Sampler with octopus-like trigger pads?

bbooze

Junior Member
I'm in a band with frequent samples (5-10) I need to trigger during the course of each song. I have a Roland SPD-S, the 9 pad variety. However, it's pretty hard to hit specific pads in the middle of beats especially during crashes and fills.

I'm wondering if there is a sampler apparatus like this: a rack (or any stand alone brain unit) sampler with 6-12 inch bar pads that I can mount to cymbal stands and toms. Presumably instrument cables or whatever works would be run into the brain unit. The brain unit would hopefully have at least 6 and preferably 12 inputs at a time.

I attached a rough sketch of what I'm thinking about. Anyone know if there is such a contraption? Thanks.
 

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  • Drum Sample Kit.jpg
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For separate pads, you'll need to go into a pad-midi unit, and then connect that to a module/sampler. I'm not aware of a module (that takes custom samples) or a sampler that has direct trigger inputs.*

I'm tellin ya, between all the pads, their mounts, the cabling to each, a powered trigger-midi unit, and a powered module, you're in for a time-consuming set-up and tear-down.

Simple is good, Train yourself to hit an all-in-one pad/module like the Roland SPD-SX, Alesis SamplePad, or Yamaha MultiPad. Your wallet will also thank you.

Bermuda

* Actually, I think the Yamaha DTX900 (950?) brain plays your samples, and of course has multiple pad inputs. But you're looking at the cost of that, plus all the other pads, mounts & cables. Seriously, not fun or cost effective compared to the alternatives I mentioned.
 
Bermuda's on the money here.

The other option is individual pads (can be had fairly cheaply, old Yamaha pads will do) into a brain (not so cheap but an older one will do) use the MIDI-out to a laptop and then use software (such as Ableton) to trigger the samples. That would be tricky to set up if you don't know what you're doing and potentially quite complex.
 
Good tips. I don't mind the complexity or cost. I'll look into the brain unit as sampler, if I have to run one through a laptop that would be fine too. I haven't used Ableton before, but hopefully it's easy enough to switch between projects so there wouldn't be a lag time between songs. That's a strong aspect of the Roland SPD-S, hit the big button to switch to next song = done.

I would still adore pads that were bar-like in design so as to take up less drum kit real estate, but I suppose circular pads with their two for one rims would mean I can get away with just 5 pads in total. I've got a tedious but fun new project I see.
 
I see now, probably should have read the whole Roland manual. I didn't realize there was an additional sample trigger input in the back of the SPD-S, thought hi-hat style expression pedal was the only thing. I'm going to get a snare style pad and mount it on the right side of my kit, so as to help out with those sections where I'm in the middle of a ride beat and can't swing over left where the main unit will be. It appears to allow 2 mono, so I could augment 2 samples per song this way, but I'll have to experiment to see how that works I suppose.

I'll post back if it works so as to help out anyone else who might Google their way here with a similar dilemma. Rock on.

*Edit: Even better, the SPD-SX appears to allow up to 4 triggers through 2 inputs. Looks like I've got a relative winner here.
 
The SPD SX only has two inputs.

The SPD 30 has 4.

I am in the middle of doing the same thing. I am going to use a TD6 and 6 pads to trigger pads on an SPD SX or 30 (haven't taken the plunge yet) via MIDI.

Top 5 pads are for triggering recorded phrases. Far bottom left will be a kill switch pad because ....stuff happens.

2012-04-11_15-47-54_757.jpg


Right now they are mounted on the same rack but I think I am going to have to build a separate one to avoid crosstalk. I won't know until I actually field test the sampler. I've been experimenting with using the TD6 module as a sampler and there are too many issues to deal with.

2012-04-11_15-48-54_22.jpg
 
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Yamaha DTX M12. Not only has 12 trigger pads on the unit, but 5 inputs for additional trigs. Allows the triggering of samples stored on a flashdrive that plugs into a USB on the unit...

As far as triggers, look for a polekat or Hart hammer pads...
 
I stumbled back on to this post and thought I'd mention that I gave up on the idea of using pads as triggers. I took a gamble that I could learn to hit the SPD pads and it was a good decision. I probably hit them correctly about 95% of the time now :)

2012-09-29_10-15-28_724.jpg


It would still be slick to have some kind of a bar that ran above the toms with several triggers on it. I am slightly tempted to take the SPD apart and see what they use as a triggering mechanism.
 
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I've never used traditional triggers for acoustics such as this before...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/drum...coustic-drum-trigger-with-trigger-trap#review

... and I have a question for someone who has. How sensitive are those things? Could I use all 6 external trigger outputs on the SPD-SX (which just arrived, I'm still just loading it with sounds) to snake to a one foot long wooden board with 6 of these smaller acoustic triggers mounted on it? If I set all the pads to have no dynamic sensitivity, can I count on them to operate like hitting a button with the hand? I'm thinking I might ask our singer to do some of the sample triggers herself, by simply holding the board (or whatever) and whacking the triggers with her hand at the right times.

Are those acoustic triggers way to sensitive for this kind of approach? Presumably there will be plenty of shaking from other instruments, as well as her dropping or setting this theoretical gizmo on the floor. And it wouldn't do to have a bunch random samples going off at the wrong time.
 
Looking at your drawing, you'll be picking up 6($600)of these things. I'm looking forward to your review and hope you have some clips for us to see.
 
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