eDRUMin w/Mimic Pro and SD3
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:49 pm
Now that the weekend is here, and we've dodged the worst of another hurricane, I'm able to look at my drums. Doug (@dsteinschneider) asked how I'm using the eDRUMin 10 with the Pearl Mimic and SD3. At the risk of looking stupid, or overly basic, here goes. Sorry it's long-winded.
I'm one of these people who wants to duplicate the experience of playing acoustic drums, without having to sequester myself in a shed or concrete bunker to avoid disturbing my family and neighbors with the noise. The Pearl Mimic Pro w/Space Muffins and ATV cymbals was as close as I'd gotten to that, primarily because of the combination of the sample library and the quality of Hi-Hat triggering. The limitation with the PMP is that I happen to be a Rush fan, and it's a drag to be tied to every module manufacturer's theory that 5 toms are more than enough. I had poor experiences trying to run the PMP into BFD3 and SD3, particularly with the Hi-Hat. It's done well in the module, but I had no success translating that to the computer. I work in computer support all week; the last thing I want to do when it's time to play drums is more computer work.
I got the eDRUMin 4 to add the high concert toms from the NP Sonic Reality library. I had been using the 2Box Drumit 5 for that, but the MIDI options are quite limited. From there, the eDRUMin 10 was a no-brainer when it came out. So, now that I have all this great triggering, how can I NOT use it? (But most days, I still don't want to boot up the computer, simply to hit drums for a few minutes! Much more agreeable to flip a switch on the Mimic and get to playing.)
Finally, I've been running the eDRUMin 10 bank one to correspond to the Pearl Mimic MIDI note numbers on Channel 1 via the 5-pin MIDI connection. I set up all the triggering so it's good in the eDRUMin and make minimal tweaks inside the PMP. So when I want to just sit down and play for 10 minutes after work, It's no more difficult than when I was using the PMP on it's own. It's a more basic setup, which I admit works for pretty much everything except the occasional Rush/Genesis playalong.
Luke Oswald's videos have really got me wanting to go all in on SD3. Not sure I have the patience or skills to get there though. The eDRUMin's USB connection goes into the Mac. The PMP's 5-pin MIDI out runs into the Mac as well. When I want to use SD3 (which has become more, since the LOR SDX came out) I switch eDRUMin to Bank 2, which is set to the SD3 drum map on Channel 10. At the moment, some pads are still connected through the PMP - BD for instance, just so I don't waste an input on the ED10. In those cases, I edit the MIDI out note of that trigger so it matches SD3 on Channel 10.
So basically, anything on Channel 1 is feeding the PMP; Channel 10 goes to SD3. I find no latency issues at all. All the audio feeds into an inexpensive Yamaha mixer, with my headphones plugged in. Since discovering Gig Performer, I'm back to the beginning with BFD3 and Battery, so I can't provide details there. The possibilities look to be way more interesting than my time or talent will let me take advantage of.
I know I'm pretty basic compared to most of you, but let me know if you have questions, or suggestions on how I could be getting more out of this setup. I plan to replace the eDRUMin 4 with another eDRUMin 10, when funds allow. At the risk of sounding GAS-sy, I'm also researching what snare and cymbals perform best with the eDRUMin. I'm not unhappy with mine, but I feel there are better choices out there. Someone recently posted that their electric snare is every bit as sensitive and accurate as their acoustic snare. That's all I'm after.
I'm one of these people who wants to duplicate the experience of playing acoustic drums, without having to sequester myself in a shed or concrete bunker to avoid disturbing my family and neighbors with the noise. The Pearl Mimic Pro w/Space Muffins and ATV cymbals was as close as I'd gotten to that, primarily because of the combination of the sample library and the quality of Hi-Hat triggering. The limitation with the PMP is that I happen to be a Rush fan, and it's a drag to be tied to every module manufacturer's theory that 5 toms are more than enough. I had poor experiences trying to run the PMP into BFD3 and SD3, particularly with the Hi-Hat. It's done well in the module, but I had no success translating that to the computer. I work in computer support all week; the last thing I want to do when it's time to play drums is more computer work.
I got the eDRUMin 4 to add the high concert toms from the NP Sonic Reality library. I had been using the 2Box Drumit 5 for that, but the MIDI options are quite limited. From there, the eDRUMin 10 was a no-brainer when it came out. So, now that I have all this great triggering, how can I NOT use it? (But most days, I still don't want to boot up the computer, simply to hit drums for a few minutes! Much more agreeable to flip a switch on the Mimic and get to playing.)
Finally, I've been running the eDRUMin 10 bank one to correspond to the Pearl Mimic MIDI note numbers on Channel 1 via the 5-pin MIDI connection. I set up all the triggering so it's good in the eDRUMin and make minimal tweaks inside the PMP. So when I want to just sit down and play for 10 minutes after work, It's no more difficult than when I was using the PMP on it's own. It's a more basic setup, which I admit works for pretty much everything except the occasional Rush/Genesis playalong.
Luke Oswald's videos have really got me wanting to go all in on SD3. Not sure I have the patience or skills to get there though. The eDRUMin's USB connection goes into the Mac. The PMP's 5-pin MIDI out runs into the Mac as well. When I want to use SD3 (which has become more, since the LOR SDX came out) I switch eDRUMin to Bank 2, which is set to the SD3 drum map on Channel 10. At the moment, some pads are still connected through the PMP - BD for instance, just so I don't waste an input on the ED10. In those cases, I edit the MIDI out note of that trigger so it matches SD3 on Channel 10.
So basically, anything on Channel 1 is feeding the PMP; Channel 10 goes to SD3. I find no latency issues at all. All the audio feeds into an inexpensive Yamaha mixer, with my headphones plugged in. Since discovering Gig Performer, I'm back to the beginning with BFD3 and Battery, so I can't provide details there. The possibilities look to be way more interesting than my time or talent will let me take advantage of.
I know I'm pretty basic compared to most of you, but let me know if you have questions, or suggestions on how I could be getting more out of this setup. I plan to replace the eDRUMin 4 with another eDRUMin 10, when funds allow. At the risk of sounding GAS-sy, I'm also researching what snare and cymbals perform best with the eDRUMin. I'm not unhappy with mine, but I feel there are better choices out there. Someone recently posted that their electric snare is every bit as sensitive and accurate as their acoustic snare. That's all I'm after.