Hello flipping drummerz.
I'm in chilly Minnesota.
I compose songs and primarily play keys/guitar.
learning cello... play fretless bass and even sing (eek) a bit.
So here is my drums setup.
I wanted to make it compact, as I have no room, and wanted to wall mount it,
so I have room for lots of foot pedals.
DrumKAT is at factory getting refurbed, and goes on right on plexiglas where headphones are.
I have Roland octopad, and EMU and AKAI samplers that will be triggered.
A big deal with the DM10 is the vel>pitch feature.
I am familiar with this because I program samples extensively on EMU (the best samplers!)
and this adds a huge thickness and expressive personality to this unit.
On this set I use a patch bay and split 4 of the toms-split the dual zone to individual pads.
2 cymb are dual trigger, and the 4 toms are all single, also the 2 snare pads. The advantage is on this
is each pad (single zone) has 2 layers, and full control over velocity. The dual zone cymb on rim are only on/off, no fancy vel features, so this setup exploits this feature.
I have one dz dual trigger left and i will add a cowbell type pad by snare.
I bought a used auto bicycle rack from thrift store, and mounted it all on wall, after extensive rework.
The biggest concern was ergonomics, making all easy to reach and play.
And the DK has like 4 footswitches, and I can use a alt HH BD or whatever, so I have
floor space to add more.
cheers.
Next is hooking up midi so I can edit/backup DM10 on computer.
I will use laptop to monitor midi via MIDIOX.
OK here's a qwiktip:
take any one (single) drum sound (bass drum is good,or symbelly)
got to edit and toggle from a to b sounds. (turn on the chase to auto trigger current pad)
a should be turned on with current sound, and on b select the same sound as a;
then on b go to vel to pitch
(-minus pitch brings pitch up, plus value shifts pitch down, as you hit harder)
now set b to like -20 or so.
pan both sounds opposite (a full right, b full left)
verify that vel to pitch on b is set high (99 or so for now, this is most noticeable when editing)
...now you get a fat drum that pitch shifts in stereo!
this is amazing on drop pitch bd on one of the tekno kits.
(the reason you pan a +b full l/r is also to help you notice and tweak the new sound. It does not have to stay this way)
use this same trick on a cymbal.
now on b (add new b sound) raise or lower the note pitch (example shift b down maybe -5)
and try a small vel shift like - 5 or +2 etc. (make sure the vel to pitch is on, 99 is good for now)
a small vel to pitch here is good, -1, or -2, for subtle effect (but try higher vales first, so you can understand what is going on)
try that,then try raising the note pitch of b, and maybe lower the volume on b just a tad (the high pitch sounds louder) (all these edited/experimented sounds usually need to be volume adjusted to each other eventually for best mix)
now the fun starts; take like a tom, and on b select a totally different instrument.
do the same stuff. Now you get 2 distinct sounds from one trigger.
Now try note pitch shifting (edit the note) on a,
to get a new sound. The toms sound evil when dropped in pitch (the note) and to get a tympani type sound on toms use vel-pitch on both a and b.
NOW. you have two distinct sounds. You then go to the note duration on a or b,
and decrease it and notice that this selected sound does not sustain, it cuts off. Experiment with this
(having the two sounds panned helps) If you do this on snare you can have two sounds,
and one sounds like a click, or with slightly longer note duration you get a whack or a wap sound,
with normal snare on opposite side. If you do this on one sound on snare, try a normal and b drop the pitch,
add -vel to pitch, and cut note duration a lot, so it just triggers attack (low setting maybe 10-20, you will see)
if you turn duration really low, it makes a click, then bring it up until you get a longer click, then more makes it a chopped sound, and more makes a whack, etc,. full duration produces the full original sound.
also when you edit, use the note chase to locate pad, and then switch if off, while editing, so you unit does not switch settings on you.
the effects are cool especially the modulation! this is cool on cymbals,
try a sound with a and b the same, add vel to pitch (plus or minus) pan them,
make sure vel is on (99) and add the modulation up high. cool! Good on HH and percussion, also.
It appears that each sound (a+b) share both effects (rev and modu) so try having less effects on one newly modified sound (a+b) and major rev on another sound to make a cool variant.
