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Edition 19 - AUGUST 2014
US$10
The global electronic drumming e-zine
Farriss’
E-XS Cliff Hewett
Roland TM-2 Addictive Drums
©2014 Avedis Zildjian Company
THE NEXT GENERATION
OF reduced volume cymbals
Introducing the NEW Gen16 Buffed Bronze series Zildjian has created the next generation of reduced volume cymbals. Zildjian craftsman used their expertise to make subtle but important changes to the Gen16 cymbal which increases the lower fundamental overtone structure. The most noticeable change is the stunning, buffed bronze finish that produces a warmer tone. Visit zildjian.com for more information.
SOUND LEGACY
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--from-the-editor-is published by
DigitalDrummer
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editor@digitaldrummermag.com
www.digitaldrummermag.com Editor & Publisher Allan Leibowitz Sub-Editor
Solana da Silva Contributors
Cliff Hewett Jeremy Hoyle Michael Schack Brian Wilburn Cover Photo Jon Farriss
by Liam French
Design and layout ‘talking business’
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digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
THIS EDITION MARKS the full circle of hybrid electronic drumming. From the make-it-up-as-you-go efforts of INXS drummer Jon Farriss to reigning digitalDrummer e-drummer of the year Michael Schack, this edition covers the rising use of electronic triggering with acoustic kits. We’re also thrilled to be able to share our experiences of two hybrid products that are sure to have huge impacts – Roland’s TM-2 “trigger module” and Aquarian’s inHEAD. The former made its debut at NAMM in January and is attracting a lot of attention on shop floors, while the inHEAD has taken a while to move from prototype to full production. Both products, like Zildjian’s Gen-16 AE range, face something of an education challenge, because they’re in the unfamiliar territory between acoustic and electronic percussion. The inHEADs are mylar drum heads with a trigger surface built in. They’re not intended for silent practice, but designed to augment or accent the acoustic sounds. There’s also confusion about the TM-2, with many readers already contacting us to ask if they can use this as a cheap module replacement. Again, that’s not the intended aim: the new device is designed to augment kit sounds, not act as an alternative. And many of the samples are effects – snare buzz, bass beater impacts, and the like. What we’re seeing in this new hybrid wave is not e-drums that look like and sound like acoustic drums, but, rather, the electrification of acoustic kits, adding sounds which share some of the broad e-drum sonic palette with acoustic sounds. This wave may not be hugely interesting to hard-core edrummers, but it will bring a generation of acoustic drummers into the e-drum fold and we look forward to reporting on the innovative uses to which the new capabilities are applied. At the other end of the spectrum, we review a product that makes drums out of nothing at all. Aerodrums is another nifty innovation that makes air-drumming a reality. And it’s not a toy. The developers continue to add functionality like VSTcompatibility and other tweaks to make it a real instrument. And speaking of real instruments, we can congratulate some real winners in our first major give-aways. The rare first-off-the-line Zildjian Gen-16 Buffed Bronze set is on its way to William Flood in the US. Meanwhile, Stefaan de Bruyn in Belgium is the proud owner of a set of DW 9002 double bass pedals. And the three t-Rigg triggers have gone to Yevgeniya Sachli, Michael Haynes and Christian Harrison-Dyke. Thanks to all who entered and to the suppliers who made it all possible. We’ll certainly do it again!
editor@digitaldrummermag.com
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The global electronic drumming e-zine Edition 19
6 8
12 18 22 26 4
August 2014
GEAR
Behind the hybrid hype
Hybrid may be the new black, but, as Michael Schack explains, it’s hardly new.
Small device, huge impact
Roland’s TM-2 promises to open the world of electronic percussion for acoustic drummers, but also offers something for e-drum purists. digitalDrummer took the mini-module for a spin.
Heads up
Allan Leibowitz tries out the much-anticipated inHEAD and onHEAD drum triggers.
Trigger happy
Want electronic triggering in your acoustic shells? Allan Leibowitz runs through some more e-conversion options.
An air of creativity
It’s hard to take air-drumming seriously, but a new product forced us to reconsider.
Feel the groove
One thing missing from e-drums is the thump feeling when you strike the bass drum. However, as Jeremy Hoyle explains, there are some products which simulate the sensation. www.digitaldrummermag.com
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30 36 38 42 45 46
profile
Farriss’ E-XS
INXS drummer Jon Farriss embraced the concept of hybrid drumming before it was even technically possible and had to make much of it up as he went along. Farriss shared his e-drum enthusiasm with digitalDrummer editor Allan Leibowitz.
PERFORMANCE
How I use e-drums
Former Apollo 440 drummer Cliff Hewett has been described as “a ground-breaking musician in the electronic drum world”. And it’s not hard to see why.
VST
Even more Addictive
As the current crop of VSTs reaches maturity, the next generation of products is emerging. Allan Leibowitz tries one of the recent arrivals, Addictive Drums 2.
TRAINING
Time to mesh about
Brian Wilburn shares an easy, inexpensive method for creating drum heads.
The-last-word
Making them better
Current e-drum technology is good - but not perfect. On our Facebook group, we recently asked members to nominate one thing they would like to see improved.
DIY
My Monster Kit
This month’s monster is an all-Roland set-up belonging to Peter Forte from Hamden, CT.
digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
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--Gear--
Behind the hybrid hype 6
Hybrid may be the new black, but, as Michael Schack explains, it’s hardly new.
www.digitaldrummermag.com
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‘HyBRID’ IS A term which mainly has been used in natural science and biology: it is synonymous with heterozygous, meaning “any offspring resulting from the mating of two genetically distinct individuals”. Where a drummer meets a guitar or violin player, perhaps?
In electronics, a computer can be called hybrid when combining analogue and digital features. And here’s where the music comes in. As early as the late ‘70s, the first commercially released electronic stand-alone pads found their way into drum set-ups. And as e-drums began to appear, some professional drummers started combining the Pearl, Tama, Simmons, DrumKat and Roland ‘digital’ stuff with their acoustic snares and cymbals. So, in short, drummers went hybrid way earlier than Japanese or Korean car manufacturers. Personally, I clearly remember the spring of 1982 when I heard the American R&B/Funk band Cameo on the radio using Simmons kicks, snares and toms combined with a traditional cymbal setup. In mid-1986, Cameo scored their number one hit “Word Up”.
So what’s ‘new’ about “hybrid drums” then? Actually, nothing. Zip. Nada. In fact, even by the ‘80s, keyboard players had been playing their “hybrid” set-ups for quite some time already. Joe Zawinul, George Duke, Chick Corea and so many other more Jazz/Fusion-oriented pianists never left home without a synth or digital keyboard on top of or beside their classic pianos. And guitar players, well, from the appearance of their digital FX stomp boxes and all-in-one digital guitar synths, they have simply breathed “hybrids” for a few decades already.
In my opinion, one of the ground-breaking sound combinations of an acoustic drum with digital drum sound layering must be Dave Weckl’s set-up on the first Chick Corea Electric Band album released in 1986. He was using a Simmons-style, yamaha digital module generating low-frequency sounds to beef up his tom, snare and kick sounds. And that is actually still the goal of hybrid drumming today:
digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
to make it sound BIG, maximise the impact and move people’s ears.
It’s been done in the studio for decades, and there are some live bands that really do live by the slogan “No Hybrid, No Show”. One of the best examples is the kick sound of Metallica. Since way before today’s producing DJs started layering 17 kick sounds to kick the dust out of PA sub cabinets, metal drummers and their engineers have been the true talents in layering drum sounds and taking hybrid sets around the world.
you may not see any pads, but there are triggers there. Many triggers. And the ones on those kick drums are used throughout the concert. They trigger modules that provide extra lows and attacking highs to keep the guitar players on a leash. The acoustic kick sound is still prominently present, hopefully not turning up first in the PA speakers. Because older “hybrid” set-ups unfortunately had one big bottleneck which also turned many drummers off: latency. you hit the kick, and the layered digital sound comes later. Especially when playing higher tempo music, some drummers sounded like they were playing flams all over the song. So at that time, no decent hybrid drum sound was possible without a professional sound engineer delaying some of the acoustic sounds to match what was coming out of those electronic modules and samplers.
So until recently, hybrid drumming was mainly about adding some pads, a sampling pad like a Roland SPD-S or SPD-SX, and maybe a trigger on the acoustic snare for some extra low end or clap sounds. But, then came the DJs … and many drummers realised their acoustic kick sound was simply not cutting through.
Besides the new demand for solid kick sounds, latency has also become less of an issue as modules and their processors have become faster than ever before. So, how is hybrid used today? I’ll be back in the next edition to explain…
Click to see Michael’s informative hybrid demo videos
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Small device --Gear--
huge impact Roland’s TM-2 promises to open the world of electronic percussion for acoustic drummers, but also offers something for e-drum purists. Allan Leibowitz took the mini-module for a spin.
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THERE HAS ALREADy been plenty of debate about the TM-2, but much of the posturing ignores the obvious: this is a drum enhancement product, not a module substitute. If we look at it from the perspective of an acoustic drummer who would like to add some colour and texture to their sound palette, we can fully appreciate what Roland has set out to do.
