Author Topic: Howdy from illinois  (Read 1871 times)

Offline Purpledc

Howdy from illinois
« on: January 30, 2018, 07:01:35 AM »
Howdy.  New drummer here.  Bought a nitro a few months mback and upgraded to the dm10mkII pro.

Offline Dartanbeck

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2018, 07:56:13 PM »
Howdy Purpledc!
Illinois is close... maybe we should jam someday! ;)

So how are you liking your new MKII Pro?  Looks like an awesome kit!
Alesis DM10X Mesh - Laurin Drums & Cymbals - Strike Module
Dartanbeck.com Digital Artist

Offline Purpledc

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2018, 08:44:19 AM »
I'm actually really liking it.  And I appreciate the offer to jam.  Though I would probably show off my guitar skills as I have been doing that 30 years.  Drums I just picked up a couple months ago.  Still,   I was worried that I made a mistake with not getting the strike.  But I played the strike a few times and honestly I prefer the feel of the DM10MKII.    I will say that the sounds right out of the box are not perfect.  Especially for that deep hard hitting rock and metal tones.   But I think if you are willing to tweak its actually a dream.  I am very impressed on just how many tools you have to edit and the ability to use multiple effects including being able to double up on the compression to get that punchy sound I was after.   I think the ONLY thing that disappointed me was learning 2 things.

1.  I think its absolutely weird that they make you use the additional inputs on the back end of the unit.   But then again its probably not easy to add to a DB25 cable for those extra channels.  I just wish they would have given a couple more inputs to make further expansion possible.  Not that I need it.  But I'm a wanter.

2.  They didn't make the unit cross compatible with any other sets.   As in you cant (secretly go to guitar center and download kits off of their crimson II and put them on the pro)  load anything from other drum sets.

Mind you number 2 was done only because they added a great punchy kit to the MK2 studio that is also on the crimson II.   Its a Yamaha muted oak custom.  And even with the muffling functions you cant get same sound.  And it sucks because I felt like I paid more and got less.  But I still think its a great responsive kit.   That sound seriously had me considering the studio but I chose the flexibility of the other deep editing features.   The way I see it I'm just waiting for steven slade 5 and I don't think I will have to worry about sounds.


EDITED TO ADD:  I do think I have a work around.   for number 2.   But It would seem when loading the kit from the crimson II the problem isn't with the sounds themselves loading but the order.   In other words, crimson II voices will load to a Pro.  But you need to load the individual voices separately.  You cant load a full kit or else your kick drum isn't even there and you have a bunch of cymbals where your tom pads should be.   I'm going to try it again, but this time I am going to load the individual voicings so that if it registers as a tom for the kick I can switch it.   Ill report back today and see if we cant get that damn YAMOC kit into my pro.   At that point Ill be a happy dude.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:50:52 AM by Purpledc »

Offline Dartanbeck

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2018, 10:07:47 PM »
It did take me a while to get the sound I wanted. Hell, I'm still tweaking around looking to get it better.

The difficulty I was having is that the kit sounds quite a bit different through the phones than it does through the PA. The cool part is that after I set the sound to sound good on one of our systems, it sounds great on all of them... and it is a thunderous kit.

I was using the muted Yamaha kit. I don't know if DM10X Mesh came with a preset for it, but it was fun setting up my own. My singer/sound guy/band leader wanted less muffle. He liked the subtle ring that the Yamaha Pinstripe toms offer... so I'm using that. I also have a version of that same kit (hard rock) but using Gretsch toms instead of the Yamaha pinstripes. I love it but the toms are tuned much higher, and they kinda lose their driving force sound if I detune them using pitch down.

So now I'm working out how I want to expand my kit. With those new Surge Mesh and Command Mesh kits having all 8" mesh pads... they seem like the perfect addition to my kit for what I want to do. If I go that route, I'd likely have to start with the module that comes with the kit and put two or three higher tuned (like those Gretsch toms, for example) over my hi hat, use the other mesh pads for other sounds, like timpani, conga, explosions, whatever, for various needs... and then drop the cymbals all over the darned place. Some as cymbals, others as vibraslap, etc., whatever I need.

