I've had the SPDS for about 2 1/2 years now. It COMPLETELY changed the way I play drums. I've also been doing a solo entitled "The Explosion Group" show lately triggering loops live and such (listed below is my rig). Some quick observations on my use of the pad...

Very soon after I bought it I noticed one of the pads not triggering correctly, and actually being triggered from other pads. Honestly I was too in love with the piece to send it in for repair...so I just held on and worked around it. Nearly 3 years later the problem hasn't gotten any worse, and I still LOVE the piece.

A few limitations I've found with my new setup:
-With 44khz samples you really can't play more than three pads at a time or the sample playback gets funny (especially loops). I don't remember if this has always been the case, but I'm pretty sure.
-The display makes it a bit tough to level match samples that you're recording.

My current set up:
Ayotte custom drums (16x18 bd, 14x14), 1963 Premier 5 1/2"x14 snare, 20" KZildjian Medium Ride, mid-60's 14" Zildjian hihats, wurlitzer 200 electric piano (with some pedals through a fender 68 deluxe reissue), Roland Juno 60 (with some pedals through a fender pro junior), Roland SPDS, and tons of percussion stuff.........

-Kyle[/img]








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“PROGRESSION: Music Software for Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, AND Drums”

I have the same problem with a song that I perform that has 8 different loops
It always malfunctions when I get to pad #5 (I tend to start my songs on pad #7 because it is on the bottom left)
Instead of progressing from #4 to #5, it triggers the #8 pad
123
456
789
I have had to alter my song just a tad
Instead of going from #4 to #5, I tap #2 which is basically a "dead" pad with no sound
After a 4 count of silence, I resume the song on pad #5

I imagine that this would drive most people crazy but I find a certain liberation in allowing the failings of your equipment to dictate the structure of the song

Some day, I hope to use my electronic drum brain MIDI linked to a sampler so that I can isolate them from the massive vibrations I cause on a stage
I love the SPDS and have to say that it has sent me in directions that I could never visualize without it but it has caused me much consternation








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

By the way....if you're interested in some VERY cool looping/electronic manipulation live you should check out these dudes:


Martin Dosh (aka "Dosh)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Czx5WCrL9KA

This is a great one called "Steve the Cat"

Joe Russo (with Marco Benevento)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fmtohJ0s7w

These guys (Marco and Joe) are my heroes.....
GREAT stuff ENJOY!!!








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“PROGRESSION: Music Software for Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, AND Drums”

First, I'm a complete newbie into electronics, so excuse me. The PSD-S seems like a very interesting piece of equipment.

So if I need to download loops into the SPD-S from a recording's masters that extend from 1 to 4 bars, the correct way is to download the .wav file into the flash card, and then I can arrange how many times each loop repeats into patterns/sequences and assign this patterns to the pads?








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http://www.myspace.com/dannydrumperc

You can go that route very easily
I switch from single samples to loops
Having a small sound card made it a necessity for me to keep my samples as short as posible
That meant that I perfomed a lot of loops where I had to end the loop myself by either canceling the loop or triggering an additional sample (check out "mute groups" to train loops in a row

Not only did it allow me to perform my music, it alows me to compose as well
You shouldn't need a huge sound card if you are just looping a few samples but an entire show might merit a big card
The first thing I did was eliminate all of the stock sounds off the internal memory to free up more space
Be careful though
It's easy to get lost in there








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

I've had my SPD-S for about 3 months now- it's phenomenal! I'm yet to post any videos that use it to its full potential, but I'm in the process of uploading some of my 'Conc3pT' mashups now- they hopefully help demonstrate just how versatile the SPD-S can be!

The pad-in jacks on the spds have pretty much single handedly made my DTXPLORER redundant- i now run my electronic and acoustic kits together in one seamless setup (pics soon!)

To answer questions regarding the ease of use and strength of the unit- It's all very straightforward. I find trial and error is the easiest way to find out what the pad is capable of. Some of the effects are amazing, and being able to use my foot switch as a trigger to turn effects on/off as well as cycle through patches is VERY handy. I usually take it pretty easy on the sampling pad (i don't hit it particularly hard) but that said, as long as you're careful with it and don't drop it, it can take quite a beating!

The only thing that i find frustrating with the SPD-S is cycling through samples and patches- my poor +/- buttons must be nearly worn out!

Keep rockin' everyone!

-KoeN








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Check out some of my drumming!
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JoshKoen

Interesting thread. I've never seen the SPD-20 used until now - youtube that, and you'll find some interesting stuff - and I envisioned doing similar things with the v-drums.

I know the roland v-drums have midi support, so I was looking into putting it though a computer and use samples (and all the other powerful things you can do). Can the v-drums be made to do all of the things the SPD-20, for example, can do? I'm sort of looking for the best of both worlds... What do you think?

P.S. I apologize if I hi-jacked or bumped too late in the thread.

Rockula, on your search for a separate pad system (like the brain of the SPD-S with triggers so you can have more options and not be pounding on the module as you described) did you find anything better than rolands offerings? (Furthermore, couldn't the "brain" of an SPD-S/20 be used in place of a TD-12 on a meshed e-kit?) I'm still wondering about non-roland brands, and because of the strategic marketing of roland if there aren't better things out there that we haven't tried or heard (like ddrum and pintech).

I have not found anything yet
Once I get stucjk, I need someone to help me over the bump
No one has helped me yet so I have been content to explore the things I know
I'm the type that has to be shown something because manuals and webpages etc... just scramble my brains
I'll figure it out soon
There are lots of new electronic musicians for me to interacgt with soon








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

basically, what we do is just use a set of roland v-drums as a midi source, plug it into my electronic bandmate's apple laptop, and trigger sounds in Abelton Live. that way we can program in automatic changes in the pad sounds and have completely different drumsets on different song sections.








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www.myspace.com/alanselectronicmuse

Alan_ wrote:

basically, what we do is just use a set of roland v-drums as a midi source, plug it into my electronic bandmate's apple laptop, and trigger sounds in Abelton Live. that way we can program in automatic changes in the pad sounds and have completely different drumsets on different song sections.

Alright, so does that mean one can do everything with the (say) TD-12 that one can do with the SPD-S?

totally different concept. I only use the hardware for generating MIDI information. I can trigger loops (and alter them realtime), single hit sounds, kit changes etc. in the software...the possibilities are endless.








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www.myspace.com/alanselectronicmuse

Sorry, but that really doesn't answer my question. I haven't had the opportunity to hook either the v-drums or the SPD-S up to a computer. I know with the SPD-S/20 you can store sounds you've created via midi, but I don't know if the TD-9/12/20 hardware can do the same thing - store sounds, play without latency.

For example, can one do all of the stuff kamoni ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7KKrpLE1JY&feature=related ) can do with a td-12 and a mesh v-drum set? (Him and a few other people are triggering sets of sounds on their e-drums with finger triggers. Any of you tried that?)

P.S. I just saw drumkat - that thing looks promising too.

I just found this: http://www.2box.se/ - designed in sweden by the same guy who worked on the ddrum e-kits.

Forget the SPD-s...TD-12...Yamaha dtx, etc. ... THIS is the SHIT!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJCWziYxRVs

I'm saving for one right now.


Shogun








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