbals & hi-hats are probably tops to me...All 3 of them are 13" pads, the hi-hat is dual zone (edge/bow), & the cymbals are 13" 3-zone like the 10" ride I just bought...I'll be able to use the FSR mod on the new hi-hat setup, & it should be a hell of a lot closer to the real thing using an actual hi-hat stand...

Altogether, I'll have like 8 drum pads, 7 cymbals (counting the hi-hat), so I should be able to throw anything I'd want in a kit together, & it'll simplify things in the daw for me (IE: I won't have to change any of the midi notes after I record 'em)...On top of that, I'll have the triggers in the foot controllers from the old kit that I could turn into a cowbell/tambourine/whatever...

And since I'll have a bunch of extra rack tubes/connectors, I'm thinking of mounting a 2nd computer monitor to the rack...

[Greg_L]

Lol. Jesus. You need to assign some dog barks and thunder to a few of those pads.

[Minerman]

I've decided to hold off on buying the new e-kit for another month or two, the "thing" hasn't happened yet & I just don't wanna take a chance on putting myself in a bind if something were to come up...

And it's not like I can't play/record with what I have now, so it's not a big deal really...
I'll still get the kit, just gonna delay it a little while...

[Minerman]

Even though I held off on buying the new kit, I did spring for a couple short boom arms for my cymbals...The 2 that came with the kit suck, they're built into a 90° tube clamp/connector, & there's little to no adjustment for them (the clamp connects 2 tubes at a right angle & the only real adjustment for 'em is up/down)...

DTX400 cymbal clamps.jpg

I bought 2 of 'em, along with the clamps to attach 'em to the rack...I'll be able to use these with the new kit too, so this is really a small step leading up to the end result...

cymbal boom.jpg

boom clamp.jpg

I'll still need one more though, as I'm gonna use the pad that's currently my hi-hat as another cymbal...I'll probably spring for another boom, with some cymbal stoppers (keeps the cymbals from spinning/rotating), felts, etc next...
Gonna try to have all these little things ironed out before I buy the new kit...

[Minerman]

In my journey with the e-kit, I always wondered if there were tube connectors that were adjustable, instead of the usual 90° angle...I just assumed that's how they all were, but I was wrong...Looking around at some different companies' drum racks, I stumbled on some cymbal stand mounts that sit on top of the vertical 1 1/2" tubes, instead of using a clamp, which use about 3" of space on the tube, which led to finding the adjustable clamps/connectors...

Here are the type of rack connectors I'm using now (basically, some have knobs instead of bolts, but you get the idea):


Here's one of the adjustable rack connectors I found (they allow the tubes to be at a different angle instead of 90°):


And here is one of the cymbal boom mounts I'm gonna buy:


This is a pic of a rack with similar boom mounts to put all this in perspective:


While this isn't an earth shattering find, it will free up some space on my rack tubes so I can get things where I want 'em, instead of putting 'em where they'll fit...The adjustable clamps will allow me to use my old pads from the DTX400, & be able to move/adjust 'em a bit more...They mount differently than the pads that came with the DTX532, so they're basically unusable at the moment...

More to follow in a few days...

[rammer24]

Nice looking hardware. A rack will free up a lot of floor space for sure.

[Minerman]

Nice looking hardware. A rack will free up a lot of floor space for sure.

Yeah dude, I don't need the whole rack, just some new clamps that will free up space on my rack itself...This does save a hell of a lot of room without the cymbal stands too...



Each red square is an attachment clamp, & everything attaches to the rack with those...The arrow points to the vertical tube where I'd be able to put the cymbals (one on each corner)...They're about 3" wide, & using just 2 of those clamps that sit on top of a tube will free up about 6" on the rack, which I could then use that space for something else or give me more room to move things around if I wanna...

Something else I plan on buying are "hatched" clamps...Right now I only have one, so if I want to add/remove a pad/cymbal, I basically have to dis-assemble half of my rack to do so...The old pads I have from the DTX400 mount/attach differently than the new pads do...The old pads attach by sliding a 1 1/2" tube through 'em, & it severely limits how I can adjust 'em...