Then, as a later upgrade, I'd like to add a Sample Pad Pro.

I'm not in a hurry on any of these upgrades because the kit as it is now is a solid live rock kit. I just love it. But I want to revisit my younger years where I always wanted a Monster kit. It was fun back in the day, but when I started playing a million gigs for only $100/gig, it really got to be too much to lug around. There was a short time when I had roadies  - one of which wanted to be my drum guy. He had me teach him every consideration about how I set up and take down my kit - and he'd do that for me each show. That was a game-changer!

With my new e-kit, I really wouldn't mind expanding. Tempting to score that Nitro of yours! :)
Alesis DM10X Mesh - Laurin Drums & Cymbals - Strike Module
Dartanbeck.com Digital Artist

Offline Iggford

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2018, 12:29:08 PM »
I have the same problem you described concerning difference in sound.  I have an older DM10, and it sounds totally different through headphones than it does through my band's PA.   I remember bringing it home one week to tweak some sounds, and I built what I thought was the perfect rock kit.  Nice, powerful sound and everything.  I hooked it back up at our next practice, and it was TOTALLY different.  I still use that kit, but for songs that call for a lighter, acoustic feel. 


--
Shawn

Offline Dartanbeck

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2018, 07:50:52 PM »
Yeah, for my Live kit I have the effects turned off on all triggers. The the sound guy do that. I have a version saved with fx still on for running through my headphones at home.

The bass drum sound I really like (in phones) blasts the PA with a high-end screech. That's the wet slap on impact.

To fix this, I've blended a much less punchy (but still a good impact hit) on Layer A, and the low-end "Country" bass in Layer B, and keep it low - just enough to thump in the missing deep end of the other kick.   It was a strange stroke of fortunate luck since I was on the spot just before we started a gig. I did the major trigger changes just through headphones and then gave some to the PA. Worked fine until I tweaked out a new bass sound.
Alesis DM10X Mesh - Laurin Drums & Cymbals - Strike Module
Dartanbeck.com Digital Artist

Offline Purpledc

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2018, 10:05:38 PM »
It did take me a while to get the sound I wanted. Hell, I'm still tweaking around looking to get it better.

The difficulty I was having is that the kit sounds quite a bit different through the phones than it does through the PA. The cool part is that after I set the sound to sound good on one of our systems, it sounds great on all of them... and it is a thunderous kit.

I was using the muted Yamaha kit. I don't know if DM10X Mesh came with a preset for it, but it was fun setting up my own. My singer/sound guy/band leader wanted less muffle. He liked the subtle ring that the Yamaha Pinstripe toms offer... so I'm using that. I also have a version of that same kit (hard rock) but using Gretsch toms instead of the Yamaha pinstripes. I love it but the toms are tuned much higher, and they kinda lose their driving force sound if I detune them using pitch down.

So now I'm working out how I want to expand my kit. With those new Surge Mesh and Command Mesh kits having all 8" mesh pads... they seem like the perfect addition to my kit for what I want to do. If I go that route, I'd likely have to start with the module that comes with the kit and put two or three higher tuned (like those Gretsch toms, for example) over my hi hat, use the other mesh pads for other sounds, like timpani, conga, explosions, whatever, for various needs... and then drop the cymbals all over the darned place. Some as cymbals, others as vibraslap, etc., whatever I need.

Then, as a later upgrade, I'd like to add a Sample Pad Pro.

I'm not in a hurry on any of these upgrades because the kit as it is now is a solid live rock kit. I just love it. But I want to revisit my younger years where I always wanted a Monster kit. It was fun back in the day, but when I started playing a million gigs for only $100/gig, it really got to be too much to lug around. There was a short time when I had roadies  - one of which wanted to be my drum guy. He had me teach him every consideration about how I set up and take down my kit - and he'd do that for me each show. That was a game-changer!

