Connecting drum pads (digital kit)

[shinythang]

Sorry to only return to the forum when I'm having a problem but well, I guess my long absence is testament to a great bit of software! I use it a helluva lot.

I'm in a bit of a hurry to record a charity song and I managed to dust off our old drummer to put down the drums. I bought a 2nd hand digital kit with the intention of recording the MIDI output and messing with it a bit later on.

When I connect the kit (via a 'Midilink' MIDI-USB interface I get all the right drum sounds but only the hi-hat (in any state) plays reliably. All the other sounds trigger only occasionally and the kit works great on it's own (better than I expected TBH).

I wondered if this was just a play-back issue but found that Mixcraft records exactly what I hear whilst it is going in.

My guess is that the laptop isn't up to processing the info fast enough though it has no trouble with a Midi keyboard triggering MC sounds.

I'm using Windows 7 with an i5-480M chip, 6Gb Ram and the kit is a session pro DD405 which, as I said, is connected via a Midilink MIDI - USB interface (USB - USB gives worse performance. Everything I don't need to run is shut down for recording.

Do I need a better MIDI-USB interface? If so can anyone recommend one? sorry but the due date is coming up fast now.

Cheers

Geoff

[Tiasdad]

Hi Geoff,
Which digital drum set is it? Ahh just read it above (duh)
Does it have a sensitivity setting built in to it as that may need adjusting.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

In some cases, the recorded notes are so tiny they don't play properly. If this is the problem, you can click on "MIDI Editing" in the Piano Roll and quantize the note lengths to 1/32 note or whatever. You can also select groups of notes in various ways and just quantize those.

Greg

P.S. For example, you can select all the notes on a particular key or drum map item by double-clicking it:

[shinythang]

Thanks for the help guys. I can't find any kind of sensitivity setting on the kit and the manual doesn't seem to mention one.

Unfortunately Greg, I don't get as far as recording all the midi info. If a pad fails to trigger then nothing gets recorded so there's nothing to quantise.

[outteh]

When you mention some notes are missing, is it from one particular pad, like the snare, tom, kick? I can't find a user manual for your kit hopefully you have one? See if ther is a factory reset to your pads to set them back to standard factory settings. Then check that each pad produces a note in the piano roll. Sometimes the notes are so small you have to stretch the piano roll to see them. You can adjust the length of all notes also to help you see them.

[shinythang]

Thanks Tom.

But I must explain that all the pads work correctly ... sometimes. Except for the Hi-hat which works correctly all the time.

To put this 'stretch the note' idea to bed there is no note to stretch. This is proved when recording a short passage during which no pads trigger at all (it's rare but it does happen). In that event the recorded MIDI box thingy on the track time-line just vanishes when I stop recording because it knows it contains no data. There is a factory re-set ... I'll give it a try.

... factory reset on the drums made no difference

[Vibrant Audio]

When I connect the kit (via a 'Midilink' MIDI-USB interface I get all the right drum sounds but only the hi-hat (in any state) plays reliably. All the other sounds trigger only occasionally and the kit works great on it's own (better than I expected TBH).

What do you mean when you write that it "works great on its own"? Is that to say that there NO issues with notes playing from the AUDIO OUT on that unit? You only have issues with MIDI data getting into Mixcraft?

Can you swap out the Hi-Hat cable to a problematic trigger pad and see if that pad then sends MIDI to Mixcraft without issue on the Hi-Hat channel?

[shinythang]

Thanks VA

Yes. The kit works fine through it's own audio out. It's only when triggering a VST kit through MIDI that the beats drop out.

I switched the Hi-hat lead to the Snare pad which resulted in the snare pad working great but playing a Hi-hat obviously.

Odd innit?

