Sampling using Roland V-drums

[Prospective2]

I have heard the roland v-drums (the td-12 in particular) don't have onboard sampling capabilities. I was wondering how useful they are in this capacity using them through a computer.

Can you control a software sampler with the midi? Can you do it in real time (i.e. trigger the samples while playing, not changing them afterwards)? Could you do it on individual pads while passing the rest of the sound through the computer unchanged?

If it's possible, anyone know any good programs to do this (preferably free ones, but all suggestions welcome)? What kind of computer requirements?

Thanks!

[ige87]

Yes, that should be perfectly possible. As to hardware/software, I havn't a clue! You could also look into and Roland SPD-S, SP-404 or other hardware sampler to trigger via midi instead of a PC.

[tripp2k]

There is a sub-forum called VSTi & Sample Libraries where you can find a wealth of information.

Me...I use a TD-8 (about to be bumped to a 12 or 20) in/out of the MIDI interfaces using an m-audio UNO plugged into the USB in my computer. On my computer, I have Toontracks EZDrummer + some expansion packs. The first time I did this, I fired up Toontracks Solo, picked a drum kit and it worked perfectly. I use a Line 6 UX2 as my soundcard (and as my guitar/microphone/vocal interface). I am using ASIO which is important for latency. I get some minor latency which can be a nit, but it is likely because I am using USB and I don't have my computer environment fully optimized. I have a Pentium 4 machine with a clockspeed around 3.2Ghz and 2G of RAM.

Hope that helps. I was concerned about taking this plunge because I thought I would have to do progamming and have a deep understanding of MIDI and device configuration before I could get it to work. No issues whatsoever and I dig it.

[Prospective2]

My comp is a bit on the weak side (1.4 Ghz, 512 MB ram) any idea if that could do it without too much latency?

[stickinthemud]

A very affordable, portable, and versatile sampler solution is the Roland SP 404. Lots of neat features (including onboard mic and battery power option), simple to operate, and yes, Virginia, it can be triggered easily with a drum module.

[Hercules]

Thanks Tripp2K for the VSTi tip -tweaking the buffer settings may help your latency issue

To Prospective2 - you may struggle with that PC - may need to disable all the overheads (Hi-Res video, ethernet etc)

I've also been looking into the sampling / triggering options
- I looked at an SP404 and the SPD-S and they're good for kit drums but they have limited voices so not much use with a k/b or mallet percussion
- I think I will go with Structure (Digidesign) as it is fully integrated with ProTools and can work with any MIDI instrument