Future of E-Drums

[@oM]

Hi,

these days with Gigasampler/studio there are these huge libraries made for it (giga rules!). One of it is Purrrrfect Drums. It's 8 cd's in total. Really huge. And these are the features for the cymbals:

The Quick-Start kits are each about 900MB... and are a subset of the samples used in the Full kits.

BTW, There are 8 hi-hat articulations for both the left and right hands... plus the foot pedal (each 16 stereo velocity cross-switches deep). So that's a total of 17 hi-hat articulations.

The Ride cymbal was sampled at:
2" from the edge
3" from the edge
4" from the edge
Bell with tip of stick
Bell with shaft of stick
Again, each articulation is 16 stereo velocity cross-switches deep.

The crash cymbals were sampled:
Crashed with tip of stick
Crashed with shaft of stick
Crashed with heavy stick
Ride on crash w/tip of stick
Bell with tip of stick
Bell with shaft of stick

Now, that almost completely accurately emulates a real cymbal. Combined with close and room miked recordings and different kind of mikes samples I almost can't think of anything else you'd want...
Will having modules with huge drum libraries in it, be the future?

What are your thoughts of this?

Tom

PS. The demoes on the site are made by triggering the sounds with an edrum kit, so the optimal performance is not obtained. Also, I and a lot of other people don't like it's sound, but that's just personal. The fact remains that this is a very high quality library and we'll see more libraries like this coming in the future.

[jrcel]

I don't use computers for music, I have enough with what's in my rack plus trouble shooting is easy, but that's not to say that it wouldn't be better. I just like working this way.

[puttenvr]

The sensitivity of a module or sampling system can't be raised (improved) unlimited as long as companies don't invent a different technique for those piezos. Piezos are microphones and cause x-talk. Piezos generally are under a piece of foam as a result of which they don't always trigger 200%. Piezos - and even FSR triggers - can't always detect 100% where the drummer plays as a result of which some cymbal pads really suck.

A Giga (or any other) Sampler will certainly work fine at home but when I want to use all these fine sounds live, I need to have drumpads. And live other band members start to make noise as well. And then the problems with x-talk on the piezos start again.

In other words: the next step will be a better system and then the use of better sounds and more positions.

cheers

[@oM]

I'm not saying that we must use 'computers' for music, I'm saying that modules could have those technologies built in.

Originally posted by c. jude:

Originally posted by @oM:
...The demoes on the site are made by triggering the sounds with an edrum kit, so the optimal performance is not obtained.

Don't follow. What is that a problem?

I think that is a problem. With a demo I would like to hear the library at it's best and I think a lot of people expect that. I want to hear all those features and how great that sounds. By triggering it with an edrum kit, you don't use for example the positional samples on the cymbals.
Although it is a good demo for how it sounds when triggered with an edrum kit.

Puttenvr, good point about the triggers. There's a lot of improvement possible there as well...

[cgrieves]

There are good solutions to the crosstalk and stage noise problems.

Even the Alesis D4 allows you to plug an input into a piezo attached to your rack, the Bass amp's line out, or even the FOH PA, and use it for a crosstalk cancelling source. Used properly this can eliminate false triggers, without sacrificing dynamic range or trigger threshold.

I can see the future of e-drumming as a sophisticated pad system linked to a sophisticated trigger to midi unit. This would allow complex positional sensing and trigger mapping on all inputs and would be designed to link up to the sound source of your choice. All the technology is there, it just needs a manufacturer with foresight.

[jrcel]

As far as triggering and FSR, you'd have to use the matrix array sysyem as on the Simmons SDX system. In ths way position is easily detected by the SDX contol computer, also, things like using pressure to sustain notes and chords is possible as well as sending CV# info. It was so ahead of it's time, nothing, nothing is even close 15 years later. Plus FSR sensors don't interact, I've had my Drmkat since '95 and there has never been one instance where one pad has triggered another.

[This message has been edited by jrcel (edited March 19, 2002).]