What’s in the box
The TM-2 is an ultra-compact, battery-powered (with AC option), four-input (via two stereo jacks) ‘trigger module’. It ships with a power supply and a mounting plate. The TM-2 is designed to be ultra user-friendly for our less tech-savvy acoustic counterparts. There are two stereo inputs and two mono outputs on the back, together with a 3.5 mm stereo socket. On the side, you’ll find MIDI In and Out sockets, while the front has a slot for an SD card.
There are a few oversize buttons on the face to change kit selections and perform other rudimentary tasks – all pretty much idiot-proof and self-explanatory.
How it works
The TM-2 is designed for a new approach to drum enhancements, and there are no hard and fast rules about how it should be used. I tried various permutations, but I suspect most users will connect one input to a stereo external trigger mounted on the snare with the second input split between a kick trigger and perhaps an aux trigger like Roland’s BT-1.
The module is pre-loaded with 162 sounds arranged in 50 kits. There are another 49 blank kits which can be loaded with stock sounds or .WAV samples on the SD card. Here, users can load their own sounds – anything from single sounds to loops or full backing tracks.
digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
The stock sounds fall into two rough categories: instrument sounds like a snare, cowbell or hi-hat strike; and ‘elements’. The latter take a bit more thought as these are enhancements to acoustic sounds. For example, if you need the slap of a bass drum beater on the head to augment your existing bass drum sound, the module can add that. If you want a sustained snare rattle to trail off after the crack of your acoustic drum, the trail can be added – and you can even delay it slightly so that it follows the crack at a predetermined time.
In action
The TM-2 is child’s play to connect and even a first-timer will be up and running in minutes.
The module accepts inputs from pretty much any trigger in the Roland stable, and certainly had no difficulty with any of the third-party triggers with which I tested it. There are a range of onboard trigger settings including all the KD types, the new KT-10, all the PD and Cy versions, Roland’s BT-1 settings and its RT external trigger as well as a couple of generic settings, PAD1 and 2. And these settings, as with other modules, can be adjusted on various parameters, from sensitivity to Xtalk. One solution I tried, and which I am sure will prove popular, is paring the TM-2 with Aquarian’s inHead. I fitted the inHead to a 14” acoustic snare, added the Rimshot unit and the inBox adaptor and, after a bit of trigger tweaking, had the elements working perfectly together. The sounds are also very easy to work with. Sounds can easily be reassigned from one kit to another, and can also be edited. For example, they can be pitched up or down, panned from left to right and set to various volumes, but perhaps the most important tweak for acoustic augmentation is the offset parameter. Essentially, this allows you to delay the start of the sound after triggering. For
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example, by delaying a bass hit, one can easily produce a double hit to emulate a lightning fast metal player with half the effort. This editing capability can also be applied to imported .WAV samples. So, for example, I was able to add bottom end to a tambourine sample I imported from a VST pack.
One word of caution on sample imports – the module is velocity sensitive, so you’ll get louder and softer versions of the sample when you strike at different intensities, but it will be the same sample that is played each time, so you would certainly get annoying machinegunning if you were, for example, to import a snare hit and attempt to produce rolls with it.
While there aren’t all that many of them (compared to a full-size Roland module), the stock sounds are very impressive and some of the drum, cymbal and percussion instruments are fantastic on their own. The augmentation effects which can be layered into acoustic sounds or set to trigger after them are equally impressive and offer untold creative opportunities.
The module also has a decent palette of FX including reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, flanger, wah, distortion and compression – all of which can be dialled up or down.
The verdict
digitalDrummer has been flagging the rise of hybrid drumming for some time and this product exemplifies the approach. In a compact, easy-to-use unit, Roland is offering acoustic drummers an easy entry into the world of electronic opportunities. Whether it’s Bohemian Rhapsody which needs a massive gong at the end or a disco track that needs claps and tambourines, the TM-2 provides additional sounds without the expense of a topend module and triggers.
The TM-2 is versatile, connecting to almost any trigger (we didn’t find one that didn’t work with it), to add electronic capability for acoustic drummers. Its sound palette is limited, but well chosen and easily augmented thanks to the easy import function for .WAV files through an SD card.
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In short, a couple of hundred bucks, a few triggers and a very quick browse of the instructions will have any acoustic drummer up and away in no time.
I can see this solution becoming very popular among gigging acoustic drummers and it could well take off if combined with something like Aquarian’s inHead – an acoustic head with electronic trigger sensors built in.
In short, as a replacement for a high-end, multi-input module, the TM-2 will disappoint. But paired with an acoustic kit, some creativity and a few high-quality samples on its SD card, I can see this as a turning point in the evolution of drumming.
Specifications
Kits: 99 Internal instruments: 162
User instruments
Number of instruments: Maximum 90,300 File Format: .WAV (44.1 kHz, 16 bits, Stereo/Mono) Storage Media: SD/SDHC Memory Card (Max. 32 GB) Effects: 11 types Display: 16 characters, 2 lines (backlit LCD) Connectors OUTPUT (L/MONO, R) jacks: 6.5 mm phone type PHONES jack: Stereo miniature phone type TRIG IN jack x 2: 6.5 mm TRS phone type MIDI (IN, OUT) connectors DC IN jack Power Supply AC adaptor AA batteries x 4
www.digitaldrummermag.com
More sounds, more features, more drumming
Introducing the KAT
Six-piece drum pad configuration with 4 cymbals 550 studio-grade drum, cymbal, DJ, EFX and percussion sounds
USB, MIDI connectivity
Hi-hat pedal can be programmed to simulate a double pedal
New, larger 11-inch snare and floor tom pads
14-inch ride cymbal with a new advanced bell trigger
25 programmable and 45 pre-configured drum sets
Watch Antoine Fadavi demonstrate the incredible flexibility of the new kt3.
Available at KAT Percussion Retailers worldwide. Bass drum pedal is optional on some models.
KAT_DD_KT3.indd 1
KATPERCUSSION.COM
4/2/14 11:05 AM
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Heads up
--Gear--
Allan Leibowitz tries out the much-anticipated inHEAD and onHEAD drum triggers. 12
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FOR SOME TIME, Aquarian’s inHEAD and onHEAD were dismissed as vapourware – products designed to attract attention but which never see the light of day.
Well, in the past few months, the critics have been proved wrong, with supplies hitting retailers in the major markets. So what’s all the fuss about?
The two new head offerings represent two radical new approaches to drum triggering – one built into a regular mylar head, the other incorporating an FSR trigger into a pad that sits on top of regular heads – or any other surface.
What’s in the box?
The inHEAD system consists of a hybrid acoustic/electronic drum head, an inBOX adaptor unit to convert the signals to a more module-friendly format and an optional rimSHOT slip-on trigger.
The onHEAD kit comes with an inBOX adaptor, but no rimSHOT trigger in the standard pack. While most people would simply place the onHEAD pads on top of their acoustic heads, the owner’s manual explains how to create a shell-less DIy drum using nothing but a rim and drum head under the onHEAD – a very nifty idea.
In action
The inHEAD is fundamentally an acoustic head, so it needs to be tuned. But it also needs to be dialled in electronically. My first attempt involved the Roland TM-2 (see page 8), and it was a quick and easy job, with both head and rim triggering simple to set. The same was true when connecting to a 2box module. On both a yamaha DTX 700 and a Roland TD-30, a
I tested a variety of sizes, from a 14” snare to some smaller toms. There is also an optional bass drum solution which will be discussed separately. Now, Aquarian has taken a bit of a chance with the inHEAD since it is fundamentally an acoustic head. As we all know, there are scores of choices out there and drum heads are very personal, so no head is able to please everyone.
The head maker has gone with a middle-of-the-road offering which is roughly equivalent to a regular dualply clear head (these are actually three-ply) with an internal muffle ring. They have good attack and modest sustain but are a bit quieter than other mylar heads – although nowhere near mesh head/rubber pad quiet. Make no mistake: these are not intended for quiet practice.
The onHEAD, meanwhile, is certainly a silent option. It is made from the same type of rubber material you’ll find on the trapKAT, covered with a white nuBounce film layer.
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splitter was required to enable both head and rim triggering, with a separate input required for the rim signal.
Once dialled in – and this is helped by the addition of a gain adjustment on the inBOX, triggering was superb across the entire surface of the head (with the exception of an inch-wide rim on the outside, where there is no FSR sensor). The head picks up every nuance – but only the intended hits. There’s no false triggering or crosstalk.
The one deficiency for some will be the lack of positional sensing with top-end Roland modules. This, of course, is a function of splitting the head and rim inputs, which doesn’t allow the module to determine how far from the edge the strikes are occurring. But since most drummers will use the triggers to augment their acoustic sound, this isn’t a big deal. The clip-on rimSHOT trigger is sensitive, effective and free from crosstalk.
