BFD2, Alesis Trigger IO, RET E-Drums - VPT Walkthrough 4

[xwhenyouweregone]

Mikey,

I'm having a problem with my Trigger I/O and Roland CY-8 cymbals. I'm getting no response from the cymbals when hitting them however the choke switch works. Both of which are running into ride and crash inputs on the Trigger I/O. I also have a Roland FD-7 for my hihat pedal and I also have problems with that as well. All of which are using stereo cables, should I try switching over to mono? You also stated in an early video that all inputs are dual trigger. I don't believe this is so.

[imahoebro]

i'm confused are your drums mic'd and running through a drum interface through your computer where you uploaded this file to youtube?

if you would message me back it would be much appreciated. Thanks

[RaygunShaun]

@imahoebro What? These are digital drums; they can't be mic'd. The drums are triggering sounds from BFD2, which is the drum software running on the computer at the top left of the screen.

[poxcr]

Hello Mikey, I see that you're using an Alesis Trigger I/O and I have a few questions.

Other than dual trigger drums, what are the requirements for using position sensing on the snare and toms? I need to be able to do rimshots and have a full set of sounds from edge to center for my snare and toms.

Also I would like to have chokeable cymbals and hopefully a 3 zone ride and hihat.

Is this all possible with the Alesis I/O?

Thanks!

[PestVic]

hey man do you know if this would be good for metal? like keep up with speed metal drumming on the kick? thanks

[shanzmp]

Hey Mikey,

I noticed your using Cubase too. If I record my RET set how much control will I have with the volume of each drum peace? Or is it all going to go into one track?

[semiLivedj]

Do you have any sugestions on using the I/O with a set of roland TD-4"s,Hook up sugestions,anything would be helpful.Thanks

[KvN140]

Hey Mikey, can i put alesis i/o to my alesis dm5 and connect it to my laptop and use bfd2? what is the diffrence of mono cable and stereo cable?

[robbyacg]

to Know how to install it, plug it and set it is one thing... but to really get the best of what the software has to offer is a job for a real drummer, sorry mickey... get a real drummer to do that part of the job for you.

[carloskarlinne]

seems like you have a lot of knowledge about e-drums. as i'm getting a package, i'd love to check your website out. turns out it's flash based (slow and ugly). who uses that in 2010? moving on to another store.

[Exhume2Consume]

TURN THAT RIDE UP!

[sralive]

Very Cooll!!! Technology, it's amazing, and some real nice chops as well.

[costawustl]

Hey Mikey, first of all thnx a lot for all the videos. I dig'em. I had a quick question about the ALESIS IO. It has 10 inputs, so does that mean a dual zone drum takes 2 inputs?

[MikeyVPT]

Thanks! No, the dual zone drums/cymbals only use 1 stereo cable which sends both zones to the trigger IO... cool, eh?

-mikey

PS - Have you visited VirtualPercussionOutlet(.com)? We have a ton of information and great products to offer! Let me know what you think, 'cause it's a new site!

[JAMESHETHFIELD]

Hi Mikey, what about surge cymbals. can i hit them so hard? i play very hard, could the cymbal get break? i want to know if they are resistant. Thank you Mikey.

[MikeyVPT]

If you visit my site at VirtualPercussionOutlet(.com) you could check out other videos and more information.

But, yes, you can hit them really hard! I mostly use the original Smartrigger cymbals, which are the exact same material. They work and feel great!

-mikey

[bigtallgoof]

Does BFD2 allow you to trigger your own sounds? LIke if i sampled a horn hit or something.

[MikeyVPT]

Yes, actually. You can import your own sounds and trigger them just like you think.

Thanks!

-mikey

[bombamegat]

hey.. i have a v-drum TD-4 and it has a midi output. im thinkin of buyin a ezdrummer software. so can you please tell what else do i need.

My kit bassically has dual trigger tom pads but the drum brain does not support dual triggering so im wonderin if i use the ezdrummer software can the dual trigger work. as u say you can assign any drum sound to any drum pads. im thinkin of makin the rims of the toms as cymbals...

im a newbie so please help me

[dillinja1112]

latency is dependent on the performance of your computer!!

