Frost* Forum Collab Song v.2

[Mikey]

This will sort the men from the boys  
Pedders as usual comes up trumps

[El_Mayonnaise]

Cor blimey what a load to get my head around this early in the morning
Thanks so much for your help though. So far:

I have made sure all drum pads are channel 10.
Changed the drum kit settings to produce note off signals
Made sure all the voices are assigned to the correct midi notes.

The result so far:

It is a lot more reliable, I can now record single midi notes with ease.

However, there are occasional notes that are still getting "stuck" as if they are being held down and only really simple things can be recorded, double strokes for example just will not trigger or will only trigger the sample once....

[Pedro]

It is a lot more reliable, I can now record single midi notes with ease.
However, there are occasional notes that are still getting "stuck" as if they are being held down and only really simple things can be recorded, double strokes for example just will not trigger or will only trigger the sample once....

Interested to see the midi file after your changes.
It's also worth playing that midi file in Windows Media Player (assuming you are a windows user). This gives a hint as to where the problem is (in the drumkit or in the gear that is interpreting the file). If double strokes sound right in WMP then it might be time to look at the settings for the soft instrument?

[El_Mayonnaise]

Thanks Pedders, playing the midi file in WMP shows that the proper strokes aren't coming through at all. A snare roll of about 5 seconds will just get 2 snare hits at 2 seconds in and then at 4 (for example) but at least there's no piano noises now  :roll:

EDIT

Forgot the midi file, its in my file called "roll". It is *supposed* to be 2 bars of quarter notes on snare, htom, mtom, ltom and then a 3rd bar of 16ths on the same. As you will see the simple notes come out fine but the 16ths just get that first snare hit and then nothing...

[Pedro]

Ok, the roll.mid file looks like this when I load it in Sonar...



When I hit "Play" I hear; "Snare, T1, T2, T3, Snare, T1, T2, T3, Snare".
I hear the same in MediaPlayer.

I was going to suggest that the doubles might be being stopped by the kit being set to have an insanely high protection against double triggering, but if that were the case, you would expect to at least hear the first hit of each of the doubles...but we only hear the snare.

The appearance of the piano roll is troubling since the first T2 hit is "never ending".
One would expect the duration of the note to be the same as all the other short notes.

If you haven't already (and you don't mind losing any custom settings), I would strongly suggest giving this beast a factory reset...

Factory Reset
This operation returns all of the DTXPRESS IV's internal settings back to their original factory defaults.
Operation
1. First, press the [SHIFT] + [SAVE/ENTER] buttons to call up the Utility pages.
2. Press the [>] button several times to call up the UTIL8 page.
3. From the
"UTIL 8
< FACTORY RESET"
page, press the [SAVE/ENTER] button to call up the prompt asking for con?rmation of the Factory Set operation.
To cancel the Factory Set operation, press any button except for the [SAVE/ENTER] and [SHIFT] buttons (the
jog dial can also be used to cancel the operation).
4. Once again, press the [SAVE/ENTER] button to proceed with the operation.
Please proceed with caution, since executing this operation will also rewrite the entire memory contents of the DTXPRESS IV (all Click Sets, User Trigger Setups 8–11, User Drum Kits 51–70, User Songs 64–83, Utility data) with the data that was set in the unit's memory when it was shipped from the factory.

If it is still doing such odd things, it might be knackered or in need of an update (are there such things?) or in need of some *very* careful/detailed setting up.

[El_Mayonnaise]

I can confirm a factory reset has done nothing for the issue. Thanks for all the help but I feel my personal issue is derailing the thread a little (and potentially some of the creative processes) so I think I will the resign the midi approach.

However, I'd still love to create some "real" electric drum recordings which maybe you guys could get midified on the more realistic sounding vst's?

Onwards and progwards!  


EDIT

Just a quick afterthought, how much affect would a faulty midi cable have? I can't say I invested all that much in it  

[E.S.]

I wish I had some advice to offer, but I have never used anything but a single keyboard hooked up to the computer. The only bad thing I've had is double trigging, but that's because dual MIDI signals have come in, via the MIDI interface and the Fantom USB. Doesn't sound like that's happening here.
In my experience a broken cable means no signal at all. Again, I've never really had a lot of trouble, so I don't know. I missed the glorious 80's and the age of MIDI trial and error.

It would be great if you would contribute. I have a pretty extensive drum library, so sound is no problem. Superior 1 and 2, plus the Metal Foundry library. Thought about getting some of the Custom & Vintage, but.. I have too many drums already. It's mainly for demo purposes and songwriting anyway. :lol:

Or we could just use an 808 and call it a day. Or I could just get my coat. :oops:

[El_Mayonnaise]

I think we'll probably only need the Metal Foundry one. Does it have "Oil can snare drum" on it? Let's use that and just pitch shift it for all the drums a la Metallica

[Pedro]

Fair play sir. If you would like to continue the process we can open a thread in gear corner. If you've had though that's cool.
Last volley from me then...

Broken cable? Midi cable, probably not. Kit wiring, PCB connections in the brain, possibly.
Next things to try; on single drum, see if you can get a reliable chain of beats by going slow. If you can, see how fast you can get it before it fails.
Try swapping pads and cables around? See if some combinations work?

Anyway, onwards!

[Fogeyspasm]

We are having pretty much the same problem with Cams Roland Kit. The midi recording misses some of the stuff he plays. Mainly snare and hi hat strokes. We are going to have a look at drum maps to see if this will help.

[Fishy]

I suppose I should mention I'm an audio engineering student of the some repute. Also a bit of a shredder. For more details see the attached video pamphlets:

Geetar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feWYUqUkots
Sequencing/arranging stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UJaLp-50rc

I can contribute mixing/mastering/arranging/sequencing/guitar, whatever you need really.

[Purple Tentacle]

Does anybody know where I can find the original bits from 1976 that we heard on the EIMA DVD? I'd like to try stuff for this project as well.

[Drarok]

Pop the DVD in your computer, the MP3 is actually right on the disc for you to grab.

[Purple Tentacle]

Pop the DVD in your computer, the MP3 is actually right on the disc for you to grab.

I can't find it anywhere on the internet and it sucks because all my CDs are at my parent's place. I don't know when I'll go there again.

[E.S.]

Sorry for not taking care of the project, I'm in the middle of an album and some other time consuming musical adventures. There will be one tune released online soon, for anyone into some seriously strange and heavy music.

I promise I'll try to work on it later. In the meantime, anyone can add parts, edit, do whatever you want with what's there. Remix, then remix the remix, add bagpipes etc...

I do have one vision, however... this tune needs some da da da da da da da da.  8-)