# Drum trigger question



## BillBk (Feb 13, 2022)

Newbie looking to get into more rhythmic (epic?) cinematic percussion - definitely stuff out of my current comfort zone. I have a Kurzweil PC3K that is my controller, but for triggering fast percussion, it's a bit of work (weighted)! Wondering if a midi drum controller will make creating rhythms easier. 
Not looking to break the bank, I'm looking at either the Presonus Atom or the Arturia beatstep, or possibly the Akai MPD218 to experiment.
Not looking for loops or live use, only to use within my DAW.
Opinions?


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## timbit2006 (Feb 13, 2022)

It'll definitely help out, keyboard keys are tough to get fast percussion timing right on. There's a lot of apps available for android devices or Ipads if you want to give one a try to see if the workflow suits you before you spend money, they connect via wifi and it's easy to set most of them up. I found that I actually prefer using a touchscreen compared to physical pads because of the speed.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 13, 2022)

If you can play with sticks (or your fingers), Keith McMillen BopPad is really great.


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## Pier (Feb 13, 2022)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> If you can play with sticks (or your fingers), Keith McMillen BopPad is really great.


I was into hand percussion (conga, djembe, bongo, darbouka, etc) for years and I could never get along with my BopPad. Personally I found it works better with sticks.

For finger drumming my favorite device has been the Launchpad X


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## BillBk (Feb 14, 2022)

Thanks......No comments or experience here with any of the 3 drum triggers I mentioned?


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## Pier (Feb 14, 2022)

BillBk said:


> Thanks......No comments or experience here with any of the 3 drum triggers I mentioned?


I haven't used any of those but I've heard the pads of the Presonus Atom (not Atom Sq) are great. The issue with it IIRC is that it's not very customizable since it's meant to be used with Studio One.

If you don't care about knobs, in that price range I'd recommend the Launchpad X. Great pads and super customizable. It has an integration with Ableton live too for sequences and such. It can also be used to write chords and melodies like the Ableton Push if you're into that.


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## csound (Feb 14, 2022)

I have the beatstep (regular not pro) and as a drummer I've never felt comfortable with it. I wish I could because it really is the layout I want for my midi controller. Velocity and double taps are the biggest issue. I am going to play with the velocity curve this week in the app but I might try setting up the iPad for it, too. I'm not sure if the pads are different on the beatstep pro but they feel stiff on mine and and jump from soft to very loud (again, I hope tweaking the curve will help)

The Midi Control Center for assigning layouts can be really confusing and the manual isn't much clearer. Got the hang of it now and will be using it a lot more in the coming weeks, so it's getting a last chance. Hope that helps.


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## BillBk (Feb 14, 2022)

Pier said:


> I haven't used any of those but I've heard the pads of the Presonus Atom (not Atom Sq) are great. The issue with it IIRC is that it's not very customizable since it's meant to be used with Studio One.
> 
> If you don't care about knobs, in that price range I'd recommend the Launchpad X. Great pads and super customizable. It has an integration with Ableton live too for sequences and such. It can also be used to write chords and melodies like the Ableton Push if you're into that.


Good to know about the presonus. You are correct, I don't care about sequences, chords, melodies. Just want an (inexpensive) "stupid" trigger setup that is more comfortable for triggering fast rhythm, than my weighted keyboard.


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## Pier (Feb 14, 2022)

BillBk said:


> Just want an (inexpensive) "stupid" trigger setup that is more comfortable for triggering fast rhythm, than my weighted keyboard.


The thing with cheap pads is that they might not be great for fast rhythms (as in quickly double/triple tapping) like @csound commented above.

Maybe you could look for second hand Akai controllers on Ebay too.


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## BillBk (Feb 14, 2022)

csound said:


> I have the beatstep (regular not pro) and as a drummer I've never felt comfortable with it. I wish I could because it really is the layout I want for my midi controller. Velocity and double taps are the biggest issue. I am going to play with the velocity curve this week in the app but I might try setting up the iPad for it, too. I'm not sure if the pads are different on the beatstep pro but they feel stiff on mine and and jump from soft to very loud (again, I hope tweaking the curve will help)
> 
> The Midi Control Center for assigning layouts can be really confusing and the manual isn't much clearer. Got the hang of it now and will be using it a lot more in the coming weeks, so it's getting a last chance. Hope that helps.