The onHEAD has similar responsiveness to the inHEAD, but is significantly quieter. Wacking it as hard as I could, I could not get the sound level meter to go above 74 dB (many mesh heads registered in excess of 90 dB in digitalDrummer’s previous tests). Of course, that sound is amplified slightly when the head is placed on top of a shell with an acoustic head.
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onHEAD triggering was fantastic on all modules – TM-2, 2box, TD-30 and DTX 700. Again, with the high-end Roland brains, there’s no positional sensing with the onHEAD, but the dynamics and sensitivity are amazing. As a playing surface, the onHEAD is less bouncy and more controlled than mesh, and more forgiving than rubber. I’m not sure if it’s just familiarity or a change in materials since I first tried the onHEAD at NAMM a couple of years ago, but it doesn’t have the sponginess which initially put me off. In short, it’s a very realistic and very playable surface.
One potential playing challenge for those who mount onHEADs on their acoustic shells is the playing height. When tucked firmly into the hoop, the onHEAD protrudes about 2 cm above the rim. This may require height adjustment of the host drums or of the throne as the added height certainly can affect one’s playing comfort zone, not to mention all those hits on the exposed edge. To counter this, I would be keen to try the noshell mounting suggestion on the box, and, if I were buying a set, would consider sourcing some hoops and a RIMS-style suspension mounting system which could also accommodate the rimSHOT and inBOX.
www.digitaldrummermag.com
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And overall
I must admit I was sceptical, especially about the inHEAD, but it was really the NAMM demonstrations of the Roland TM-2 on acoustic kits that opened my eyes to the possibilities. Those examples showed clearly how electronics can be used to enhance acoustic drums, and the inHEAD is one of the most elegant embodiments of the philosophy, especially when paired with the TM-2 trigger module. Sure, the acoustic heads will not be to everybody’s taste, but they perform well as middle-of-the-road heads on the snare and toms. I found them versatile enough to cope with everything from jazz brushes to heavy rock.
Where the inHEAD shines, however, is in its triggering, which is flawless, even and totally free of crosstalk or false triggering. The rim trigger set-up is perhaps a bit clunky compared to an all-in–one solution, but it works. Of course, when playing acoustically, you have the option of “real” rim shots and cross-stick, so the digital versions are really only useful for effects and enhancements.
For acoustic players, there’s absolutely no learning curve – the heads are played exactly the way they would play regular mylar. you can use any sticks, rods or brushes and there are no surprises.
inBOX, rimSHOT and kickZONE. The latter doesn’t require an inBOX and plugs straight into the module. The heads, like all acoustic heads, are replaceable, with a new one costing around $60 – the same price as a replacement inBOX, should you ever need one. The onHEAD system comes in sets (for example 10”, 12” and two 14” pads plus inBOXes go for around $680), but single pads start at about $75. Compare that to an external trigger and mesh head combo, and it’s fantastic value considering the superior triggering.
Are there any downsides? Well, the inHEADs haven’t really been around long enough to get a realistic sense of their lifespan. Because the FSR is inked between layers of mylar, it will break down over time and the heads are unlikely to last anywhere near as long as regular heads or their mesh counterparts. But replacements should be readily available – and not outrageously priced. The rim triggers are a bit fiddly and not quite in the same technology league as the heads, but they work and replacements only cost around $30 should anything go wrong.
The onHEAD was also a pleasant surprise – a quiet, super-responsive playing surface with perfect triggering. Again, there’s no crosstalk, false or double triggering and the feel is very realistic. In fact, after onHEADs, it could be hard to go back to rubber or mesh. But, like the inHEAD, rim triggering appears to be an afterthought and requires a separate unit – and, on some modules, a separate input. Pricing is on the high side, but not prohibitive and not unrealistic when you consider the alternatives.
you can get into an inHEAD system for $169 which buys you a starter kit of 14” snare head,
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The thickness of the onHEAD may also prove challenging for drummers simply placing them on top of regular heads, but it’s easy to adjust the kit or the throne to accommodate the additional inch or so above the rim. And some drummers may be a bit nervous about the snow white finish on the pads – but provided you keep your curry and Coke away from your drums, you should be able to retain that pristine finish.
So, it’s clear that it’s hard to fault either solution and I’m sure you will be seeing many of these around, especially the inHEAD which will be far more attractive now that you don’t need a full-blown module to drive them – thanks to products like Roland’s TM-2.
of the kick to produce volume – which is good advice if you’re playing a hybrid kick. If the sensitivity is too high, you run the risk of the triggered sound overwhelming the acoustic bass hits, and a pared-back electronic component encourages you to play the bass drum “normally”. For the onHEAD, where quiet playing is required, there is a bass drum version which consists of a large foam rubber body with a sensor zone embedded in it. This also performed flawlessly with all the modules tested.
In short, the future has arrived and these are two products which will turn electronic drumming on its head.
And a footnote
Aquarian has augmented its inHEAD offering with a bass drum trigger designed for acoustic heads.
The kickZONE, like the rimSHOT, is based on piezo technology and consists of an adhesivebacked rubber piezo sandwich which mounts on the head and picks up vibrations from it. The kickZONE should be mounted at the top of the head, about an inch from the hoop, and comes with a 6.5 mm jack attachment that connects directly to any module. I tested it on an 18” acoustic head and it triggered brilliantly – albeit with different degrees of dialling in required on the test modules.
Aquarian advises users to use low sensitivity on the module and instead rely on the energy
Now you can find all the digitalDrummer Head2Head reviews in one place. Mesh heads? All in one PDF. Looking for information on internal, external and aux triggers? Again, one click and you get it all. And the same with e-cymbals.And much more...
Everything you need
Just a click away
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--Gear--
Trigger happy 18
Want electronic triggering in your acoustic shells? Allan Leibowitz runs through some more e-conversion options.
www.digitaldrummermag.com
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THE MOVE TO hybrid drumming will no doubt heighten demand for electronic triggers for acoustic drums. There have been some new arrivals since digitalDrummer last reviewed internal and external trigger solutions, and, this month, we put a few more to the test. The trigger: Convertible Percussions TB-8 Trigger ($34) Form: Internal cone mounted on adjustable base
Performance: The TB-8 is versatile and easy to fit. One arm attaches to a lug screw while the other houses a movable riser which can be adjusted for shells from 8” to 18”, and can even be almost side mounted if preferred. Unfortunately, for the DIychallenged, there is no jack, nor is a rim sensor supplied. Neither of these will be too hard for someone with rudimentary soldering skills – or with access to heatshrink tubing.
Triggering with a Roland TD-30 module was excellent in various trigger settings. The 2box module required a bit more tweaking, and moving the trigger towards the shell also improved the performance. It also required slight adjustments on a yamaha DTX700. Of course, only one zone was triggered in the stock set-up. What we liked: Versatile, inexpensive and good triggering (on Roland modules, at least). It’s also available in black or white to blend in with your head colour. What we didn’t like: No rim trigger and the need to attach a jack.
Missed our previous trigger comparisons?
digitalDrummer has tested a range of drop-in trigger kits. To access these reviews, together with comparisons between most of the current internal, external and aux triggers, click here.
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The trigger: Intrigg by Triggera (€34)
Form: Internal-mounted dual-zone trigger with ¼” stereo jack Performance: Comparisons with Wronka’s EasyTrigger are inevitable since they share the same mounting approach and overall form. The Intrigg is attached via the lug screws, with the sensor pressed against the head before tightening the mounting screws. It is an elegant solution which requires no shell modification, except for the threading of the lead through a vent hole if a bottom head is used. The Intrigg is slightly larger than the Wronka, with a bigger sensor, and looks more industrial. Another difference is that the piezo in the Intrigg is sandwiched between two layers of foam, where the Wronka has it above the foam. Despite this, the Intrigg is actually hotter than the German version, triggering very well with a Roland TD-30 module (in Pad2 mode) and with a 2box module (Pad12 mode with no need for rim boost). Triggering on the yamaha DTX700 is also good. What we liked: Solidly built, easy to install with no damage to the shell and excellent triggering.
What we didn’t like: The mounting surface is quite long and would need to be cut down if used in shells shallower than 10 cm. The trigger: Padtech TR-D (from £54, depending on size) Form: Internal ring mounted on the rim with inbuilt ¼” stereo jack
Performance: This is one of the easiest triggers to fit: simply remove the head, place on the shell and replace the head. The only potential challenge is that the input jack is on the inside of the drum, which will require threading a lead through the air vent if you use a reso head. The unit triggered perfectly with a Roland TD30 module (in PD-125 setting, with positional sensing turned off because the head sensor is side-mounted). It also needed no tweaking for the 2box (Pad12 mode), and only slight adjustments on a yamaha DTX700 – although it is not capable of cross-stick triggering. What we liked: Easy to install, excellent head and rim triggering. It also has built-in dampening which cuts the acoustic noise without impacting on the triggering.
What we didn’t like: It is an expensive solution and also has a fairly large hot spot (although it is easy to avoid because it is close to the edge).
