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 “Serial.begin(31250)“. Once that is done, a complete three-byte MIDI note-on message can be sent with three “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.)

MIDI Over USB?

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.

Hope you’ve been practicing your paradiddles. Synesthesia today unveiled a new digital drum pad called the Mandala. Compromising the drum trigger itself and a “brain” that handles MIDI configuration and produces sound, the Mandala lets you play either internal sound presets or external MIDI devices and soft synths on an 11″ circular playing area. Pick up some sticks, strike away, and you get 7 independent zones of MIDI data, so you can assemble a very sophisticated performance with this device alone. TOOL’s Danny Carey was involved in the instrument’s development, and the company Synesthesia has a background in building sensors for musical applications, including the D-Beam IR sensor found on many Roland products. This appears to be their first end user product.

One of the most impressive instruments at NAMM this year wasn’t new: it was the Zendrum, a spectacular handmade MIDI drum controller. The Zendrum has been evolving gradually since the 1980s, but it’s brought to life by the latest drum samples in FXpansion’s BFD drum sample library. That’s the fascinating thing that’s happening: as sample libraries get better, they become more demanding of controllers, and visa versa. Careful velocity sensitivity in the BFD samples (FXpansion were showing a new expansion pack) made the slightest tap on the Zendrum incredibly sensitive and realistic.

Shown here: John Emrich, drummer, Zendrummer, and creator of the new Jazz & Funk BFD sound library (more from him in comments).

Sometimes you wish you could just take something off the NAMM show floor and put it in your suitcase. Such was the case with the padKONTROL, 4×4 triggering hardware from Korg complete with an X/Y touchpad and incredible customizability. Why am I thinking about this now? Because I sure could use it on some tracks I’m working on at the moment.

One of the hottest pieces of hardware gear covered at CDM (at least according to our hit counts on CDM’s original report) is now shipping. M-Audio’s Trigger Finger, a USB/MIDI control surface with 16 pressure-sensitive drum pads, 4 faders, and 8 knobs, is in stock at major outlets. I’ve tried it, and it feels great. Add in templates for Reason and Live (among others), and I’m completely sold. This thing looks like too much fun. Music123.com has it for US$199; so does Musician’s Friend.

In other M-Audio news, Pro Tools now works with all M-Audio Delta PCI and FireWire interfaces. I was disappointed by the initial compatibility list for Digidesign’s Pro Tools M-Powered, a special version intended for use with M-Audio interfaces. (Previously, you couldn’t run Pro Tools without Digi’s hardware.) Friday, M-Audio announced it had expanded compatibility to the entire Delta PCI and FireWire lines. (Anything with FireWire on it now works with Pro Tools M-Powered.) If you’re a Pro Tools fan, this makes your choices a great deal more flexible. Presumably like Pro Tools 6.9, though, the M-Powered release shares current incompatibility with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4. (My own feeling — my primary work environment will remain Logic Pro and Ableton Live.)

Using piezo-electric sensors or specialized drum pads, you
can turn acoustic drums into triggers, then convert that signal to MIDI. But why stop there, when your
legs are just waiting to be slapped?

To use your legs as a trigger, you’ll want a fairly sensitive sensor — standard drum triggers would require you to hit your legs with your sticks. Hard. (Though you might be into that; I don’t know.)

The Pulse BD-1 Body Pad Drum Trigger is supposedly designed just for the purpose of strapping a trigger to your body. They’re ugly as hell (check the geeky product shots). Loose-fitting costume / parachute pants might be in order. (Better option may be to go DIY or use a different trigger — see the comment at the end of the story.)

The tricky part, as with any drum trigger, is that you’ll need a module to convert triggers to MIDI to make the trigger useful, like the Roland TMC6 Trigger MIDI Converter. (If that’s too pricey, you can usually score something much cheaper by scouring eBay.) Once you’ve added the MIDI trigger, you can trigger percussion, samples, loops, video clips, whatever, by slapping your (suddenly rather bulky) legs.

Let me know if you’ve done anything like this and how it went. As a non-drummer, thigh-slapping may be the closest I can come to percussion - stay tuned.

UPDATE: These are crap? I asked for feedback and got it — our friend Kevin of The Nettles (great band, by the way) writes in comments (in case you missed it):

I’m sorry but I own a pair of these suckers and they’re a waste of money.  

 For a start, they’re not pads, they’re blocks of wood with transducers inside. When you bang with your fingers on a unyielding block of wood, you damage your finger joints.  Secondly, the transducers that Pulse provide with my pair have widely varying sensitivities, an indication of a serious quality-control problem, which I’ve also seen with their Red Dot drum transducers.

Avoid or build them on your own with piezos, a piece of wood and old rubber mouse pads. Then you can use sticks or your hands. For trigger midi converters you can check out older trigger to MIDI converters but your best bet might be to buy an old drum brain, like an Alesis D5, that has MIDI outs. Then you not only get MIDI conversion, you also get a sound bank in case you don’t want to burden your synth.

 

Thanks, Kevin; that was exactly the kind of first-hand experience I was hoping for. I’ll continue my quest for a knee-slapping good musical time, but if Kevin is right here, lousy triggers are not a good place to start. And wooden blocks? DIY it is. More updates on this topic soon.