Please let us know if tweaking with the velocity curve made it more usable.


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## BillBk (Feb 14, 2022)

Pier said:


> The thing with cheap pads is that they might not be great for fast rhythms (as in quickly double/triple tapping) like @csound commented above.
> 
> Maybe you could look for second hand Akai controllers on Ebay too.


Are the Akai pads considered better than the Arturia?


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## Pier (Feb 14, 2022)

BillBk said:


> Are the Akai pads considered better than the Arturia?


Yeah definitely.

Obviously Akai has different quality pads depending on the product line, but they are the makers of the legendary MPC series after all. They've been manufacturing these rubber drum pads for over 30 years. I'm not 100% sure but I think Akai actually invented these type of pads when they released the MPC60 back in 1988 I think.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 14, 2022)

Pier said:


> I was into hand percussion (conga, djembe, bongo, darbouka, etc) for years and I could never get along with my BopPad. Personally I found it works better with sticks.


It does work better with sticks, and it's sensitive enough to pick up buzz rolls.

The problem is on the receiving end - samples are almost never set up to respond to velocities that low.

In any case, I really like it.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 14, 2022)

And by the way, I've only ever played "concert" hand percussion. My finger percussion is limited to tapping on a desk (doing ripple rolls, etc.), and the BopPad works really well for that.

It's not really designed to be a MIDI conga drum, and I hope people who aren't official hand drummers aren't dissuaded by Pier's comment - which is totally valid, it just wants to be put in perspective.

But yeah, the BopPad does work better with sticks.


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## Pier (Feb 14, 2022)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> It's not really designed to be a MIDI conga drum, and I hope people who aren't official hand drummers aren't dissuaded by Pier's comment - which is totally valid, it just wants to be put in perspective.


Oh yeah absolutely. I was just sharing my personal experience.


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## Tralen (Feb 14, 2022)

BillBk said:


> Newbie looking to get into more rhythmic (epic?) cinematic percussion - definitely stuff out of my current comfort zone. I have a Kurzweil PC3K that is my controller, but for triggering fast percussion, it's a bit of work (weighted)! Wondering if a midi drum controller will make creating rhythms easier.
> Not looking to break the bank, I'm looking at either the Presonus Atom or the Arturia beatstep, or possibly the Akai MPD218 to experiment.
> Not looking for loops or live use, only to use within my DAW.
> Opinions?


My experience with the Akai MPD218 was really bad. I purchased one used but returned it because some pads didn't have any sensitivity. The seller assured me it wasn't damaged. I then bought another one new, but it had the same problem (actually, it was much worse), and it was a nightmare to return because I couldn't convince the store that there was a problem (they didn't understand about velocity). I tried another unit at the store and it had the same problem, so I don't trust the MPD at all.

In the end, I got an used Novation Launchpad Pro (1st edition). I use it mostly to trigger keyswitches.


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## Pier (Feb 14, 2022)

Tralen said:


> My experience with the Akai MPD218 was really bad. I purchased one used but returned it because some pads didn't have any sensitivity. The seller assured me it wasn't damaged. I then bought another one new, but it had the same problem (actually, it was much worse), and it was a nightmare to return because I couldn't convince the store that there was a problem (they didn't understand about velocity). I tried another unit at the store and it had the same problem, so I don't trust the MPD at all.
> 
> In the end, I got an used Novation Launchpad Pro (1st edition). I use it mostly to trigger keyswitches.


That's really sad to hear :(


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## Tralen (Feb 14, 2022)

Pier said:


> That's really sad to hear :(


Reading about the MPD218, there seems to be a consensus among users that the production quality is very inconsistent.

I was shuffling through that Youtube channel you linked and found this video, so perhaps it is something one can fix.


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