I own Yamaha's DtxEtreme III drum kit. My drummer is having a hard time getting great sound from the L1. He outputs signals into the T1 from the main dual output provisions of the drum module. Adjusting the sound to handle the bass drum impacts the quality of the toms and snare. There are also six individual output points from the module that would have allowed individual tweaking of sound from each pad but my drummer's challenge is how to use the limited input provisions of the T1. Can anyone advise?

Hi dTouch,

The only suggestion that comes to mind is to route the Kick Drum in the drum module to one output and send that through to one T1® Channel. Then do some tweaking with the T1® to help. Note: The KickGate® probably won't serve you well here. It was designed for acoustic drums.

Then in the drum module, take all the other drums sounds and run them through to a single channel out to the T1® and do any other tweaking that is required.

I'll ask around to see if anyone else has some ideas.

Hi dTouch,

First thing to look at is the number of B1 bass modules you are using. For electronic drums, two is the bare minimum.

The Extended Bass Package with a Bose A1 Packlite Amp & two more B1s, for a total of four is better, depending on the volume of your band. Even at lower volumes, I prefer the fullness of 4-B1s.

I do all my EQing from within the (Roland TD-12) module. I keep most of my kits Reverb-free for more punch, the room will add ambience. I also prefer the kick "damped down", toms too, to keep things clean.

A separate T1 channel for just the kick drum output can improve things a little bit, but you can get very close with internal module EQ, and it doesn't eat up an extra T1 channel.

You can also just run the E-drums mono into the analog input on a Model II's power stand, if that's the model of L1 that you are using. I've often used that input for my overhead drums, then run only the kick into the T1.

I hope this helps.

P

dTouch,

Something else...I spent many hours tweaking my TrapKAT & TD-12 to sound good with the L1, in fact, I've never stopped. Often I have to tweak even more at the gigs, things like decay of individual drums and ambient effects. I never had good luck EQing and tweaking with headphones. What sounded good in them, didn't really translate well to the L1. You might need to tweak with an L1 in a reasonably large room, if you aren't already.

quote:

Adjusting the sound to handle the bass drum impacts the quality of the toms and snare.

This sounds like he is trying to get more "punch" from the kick and it's giving too much bass to other drums.
This is why I would suggest EQing inside the Yamaha module.

Also...in my experience with both E & A-drums, an electronic sample is never going to fill the room quite like a real kick drum does. That can be either a good thing or a bad thing too, depending on the venue, and the volume at which you are trying to keep your music. My E-kick always sounds good "in the music", but when played during a break in a song, by itself, can seem to fall flat, because of the lack of dynamics available in the E-module. I worked around that to a degree, by putting another kick in one of my pads and having it's volume much louder.

I have a video example of the weakness I'm talking about in a recording of Tommy James' "I Think We're Alone Now". See if you notice it. In that rare case, I was only using TWO B1s, but am using the floor tom as well as the kick for the volume.

ST & Drumr, thanks. Suggestions were tried and results are phenomenal especially in isolating the kick and sending to a channel on the T1. The drummer is grinning ear to ear.