Our drummer just bought an SPD SX

JimmyM

JimmyM

Diamond Member
So I’m working on doing a U2 band, and thinking of ways to do certain keyboard parts without hiring a keyboard player or using tracks for 3 or 4 songs, and our drummer got an SPD SX over the weekend! I think he mainly got it instead of having a bunch of snares and percussion, but we’re going to hijack it and put some missing keys parts on it.

I imagine we would do better with keeping the samples small and triggering them as we go since we’re not using a click, right? Like on a song like Where The Streets Have No Name, maybe have separate pads for each string chord in the beginning and end? There’s 5 or 6 chords. Will it make smooth transitions from pad to pad or will it be nasty?

Any other things I should know about triggering music samples on the pads in this manner?
 
JimmyM said:
…since we’re not using a click…
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One-shots (hand claps, finger snaps, whistles, etc.) will work without a click. Triggering a sequence without a click works with an intro to get the tune going, but introducing a sequence anywhere else in a tune requires perfect tempo. But you know this, don’t you?
 
cbphoto said:
One-shots (hand claps, finger snaps, whistles, etc.) will work without a click. Triggering a sequence without a click works with an intro to get the tune going, but introducing a sequence anywhere else in a tune requires perfect tempo. But you know this, don’t you?
Click to expand...
Of course, and that’s why I asked about if there are any weird artifacts when you hit repeat on a short sequence. But other than New Year’s Day, which we’ll do live, it will probably just be intros and outros.
 
JimmyM said:
Of course, and that’s why I asked about if there are any weird artifacts when you hit repeat on a short sequence. But other than New Year’s Day, which we’ll do live, it will probably just be intros and outros.
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If I recall, the unit has a setting which “turns off” a sound when a pad in the same “group” is struck and that sample begins. Or, it can be set to allow the first sample to finish its sound (i.e., keep playing back) when the second pad is struck and the second sample begins playback.
 
If flying-in a part that's in tempo, I would recommend playing the whole song to a click. That pad has a healthy amount of ram, and can quickly load dozens of full-length sequences for tempo/timing purposes. In that case, the parts can just become part of the click track. Of course, that doesn't allow for any arrangement changes or mistakes. The drummer can get the click on one side of the output, and the other side can go to the house. Of course neither out would be stereo, but there's a workaround for that if nec. using the sub outputs and linking pads.

As for hitting the parts as needed, that's easy to do, but the drummer CANNOT EVER hit the wrong pad, or hit it slightly out of time. Even a 16th note off is clearly evident. I've been using multi pad units (Octopad, Kat, SPD-SX) since 1992 and have made some gaffs. Only a few thousand people noticed... in addition to the boss. :)

That said, it's great for playing backbeat handclaps or tamb (using a foot pedal trigger in) and it does a lot of tricks that most drummers would never use. But, that's Roland, going the extra mile with their gear... and charging accordingly.
 
cbphoto said:
If I recall, the unit has a setting which “turns off” a sound when a pad in the same “group” is struck and that sample begins. Or, it can be set to allow the first sample to finish its sound (i.e., keep playing back) when the second pad is struck and the second sample begins playback.
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This was good news.

bermuda said:
If flying-in a part that's in tempo, I would recommend playing the whole song to a click. That pad has a healthy amount of ram, and can quickly load dozens of full-length sequences for tempo/timing purposes. In that case, the parts can just become part of the click track. Of course, that doesn't allow for any arrangement changes or mistakes. The drummer can get the click on one side of the output, and the other side can go to the house. Of course neither out would be stereo, but there's a workaround for that if nec. using the sub outputs and linking pads.

As for hitting the parts as needed, that's easy to do, but the drummer CANNOT EVER hit the wrong pad, or hit it slightly out of time. Even a 16th note off is clearly evident. I've been using multi pad units (Octopad, Kat, SPD-SX) since 1992 and have made some gaffs. Only a few thousand people noticed... in addition to the boss. :)

That said, it's great for playing backbeat handclaps or tamb (using a foot pedal trigger in) and it does a lot of tricks that most drummers would never use. But, that's Roland, going the extra mile with their gear... and charging accordingly.
Click to expand...
This not so much ;) but I’m glad to get the unvarnished lowdown. Good point about the timing. It’s one thing to bobble a tambourine sample but a sample going in time does sound like it could backfire on you if you bobble the time.
 
Should work perfectly. I have an SPD-SX and you can set it so that a particular pad will stop the last sample from being played, or you can choose to let them all ring out, whatever you want.

I bought a program called "SPD-SX Editor" that makes doing all of that stuff sooooooo much easier than navigating the buttons and awful interface (postage-stamp sized screen really never made me very stoked, lol!). And no, I am not the proprietor of the software. I'm just veeeeery glad I got it. Allows for drag-and-drop to add samples, edit parameters for each pad, etc, etc, etc....

Have fun with that SPD-SX! I sure do love mine (even though the new one with the way better interface screen has my wallet getting itchy to open up, haha!).
 
I used an SPD-SX for a few years in quite a long show.
The one shot thing is best for percussion and fx. For synth parts etc it is far better to program a whole song and link it to a click.
I'm pretty sure this is what U2 do (they don't have a keyboard player).
 
I have one - and do exactly what you're planning to do with it. Yeah timing is crucial - but that's what we drummers do!
Be prepared for the stupid thing to not switch on half the time though......:mad:
 
I wouldn't trigger musical passages in real time (as per Bermuda's advice), milliseconds out can be disastrous.
It also adds another element to fit into whatever drum part you are trying to play.
 
Same discussion within our band, we're looking for a keyboarder now. Although we have some great experience in doing so - we once sampled our brass section in order to play smaller gigs. The samples didn't last longer than a single bar, so they had to be triggered multiple times throughout the brass patterns. I played to a visual metronome, so we've been quite on time, enough to make everything align pretty well. The keyboarder and me were able to fire them, it was working great. But for the new formation we need much more stuff coming from a sound generator/sampler, so this isn't an option anymore.
 
Chris Whitten said:
I wouldn't trigger musical passages in real time (as per Bermuda's advice), milliseconds out can be disastrous.
It also adds another element to fit into whatever drum part you are trying to play.
Click to expand...
You do have to be accurate with how you cut the start/end of the sample and plan how and where your samples will be used to minimise the possibility for cock ups but real time trigger of passages is how I roll every week. Granted - I'm a small time weekend warrior so cock ups can just be laughed off - wouldn't do it like that at bigger shows.
I embrace the extra element - it adds to the show and gives me more to think about than playing the same 4/4 every week. I also use it to midi trigger the light show - it's a fantastic bit of kit (as long as it works)

Chris - even with your previous kind intervention, I'm no closer to getting mine fixed - Roland customer service is RUBBISH!
 
U2 have for years used sequencers, midi and click tracks. Like most modern bands it's also synced to the lights and any video visuals.
Terry might play live keyboards on some songs, but a lot of U2's keyboards are repetitive sequencer type parts, also needing to keep Edge's ever present delays in time with the music. So consistency is key here.
 
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