[funkyMonk1985]

not entirely ... in fact its mainly your sound card , he mentions zero latency somewhere which is not true they all have latency , some are just not noticeable to human ear ... i mean we hear everything with a bit of latency anyway

[TENDIGITARMY]

I am using a triggered TAMA kit, ROLAND pads and ALESIS I/O with Propellarhead Reason. I have a Reason issue and not a drum trigger or Alesis I/O issue as these work fine in BFD lite and trigger fine. I am tied to Reason, since I make alot of my music with the Reason. Does anyone know where I can find a good video on wiring Reason midi inputs for 10+ drum triggers? Is it even possible?

[healsound]

man, i wish i could find a video on V-drums going through BFD, that actually has a GOOD DRUMMER!!!

[MikeyVPT]

I hear ya! It's hard to find people triggering software really well with V-Drums. They just weren't built for software... that's why most people are going with RET Percussion edrums. Plus the RET's look and feel nicer, and are LESS expensive!

-mikey

[ThaFreshOne12]

Mike great videos man. Where did you purchase you RET set?

[MikeyVPT]

I had checked them out on the web, but I had the same question... where do you get it?

That's why I created the Virtual Percussion Outlet website. You can get it there, which I would appreciate :-)

We've got everything you need to trigger VPT Software including the new V-PC Bundles that are less expensive than most modules on the market.

Check it out: VirtualPercussionOutlet(.com)

-mikey

[SamLeChiq]

@healsound Seriously man...Have SOME RESPECT!! The guy's doing many people a favour by explaining and running through a system that you'd have to go through a LOT of research on the net to set up a similar -type system.....so just say "Thanks" to the guy , enjoy the video and buy yourself some manners.com!!...Also, the guy's pretty good, and i bet any money his attitude will get him further in the music industry then smartasses who think only superior musicians make it in music [HUGE Fallacy].

[healsound]

@SamLeChiq Is this the first time you ever read YouTube comments? I got my opinion, and im entitled to it. Freedom of speech baby! If the guy who posted the video had a problem with it, he would have took my comment down. Apparently, I am the highest voted comment on this video!  11 other people agreed with me. (at the type of typing this) BTW, i dont go around randomly talking shit about people on here... I got better things to do... like practicing drums!!

[twigmafia]

Ahoy Mikey,

Thanks for the great videos! I'm looking forward to purchasing one of these sets in the next couple months and I was wondering how quiet they are. I'm going to be living in an apartment, meaning I can't be too loud. Thanks again!

[MikeyVPT]

Hey there! If you want to hear the acoustic nature of the drums and cymbals, check out the 2nd video in the BFD2 series. I think I do a test of the drums near the end of the video. Please check out my web site if you're really interested in an RET kit. They are awesome!

VirtualPercussionOutlet(.com)

Thanks!

-mikey

[bubnjarovski]

how did you conect all this

[MikeyVPT]

Check out the "Setting Up Hi Hat" and "Adjusting Hi Hat" at the RET Percussion YouTube page!

Just do a channel search for RET Percussion, and once you get to their channel, you'll see my video as their default, and the second one is right under it.

They should be there for the next week or so!

-mikey

[bubnjarovski]

ok i will

[irocdrums]

Sounds weak....learn how to play drums before doing this cheessy setup. I reccommend lessons asap...

[RaisinBrainz]

This fuckin' kid... irocdrums?

You rock ass. Mikey is the man!

[Kontaminate]

Hey asswipe, he says right in the description that he knows he's not the best solo drummer, so I don't think he needs your opinion.

[007818mjg]

have you tried Roland drums?

[MikeyVPT]

Yes. I've OWNED them! I will never go back after using RET edrums.

-mikey

[007818mjg]

are you using real cymbals?

[MikeyVPT]

They're real meaning they are Brass, but they were designed to be quiet. They are fully electronic!

-mikey

[kelvin2004qq]

Hi Mikey,

I wanna know how much yr whole drum set is (including the trigger IO)?

And how many midi sensor on the snare? (I know some drums plugin they provide different set of sample of hitting different area of one drum)

Thx a lot

[MikeyVPT]

This is the Stealth Pro. You can get it for $2,495 and $159 for the pre-loaded settings for all the software from VirtualPercussionOutlet(.com).

If you mention the MikeyVPT videos, you get a nice little discount :-)

Positional sensing - Because the software has so many sample layers in it, I can hit near the edge of the snare and get a sound that is lighter and has some ring to it, or hit the center for a hot pop. It's great :-)

-mikey

[ransisua]

Hi Mikey, have you tried the USB connectivity on it?