[Mab098157]

I have similar issue with Yamaha dd55 that I have yet to find a solution to. I have been building studio and haven't had a lot of time to experiment. I did find a work around that is pretty consistent.
Issue seems to be isolated to certian VST (acoustica drums), but if I use JM-1 (free sim of Linn drum machine) as my VST it will pickup every hit. I record using JM-1 and after recorded I change to acoustic drums. Haven't figured out why acoustica drums will not playback each hit successfully yet. If I simultaneously record usin JM-1on 1 track and acoustica drums in track 2 (with track 2 dB down to avoid confusion) the midi data looks identical, but playback of the acoustica drums still has the same issue with hits not playing.

[skowog]

I have similar issue with Yamaha dd55 that I have yet to find a solution to. I have been building studio and haven't had a lot of time to experiment. I did find a work around that is pretty consistent.
Issue seems to be isolated to certian VST (acoustica drums), but if I use JM-1 (free sim of Linn drum machine) as my VST it will pickup every hit. I record using JM-1 and after recorded I change to acoustic drums. Haven't figured out why acoustica drums will not playback each hit successfully yet. If I simultaneously record usin JM-1on 1 track and acoustica drums in track 2 (with track 2 dB down to avoid confusion) the midi data looks identical, but playback of the acoustica drums still has the same issue with hits not playing.

I had the same problem with the DD-55, I have posted several times trying to fix it and spent a lot of time working on it. I had to come up with a similar work around, only I used MT Powerdrumkit (http://www.powerdrumkit.com/) that worked right away with out any issues or setup. The full version is $50.

Apparently the midi signal from some edrum pads are too short for acoustica drums to register accurately. Some of the other percussion VST's will work with the DD55, but it's been a long while and I don't remember which off the top of my head. Try the demo version of MT Powerdrumkit and see if it solves your problem. You can do the same with other drum kits you can buy (try the demo and see if your hits are picked up) to see if they will work before you buy.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

If you're having the "tiny note" problem, you can quantize the notes and make them longer.

Greg

[shinythang]

Well, thanks for all the replies. In the end I sat with the drummer as we programmed the drums from a keyboard. Amazingly we managed to stay out of the pub which is only next door! The result is okay but I'm still tweaking it.

Very disappointing episode all in all. Can anyone recommend an entry-level, digital kit that DOES work with Mixcraft?

To all those well intentioned replies telling me to quantise and stretch etc. Please believe me that there is no data to work with. Nothing. Nada. Not even after going to Specsavers! For the strikes that worked whilst recording there is data, for those that didn't work there is no data even on a microscopic level!

It would be good to get to the bottom of this because the kit works great on it's own but just can't reliably trigger another MIDI device.

[skowog]

Shinythang,
Both Mab098157 and I posted entry level kits in the replies above...is there something else you see looking for that is missing? Mab098157's kit is free, the one I mentioned has a free demo version you can try before dropping $50 for the full version. Trust me, I am no tech expert or software drum guru :/ .
I can assure you that MT Powerdrumkit is entry level and your drum hits should sound immediately. I had no luck with stretching and quantising as suggested on the forum, but this fix worked without a hitch.

[fredfish]

Shinythang,
Both Mab098157 and I posted entry level kits in the replies above...is there something else you see looking for that is missing? Mab098157's kit is free, the one I mentioned has a free demo version you can try before dropping $50 for the full version. Trust me, I am no tech expert or software drum guru :/ .
I can assure you that MT Powerdrumkit is entry level and your drum hits should sound immediately. I had no luck with stretching and quantising as suggested on the forum, but this fix worked without a hitch.

I am pretty sure that shinythang is asking if there is an entry level MIDI drum kit (the actual pads) not asking about VSTis that will work.

The VSTs that you mention are certainly worth checking out though.

Cheers

John

[skowog]

I am pretty sure that shinythang is asking if there is an entry level MIDI drum kit (the actual pads) not asking about VSTis that will work.

LOL, Oh, gotcha!
I totally missed that! I was focused on the VST aspect!
I wish I knew if these ones work without issue...http://aerodrums.com/aerodrums-product-page/
I'd love to hear if anyone has tried them out for mixcraft!