christopher:
> Hey, Jesper:
Hi!
> Thanks for your timely responses -- very helpful but also thought
> provoking!
That's my intention. ;) But I'd like to stay helpful too... and provoking!
;)
> Here are a few more inquiries for you to consider, please:
> (1) Who is this Paul, and what about these "midi2sds" cards? Does he
> make them himself? Finally, how does one acquire one, and what does
> one cost, installed (US funds) Would I need to locate a tech shoppe
> in the States to do the retrofit? I would not attempt it myself.
Paul is here on the list. His company can be found here:
http://www.modulus-music.com/I guess Paul can fill in the gaps, but I'd guess he could help you build
one.
> (2) When you mentioned "a cheap old drum synth with MIDI and separate
> outs" as being a very simple solution to what I am trying to do, it
> sounds enticing, but could you specifically name a couple such units
> which would have these capabilities, which I could be on the lookout
> for? Your guidence here would be much appreciated!
I know friends who uses the Roland R8, but I know there are others. Since
I'm not using this solution myself I cannot supply many names. Maybe the
TR-505 can help? Or other guys on the list. Google away with search words
like "separate outputs" and "triggering the SDS" etc.
> (3) You also mentioned, in your second reply, affording "a really
> nice MIDI->Trig converter", well... who manufactures one of these,
> and approximately what is the pricetag?
If you want just simple control, i e on/off there are sellers on Ebay who
make nice little boxes with 8 outputs at around 75 USD as I recall it.
Kenton Electronics in the UK (www.kenton.co.uk) make state of the art stuff
for all who wants to convert to anything else. If you want velocity control
I'd take a discussion with Paul or would look for the Simmons MTM on EBay.
Normal price seems to be around 200 USD. There is also US firm
www.encoreelectronics.com/ making the "Expressionist" but that's also rather
pricey if you "only" want it for trigger control. If you're into old
analogue synths however it's in the same league as Kenton - a killer machine
(used to have one).
> You see, I am selling my
> acoustic kit (drums only) to buy the ZENDRUM, and I'm still a few
> pennies short; selling the kit is probably the only way I could even
> fathom touching a ZENDRUM right now. They are beautifully-made and
> highly-functional, but pricey, if you want the exotic woods...
All that seems fine, but is it just the "gadget factor" you are after or
have you tested the thing and like the feel of playing it too? Not being
offensive now, just curious... When I drum along I do that on my old Simmons
pads or from a midi keyboard, in my case an old sampler.
> (4) Finally, my 4th and final question is in regards to my trusty
> old SDE, which I bought brand new a few years back in a music shoppe
> here in Maine.
∗enter scary Stephen King music∗
I'm suddenly thinking about "Needful things" with our very own Max von Sydow
as the bad guy...
> It had been put out back, forgotten about...had been
> in the store since they were being manufactured back in the 80's. I
> know the unit was never used, and it looks to have been never dropped
> or mishandled, and here is the question:
> ---The "AUDIO INPUT" on the rear panel (jack accepts a 1/4 male TRS-
> style) Nothing in the manual explains its intended usage, in fact, it
> is only mentioned on the diagram of the rear panel. It would seem
> logical that this is some type of AUDIO THRU, to send an additional
> output mixed in with the SDE output thruogh the main Left and Right
> OUTS, however, when I connect a drum machine, CD player, etc., I do
> not get the output of the additional device in the mix. Is this not
> the intended usage for that AUDIO INPUT jack, or is there some form
> of internal ON/OFF which I have to activate before being able to pass
> the signal through to the main OUTS?? ... This has been driving me
> bonkers for a couple of years now (not that I really need to put
> anything through there, just that the thing is not functioning and
> that bothers me!!)
I don't know, but a guess would be that it only mixes the external signal if
you trigger the internal drum. An idea at least...
> Thanks so much for your attention, and for being such an active
> member of such a great and resourceful list! (and thanks to all the
> others, too, for making the forum so good!)
Good luck, I bet some of the other listees will join in on this one. But I
guess summer keeps many of us faithful at the beach or so. Up here in Sweden
the temperature just dropped below 20 degrees celcius the last two days so
I'm staying indoors and the studio is not hot as hell for the first time in
weeks.
electronically yours, jesper
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