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The trigger: UFO eBridge (From $38, discounts for multiple units) Form: Dual-trigger internal crossbar
Performance: The eBridge is similar to the Pintech bridge reviewed in August 2011. It consists of an adjustable bridge, attached via L-brackets to the top lug screw on each side of the shell. The height of the cone is adjusted by moving the assembly up or down, with fine adjustment done using a wing nut on the cone support platform. The kit ships with an optional rim sensor and an optional jack, although, even in its raw form, it’s easy to work with as the wires are fitted with crimp–on connectors. Triggering is excellent on the TD-30 module in PD-128 mode, which yields full positional sensing and a very small hot spot. Very little adjustment was required with either the 2box (Pad12) or the DTX700. And the instructions detail the steps for even better triggering.
What we liked: Excellent triggering, positional sensing, adjustability and inclusion of ready attachments on the sturdy and generous wires.
What we didn’t like: They do require a little bit of effort to fit, but the detailed instructions minimise the risk for DIyphobics. The trigger: XM AH trigger ($109)
Form: Internal over-the-rim trigger with inbuilt ¼” stereo jack
Performance: This is extremely easy to fit: simply remove the head, place the trigger unit over the shell, stick the rim trigger to the shell and replace the head. There is one drawback: there is a 6 cm overhang on the rim and tight heads may not fit over it. The sensor also deforms the hoops somewhat, making it hard to achieve even tension of the head. On the upside, the stereo jack is on the outside, making it easy to attach. The unit triggered well with a Roland TD-30 module (in Pad2 setting, with positional sensing turned off because the head sensor is side-mounted). With the 2box (Pad12 mode), the module needed a bit of rim boost. It also required slight adjustments on a yamaha DTX700 – although it is not capable of cross-stick triggering. On all modules, the trigger showed a large hot spot, although it is easy to avoid as it is mounted on the side.
What we liked: Easy to install, stereo external jack and neat design. What we didn’t like: It is quite pricey and also has a large hot spot.
digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
How we tested: The kits were fitted according to their directions to a 14” shell. We used a Hart Dynamics Maxxum head and connected the drum to Roland TD-30, 2box and yamaha DTX700 modules. 21
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--GEAR--
An air of creativity It’s hard to take air-drumming seriously, but a new product forced Allan Leibowitz to reconsider.
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WHEN I GOT the first press release, I thought it was a joke. An air-drumming product: yeah, sure! Had it not been for the accompanying demo version of the company’s notation software, I would have dispatched the email to my trash folder.
Luckily I didn’t. Fast forward a couple of weeks to the annual NAMM Show in Anaheim, and, indeed, Aerodrums was a real product, with a real queue of people keen to get their hands on the sticks.
While it may seem like a novelty item, Aerodrums is a serious musical tool. It consists of some software (Windows and Mac versions are available), a pair of sticks with special balls on the ends, some reflective “foot pieces and shin pieces”, a USB light and lens to fit a Sony Playstation 3 Eye camera (not included, but available as a cheap addon for those not yet in the gaming world) and some quirky paper sunglasses “to protect your eyes from the light”. Setting up is very easy. Simply install the software, connect the camera and follow the directions as the program tells you where to position yourself. you basically play in the air but looking at your computer screen, where there’s a kit image and you can also see the position of your sticks and pedals. It is possible to rearrange the kit on the screen, but it’s easier to simply move your chair or the camera first to find a comfortable drumming position. you also use the sticks to select from the onscreen menu, with various gestures which are easy to learn and apply. Once you’re comfortable, it’s time to select your drum kit. There are six stock kits, ranging from a small jazz set to a big rock kit, all powered by samples from the Natural Drum Kit library. you’ll find instruments like a yamaha Peter Erskine Signature snare, a Gretsch USA Maple 20” bass, and a 20” UFIP Natural Series ride. There’s even a tambourine and, of course, a cowbell (in this case, an 8” Meinl model). The responsiveness is impressive once you have the
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latency and other settings dialled in. The system responds to the strength of your strokes, and the dynamics are very accurate. There are also plenty of articulations in the variable hi-hat, while the snare rim and ride bell are set up as separate strike zones which are easily accessed.
When I first saw Aerodrums in action, my immediate question was about triggering MIDI and using the virtual kit with VSTs. I was told the guys were a few weeks away from finalising that, and, true to their word, the MIDIcompatible update reached me just before the review sample.
Using Aerodrums as a MIDI controller was easy on a Mac, with very clear and straightforward instructions on the website (I gather it’s a bit more involved under Windows).
When I tried the program with my VST collection, I got the best results from the new EZdrummer 2, which needed absolutely no MIDI tweaking. Already, the Aerodrums team have added a custom MIDI map for SSD4. Other solutions required manual MIDI mapping, but, again, that’s not rocket science. What’s not so easy, though, is playing. While anyone can wave sticks in the air, controlling them and hitting the right virtual drum is not that simple. It takes some practice and getting used to – and don’t be fooled by the Aerodrums youTube videos. Richard Lee, the developer who stars in the videos, is not only a good drummer, he’s also spent a fair amount of time behind the virtual kit and he makes it look much, much easier than it is! Try performing a buzz roll and you’ll see just how much skill is involved.
To their credit, the Aerodrums team seem dedicated to enabling users to get the most out of the instrument, and they have posted a number of informative instructional videos, explaining nuances and how to overcome challenges like the lack of rebound. In fact, following these tips will improve the technique of drummers when they’re playing real drums – electronic or acoustic.
Aerodrums is addictive because you start making a noise the second you pick up the sticks, and it makes learning fun. There are a bunch of onboard tools including a metronome, 23
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Click to see Aerodrums in action.
a song player that allows you to choose tracks from your audio collection and a recording tool that enables you to store your session and laugh at yourself later.
The product is an excellent practice tool, and one that is even quieter than an e-drum kit (except if you position yourself too close to furniture and smack a lamp while reaching for that crash cymbal!). It would be a great option for kids who are thinking of taking up drumming. They’ll be able to get the feel of the instrument and start the muscle learning essential for good technique – without the cacophony that generally goes with early learning.
Aerodrums is an effective practice tool for more experienced drummers as well, especially if you can replicate your “real” kit layout. Besides technical skills, Aerodrums would also be helpful in working out sticking and drum parts silently, which is great for difficult stuff that you need to do over and over again.
The developers tout the product’s portability as a major attraction since you can fit the entire rig in a backpack with plenty of space left over for your laptop. It’s also very affordable at around £100/€120/$160 through Amazon. But most of all, it’s enormous fun and will leave those ridiculous air-guitarists in the dust.
Are you ready to unlock your full potential on the drums?
Successful Drumming is backed by a 90-day money-back guarantee
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--Gear--
Feel the groove One thing missing from e-drums is the thump feeling when you strike the bass drum. However, as Jeremy Hoyle explains, there are some products which simulate the sensation.
WE TESTED THE Porter & Davies BC2 and the Pearl Throne Thumper by ButtKicker. We were unable to obtain a ButtKicker Concert sample.
In tactile monitoring systems, an amplifier and transducer convert an audio signal into vibration at the throne. This allows you to feel your instruments, adding a whole new dimension to the e-kit. It is far more reminiscent of the sensation of playing an acoustic kit and is instantly compelling.
The transducer (the vibration component) is mounted to the throne or incorporated internally in the throne itself. Frequency cut-off controls set the limit of the upper frequencies produced (all produce thumping low-end), so you can dial out responses in the upper range.
you may need to adjust your instrument mix, as feeling the drums can reduce the requirement for some instrument volume. In on-stage applications in conjunction with in-ear monitors (IEMs), foldback monitors can be completely discarded. More and more professional touring drummers are taking this approach for clearer monitoring, and their hearing is thanking them. On a side note, some early versions of tactile monitors were prone to overheating and shutting down. Neither of the units tested suffered overheating or shutdown issues, even in up to 30ºC ambient heat, running constantly for several hours.
How we tested
We used a Roland TD-30 module with Shure SE535 in-ear monitors and a Gibraltar 9608 Round Vinyl Throne (7⁄8” diameter shaft, heavy-duty base). Amplifiers were connected to the Left (Mono) output on the TD-30, with output restricted to kit instruments.
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Pearl Throne Thumper by ButtKicker ($299)
Built for Pearl by ButtKicker (known for gaming/home theatre and IMAX systems), the Throne Thumper (TT) is specifically marketed to complement e-kits. The transducer clamp easily attaches to at least 2” of exposed shaft. It is just as easily removed for transport. It can also be clamped onto any other seat with an attachment point, for gaming or movies, etc. The TT amp is compatible with module mounts (not included) and all included cables are easily connected. Volume and frequency cut-off dials on the amp felt solid and full frequency range was active for best response. Total set-up took about three minutes and a complete teardown took a minute.
Full-power was overwhelming, with anything over 3⁄4 distracting and uncomfortable, so there’s ample power for home/studio use and most likely for ‘weekly gigging’ requirements. The TT’s response range included some snare (about 10% response), increasing response through the rumbling toms and ending in a meaty kick thump. It’s no understatement that this sensation really helps with playing feel and time keeping, and you won’t want to play without it once you’ve given it a go! The clamp may need periodic re-tightening, as it can loosen gradually through vibration. The metallic red finish looks fantastic but is a little fragile, chipping with metal-to-metal contact (tip: nail polish touch-up!).