Is there any latency with the USB?

[MikeyVPT]

USB connectivity of what?

There is a standard 2ms of latency with all VST's, and I think my setup has that or less.

-mikey

[ghostnote]

hey, ive got a new trigger io and running it through addictive drums. the problem is that i have a lot of latency problems. i used asio4all and it helped a little but its still very noticeable. any help is great, thanks

[MikeyVPT]

You've got latency with AD and ASIO4ALL?! That's unheard of!

Have you adjusted ASIO4ALL for your computer? I usually have the buffers at 128 or 256. That seems to work the best for my computer.

[cast390]

Mikey,

Does the HH pedal slice when you hit the HH and lift ur foot at the same time or do you have to lift ur foot first then strike the HH to complete the slice.

[MikeyVPT]

Slice? Please define.

[ransisua]

just curios, why do you choose Alesis for the module?

[MikeyVPT]

I choose the Trigger Io because it's MUCH cheaper than any other module that does the same thing. It has no onboard sounds, which I don't need if I'm triggering VPT software. Also, it was designed to be used with the VPT kits in mind. RET beta tested the Trigger Io to make sure it would function properly.

-mikey

[ransisua]

wow, nice idea dude. But I haven't heard the foot splash and dual zone hi-hat. But yeah....I think it can

Thanks for answering, really appreciate it.

[rpb1966]

It should be this side of christmas, I will be getting my BFD De Luxe add on pack today so I will be going thru those beautiful sounding Gretsch toms ooooooohhhhhhhh yeah!!!!, I may need a bigger hard drive soon 115GB for BFD 1 and 2 + De Luxe sounds, thats a lot of hard drive space!!!!

[MikeyVPT]

I know what you mean! It's amazing what beautiful drum sounds we have in our hard drives. I don't have the money for all these acoustic drums, let alone the physical space for them all!

Well, here's a 'cheers' from the US, mate!

-mikey

[fourosg1991]

hi mikey. i have a e-drum set with dm5 module.i want to connect this module on my pc and use some bfd software but i dont know how to connect. my soundcard is a 30euro one so i want to have usb connection. is it possible and what items do you suggest?? i would buy a trigger io but i have also the dm5. maybe i will. does the trigger io need good soundcard to run?? thanks in advance dude ill be waiting for your reply

P.S all your video rocks man!!!!! ive seen all of them!

[MikeyVPT]

THANK YOU!!!

You can get the Trigger Io, if you're e-drum kit has 2 zones. If it doesn't, don't worry about it. You can MIDI out of your DM5, into your computer (with MIDI to USB cable or interface). You can download the ASIO4ALL audio driver to get better response. Would you be using BFD2 software? I would suggest that.

Visit VirtualPercussionOutlet (.) com

It has all the tools you'll need! It'll be open 1-1-09!

-mikey

[rpb1966]

Mikey in reality mate, it is very similar to your set up.

[MikeyVPT]

Sounds great! Can't wait to see it in action!

The world needs more people taking these steps toward VPT drumming.

When do you think the videos will be out?

[rpb1966]

Im using BFD 2 (and BFD1 kits) this is run thru a Digi 002 (Firewire 400) into Pro Tools 7.4 using a MacBook Pro, and a Firewire 800 external drive (for the BFD2 samples) I am also using a Clavia Ddrum 4 SE E-Kit. I will be posting a few video soon so stay tooned, the results I get are indentical to Mikeys, this is denfinatly the way forward for e-drumming.

[MikeyVPT]

Sounds difficult ;-)

This would get you the same results, but the reason why people use VPT is because it's easy.

Can't wait for your videos!

-mikey

[melsriley22]

What snare you using? Can i get my drumkat to sound like this?

[MikeyVPT]

I think I'm using the Noble & Cooley snare here... this is BFD2 drum software, played on the RET Percussion Stealth kit.

It's amazing :-)

-mikey

PS - I don't know how velocity sensitive the drumkat is, but if you've got a computer, and you have the software, you should be able to get some good stuff out of it.

[melsriley22]

Thanks Mikey, how do I change the velocity sensitive in bfd2? Mikey are endorse by any of these company, if not you should be?

[MikeyVPT]

There is a Velocity Curve on the MIDI page in BFD2. You can drag it into whatever position you'd like... you can make it very dynamic or very hard. It's very neat!

