Just bought a DM5!

[-Gavin-]

I was in a bit of a bind cause i'm tracking a punk band on saturday and the v-drum kit i was borrowing, the guy couldn't hook me up due to gigging on the other side of scotland...


As a result, i bought the DM5 kit with an extra tom pad and will be using it with DKFH superior and also using the module when my own bands gig in the crappier of pubs with my drummer's acoustic kit!


Anyhoo i gather that the dm5 is quite popular round here for triggering purposes so any opinions?

 

[nwright]

Our drummer uses one and our EP was recorded using the Thrash metal kick setting and a trigger, as I didn't have a bass drum mic at the time. He also uses it live to blend with the miked signal for extra definition. Sounds good enough for that.

 

[Unavailable]

Yeah nwright made an interesting point. It's 'good enough'. Nothing spectacular, nothing too shabby. It'll make a solid electric kit. I use it to trigger apTrigga.

 

[-Gavin-]

Awesome, just bought a cheap double pedal too...


It'll be pish but i'm not a drummer so it'll do for fannying about and when i do record, my real drummer has a nice proper pedal.

 

[nwright]

I think some of the kick samples sound good. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't have gone with the thrash metal kick sample, as it's a little too clicky for my taste. But, there are some good samples in the unit just waiting to be set up for metal, IMO. A great deal at their price point.

 

[2012]

That's a pretty good unit. I've had one for about a year. The samples are outdated to some extent, but they're not unusable by any means, so I use it for monitoring while tracking MIDI with the kit.

90% of the time I use a real kit, but for some things I need to use MIDI. I don't know how people can draw MIDI and feel inspired, because I certainly can't. I use the DM5kit to program MIDI for drum modules while composing and arranging.

The 1st suggestion I have is to either buy a real set of hats or get a Roland V-Drum hi-hat setup. You will want something better, and I broke the DM5kit's hi-hat pedal on the 1st day. Granted, I play pretty hard, but it's still a cheap plastic pedal that I imagine will break for anyone playing rock. I'm sure you'll want a better kick pedal, too. The DM5kit's frame is also not as sturdy as it could be, but again, I play pretty hard. I only use it in the studio and just for tracking the MIDI from the DM5, so YMMV. I don't know how well it would hold up in a live setting, though. I may fill part of the frame with cement to see if I can increase the kit's threshold of pain.

Good luck!

 

[nwright]

I guess I didn't pay attention and see that it was a DM5kit. Our drummer just has a DM5 (or DMPro?) and uses Ddrum triggers. I have no experience with the kit, so YMMV.

 

[-Gavin-]

Well i'll hook the drummers for my bands up with it live so those opinions count too!


Should be here tomorrow.

 

[-Gavin-]

Awesome! Just hooked this up and set it to DKFH superior!

Awesome combo!

 

[2012]

How are you liking playing hi-hat on a pad like that?

Have you broken the foot pedal yet?

Did you take some time to adjust the sensitivity on the DM5 for your playing style?

Also, are you using the direct outs on the DM5 to monitor without latency? If there is one instrument where monitoring latency really hinders the performance the most I think it's drums.



P.S. When I broke the hat pedal, Alesis sent me another cymbal to replace it. I guess they can't or won't replace the pedals.

 

[-Gavin-]

How are you liking playing hi-hat on a pad like that?

Have you broken the foot pedal yet?

Did you take some time to adjust the sensitivity on the DM5 for your playing style?

Also, are you using the direct outs on the DM5 to monitor without latency? If there is one instrument where monitoring latency really hinders the performance the most I think it's drums.



P.S. When I broke the hat pedal, Alesis sent me another cymbal to replace it. I guess they can't or won't replace the pedals.

I'm not a drummer but it's not bugging me too much so i can't forsee a problem in the short term. Eventually i will buy a proper roland hi hat!

 

[-Gavin-]