Untested
ButtKicker Concert ($259)
We were not able to get a review sample of this shaker and there is not much information about it on the ButtKicker website.
The product description promises “low-end response for your stage, studio or rehearsal room monitoring”.
Designed specifically for musician monitoring, stage and studio use, the ButtKicker Concert low frequency audio transducer is used by over 100 of the world’s top touring groups, according to the site.
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Porter & Davies BC2 Gigster ($950)
The steel-cased, armoured Kermitgreen Gigster amp (or ‘engine’ in P&D lingo) is impressively solid. In the box are all the road-worthy cables/connectors you’ll need, including a phantom-power XLR mic cable for miking acoustic kicks. A replaceable ‘kettle cord’ would have been a better option over the hard-wired power cord (P&D utilises these on its higher-end models, and it really should be on the Gigster, too). The engine is designed to sit on a surface and is not module-mount compatible. Total set-up took about five minutes. Complete teardown took about a minute.
The large and solid control dials reveal a more customisable response than the TT can muster, covering a greater range of response frequency and power, perhaps to be expected at more than double the TT price. The transducer is integrated into a bespoke, high-quality Roc ‘n Soc-style throne, which initially felt a little under-padded. However, in use, this was quickly forgotten. It is also quite deep to accommodate the transducer. you’ll need to supply your own 7⁄8” industry-standard throne base, and if you run your throne low, you may need to consider a ‘low base’ model.
Where the Throne Thumper was impressive, the BC2 was astonishing. A highlight was being able to dial in the powerful bass kick and thundering toms while holding a cracking snare. This is where the Gigster trumped the Throne Thumper in response. Power output was never a concern, with full power virtually kicking you off the throne with blurred vision! If you have the means, this is the best thing you can add to your e-kit, short of a superb set of IEMs. yes, it’s that good.
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Conclusion
With a tactile monitoring system, your e-kit takes on a whole new life. It’s an attentiongrabbing change that is immediately addictive. Playing becomes instantly easier when you can feel what you’re doing, rather than fiddling with volume or EQ for instrument cut-through. That’s also good for the ears, but maybe not the neighbours. If you have wooden floorboards, these units will probably vibrate through the whole house, so keep your playing environment in mind. The choice between the TT or Gigster is relatively easy: at one-third of the price of the P&D system and 80% of the performance of the Gigster, the TT is the obvious choice for home/studio use. If you’re a regular gigging drummer, the Throne Thumper may well also fit the bill, but the Gigster is certainly worth the investment, and its robust design is more likely to go the distance.
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Missed an issue?
All of our back issues are available free and just a click away. Just head to www.digitaldrummermag.com, follow the Back Issues tab and you’ll find every edition. There’s a list of contents for each one, so you can quickly find our reviews, head2head comparison, artist profiles or DIY tips. But wait, there’s more. To make it even easier to research your product options, we have compiled our most popular head2head features into stand-alone editions. Rather than hunting through all the magazines, you can quickly access all our mesh head reviews, all our trigger comparisons or our e-cymbal write-ups.
your definitive guide to e-drum gear
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PHOTO: LIAM FRENCH
--Profile--
E-XS
FARRISS’ INXS drummer Jon Farriss embraced the concept of hybrid drumming before it was even technically possible and had to make much of it up as he went along. With interest in the band revived by a TV docu-drama, Farriss shared his e-drum enthusiasm with digitalDrummer editor Allan Leibowitz.
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digitalDrummer: I was and remain a huge INXS fan and must admit that I was unaware of your e-drum adoption. yes, there were pads visible in the music videos, but if you weren’t looking for it, it kind of got lost.
Jon Farriss: In days gone by, there would have been no point in having any of those electronic devices in video clips when it did nothing to serve either the storyboard of the video content or even the “miming” of playing along to drum parts that had clearly been created using electronics because the audience were likely to not have understood it. In fact, because I was in a band recognised for being great live, I would probably have been reprimanded by a viewing audience for doing something which was not “live” in their mind. This was a deep frustration of that period because it was something that was almost swept under the rug. I recently came across a concert review from an early US tour around ‘86, where we had sold out three nights at Radio City (Music Hall in New york), we had done lots of college towns on the preliminary ‘KICK’ tour and the review talks about “the driving engine room”, “the funky this and that”, but they ended by saying it sounded like it was being driven by a drum machine. Although it was a criticism, I took that as a compliment! I look back at that and think, ‘isn’t that incredible?’. It was viewed as being some kind of breach of the public’s expectations of live music. This was at a time when you had Human League who had clearly just unboxed a Linndrum and read the manual on how to programme it. Then at the same time, you had Prince using electronic percussion, too. But it was somehow taboo to use a drum machine live and acts would always tour with a live drummer.
dD: But we’re not talking Milli Vanilli here (the R&B duo exposed for lip-syncing to someone else’s vocals). They’d love it on the recording, but couldn’t accept it when performed live …
JF: yes, there was a lot of clandestine technology in use which wasn’t brought out into the light because it was deemed ‘cheating’. In my experience of touring with INXS alongside the masters like Queen, for example, I remember gigs like Wembley Stadium and while Queen were on stage, there’d be a guy under the stage playing guitar with a pair of headphones, augmenting the onstage performance. And there’s a couple of people singing harmonies backstage, too. That is what you had to do because tape was so unreliable live and hard to sync. So what better way than to have live musicians in the wings? Of course, in those days, for some artists, there were tapes being played, and it was linear and analogue. But what was eventually to make the difference, was the advent of MIDI … dD: We’ll get into that in a bit, but let’s start by exploring your electronic journey. How did you realise this was a direction you needed to follow and how did you find out what was out there, because the technology was really thin on the ground when you set out? JF: I don’t know why, but I think I just had an innate attraction to the notion of an internal clock guiding electronic percussion. Until then, everything was running to a mechanical metronome, which clearly wasn’t loud enough for rock music. Then you started digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
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Farriss’ X tour mothership, powered by an Akai MPC60 and complete with an acoustic cowbell
hearing things like those early Korg drum machines and the later Korg rhythm machines with all the Latin rhythms creeping into stuff like Roxy Music. Amazingly, we later went on to use Chris Thomas, who was Roxy Music’s producer. It was in the studio where hybrid drumming started for me. It was those early days of hearing processing driven by a clock that struck a chord within me because I was aspiring to keeping accurate tempos. The trouble was that one drum machine unit couldn’t speak to another, and using tape was hopelessly inaccurate. There was no way of locking or interfacing electronic drums. Then the recording industry started using SMPTE time code and dedicated one channel on the 2 inch 24-track tape machine to SMPTE code, which allowed big consoles to use automation and you could also slave other reels off the master reel, etc. dD: So this was unchartered territory for a drummer?
JF: Absolutely. There was nothing out there and you just had to find it on your own. For example, if you had a drum machine, you
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would have to make that your master. So you’d run off a pattern, press play, count the song in and play along. But I didn’t use too many patterns because it was too hard to edit and it was really time-consuming. It wasn’t until about 1983, when we did ‘The Swing’ album, when Linndrums were available – and I could afford to buy one – that you were able to construct patterns in an arrangement that could become a song. So we would use time code to drive the Linndrum and then rehearse the arrangement of the song with the band and play along with the Linndrum and finally record it when you were happy with it. And, of course, I’d play drums with it. Laying my drums against a drum machine was a real passion because it was like ‘how close could I get to the beat’ and it became an art style of mine to play dead-on with them. It really helped teach me how to recognise when I’m either ahead or behind the beat and gently guide me back into the groove. It also taught me to use those pushes and pulls as you drift from the beat as an effect. Between the drum machine, the drumming and all the other accompaniments, you would gently push or pull and create tension. www.digitaldrummermag.com
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dD: So you would use the pattern as a blueprint and then build on that, adding articulations and fills…
JF: Exactly. The hardest part was getting the drum machine to sync up more than once. So if you wanted to change a hi-hat pattern and re-sync it, it would mostly drift. And it was always annoying because there were so few output channels on the drum machines. So I liked to mostly use the Linndrum for kick drum parts and then play hi-hats and snares on top of it. It created an interesting effect – something which even today you can’t replicate with pure computer-driven percussion – well, maybe you can now! A great example is in INXS’s ‘Need You Tonight’, which is a collection of recorded samples which are triggered and then I’m playing a bunch of live percussion on top, which pushes and pulls it. It’s hard to tell which is which, but if everything was electronic and everything was quantised, there’d be no groove to it. dD: So how did you move from the drum machine and patterns to sample triggering?
