Author Topic: New eDrummer with Questions  (Read 2151 times)

New eDrummer with Questions
« on: August 10, 2018, 10:51:26 AM »
Fellow drummers,

I've been drumming for years but my custom maple DW kit has been stacked in storage for too long (due to noise issues). I've been researching an affordable way to dive into the eDrums world for the past few months thinking this would allow me to get some of my chops back but not drive family/neighbors too insane.

I purchased a used (mint) Alesis DM10 Studio X all-mesh kit yesterday and spent all night setting it up. I've also got Addictive Drummer 2 software piping through the Macbook to spice up the kit sounds.

I have a couple of general questions that I'm hoping some of you might spend a few minutes answering for me? Here goes...

1.) CLEANING SOLUTION: What's the best way to clean the rubber parts of my eCymbals? They have taken a bit of a gray shade to them and I'd like to restore back to shiny black. Something that would  at least make them look new(er) again.

2.) KICK DRUM JITTER:  I'm getting jitters on the kick. It's the 8" drum and I've tried several beaters to no avail. Flat rubber mallet, flat plastic mallet, small flat felt and large round felt. I realize I shouldn't use the felt beaters but I had to give them a try. I've adjusted the pedal to raise it up a bit, I've loosened and tightened the 8" bass mesh head. Nothing seems to work.

3.) CROSS-TALK REDUCTION: What's the best (simplest) solution to reduce or minimize crosstalk on the mesh heads and cymbals? I'm betting there's no chance of eliminating it but I feel like I'm getting way more than I should and not sure if there's a setting in the DM10 module (or in Addictive Drums 2) that I could use to offset some of the crosstalk between drums.

4.) UPGRADES:  I'm already trying to plan for future upgrades on this kit. To be honest, one of the bigger items on that list is plans to convert my acoustic DW kit to electric using SilentStroke heads and triggers. But that's after I'm feeling ultra comfortable with the world of eDrumming. Some other items on the radar include: drumhead conversion kit from 682Drums (white heads), upgrade hi-hats to have "free floating" so I can separate from the rack. Any others I should be considering??

5.: ADDICTIVE DRUMS:  Any advice of using AD2 software with the DM10 module? Are there sample sites to download free samples/sounds that I can assign to the pads via midi and AD2? Any tricks or web sites I should know about to help me?

Thanks in advance for reading through this and double thanks if you spend the time providing a response! I'm super stoked to be an eDrummer now and look forward to having a more active role in this awesome community. See you on the flip side!

Re: New eDrummer with Questions
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2018, 01:56:09 PM »
For cleaning You can use this product
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MN111--musicnomad-cymbal-cleaner-cleans-polishes-and-protects
also these are great
https://musicsquare.co.uk/191960_Ernie-Ball-4247-fretboard-cleaning-cloth-20-pcs.html
works great not just for guitar, but also for cymbals or even brass parts of other instruments.

Offline AlanK

Re: New eDrummer with Questions
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2018, 10:13:11 AM »
Hi BlindingEdge, welcome to the forum and nice to hear you haven't given up drums! I was the same back in the mid-80s, had settled down, lived in apartments, couldn't make the noise and electronic hadn't taken off or become affordable. 25 yrs later I got back in and got the DM10X mylar, converted it to mesh, added some extras and wham, I'm back :)

For my cymbals, sometimes I just wipe them with a damp sponge and slightest bit of soap but there's real rubber cleaners for sure. For crosstalk, just keep adjusting it in the module and check sensitivity and trigger settings... may be a long process but it's doable.. I now only get the odd ghost trigger from my 1st tom's rim, all other has been eliminated. Kick drum jitters, do you mean it shakes from side to side a bit when playing? If that's what you mean, I think I found that the stand was a bit wobbly, both in how it connected to your pedal, and the plate. If I recall, I had to add a pair of rubber stick on feet to the plate to even it out.. the tube feet out front were ok, but the plate part was designed a bit oddly, and I think also it tended to raise the kick pedal up higher than you'd normally have if it was on a traditional bass drum. But rubber stick on pads are your friend.

I'm a huge AD2 fan, and use it pretty much exclusively now. Make sure your settings are good in the module first, then use the closest preset (they have a DM10 if I recall.. I had to add my extra cymbals and pads, just use the learn function and save the mapping as your default). I haven't had to make any major adjustments in AD2 after that, seems the hi-hat functionality improves and pretty much everything seems to work just a lot better than the default module voicings and triggerability. I do fart around with the volume of the kick and hi-hat presets and sometimes I have to turn up the ride a bit and turn down a couple of the crashes. But I don't think you're able to import any personal voicings, as far as I know or can see, it's only what they've got in the program and what you can do to alter their presets..then you can save them to your favourites.. there's a ton of FX and editing there if you have time, I've had it for about 5 yrs and still have yet to change mic placements, reverb and other shaping.. I just wanna get on and play and there's so much in there I'm always content (but I've bought most of the Adpaks and instruments). I just bought the Mark One pack for Addictive Keys, they had a 50% off sale, so want to try looping some funky keyboards in my Ableton Live and drum to it, but it's another learning curve!

Enjoy your kit and the vst! Share some photos of video someday :)
DM10X with Addictive Drums 2, Pro X hi-hat, 4 crashes, foam cone conversion w Roland mesh heads, Laurin Drums snare and kick, Mapex P710W double kick pedal, Mapex 2 legged hi-hat, Behringer 8 channel USB mixer, Tascam 144MK AI, Samson Expedition Escape powered speakers