www.megadrum.info

So I bought the first megadrum module dmitiri auctioned off on ebay, and sold my TD-12 brain a year ago...

I've never really got the megadrum to work quite right... nowhere near as good or responsive as my TD-12 was... I've also managed to brick it a few times, although it's working more-or-less now, although I still can't get the MCT to recognize it...

Of course, I'm positive that all problems are my own stupidity, nothing about the quality of the mega drum...

But I'm about to give up... I've spent the last 3 days doing nothing besides smacking one drum at a time and tweaking settings, and it's nowhere near playable...

Is somebody that understands all this, that either lives close enough to Utah to come over, or somebody with the same e-drums able to have me mail it and get it setup right!!? I can't afford to buy a TD-12, but I could pay a bit for your time if you can set it up for me..

It's not that there are thousands MegaDrum users out there to have a chance that one lives close by or has exactly the same kit. Maybe it is better to describe the problem and we'll try to help solving it?

You also might want to tell us what kind of drums you have.

When I first received my Megadrum from Dmitri i was really dissapointed. My DIY drums which worked flawlessly in my TD3 were terrible.

However I stuck with it, learned the settings and now my snare and toms are close to superb! It even looks like MrD has fixed the yamaha triggering problem, although I haven't tried it myself yet.

I still have some Hihat tweaking, but most of that is VST based tweaks.

As Dmitri has already said, stick with it and ask for help on here and you'll get it. I know I did.

Some problems people assume are down to the module can actually be from the VST software so you will also need to tweak that once the module is set-up

dmitri wrote:It's not that there are thousands MegaDrum users out there to have a chance that one lives close by or has exactly the same kit. Maybe it is better to describe the problem and we'll try to help solving it?

Hehe, that's true, I was just hoping...

I decided to give up on dynamics for a bit and just focus on timing to start; easier to tackle one thing at a time... But I can't get the triggering quite right; depending on the settings, it's either hitting a drum sometimes doesn't trigger, or it triggers several times in a burst... Most frustratingly, sometimes the same settings result in both! Also, even with crosstalk talk turned all the way up, sometimes hitting toms triggers cymbals or vica-versa...

If I could get that fixed, then I could move on to dynamics, which I imagine will be the trickiest part, and finally get the hi-hat opening/closing perfect...

Rubis wrote:You also might want to tell us what kind of drums you have.

Hart Gigapro - http://hartdynamics.com/products/drumse ... index.html (although mine's an older model, so two of the cymbals are different, but everything else is the same)

macca2004 wrote:Some problems people assume are down to the module can actually be from the VST software so you will also need to tweak that once the module is set-up

I have EZDrummer and BFD2... I could also borrow Superior 2, and switch to that if it's easier to trigger...

For now I've just been using MidiStroke, to convert drumhits to keystrokes, and using a zoomed in Textedit to see when the drum hits trigger or not... also been using Frets on Fire, because that's more fun...

clock2113 wrote:But I can't get the triggering quite right; depending on the settings, it's either hitting a drum sometimes doesn't trigger, or it triggers several times in a burst... Most frustratingly, sometimes the same settings result in both! Also, even with crosstalk talk turned all the way up, sometimes hitting toms triggers cymbals or vica-versa...

I suggest to deal with one problem at a time. I presume you have the latest firmware. Please list all your settings for the tom and describe the problem in more details.

I have the Hart Studio Master 6.4 kit and I found that all of my pads and some cymbals were just too "hot" for megadrum. I would constantly get a High Level of 900+ with the gain set on "All Gains Low". I went the cheap route, I used voltage dividers made from a pair of resistors in each input and now things are much better. The downfall? Not every pad needed the same amount of attenuation and those pads/cymbals have too low of a High Level now for perfect dynamic range. It's a good compromise though because without any voltage dividers I had a terrible time with getting the right settings down.

I'm hoping to finally upgrade my enclosure and when I do that, I'd like to use some potentiometers instead so that each pad/cymbal can be tuned to the correct level instead of a static voltage division like I have now with the voltage dividers. It raises the cost of the project (adding pots) but adds some flexibility that I don't currently have.

So check what you get with Auto High Level turned on and gains set low. If you're getting >900 High Level, your pads are probably too hot and need to be attenuated before you'll get the desired playability.

Hope that helps a bit.

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:I have the Hart Studio Master 6.4 kit and I found that all of my pads and some cymbals were just too "hot" for megadrum. I would constantly get a High Level of 900+ with the gain set on "All Gains Low". I went the cheap route, I used voltage dividers made from a pair of resistors in each input and now things are much better. The downfall? Not every pad needed the same amount of attenuation and those pads/cymbals have too low of a High Level now for perfect dynamic range. It's a good compromise though because without any voltage dividers I had a terrible time with getting the right settings down.

I'm hoping to finally upgrade my enclosure and when I do that, I'd like to use some potentiometers instead so that each pad/cymbal can be tuned to the correct level instead of a static voltage division like I have now with the voltage dividers. It raises the cost of the project (adding pots) but adds some flexibility that I don't currently have.

So check what you get with Auto High Level turned on and gains set low. If you're getting >900 High Level, your pads are probably too hot and need to be attenuated before you'll get the desired playability.

Hope that helps a bit.

Hmm.. I really hoping it doesn't take add resitors on... that's above my DIY ability... I can barely fumble through an XLR cable!

Looks like we have the same snare, tom, and kick at least... did you need a resistor for all of these? Is it vital for it to work at all? I mean, do hits just come across too hard, or does it throw off the timing too? I only plan on using my drums for recording, not live, so I can always adjust velocitie data in the DAW...

I have all gains set low... am getting above 900 High Levels...

dmitri wrote:I suggest to deal with one problem at a time. I presume you have the latest firmware. Please list all your settings for the tom and describe the problem in more details.

Not quite the latest; it's 20090326; I was lucky to be able to get that one on... it took dozens of tries with midi-OX...

Also, the megadrum doesn't work at unless it's set to the slow MIDI speed of 31k vs the USB speed of 38k, despite the fact that I'm using USB... not sure if that makes a difference...

As for the tom, I have

all gains set low
crosstalk group 0
crosstalk 3

And I've been constantly changing threshold and retrigger, trying to find a combination that works...

Like I say, just trying to get the triggering right before I even worry about dynamics... I believe these and minscan (20) are the only ones that would affect triggering??

clock2113 wrote:Hmm.. I really hoping it doesn't take add resitors on... that's above my DIY ability... I can barely fumble through an XLR cable!

Looks like we have the same snare, tom, and kick at least... did you need a resistor for all of these? Is it vital for it to work at all? I mean, do hits just come across too hard, or does it throw off the timing too? I only plan on using my drums for recording, not live, so I can always adjust velocitie data in the DAW...

I have all gains set low... am getting above 900 High Levels...

If they are above 900 with all gains low, you should probably add potentiometers. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, start asking around, there is probably someone you know who can help.

clock2113 wrote:Like I say, just trying to get the triggering right before I even worry about dynamics... I believe these and minscan (20) are the only ones that would affect triggering??

Minscan really is about the velocity data. Dynamic Level and Dynamic Time have a huge affect on triggering.

clock2113 wrote:also been using Frets on Fire, because that's more fun...

Might I suggest DTXMania, a Drum Mania clone. It and many songs for it can be found at http://www.gdamania.net/ . The site can be a little confusing, but it has everything you need, if you can find it.

Your mileage may vary but I was getting inconsistent velocity AND triggering without "cooling down" my pads by means of a voltage divider.

Your MIDI timing issue might be more important to immediately solve though...