JF: Well, way back when we were first touring in the States, we were covering a lot of ground and meeting lots of people and after a show, a guy came up and kindly gave me a Syndrum because he thought it would fit in with what I and INXS were doing musically. And he was quite right. Even though it was a simple noise generator, I was able to find uses for that. For me, it started a new discovery for live drumming. I then found the Simmons SDS5 and to this day, I would give anything for one in good condition. They weren’t really preset digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
programmable, but they were the punchiest thing you could use. Unfortunately, they were really unreliable live – there were too many bugs in them, they didn’t travel well and it became a pain, especially for the rest of the band in sound check when Jon would always be f-ing around with the Simmons 5! It wasn’t until Akai came out with the S900, which from memory didn’t have much of a sample time – maybe a second or two – that it really picked up for me. At that stage, there were no techs in Australia who could really help me to interface Akai samplers with tape. I had to kind of unravel it all myself – by using SMPTE to sync a Linndrum to tape, and record that so we could then trigger the Akai from the Linndrum. Even before Akai samplers, the first sampler I knew of was an AMS delay unit which had a tiny sample capture time of say around 500 milliseconds. If you wanted to trigger or resample a kick or snare sound, the only way we knew how was to turn the tape upside down, patch your kick or snare through an AMS digital delay unit with like a 50 millisecond offset, record the individual delayed drum hits and then flip the tape, and, voila, you’d have a recorded pre-delay of 50 milliseconds which you would then manually nudge the sample start point using the AMS delay functions - which had the sample stored in it - and be triggered from the tape back to tape. It was like using agricultural implements to do or create something modern! It was time-consuming, but we still did it. Later, the Akai S950 came on the market, but there still was no synching interface at my disposal. In fact, when I was producing Richard Clapton’s album in 1985, I was up until 3 in the morning most nights trying to do these samples – the easiest way to do it was just using a keyboard connected by MIDI to the Akai and simply play the part with your fingers. This, of course, wasn’t very accurate – 3
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PHOTO: PHOTOX
Today, Jon tends to use a pure acoustic set-up
therefore, you have the Linndrum, or drum machine sync to tape and trigger the Akai from the drum machine. dD: But it did get easier over time …
JF: Sure. Emulator brought out the EMU II, then there was exponential growth in what was available sampler-wise. Around ’87, along came Macintosh Plus and I was the first in the band to buy one. I taught myself MOU’s Performer, which was just sequencing at that stage – and that was all I really wanted. I was then able to drive the songs through MIDI, which was a big breakthrough because I could then get my Akai samplers lined up and chain them together. I was then able to write and construct songs and have the drum sounds already in there. So when I got to the studio, Chris Thomas was able to bounce them to multi-track from the computer - the band could play along and I could drum to them. This led to me being able to sample my drum sounds in studios with great acoustics and great mics. I was now able to trigger those studio samples live on stage via MIDI. The only challenge, of course, was latency – but that really didn’t matter so much when I was using the samples to augment the live kit. I was also using a kick sample on stage using a device called a Wendel, blending my live kick with the Wendel sample without latency. you had to burn a chip 34
with the sound you wanted and install it into the Wendel!
dD: It sounds like MIDI was another milestone for you.
JF: It was, but even that took some effort. I had things like a yamaha RX5 drum machine, and I had to re-programme all the MIDI note numbers, because at that stage there was no standard MIDI palette. Each drum machine had its own map and it was a bloody nightmare. That changed with Akai MPC60, which became my main weapon, as I was able to sequence some of the drum machine sounds, but I could also trigger other musical sounds, like a vocal stab or a horn stab. I should also point out that when we did the X tour in ’90, I believe we were the first musical act to integrate fibre-optics on stage and this technology was all wired to my MPC60. Every song had its own MIDI information using SySEX and patch changes. This I had to dial in manually before each song started. All the fibre-optics were attached to everyone’s guitar, sax and keyboard rigs and would change their effects patches as the song went on. It meant they didn’t have to run back to their pedal board every 20 seconds to change a foot effect - there was suddenly automation on stage which allowed the guys to roam and perform without being chained to their foot effects.
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: PEAR
O PHOT
dD: This takes us back to your initial observations about sample triggering and audience perception.
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JF: you recently had a one-man band on your website where the dude was playing a whole song from samples on his drum pads and I was thinking “hey, that’s what I was doing back then”, but you didn’t let on to the audience because no-one would appreciate that and you’d risk being booed off because they wanted to see ‘the real thing’. There were issues around not wanting audiences to think they were hoodwinked or ripped off or misled. But it was still live. If I hit those pads accidentally, there would be an awful mess and there were some scary moments when I did fluff. But I was already out on a limb and I had to make sure that I didn’t embarrass anyone. dD: So if it was risky and potentially unpopular, why did you use electronic augmentation as opposed to backing musicians – either on stage or in the wings?
JF: It was just logistically and financially convenient. One song might need a brass stab, which doesn’t justify bringing a horn section on tour with you. We didn’t want 13 people on stage. But more than that, many of those sounds were now being accepted as key production elements of our songs – those were the sounds you recognise and what makes the song sound like it does. That’s the cutting-edge INXS sound. But it was always dangerous and there were always issues with it. We practised like hell and simulated failures so we all knew what to do if and when it went wrong.
dD: What’s happening in the mainstream today is a real vindication of what you were doing back then. If we look at Roland’s recent launch of the TM-2 hybrid module or Aquarian’s inHead trigger heads, they all point towards augmenting acoustic sounds with the power of electronics.
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JF: I’m really surprised that it’s only happening now. Look, I feel like I’ve really pioneered a lot of that – and done so alone, with no support out there. The Simmons stuff would get superseded and if it broke, you’d just throw it away because they went out of business. And even Pearl made a prototype electronic kit for me and by the time that R&D stopped, the pads were literally being held together with gaff tape. Finally, I ended up with some ddrum pads (and) they were pretty robust. years later, around 2001, I was getting flak from the band saying, ‘why can’t you strip your kit down, why do you have to look like you’re sitting behind a spaceship console?’. It still pains me to this day that I was so ahead of my time and the gear was so unreliable. Now, a three-year-old with an iPad can do almost anything! 3
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How I use e-drums --Performance--
Former Apollo 440 drummer Cliff Hewett has been described as “a ground-breaking musician in the electronic drum world”. And it’s not hard to see why.
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I’VE ALWAyS BEEN fascinated by electronic drum sounds as far back as I can remember. Back in the ‘70s, I was listening to acts like Kraftwerk, Fad Gadget, The Normal (anything that came out on Mute Records) and drawn toward any song that had an electro beat as the mainstay of the groove.
It was in 1980 that I got my first drum machine - the legendary Roland TR-808 - and I soon adapted it into my acoustic set up. I would program grooves that would allow me to be a bit more creative with my acoustic style of playing. And then I got another module, a Linn 1, then an Oberheim, then a 909 and finally I had to get a Roland SBX-80 to sync these together so I could have them all contributing some fantastic sounds and grooves that I could play along to. Over the following years, I started collecting as many drum modules as there were on the market and spent more and more time working in so many recording studios, happily programing away. I still didn’t have a pad system at the time. Although I had a couple of Simmons brains, I didn’t like hitting those pads because I was such a heavy-handed player that they would hurt my wrists after a while.
Skipping through the ‘80s, I was privileged to work with some of the ground-breaking artists of that time like Tackhead, A Guy Called Gerald and the legendary producer Adrian Sherwood. My journey took me to the doors of the band Apollo 440 in 1992. We did one small UK tour and a few festivals, with me playing on my acoustic kit to programmed e-grooves on a playback hard drive, but then I got curious about taking their live show to another level and having two drummers: one acoustic and me playing the e-grooves live. The ddrum system had been catching my eye for some time and we invested in a DD3 system and some really cool looking Visulite cymbal triggers. With this set-up, not only could I trigger drum sounds, but anything else I wanted while also playing the whole backing track of synth loops, bass grooves, guitar riffs, vocal lines, etc. This area of playing became my domain. I was the live backing track! I added two DD4 modules and would trigger all three modules linked via MIDI, with the outputs going to a yamaha O3D mixer so I could mix internally. Having a digital mixer gave me more creative control when using the internal fx processers, which I used a lot.
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It’s important to remember that not all venues had the same acoustics. Some sounds needed a bit of work, especially sounds with lots of sub frequencies and it was easier all round if I made the adjustments before sending them to FOH. The other great thing about the digital mixer is that it stores all your settings to be recalled from track to track. The mixer was also linked to the modules via MIDI so I could switch from patch to patch instantly. My style of playing has led me to work with such acts as Jean Michel-Jarre, Pet Shop Boys and Schiller and my e-drum systems have evolved over the years as new generations of electronic systems emerged onto the market.
For some time, I used the Roland TD-20 system linked to my ddrum modules and this time my mixer of choice became the yamaha DM1000. A very solid set-up.
I have the philosophy that I need to have systems that will not break down when playing live and to this day, none of them has. It’s really important that you take this factor into account when you play a lot of live shows. I also have a back-up system running in parallel - just in case one day I’m wrong.
