How important is positional sensing?

[sallakin]

Obviously I know that positional sensing lends a certain "credibility" to drumming - particularly in snare nuances etc ... but if you are on a budget like me (I have TD3 KW) how important is it for straight ahead rock drumming? I plan to buy Toontrack 2.0 Superior very soon. I believe I will still benefit from its high realism of samples, even without PS. Any thoughts or experience from anyone?
Cheers

[M_C_M]

It does add to the experience. But you can live without it, I did with my td3...

[daveybabes]

Thumbs up for PD

i like it and without it the snare just seems one dimensional and flat ...

[Michael Render]

I agree with daveybabes, without it you lose a lot of snare expressiveness.

[Pimenta]

I like it a lot ... as said above expressiveness... for ghost notes as an example .. much more realism and playability.

Pim

[stickinthemud]

As much as I love positional sensing for the aforementioned reasons, I think you would not miss it much for "straight ahead rock drumming", i.e. hitting with all your might on 2 and 4.

[Levon]

I have never played a kit with positional sensing. but playing an acoustic kit i use different positions of the snare alot. i guess it just depends on your playing and style of music. i doubt you would use position that much playing metal or straight out rock, but jazz you would.

[moja music]

Is positional sensing a feature of the drum module or the trigger pads? or both?

[StevenK]

Hi,
for pos sensing (of Roland) the trigger must be mounted in the middle of the pad. The module analyzises the trigger signal and can (if the pad is compatible for pos sensing) detect the position of strokes.
Pos sensing is very nice - but if you play on stage with a band, these nuances might be less important. For the feeling it is very important ... also when playing the ride!
CU, Stephan

[vjboc]

Hi,
for pos sensing (of Roland) the trigger must be mounted in the middle of the pad. The module analyzises the trigger signal and can (if the pad is compatible for pos sensing) detect the position of strokes.
Pos sensing is very nice - but if you play on stage with a band, these nuances might be less important. For the feeling it is very important ... also when playing the ride!
CU, Stephan

Do you have to have a rim trigger also for postional sensing to work?

[BarT]

Is positional sensing a feature of the drum module or the trigger pads? or both?

The module and the particular instrument sound selected, but not the pad. (Even on modules with positional sensing, not all of the snare or ride sounds have positional samples.)

Do you have to have a rim trigger also for postional sensing to work?

No.


Bruce

[Fullback32]

You know, I lived without positional sensing for a long time, but now that I have it, it really has allowed to develop more, what's the best word...touch I guess. And for me being an edrummer only (never played As), it has made a difference.

[uglybassplayer]

Do you have to have a rim trigger also for postional sensing to work?

Short answer: NO.

The following was pulled from a post I made from another thread...

There are others on this board that can explain positional sensing much better than I could, but as best as I can describe... The module is able to sense the length and/or amplitude of the wave that the piezo responds to. Hits closer to the rim have a different wave than hits closer to the center of the head. In order for that to happen 1) the piezo must be center mounted under a cone or cylinder, 2) the head must be tensioned properly. Even though the Alesis piezos are mounted in the center, because they are mounted on a plate with foam which covers the entire area of the pad, there's no way for the module to distinguish between center and off-center hits.

Here are two links from this board that explain P.S. in better detail:
http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showpost...9&postcount=10
http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthre...tional+sensing


- Ugly.

[bogiesbad]

PD also works on cymbals don't forget

[vjboc]

Short answer: NO.

The following was pulled from a post I made from another thread...

There are others on this board that can explain positional sensing much better than I could, but as best as I can describe... The module is able to sense the length and/or amplitude of the wave that the piezo responds to. Hits closer to the rim have a different wave than hits closer to the center of the head. In order for that to happen 1) the piezo must be center mounted under a cone or cylinder, 2) the head must be tensioned properly. Even though the Alesis piezos are mounted in the center, because they are mounted on a plate with foam which covers the entire area of the pad, there's no way for the module to distinguish between center and off-center hits.

Here are two links from this board that explain P.S. in better detail:


http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showpost...9&postcount=10
http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthre...tional+sensing


- Ugly.

Ugly thanks for the reply. I read the links. Is there a switch to turn on for positional sensing? Or is it automatically set-up? I have a piezo centered on my snare with a cone.