-mikey

[RedHotTomToms]

Man that sound S-weeeeeet! XD

[MikeyVPT]

Thank you, sir! Sorry for the delay, I didn't see your comment!

How are you, by the way?!

-mikey

[RedHotTomToms]

Im awesome man how are you?

and no worries man! =]

[henryflint123]

alll sounds like its got way too much low-end here, very muffled but i rekon its just the video quality

[VirtuaDrummer]

Sounds great to me. Maybe you shouldn't listen through 15" subs ;-)

Hahaha. Kidding.

[kboof]

Thanks for the video.

One question though -- it seemed that you played the hats mostly either with them entirely shut or entirely open. The Alesis allows a continuous hi hat pedal feed, right? How accurate does it seem for say slightly open, to mid-way open, gradually open all the way? Can you describe it or maybe demonstrate?

Thanks again.

[XaiQ]

Hey mikey,

Awesome setup man.. I am quite inspired and looking forward to buy my kit. I am a guitarist and i wanna move on to drumming now.

I wanted to know wat drum kit is it and how much does it cost? If you can please give me the name of your kit then i'd be awesome. Thou i was thinking to buy " Alesis DM5 Pro Kit Electronic Drum Kit ". Is it worth buying it?

Waiting for your reply

Best regards

[MikeyVPT]

XaiQ, Thanks a lot for the comment/subscribing!

This kit is the Stealth kit from RET Percussion. They created Virtual Percussion Technology, which is the newest (and best) form of edrumming!

This kit is one of their least expensive, although I can't remember how much I paid.

Check it out at: retpercussion . com

Alesis DM5 Pro kit? For the price it's good. Not a good product. Save for an RET kit.

Just my opinion, but I've tried it, and it doesn't play well at all.

-mikey

[dethfist]

hey mickey, got some idea if you wanna make a battle of drumers, why not get a internet band, cheers from mexico I play guitars

[fingerfootmusic]

Nice video Mikey! Just added you to my favorites.

I'm with you brother...VPT is coming into its own and is all about the future. I'll be shooting a video for Moog and Yamaha soon. I'll keep you posted!

John

[MikeyVPT]

Yes, please!  I have subscribed also.

VPT for president! Hahaha... oh political humor.

-mikey

[RTorrente]

hey mikey...

do u think its possible to change the bell hit sensor on a crash to the edge hit articulation in BFD 2, bkoz i remember u saying Trigger i/o doesn't recognise edge hit with RET.?

[MikeyVPT]

The Trigger IO doesn't separate Edge/Bow sounds with the Smartrigger cymbals.

You can either have: two zones (like a ride cymbal), one zone and one choke (like a crash), or two chokes (like a... well, I don't know!)

You have two zones.

Does that clarify?

-mikey

[RTorrente]

ok cool i guess i kinda check.....

will jst have to work around it

[LouddrummerO]

Hey mickey ret percussions rule! Love Bfd midi sample sounds or are the wave files? The cymbals really catch my eye! Do they have three zone? Edge,bow and bell? Sent you a new drum vid, Take care LouddrummerOut

[MikeyVPT]

Hey Louddrummer!

I've been catching your videos... good stuff. Always solid :-)

Yes, they are midi files AND wav. files! Best sounding kits I've played on to date.

The RET kits were MADE for this stuff!

The Smartrigger Ride IS 3 zones with the TD modules.

Hey, I was thinking of getting a few drummers to do a "drum battle" montage/collab kind of thing... what do you think? Interested?

-mikey

[RTorrente]

Great stuff MIKEY!! Really sounds authentic hey and is more than usable for any realistic studio recording needs...im lank keen to get my kit soon now...

was the sound lined out or was it the camera's sound from the room?.

oh and what snare sample did u use?

[MikeyVPT]

For sure. It sounds SO good mixed with my band. It's already EQ'd properly and sits perfectly under the guitars and just over the bass.

My drum track was recorded in Cubase, and added into my video software program.

For the video, I either used the Noble & Cooley snare, or the Rogers snare... I use them both so much, it's hard to keep track!

Thanks again, Rig!

-mikey

[EricSes]

Great demonstration of the sound one can achieve from BFD2.

[MikeyVPT]

Why thank you, Eric. I definitely appreciate that comment.

-mikey