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Midi drum pad thoughts

#21
I've opted for the Bop Pad. In particular, seeing that this 10" pad can be configured in unison mode whereby it becomes just one large pad. This is what I need, the ability to record single drum tracks-kick, snare, etc individually with a unit offering the ergonomics of a hand drum.

Bop Pad has no embedded sounds and this too is what I'm after. I want to trigger sounds already available in Luna.

I believe my challenge will be to learn how to assign sounds from Luna Shape to this pad. Hopefully not too convoluted.
 
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#22
I can say the BopPad is proving to be a quality trigger, and very good for my purposes. Unlike what I wrote above, I'm using it divided in quadrants, typically able to lay down kick, snare, and cymbal crashes in one track, then needing to open one additional track to do ride.

I'm just playing through my sessions , adding the drums in real time. I'm not much on editing in my DAW yet, so it's primarily just repeat takes till I get a good one. Kinda primitive but hey, so am I!
 
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#23
dbflats said:
I can say the BopPad is proving to be a quality trigger, and very good for my purposes. Unlike what I wrote above, I'm using it divided in quadrants, typically able to lay down kick, snare, and cymbal crashes in one track, then needing to open one additional track to do ride.

I'm just playing through my sessions , adding the drums in real time. I'm not much on editing in my DAW yet, so it's primarily just repeat takes till I get a good one. Kinda primitive but hey, so am I!
Click to expand...
Killer! Glad it is working. I figgered you would want 2 or more pads/zones pretty quickly...
 
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#25
I realize that you found a solution, but just wanted to say that I have a Roland Octapad that I originally bought for use for live loop performances but also as a MIDI controller to make recording beats easier for my approach. Of course it has an extensive internal sound engine, but also works great as a MIDI controller/trigger for software sounds which is the main way I've used it as my 1-man live band thing never really came together. It is super versatile for setting sensitivity and lots of other nuance settings per pad. I also have high-hat and bass drum pedals for mine. I previously had a Roland SPD-SX for the same purposes, but preferred the feel and sensitivity of the Octapad. You can find the older Roland pads for decent used prices, and I think they are all useable as MIDI controller/triggers.
 
#26
Thanks sunbeast. The Bop Pad is a 4-way unit if you want it to be, so should have the same capabilities as you describe for the octapad, save for it's having no sound bank of its own, which is not a limitation in my workflow as I only use it to trigger software sounds.

The big thing about any of these pads is that getting good on one basically amounts to learning another instrument. Easy enough to lay down a mean kick/snare pattern for a few measures but keeping accurate throughout the duration of a 8 minute song is challenging, though I suppose, no more so than what drummers do every day.
 
#27
There is no need to play an 8 minute drum take with DAWs or (like I use) midi sequencers.

You create loops and lay them out to build up a song. Create changes, fills, bridges and endings.

I usually make longer loops with some subtle imperfections to avoid robotic nature, unless I’m doing 80’s style synth pop
 
#31
dbflats said:
Thanks sunbeast. The Bop Pad is a 4-way unit if you want it to be, so should have the same capabilities as you describe for the octapad, save for it's having no sound bank of its own, which is not a limitation in my workflow as I only use it to trigger software sounds.

The big thing about any of these pads is that getting good on one basically amounts to learning another instrument. Easy enough to lay down a mean kick/snare pattern for a few measures but keeping accurate throughout the duration of a 8 minute song is challenging, though I suppose, no more so than what drummers do every day.
Click to expand...
What made me grab the Roland Octapad was the feel and response- I had the SPD-SX and the top Yamaha drum pad setup (O can’t remember the name) previously and to me the Octapad seemed to have the best combo of independence between pads (depending on the design I found some pads can false trigger on some units when you hit a nearby pad unless the sensitivity is turned way down, the Octapad doesn’t seem to), responsiveness, and ease of tweakability. It is the only one that doesn’t allow any loading external samples though, which is the only function I miss from the other two.

In any case, I am definitely also one of those people who can’t vibe from playing finger drums on pads!
 
#32
Interesting. I think my Bop did tiny bit of false triggering, from adjacent as you described, but that may have been before I fiddled with sensitivity.

I actually groove out on the thing with fingers.

Stylee Mousse is obviously a much more advanced practitioner than I, but in my own primitive fashion, I kinda like just drumming through the song, especially inasmuch as my typical session will start with a rhythm guitar track set to click.

But mostly, I've got the workflow I do due to my limitations in understanding the system. Pretty new at it, I don't even know how to edit yet.
 
#33
dbflats said:
Interesting. I think my Bop did tiny bit of false triggering, from adjacent as you described, but that may have been before I fiddled with sensitivity.

I actually groove out on the thing with fingers.

Stylee Mousse is obviously a much more advanced practitioner than I, but in my own primitive fashion, I kinda like just drumming through the song, especially inasmuch as my typical session will start with a rhythm guitar track set to click.

But mostly, I've got the workflow I do due to my limitations in understanding the system. Pretty new at it, I don't even know how to edit yet.
Click to expand...
I guess I should have specified that I don’t like finger drumming on a keyboard or even the little multi pads on many MIDI controllers meant for drum triggering as I want to dig in more. I do play my Roland with hands and occasionally fingers as well- the guy I bought it from actually used it entirely as a hand drum in a Latin band- he demoed it for me and it was super impressive what he was able to get out of it with nuance using the internal sounds!
 
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