Advice for a newbie

[Frink]

Hello All,

I'm about to buy an e-drum kit and have found some great advice so far just by reading threads on this forum.

I'm a musician who makes a lot of demos. I play most stringed or keyboard instruments but when it comes to drums, I need to literally type in the notes ona sequencer :eek: (copy / paste / you name it). Despite the clumsy method, I think I get a pretty good sound - however, I reckon it's time to start hitting things with sticks.

I've narrowed my drum search down to a couple of models in my price range (under 500 UK Pounds) but I'm looking to buy something that has MIDI in AND out. The reason being, I want to record my drums live over my tracks, capturing the MIDI data. But then I want to be able to edit the MIDI data on my PC (a bit of light 'tidying' - the sort of thing I do on some of my piano parts), then send the MIDI data back to the drumkit and finally record the output as an audio file.

Most of the cheaper-end units I've seen are MIDI out only. So, if I want to edit the data after I've played it, I'd need to get a sample kit on my PC to play the finished piece. Not SUCH a big deal I suppose but I would like to be able to use the e-drums from start to finish.

Apart from the Alesis DM5, can anyone recommend a kit that would suit my purpose? (sub-£500, MIDI in and out)

Many thanks!

Frink.

[CaTaPulT]

Hi Frink and welcome to this place.
If you can find a used kit in good condition for the money you are looking to spend, these two older Yamaha kit have both Midi in and out......
DTXtreme IIs
DTXpress III
I'm not sure about other older Yamaha modules, like the DTXpress, DTXpress II, the DTX 2.0 and the original DTXtreme. I'm unfamiliar with midi, I don't really have much use for it but I do know the 2 modules I listed have midi in and out since I owned them in the past. The DTXpress III has the standard midi in and out ports thus needing a midi to USB device and the DTXtreme IIs has a USB to USB midi, it also has the standard midi in, out and through ports.
I hope this helps.
Take care and good luck finding the drum kit that will work for you.

Regards: >>>> Jack <<<<

[skadrummer]

Nothing wrong with doing it that way but if you are using the PC to record, you really only need midi out from a module and use a Vst plugin program. The sounds will be much better than the lower end modules. Of course in addition to the cost of the kit you would have to pay for the program. Toontrack EZ drummer ,Addictive Drums or any of the drum sample programs would allow you to quantize your playing after recording and still change the drum kit to your liking. Oh, and welcome!

[Frink]

Many thanks for your help and quick replies.

CaTaPulT: the Yamaha kits look great and if my Yamaha synth is anything to go by they'll sound great too. Sadly, my budget won't stretch to something this grand. It is certainly something I shall aspire to though... :)

skadrummer: I'm currently using Cakewalk SONAR and a bunch of samples I've acquired over the years (built around the NS_Kit 7 + some nice odds and ends I've found) so there'll be no on-cost in that respect. Maybe my expectations are a little high of the sounds that a stand-alone low-end kit would produce.

I'll keep you posted how I get on. In the meantime, I'm still doing research so there may be a few more questions coming soon.

Thanks again...!