new toy - Yamaha drum pads

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:34 pm

i just won this yamaha midi drum pad set thingy + stand on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0090623342

i'm figuring i'll be able to learn how to drum with it.

though knowing me it'll be up on the classified board within 2 weeks

Post by **Doog** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:37 pm

My bandmate has one of those, they're pretty good. Tend to miss anything really fast but they're great to learn on.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:44 pm

That's a similar thing to what My Bloody Valentine used on Loveless; because Colm O' Ciosoig was ill they got him to hit those pressure sensitive pads so they could input something close to his style of drumming into the drum machine.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:55 pm

Doog wrote:My bandmate has one of those, they're pretty good. Tend to miss anything really fast but they're great to learn on.

sweet, that's what i wanted to hear!

i'll do a shitty youtube demo once ive got them..now just gotta order "Learning drums..for Dummies"

filtercap · Post by **filtercap** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:33 am

Doog wrote:My bandmate has one of those, they're pretty good. Tend to miss anything really fast but they're great to learn on.

Agreed & agreed.

My bassist has one of these, and we used to use it for jamming/songwriting. Depending how you set it up & what style music you use it for, you can get some pretty decent results. The touch-sensitivity threshold was a little hard to figure out. Also, smacking two pads simultaneously sometimes yields one sound rather than two, and there's some magic ritual I had to perform before switching off or else it forgot my carefully-tweaked custom kit the next time I switched on.

Aside from that, it is indeed handy for sketching out & recording song ideas, and fun to use once you've got the setup figured out. Enjoy.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:35 am

aphasiac wrote:i just bought this yamaha midi drum pad set thingy + stand on ebay

fix'd

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:03 am

those things are fun. they used to have one in Service Merchandise when i was 11 but my parents wouldn't buy it for me.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:11 pm

so yeh, finally got the Yamaha DD55 drum pads.

in the end my dad met up with the mum of the guy selling to pick em up. kids these days eh..lazy or what..

anyway, first thing that stuck me how small the unit is; it's about the size of a jumbo acoustic guitar body. the big pads are only 5", and the small ones 3". It's also VERY light.
Next i was struck is the amazing high sound quality - it sounds very realistic, especially with reverb on. only thing is it's not that loud - which is cool for quiet practise but annoying overall, so they'll probaby have to go through one of my guitar amps.

Touch sensitivity is decent, but you have to hit the pads dead on centre for it to react properly alot of the time. Now im no drummer, but frankly the floorpedals are sh#t - just buttons.

Anyway, it's a fun bit of kit, and i WILL LEARN TO DRUM dammit! Will probaby do a youtube demo at some point (if i can be bothered)

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:57 pm

Yeah, let me know how that turns out, and I'm interested in the vid. I need to get something to learn drumming on, and these might do it. Question, do you have to run it to the PC to get sounds or does it put it out from the unit itself?

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:28 pm

d00d?

can you like use those as triggers?

if so, you're on your way to recording the next big chart topping hit (or a metal album)!

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:59 pm

Sloan wrote:d00d?

can you like use those as triggers?

if so, you're on your way to recording the next big chart topping hit (or a metal album)!

yup, midi in/out - and works really well according to reviews. may hook it up at some point, cos you can download new songs via midi (it already has 100 inbuilt demo songs to play along with; 50% good, 50% useless).

actually discovered one of the berst features is the "hand percussion" mode - you can play it like a bongo! soo fun!!

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:05 am

PenPen wrote:Yeah, let me know how that turns out, and I'm interested in the vid. I need to get something to learn drumming on, and these might do it. Question, do you have to run it to the PC to get sounds or does it put it out from the unit itself?

nope, all the sounds are built into the unit itself - along with speakers, a metronome, 100 demo songs (which you can change the tempo and turn parts on/off), 40 different drum kits (all customisable). it's a pretty decent package.

If i had more space i'd have probably gone for something like this:

http://www.firebox.com/index.html?dir=f ... nversion=1

Not sure how they compare, technically; the pads on the yamaha are really nice and velocity sensative - you can do some nice dynamic stuff.

anyway yeh i'll do the video then.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:20 am

so yeh, i've been drumming every night for a week, learning using instructional vids off youtube. can hold a simple beat now, and do some simple fills.

For the first few days i didnt know how to hold the sticks, so i was hitting the pads really hard, and have splintered the ends of the sticks and scratched up the pads. oop. but these things are REALLY good for learning = perfect in fact!

Infact I'd say these are BETTER than buying an acoustic kit for a beginner, due to 1) size, 2) varity of drum sounds 3) silent practise, 4) metronome, 5) demo songs to play along with.

I'll do a demo once my stereo 1/4 instrument cable arrives, probably on Tuesday/Wednesday.

oh yeh one final side point - turns out my girlfriend is naturally a really amazing drummer. she got teh groove - on her first ever go she could do everything i'd learnt in a week within minutes. I picked up my guitar and plugged the drums into my stereo, and we had a jam;the yamaha pads sound KILLER through a good speaker system!!

Post by **Mike** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:27 am

People often grip the sticks way too hard when they start out - it makes it much harder for you to play well.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:50 am

My wife had a set of those, they were alright.

She lost interest, and I can't play the drums.

At all

Sold now.

euan · Post by **euan** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:56 am

I struggled when I tried to learn to play the drums at school just like when I tried to learn guitar. I wasn't allowed to use the left handed quitar despite being the only lefty in the class.

I wanted to play the drums lefty but they wouldn't let me either and I had the same confused feeling. I might nick my brothers drum kit at some point actually.

Life is hard when you are a left.

Woe.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:29 pm

euan wrote: I wanted to play the drums lefty but they wouldn't let me either and I had the same confused feeling. I might nick my brothers drum kit at some point actually.

how do you play drums lefty? If you go with matched grip then your hands are the same - i guess you could reverse your entire kit, but i don't really see any point, as it's not like either hand is suited better to any particular drum(s).

Post by **Mike** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:33 pm

Left handed people reverse the whole kit. It does make a difference.

euan · Post by **euan** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:37 pm

Mike wrote:Left handed people reverse the whole kit. It does make a difference.

Word.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:01 pm

Mike wrote:Left handed people reverse the whole kit. It does make a difference.

excuse my ignorance, but what are they? I can see disadvantages (not being able to play anyone elses kit), but i can't see the benifits (assuming you're starting from scratch).

It's the same with lefty guitar players - I don't get the point of learning lefty. Unless you're playing classical, surely it makes more sense to use your dominant more skillful left hand for fretting, and it's certainly a lot easier/cheaper to buy right-handed guitars.

what am i missing?

new toy - Yamaha drum pads

new toy - Yamaha drum pads

Re: my new toy - Yamaha drum pads