Is it possible to play Accent notes on a Vdrum (TD3)?

[jweaver]

During my lesson yesturday, I was shown a 'fill' which was basically:

Tom -> Snare -> Snare -> Snare -> Snare -> Snare -> Accented Snare

But when I got home and tried it on my TD3, it didn't sound anything like it did on the Accoustic kit.. The Accent was almost undetectable.

When I looked at the sensitivity, I could see the problem as I was hitting almost full power during the 'snare' notes, so the accented one, was only a fraction louder.

I played around with the sensitivity settings and this just made everything quieter and less responsive... And its got me thinking that with the 'resolution' of the TD3, its simply not possible to accent a note effectivly.

Is this right or am I missing something? If its not, is this something that all Electronic Drums suffer with, or is it just a 'limitation' of the lower speced models?

I look forwards to your thoguhts

All the best

Jon

[thiscocks]

Depends what you mean by accent really. If you just mean different power strokes then if you want to accent a particular one, just dont hit the others as hard before the accent so there will be a difference. If you have the rubber snare pad (as opposed to mesh) then, no, they are not as good for doing soft/hard snare accent stuff. Maybe invest in a PD105 mesh pad, which I think are great to play.

[Michael Render]

The TD-3 doesn't give you a lot of control over sensitivity. You basically only have 16 levels and no control over the curve.

There is also some psycho-acoustics involved. When you turn down the sensitivity, it becomes quieter when playing normally. Your ears perceive this as different. Turn you headphones or amp up louder to where full strength strokes sound uncomfortable, then reduce sensitivity.

You can get those ghost notes and accents with a little tweaking. Mesh heads do help - but are not necessary.

[jweaver]

The TD-3 doesn't give you a lot of control over sensitivity. You basically only have 16 levels and no control over the curve.
.

Does it not have 'curve control'? In the manual, there is a page which shows how you can change between Linear, Exponential and several other 'curves' and I have yet to play with this feature. Is this what you are talking about?

As for turning down the sensitivity, as you say it makes everything a lot quieter and I don't like this much, as I already find it too quiet in my headphones already at max volume..

Jon

[BarT]

Is the snare volume level set at the maximum 15?

You may want to try an exponential curve which will create a bigger volume difference between soft and hard hits.


Bruce

[Sabre]

By accent, do you mean rim-shot, or just a louder snare head shot?
If its a rim shot there are settings for rim sensitivity and rim gain.

If its just a louder snare shot, then you may have to adjust sensitivity on everything else down a bit, and the volume up on the headphones (I use an external amp for more volume control) in order to get the range you need to achieve your goal.

[daveybabes]

Hi there ...

Hiya

I've had a TD3 and a TD6v and i found the accents were a problem and never prominent, it all sounded samey and spurred me on to upgrade further.

Dave

[jweaver]

Hiya

I've had a TD3 and a TD6v and i found the accents were a problem and never prominent, it all sounded samey and spurred me on to upgrade further.

Dave

Interesting reply.. Can you elaborate on what you upgraded too? Did what ever you upgraded too help?


Jon

[daveybabes]

Hiya

Hiya, i tried tweaking the Td3 and TD6V, but found that they lacked the velocity sensitivity for a real snare accent, they were lacking something, i have a good ear for sound, i was unhappy with em and so i got a TD12 and it all fitted together, with this if i hit the snare soft it's a different sound not just a decrease in volume, i think they have more in depth COSM modelling and microphone recording techniques, my whole kit came alive, toms sound realistic as do cymbals and the high hat burst into life. All i can say is that it now sounds just like a real kit with all the light and shade ambiences for sensitive and heavy drum hits.

You can do this on a cheaper basis, by hooking your TD3 or 6 up to a pc running something like EZ drummer software and use a midi cable and interface with low latency drivers, these PC samples are multi velocity and also very good but i sold my TD6v and got the TD12.

oops forgot to mention the all important positional detection on the TD12, if i hit the snare in different places i get different textures of sound like on a real snare.

[Michael Render]

Does it not have 'curve control'? In the manual, there is a page which shows how you can change between Linear, Exponential and several other 'curves' and I have yet to play with this feature. Is this what you are talking about?

As for turning down the sensitivity, as you say it makes everything a lot quieter and I don't like this much, as I already find it too quiet in my headphones already at max volume..

Jon

I lied - it has curve. I don't actually own a TD-3, so I forget things.

The bottom line is you are not going to get the subtleties of a higher-end module on the TD-3. You can get close by turning down the sensitivity and cranking the volume. You can also work on technique.

[cendrillon]

Also, if you're using a big set of headphones (the type that fully cover your ears) then you might find that the amplifier in the TD-3 is not powerfull enough to run your headphones at a loud volume.

I found this to be the case when using AKG K271s. I bought a headphone amplifier and the sound is now much better, not to mention louder. I think it may have something to do with the higher input impedance of higher end headphones, but I'm not expert

Also, if you decide to go the EzDrummer route, then the brain is not really that important since EzDrummer doesn't support positional sensing anyway, so a TD-20 will sound exactly the same as a TD-3.

[Michael Render]

I found this to be the case when using AKG K271s. I bought a headphone amplifier and the sound is now much better, not to mention louder. I think it may have something to do with the higher input impedance of higher end headphones, but I'm not expert

Very true. Different headphones have differemt impedences which will affect the volume.

[jweaver]

Very true. Different headphones have differemt impedences which will affect the volume.

I found a shop with a TD3 and TD6 on display today and had a play.. The TD6 seems much better and to confirm this, I tried their TD3 too and it was the same as mine.

The TD6 doesn't completely solve the problem.. But it does sound nicer and appears to give you more 'resolution' in terms of sensitivity..

But the really nice thing was the amount of instruments you have...

After playing with it, I want a new brain.. I don't think that the TD6 offers enough for me to justify the price.. So I am now looking for a TD8!

Not quite sure where/how I am going to get one, as no-one stocks them any more and they are quite rare on Ebay.. But I am going to look!

I do have a plan on how I might get one, by buying a TD8, taking the bits I want, combining it with my TD3 parts and re-selling it.. But this will only work if the TD8 goes for the price I hope it will. If that fails, then I am back to looking for someone who can just supply the module....

Many thanks for your help with this.. Its hugely appreciated.

Jon