is anyone programming drums with this

[DanLights]

I'm pretty sure in Reaper it's super easy to quantize automatically as long as you're decently within the grid, I'm super used to programming all with a mouse in Piano roll and Guitar pro, but a pad or keyboard for laying down kick+snare patterns seems like a much quicker way to go about it when songwriting

 

[AD Chaos]

To all the dudes using keyboards I would like to ask- Do you have properly weighed keys on your kbs?

I have a Triton and the keys in it feel like toys (almost no weight whatsoever) and for some reason I also get some latency when using SD2. It's not that huge, but enough for it to be a buzz kill, especially when trying to lay down some drum part


*edit_I'm guessing a fully weighed controller keyboard may also be a problem (at least for fast stuff)? In my case it is the latency that fucks with me, although I'd also like at least a bit more weight on the keys.

 

[colonel kurtz]

I'm pretty sure in Reaper it's super easy to quantize automatically as long as you're decently within the grid, I'm super used to programming all with a mouse in Piano roll and Guitar pro, but a pad or keyboard for laying down kick+snare patterns seems like a much quicker way to go about it when songwriting

i don't use reaper, but cubase has auto-quantize as well. i don't ever use it for some stupid reason, but it is there...

i've also kicked around the idea of using keys to program drums, but i ended up getting the korg unit because it has a USB interface and i didn't want to have to buy both a keyboard and midi interface. now i can add whatever type of keyboard later on and run it into the korg's midi input, and have the luxury of using whichever i prefer

 

[JeffTD]

I find it really easy/quick to program kick/snare/hat patterns via a MIDI keyboard and use strength-based quantization to get them into place (85-90%, keeps some of the natural "feel" of my dumb ass banging on a keyboard) and then fill in the rest with a mouse.

 

[buzzgate]

I've got the MPK Mini which is that thing and the LPK25 (keyboard) together in one unit. The response of the pads is pretty spotty and you gotta hit it hard sometimes or on the edge. If you want to go this route, you should look at something in a little higher price range.

 

[aviel]

So you suggest bot to get this akai unit? how about korg nano stuff. like this http://www.sweetwater.com/mobile/detail.php?itemid=nanoPAD2bk ?

 

[colonel kurtz]

i can't speak to the nano line, but i can tell you that contrary to what buzzgate just said about his akai unit, the pads on my padkontrol are sometimes TOO responsive, and occasionally one pad will trigger a soft hit if i hit the one next to it too hard. one of the pads is also fucked up a little bit...for whatever reason, if you're tapping it pretty quickly, it will only pick up every other hit. don't know if it got bashed too hard at some point or what, but other than that the thing works pretty damn flawlessly.

 

[aviel]

i can't speak to the nano line, but i can tell you that contrary to what buzzgate just said about his akai unit, the pads on my padkontrol are sometimes TOO responsive, and occasionally one pad will trigger a soft hit if i hit the one next to it too hard. one of the pads is also fucked up a little bit...for whatever reason, if you're tapping it pretty quickly, it will only pick up every other hit. don't know if it got bashed too hard at some point or what, but other than that the thing works pretty damn flawlessly.

actually i just tried the lpd8 and its quite not ressponsive enought, as buzzgate said. but from reading reviews i understood that it does gets better after a while when the pads break in.
i've also read some bad reviews on the mpd18 saying its not responsive wnough and it has to be some kind of modded with electrical ducktape... dunno.

 

[lordofthestring]

I'd stay far away from the nanoPAD...everyone I know that has used one had glitching and pad failure. It's a cheap solution for standard sample triggering but not actually intensive finger drumming. I actually really liked everything else other than the pads, so not a HORRIBLE piece of gear...just not a solution. My keys aren't weighted but really don't have a preference. I'm far from a drummer but figured it'd be nice to jam to riffs that I've recorded to a click. I've been programming drums for 10+ years now, so I somehow conditioned myself to have percussive awareness which has enabled me to create a nice drum map that let's me play without hassle or a huge learning curve. Thanks for all the feedback, guys.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

JC you guys are fucking madness!! You don't use mouse to program drums??? Holy shit, that's bananas!!