Is there a pad with velocity sensitive pedals?

Morat

Junior Member
Hi all, I'm just starting out learning to play and I've been looking into what kind of kit to get while I build up some basics on a practice pad. Whatever I get needs to be small (because there's always room in our house for more pianos, but not drums!) and portable so that it can be moved around to wherever people are jamming.

I've looked at the Alesis Performance Pad and the pro version as these look ideally sized, but neither of them seem to support velocity sensitive pedals. Their percpad only has one pedal input so that's out too, and their control pad seems to be unavailable everywhere. Yamaha's DD-65 looks kind of interesting but only has switch pedals too.

The only similarly sized unit I can find that looks like it does is Yamaha's DTX multi 12, which looks awesome but is more $$$ than I'll be allowed to spend.

Can anyone recommend a beginner-suitable pad of similar size to the Alesis units that supports velocity sensitive pedals, or am I asking for the impossible?
 
Since those trigger inputs usually support pads as well, it's hard to imagine they're not velocity sensitive. Have you verified this? Also, which pedals are you trying to use?

I recently needed a foot pedal to trigger sounds, and had a tough time finding a standalone pedal. In fact, I didn't. I went back to my old Kat (F.A.T.) pedal which works fine. But once it's gone, I'll have to go to a pad with a pedal attached, or a pedal mounted trigger (a la Roland's) to do the same thing.

Bermuda
 
yeah KAT make some quality stuff when it comes to electronics
 
Since those trigger inputs usually support pads as well, it's hard to imagine they're not velocity sensitive. Have you verified this?

It doesn't look like the inputs on the performance pad/pro are designed for pad inputs. I downloaded the manual and it mentions that they're foot "switch" inputs. There's nothing in the section on velocity sensitivity about foot pedals, even though it mentions that it will accept 127 levels over midi.

In happier news, I did some more reading on the DD-65 and the bass pedal is (somewhat) velocity sensitive. It's pretty reasonably priced compared to even a very basic electronic kit too, which is great if it turns out that I, you know, suck at this ;-)

Unless something else comes along I think I'll be going for the DD-65, even if it does look a bit dorky.
 
It doesn't look like the inputs on the performance pad/pro are designed for pad inputs. I downloaded the manual and it mentions that they're foot "switch" inputs. There's nothing in the section on velocity sensitivity about foot pedals, even though it mentions that it will accept 127 levels over midi.

I plugged my Kat pedal into my PercPad and it is indeed velocity sensitive, just set the kick input switch to 'trigger'. I assume you could connect another pad into that same jack if desired. I'll also assume that with the PercPad being at the low end of the price/feature spectrum, Alesis's better units will also accept a dynamic pedal.

Bermuda
 
Roland RMP-5 has a dual pad input. I have a Yamaha kick pad (KP-65 I think) and an old Alesis pad hooked up to mine (plus the built-in mesh pad). Plus an unattached Alesis hihat switch pedal (somewhere to put my left foot).
 
Looking at this product comparison page, the percpad seems to have a different spec for its input than the performance pad and pro.

Actually that makes the percpad quite interesting as it's only £80. 4 pads and 1 pedal. Hmm, that might be enough for starting out, although by the time you've bought a pedal I suspect the cost might be approaching DD-65 territory.
 
I'm not sure about any differences. The way Alesis has always approached their products is that the expensive ones do a lot, and the cheap still do a lot. It's unlikely that their lowest-priced pad would do something that their top pads don't.

But for simple playing, and if you like the sounds in the PercPad, it's the most cost-efficient way to use elctronics.

Note that they've just introduced the SamplePad, which lets you load your own .wav files (up to 14mb total.) Sounds great, lets you save preset kits mixing your samples with the 25 internal sounds (same ones as on PercPad I think), and it's only twice the price of the PercPad (I guess £160 in the UK.)

Of course, both pads only give you 5 sounds at a time. If you need more to make a more complete kit, you'll need something with more pads.

Bermuda
 
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