With my new e-kit, I really wouldn't mind expanding. Tempting to score that Nitro of yours! :)

You can layer two sounds on the MKII? 

Offline Dartanbeck

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2018, 01:04:52 PM »
Wow. Being unable to answer your question, since I don't yet have a MKII Pro (you have Pro, right?) I went to read the manual online and, while I couldn't find evidence that you can layer sounds in this one, it did reveal some interesting finds.

I had almost forgotten that MKII Pro users can use their own sounds from a USB. That's handy! Here's the thing though: Alesis drum sounds work so well with Alesis kits because of their dynamic articulation, which is beyond a simple sound file. It's cool that the Strike module is set up to allow users to import their own Dynamic Articulation samples (individual samples for various levels of playing).
Please don't be put off that the DM10 MKII Pro module won't let you do this. Strike is the new flagship for Alesis and, to my knowledge, no other drum module allows for those possibilities.

It still offers HUGE possibilities to trigger sounds you need for certain things - even loops, which is what I saw next!

Pad Pattern... what's that? It can start and stop a loop or song! Sweet!

There are other cool controls for shaping the built in sounds that we don't have on the original DM10 module. Things like Head tension. We have pitch control, bu I have a feeling that Head tension has a bit more that simple pitch tied into it. Pretty cool, I think. And then cymbal sounds have a "Size" parameter! That's so cool!  Both muffling along with Sustain... Should be able to tweak out an amazing list of kits in this module.

I'd love to try one.

Something else I love: If someone who owns an original DM10 module buys a MKII Pro, we can edit the MIDI NOTE OUT of the MKII Pro module, so we could, if we wanted to, send the triggers from that module to the original DM10!
Alesis DM10X Mesh - Laurin Drums & Cymbals - Strike Module
Dartanbeck.com Digital Artist

Offline Purpledc

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2018, 12:38:06 PM »
here is the problem, while the functionality on paper looked great the actual effect some of these things had was pretty poor.  Like the decay.   Should just shorten the decay of the note.  But because the sounds aren't layered when you shorten the decay you actually shorten the whole sample, not just the decay of the sample.  Using the decay function even on the setting of 1 made most kits unplayable.   And the muffling wasn't much better as it really was just a better version of decay.  But it didn't actually sound like muffling.  It almost seemed like the MKII pro was an after thought.   Like they wanted to not piss everyone off by limiting the functionality yet they didn't actually make sure the functions actually had the proper effect.   The tuning was cool as some flabby kits you could tighten up by just doing the head tension.   

Offline Dartanbeck

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #9 on: February 09, 2018, 06:56:57 PM »
Yeah, on the DM10, a Decay setting of 1 would be pretty horrible. It would drop the sound to just an instant thud. 0 (zero), on the other hand, turns the decay Off, so we get the full sample. The higher the number, the less the dampening, hence more decay of the natural recording. So most of the sounds I've been using have a fairly high decay at default, which sounds great.

When you're saying "Layers", I thought you were asking about the ability to blend two voices together on the same instrument. What it seems like you're describing above is the Dynamic Articulation, where each individual voice is made up of many (or at least several) samples played at various velocities, which I'd be willing to be the MKII Pro and Studio have - albeit likely not as intensely as your cool Strike module.
Alesis DM10X Mesh - Laurin Drums & Cymbals - Strike Module
Dartanbeck.com Digital Artist

Offline Purpledc

Re: Howdy from illinois
« Reply #10 on: February 09, 2018, 09:41:50 PM »
I don't think the MKII has the dynamic articulation.  The samples I noted didn't have any changes in sound with velocity.  If you hit a drum it sounded exactly the same just louder or quieter depending on how hard you hit it.   The studio is actually the same exact model and functionality as the crimson II module.