I got together with the German company DrumTec a few years ago and have been rocking with these guys on the journeys ever since. My early set-up consisted of a black Diabolo pad system, Roland cymbals, two TD-20 modules, two DD3 modules and two yamaha DTX 900 modules – through a yamaha DM1000 mixer. Lately, I have switched to Drum-Tec’s new Diabolo pad system with carbon trigger sensors.
Because of the demand for me to increase my outputs to FOH and to slim down my touring set-up (but to include surround fx processing), I now have a Muse Receptor Quattro with the PreSonus bundle. I’ve become an instant fan of Muse as I now have an almost infinite amount of creative control with this machine. The plug-in of choice for me is Battery4. It just does what I ask of a trigger source.
My pads trigger my TD module which is linked via MIDI to the Receptor. The outputs of the TD module go into the inputs of the PreSonus and this is then mixed with my Battery4 sounds via the Receptor’s internal mixer. I love working with delays and weird effects. I’m using about 14 outs altogether for FOH and will probably increase that if I get my way. 37
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--VST--
Even more Addictive As the current crop of VSTs reaches maturity, the next generation of products is emerging. Allan Leibowitz tries one of the recent arrivals, Addictive Drums 2. I’VE MADE NO secret of my soft spot for
Addictive Drums, especially as a toe in the water for first-time VST experiences. It has a small footprint, loads lightening fast, has terrific cymbal chokes and offers a very broad sound palette (if you buy the ADpaks) – all for a low price. So, the challenge for XLN Audio in developing Addictive Drums 2 was retaining that ease of use, agility and low resource usage but, at the same time, competing with some of its new rivals and their high-quality, rich and expressive samples.
What’s in the box
For a start, there was no box. AD2 was a download. And, what’s more, there are various 38
ways you can buy AD2. If you’ve never owned it before, you can get it by buying one of the ADpaks or bundles and you’ll get the updated core engine for free.
If you’re an AD1 owner and have a bunch of ADpaks, your best option is to buy the $99 upgrade which includes the new engine, one new ADpak (make sure it’s Fairfax Vol. 1!) and upgrades of all your AD1 content to its AD2 equivalent.
The download is done via XLN’s proprietary Online Installer, and is easily – although not quickly – completed. AD2 is significantly bigger than its predecessor. It weighs in at around 6 Gb – more than five times larger than AD1. In my case, with a poor broadband service, the download took more than 24 hours – for the
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engine plus almost the full range of ADpaks. However, I was able to play the new kits while I waited - as they downloaded sequentially.
Look and feel
The differences between the new engine and the original are obvious from the start. Part of the charm of the original was the simple, uncluttered interface. The old screen, with a kit drop-down menu, play button and four tabs in the top navigation bar, has been replaced by three preset tabs on the left and two additional tabs on the right. Previously, one didn’t really need to leave the home screen: you could audition and change kit pieces and adjust the volume levels without having to move to another screen.
Now, you enter a Gallery screen, select an ADpak and choose presets in different screens. I did like the new Explore screen, which has a photo of the kit and a list of presets which you can audition by clicking the appropriate kit piece in the image. One strange decision is to show an audience view of the kit, which means most of the snare is hidden behind the bass and hanging tom, making it hard to audition. It is also not possible to audition any articulations – such as rim clicks, cymbal edges or open/closed hats.
The Kit screen is almost identical to the version it replaces, although the old kit image has been sacrificed to accommodate the additional pieces available in AD2 (18 instead of the original 12). The Edit and FX screens, where you choose and edit kit pieces and adjust the FX, are almost identical, although the AD2 versions
digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
look like they’re on steroids. The Beats tab also shows the increased power of AD2, with the addition of recording and playback functionality.
Overall, AD2 retains the look and feel of its predecessor, but takes it up a notch, like a sixspeed turbo-charged manual V8 cruiser when you’re used to the 1.2 l four-speed auto sedan.
The sounds
There’s been plenty of talk about the Addictive Drums sounds since its launch in 2006. The product has always been a compromise between sample quality, hard drive footprint and processor efficiency, and many would say AD found the sweet spot: quick, efficient and sufficiently detailed to make modules sound like AM radio in comparison. But, nonetheless, there was an expectation that the sounds would take a giant leap in the 2014 incarnation.
The bad news for anyone expecting 64-bit, extravagantly layered hyper-quality is that the basic samples are unchanged from the original ADpaks to their new AD2 variants. I tried many kits and presets from AD1 and 2 side by side, and couldn’t tell them apart – even with $1,400 in-ear monitors. Where you can tell the difference, however, is with some of the new presets which breathe new life into the AD1 sounds. So, is it worth updating to the AD2 version of your existing ADpaks even though you can continue to run AD1 alongside AD2? Absolutely. The new presets not only deliver the sounds you previously used and loved, but add to them with some you’re sure to like even more.
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But this is only part of the story. AD2 has provided the platform for a new generation of richer, more detailed samples, a hint of which is evident in the new Fairfax Vol. 1 ADpak which was unveiled with the new engine.
Fairfax Vol. 1 has samples of a vintage Gretsch Stop Sign kit with a Craviotto Custom Shop and a Tama Bell Brass snare recorded at Sound City (formerly Fairfax Recordings) in Los Angeles.
There’s a thumping 24”x16” Gretsch kick drum, four toms and a cymbal selection that includes 16” Iveson’s Custom hats, a 24” Iveson ride and Zildjian K crashes. The kit is supplied with 31 presets that offer a variety of moods and feels – all full of energy and punch. If this is a sign of ADpaks to come, then Addictive has certainly stepped it up.
In action
There’s no doubt that drum VST packs these days are designed for producers rather than edrummers, and many of AD2’s bells and whistles are clearly intended as drummer replacements rather than e-drum tools. Take, for example, the improved Beat Browser and the new Beat Transformer that tweak an existing rhythm to make it fit into a track, a bit like Logic Pro X’s Drummer function. These are not much use to those of us capable of doing that with our hands and feet. But there are a number of enhancements that do make things easier for stick-wielders.
For a start, it’s easier to plug and play, with an extensive range of MIDI maps now included – from 2box to MegaDrum (although the DTX700 is mysteriously absent from the yamaha array). Also missing are the Alternate Mode instruments (drumKAT, trapKAT, etc), Simmons and KAT settings. I tested the VST with a couple of modules and a Zendrum, and found the mapping spot-on, down to hi-hat variation and cymbal chokes. The maps are also easily edited (something, you can’t do on the recently launched EZdrummer 2, for example).
Besides six additional kit piece slots, AD2 also includes the ability to mix and match between ADpaks. So, if you want a couple of percussion pieces from the Session Percussion in your Indie kit, just load ‘em and play. While the presets deliver a range of sonic options for the stock kits, AD2 also offers some
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new advanced editing options. There’s a new Transient Shaper which allows you to dial up more or less ‘snap’ to individual kit pieces or the overall drum mix, while a new Tone Designer shapes the amount of dampening.
There are also new FX options and an enhanced four-band EQ, offering even more customisation options. And to make it easier to tweak, you can save snapshots of all your settings and instantly recall any four snapshots instantly to help you choose which works best.
Overall
While I was initially disappointed that much of the simple boot-and-play-from-one-screen charm of AD1 is gone, it was a small price to pay for the enhancements in the newgeneration offering.
AD’s developers have taken a solid, workhorse VST into the 21st century with improved presets, enhanced editing functionality and the promise of richer, more detailed samples.
Addictive Drums 2 is a no-brainer upgrade for existing AD owners; if nothing else, then at least for the slots for more kit pieces and ability to mix and match sounds to make the most of their ADpaks. While many of the new enhancements are not aimed at e-drummers, those that are make the offering sound better and play better, while affording drummers the chance to personalise their sound more.
For those starting out in the VST world, AD2 still offers an affordable, powerful and easy-touse entry point – even if it is not quite as dumbed down as its predecessor. And, in reality, most users will probably be more savvy today than they were eight years ago, when the first incarnation hit the market. There’s no doubt the new Fairfax ADpak ups the ante in terms of sound quality. It may not be enough to compete at the really high end where we are seeing some niche offerings based around thousands of samples of a handful of kit pieces. But for your average gigging and recording drummer, AD2 is no slouch in the sonic stakes.
In short, XLN Audio is onto a winner here with an offering that builds on a solid base, retains much of the ease of use of its predecessor but adds plenty of grunt and shine. And when Fairfax Vol 2 is offered, users will no doubt understand why XLN chose the name “Addictive”. www.digitaldrummermag.com
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--DIY--
Time to mesh about Brian Wilburn shares an easy, inexpensive method for creating drum heads.
