If you haven’t spent every last penny you own on the latest playourwiibox, your strength hasn’t been taken away from coma-inducing leftovers and you’re in the mood for some jaw-dropping music tech bargains, well just read on dear CDMers because we have the best sales to help you start your new year of music-making off right.
Matt writes us to let us know he’s gotten his hands on Akai’s MPD24 MIDI pad controller, which just started shipping. (I know some of you have already purchased one and are still waiting to get it!) He’s got some first impressions up with a series of photos, to give you a better sense of the hardware:
Matt writes: “I’m absolutely LOVIN the MPD24 so far, had it almost a week now :)” and asks if we’re reading for some “gadget drooling.”
Akai MPD24 MIDI Pad Controller Review [MakeTunes]
The MPD24 looks terrific for someone wanting a real MPC-style experience from your controller, while still using your favorite software. I still like the Korg kontrolPAD for its X/Y touch controller, more compact design, and emphasis on drum performance, but the MPD24 looks good if you want additional controls. The big question for me, though, is how the pads compare to Akai’s MPD16, the Korg, and the M-Audio Trigger Finger. Hopefully I’ll get my hands on a unit soon.
The Arduino I/O board is becoming the board of choice for building DIY electronics projects cheaply and easily. It’s affordable, it’s flexible, it’s open source (and has a growing community to help you out), and evolving nicely. Naturally, one of the first things we want to do with it is build some cool music electronics projects. Todbot has been doing a terrific series of tutorials for his “Spooky Arduino” class, and in the latest installment, turns to drum triggers and MIDI:
Spooky Arduino Projects #4 – Musical Arduino [todbot blog]
Be sure to check out the full class notes and PDFs; they’r really helpful if you’re getting started with Arduino (in addition to what’s on the Arduino site, of course)
Now, before a bunch of CDM readers chime in, I know we have some true connoisseurs of drum triggers, so let’s assume this is a beginner DIY project rather than a way to make a full-featured drum project. (As such, though, it looks like a great way to get started.)
But what’s also nice here is that the tutorial explains how to use the Arduino as a MIDI interface, with links to further resources. You need physical MIDI DIN connectors, and you need to format your messages properly (remembering that MIDI really is a serial protocol):
… to implement a MIDI interface, all you really need is the ability to send serial data at 31,250 bps. This is easily done with â€Å“Serial.begin(31250)â€Å“. Once that is done, a complete three-byte MIDI note-on message can be sent with three â€Å“Serial.print(val,BYTE)â€Â? commands.
I still like the MIDIsense as a plug-and-play DIY MIDI solution, especially with new Windows software and more I/O on the way. But the Arduino works well for MIDI in situations when boards like the MIDIsense won’t do. (And if you’ve got a few projects going, you might wind up with both on your workbench.)
Andy Bennett, aka SteamSHIFT wonders if it’s possible to send MIDI messages over USB, as you would with another MIDI device. Certainly, you can send the messages; see the example above. The problem as I see it is that the current Arduino drivers map the board as a serial port, and most music software doesn’t recognize serial device inputs as MIDI devices without additional drivers. It seems like you might have to write a USB MIDI driver for the board. But I’m not sure; I haven’t done anything like this. Anyone with some insight? (Here is the point where I expect someone to correct me on something I said that turns out to be wrong.)
Drummer John Emrich loves the Zendrum, the unique, handcrafted MIDI drum controller featured on CDM previously. Here’s what he has to say about it:
“Without a doubt, this is the most dynamic MIDI unit available for percussionists. You’re not going to find another trigger unit for drummers that will give you this much control over dynamics.”
He isn’t kidding, either. I expect it’d take some practice with the Zendrum just as with any other controller or instrument, but close your eyes, and Emrich’s performance on the Zendrum using sampled sounds sounds like a real kit. Open your eyes, and you get to see a unique style of performance with finger-tapping on the mysterious-looking controller.
I got to witness this at person at NAMM in January, but the folks at fxpansion have posted a video with Emrich playing, using their BFD Jazz & Funk sample library and GURU drum machine:
fxpansion Zendrum video [Flash Player]
John Emrich shows what you can do with a set-up involving BFD, Receptor and Zen Drums in this impressive video.
What they said.
Alesis has its eyes on the drum market with two new products:
The Trigger iO is a trigger-to-MIDI percussion interface for drum triggers. It will go head to head with Roland’s TMC-6. There’s no predicting how good this will be until we see it, but from a marketing standpoint, it looks like a smart direction: whereas Roland modestly markets its MIDI trigger interface as a way of expanding a set of Roland V-Drum electronic drums, Alesis looks like it’s going after everyone. The package even includes the “lite” edition of the excellent BFD drum set from fxpansion. There’s an optional drum stand mount and lots of customization for presets, trigger settings and assignments, and so on. If the quality is there, the feature set looks great for performing digital drummers.
In the category of “things you hit,” Alesis has the ControlPad, a compact MIDI percussion pad. Note that you can really hit these with sticks, as opposed to the finger-trigger pads like M-Audio’s Trigger Finger. Again, Alesis’ strategy seems to be to remake Roland products so they’re less ugly, as Roland has an entire line of similar products. (Sorry, Roland, but you do have to admit, they are kind of ugly.) Other than offering a different color, though, I’ll be curious to see if Alesis can really diferentiate themselves here.
Updated from comments: these pieces have “was that a misprint?” low prices. US$199 for ControlPad and US$149 for Trigger iO (though you’ll of course need triggers to go with the latter). The low prices could definitely make these devices a player.
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