IN THIS EXAMPLE, I will be creating a singleply head, for a 12” diameter drum, using fibreglass screen mesh material. This method will work with any material of your choosing and can be adapted to make heads with multiple plies. The following tools and supplies will be necessary to complete this project:
A marker to mark the material (I use a silver Sharpie for contrast with the dark screen material) A tool to scribe large diameter circles (I use a cheap metal ruler with 1⁄8” holes drilled in it) A pair of scissors A razor knife (please use caution) Straight pins Superglue (I use Loctite gel for control and slightly longer open time) A sewing machine with strong thread (I use 8 lb. test monofilament fishing line) ¼” O.D. tubing (I use polyethylene tubing commonly used as supply line in refrigerators) Head material of choice (I use Sun Guard 90 fibreglass screen mesh by New york Wire) 42
Before I get into the steps, I’d like to explain the basics of construction. First, I will create a head ply, a disc of material which will become the playing surface. Then, I will create a ring of material that, when sewed to the head ply, creates a pocket for polyethylene tubing to slide into. I will then glue both ends of the tubing together, using a plug to create a strong joint. While the glue is still wet, I will test fit the head and install the hoop with the tension rods finger-tight. After the glue is fully cured, I will reseat the head and fully tension the hoop. Here are the steps in the process: (Measurements are for the 12” diameter example only)
1. Scribe guide lines to aid with cutting and sewing. For the head ply:
a) Mark the centre point and scribe a circle with radius of 6” on the side intended to be the playing surface. b) Turn the material over, mark the centre point, and scribe a circle with a 6” radius.
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c) Make one disc for each head ply. For the ring:
Mark the centre point and scribe four circles with radii of 5.75”, 6.00”, 6.50”, and 6.75” on both sides of the material.
lock the stitch, by reversing the machine at the end of the last pass. Going around the head once is good, twice is better, so I go around three times. Use your own discretion. 5. Turn the head inside out. 2. Cut out the components.
Using the largest diameter circle as a guide, cut out the disc for the head ply.
Using both the largest and smallest diameter circles as a guide, cut out the ring. After cutting out the ring, there will be two lines showing on the piece. The area between these two lines defines the pocket for the plastic tubing. I call this the “No Sew Zone” since no stitches should be placed in this area.
Work around the seam, turning it inside out, and pressing it flat. Line up the inside line of the ring with the inside line on the head ply.
Insert pins to hold the work. Place the pins in a manner that will avoid interference with the presser foot of the sewing machine.
6. Stitch around the inside.
3. Assemble the components.
Place the head ply disc(s) face up on a table. Place the ring on top of the head ply disc(s) and align the outside diameters.
Use pins to hold the pieces together. Place the pins as close to the inner edge as possible to avoid interference with the presser foot of the sewing machine. 4. Stitch around the outside.
Mind the “No Sew Zone”. Stitch all the way around the head, between the outermost line and the outside edge of the part. Be sure to
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Do not sew all the way around. Place the stitch between the inner edge and the innermost line of the ring. Leave a gap about 1” wide, which will be used to insert the tubing in a later step. Be sure to lock the stitch, by reversing the machine, after starting the stitch as well as at the end of the stitch.
If one stitch is enough, two is better, so I place two stitches. Use your own discretion. 7.Measure and cut the plastic tubing.
Wrap the tubing around the shell of the drum you’re creating it for. Make sure it is as level as possible and nothing is between the tubing and the shell. Overlap the tubing about 1⁄8”, mark it and cut it with a razor knife. 43
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Insert the plug halfway into the tube.
Put a liberal amount of superglue into the other end of the tube.
Insert the end of the tube onto the remainder of the plug and press the joint together. 10. Test fit the head. Cut a 2.00” length of tubing to be used as a plug in a later step. 8. Insert the tubing into the pocket and create the plug.
Place the head onto the drum while the glue is still wet. While the joint is green, some small adjustment can be made if necessary.
Put the hoop on the drum and tension the rods finger tight.
Insert one end of the tubing into the pocket using the gap left in Step 6.
It can become difficult as the tubing reaches the halfway point. Concentrate on pushing the material onto the leading edge of the tube, allowing it to gather up, and then push from the back end of the tube. Repeat the process until the tubing is fully inserted and both ends are visible in the gap.
11. The Finish Line
Allow the glue to fully cure, which can take an hour or more. It will be cloudy white when cured.
Cut the 2” section of tubing from Step 7 in half along the length. Trim the sharp corners on each end to make inserting it into the tube easier. 9. Glue in the plug, completing the hoop.
Put a liberal amount of superglue into one end of the tube. Reseat the head on the drum, replace the hoop and fully tension the rods.
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✪Brian wins a prize from Stealth Acoustics for this contribution. If you have a DIY question or suggestion, email us and you’ll not only get an answer, you’ll also go into the running for a great prize.
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--The-Last-Word--
Making them better
Current e-drum technology is good - but not perfect. On our Facebook group, we recently asked members to nominate one thing they would like to see improved:
Stuart Milton: E-cymbals by a mile. Fifteen-plus years on and Roland or yamaha have shown no real interest in making cymbals look like 'real' cymbals. Sounds have come on a mile, looks haven't. Ian Power: Roland needs to make a sample-based module that provides the same functionality in there now... Mike Eisenburger: I'm mostly talking about Roland Vdrums. Ability to change the shell type on all drums and have more choices: titanium, fiber, and selected wood (cherry, birch, beech, oak, etc.). All cymbals should have ability to play the bell. Core sound samples should come from Abbey Road Studios and other high end sources. Ability to add sample sounds as userinstruments. Rob Duggan: I'm cool with everything except Hi Hats, there is so much going on with them it would almost take a dedicated module to get them remotely close to what acoustic hats can do. Sören Köstel: A good Trigger to Midi/USB Box! Michael Arata: Better ability to translate a hard hit...seems like they top out on medium hard hits so you lose a lot of dynamics...of course you could set the sensitivity lower but then it won't trigger as reliably. Daniel Reid: Better FX...compressors/reverb..etc....touch screen interface...anything really....as long as they keep improving rather than rallying around old tech like it’s new. As far as pads and such go, I'm pretty satisfied with "reinventing the wheel", in my shop. It gives me something to do. Sebastiaan Barel: Cymbal sensitivity so it sounds more natural Steve Monti: Personally i would like apps built in like Superior Drummer or BFD or similar and the ability to put our own sounds in the brains of the edrums instead of the daft 909/808 etc that most people have many times over. Anders Grönlund: A proper and fast Trigger 2 Midi box with 32 channels to be used with any VST...Roland needs to realize that a computer is doing this better nowadays and gives the user more freedom. Todd Shurilla: All cymbals chokeable, would make things more realistic. Also how about lower prices? You can join the discussion here.
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MONSTER My
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kit
This month’s monster is an all-Roland set up belonging to Peter Forte from Hamden, CT.
Peter’s story:
I've been growingly obsessed with electronic drums since I had to buy a set in college because I couldn't stand not being able to play my real drums. I've made all sorts of upgrades in the past eight years and I'm close to finishing what would be, and already pretty much is, a monster set. It's not finished: in the next few months, I'm going to be adding an SPD-SX or an SPD30, eventually both, and when I move out 46
of my condo and have the drums in their own music room, instead of my bedroom, the number of toms and cymbals will increase. I also have an extensive computer and recording set-up with high-end guitars and basses as well as MIDI keyboards, Logic Pro, VSTs (including BFDeco, Addictive Drums, and various VST expansion libraries), mixer, rack mount, etc. www.digitaldrummermag.com
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Peter’s TD-30 set-up with seven toms, five crashes, snare, kick, hats and ride.
Share
your kit
digitalDRUMMER, AUGUST 2014
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gear Guide
KIT SUBSTITUTES
CONVERSION KITS
CONVERSION KITS
AUXILIARY TRIGGERS
e-Conversion made easy
Stealth Drums turns acoustic cymbals and drums into responsive triggers which bring out the best of most modules. Carefully built components shipped with easy-to-follow instructions for the perfect e-cymbal or drum that looks and plays like the real thing. Now, also offering custom readyto-use 2BOX hi-hat kits. And Stealth Drums’ new memory expansion kits boost the 2BOX module to 32 Gb - enough to accommodate a range of hi-definition VST kits. Visit us online today
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www.stealthdrums.com
Introducing t-Rigg $59 ONLY
The t-Rigg is a perfect solution for adding an additional trigger option to your electronic or acoustic drum kit. Can be used for sound effects, percussion sounds or any other sound you want to produce! Also great for percussionists! Only needs a single, mono connection. Works with all sound modules and multi-pads like the Roland SPD-SX, Alesis soundpads, etc. Fits all 11⁄2” / 38mm clamps.
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gear Guide
E-DRUM RETAILERS
DRUM TRAINING
&7&3:5)* /( &-&$530/* $ %36..* /(
1IPOF
XXX &M FD U S POJ D %S VN$FOU FS D PN
CUSTOM KITS
TRIGGER KITS
Perfect match THE DYNAMICS YOU NEEDED!
Diamond now offers a 2BOX-optimised side-mounted internal trigger in each drum. This custom option ensures you get the very best performance from a winning combination for perfect triggering.
www.diamondelectronicdrums.com
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DEALER
our unique sensor system gives great response and dynamics side-mounted • no hot spots easy to install easy to remove (no damage to the shell) dual zone (head and rim) works with all modules works with all kinds of mesh heads perfect for A2E conversions 49
www.digitaldrummermag.com
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Your definitive guide to e-drum gear