Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- narrowgatedrummer wrote:
> ... the samples I've heard on the cymbals...really stink.
> Is there a way to make them more real sounding or is
> there a way to..IMPORT my cymbals as samples?

(I'm going to tackle this with two replies, one about the question 
itself, and one a bit more philosophical, just so the threads can't 
be distinguished).

No, you can't import your own samples. But if you have a sampler 
which is reachable by MIDI, you could use the DTXPU to trigger your 
sampler. You would then need to mix the sampler audio into the rest 
of the DTX, either with a smaller mixer or via the AUX IN on the 
DTXPU.

Yes, the onboard ones can be improved. You can layer them, either 
both sounds simultaneously (at different volumes, say to add a dark 
sustain to a faster, brigher attack) or cross-faded. You can change 
filter cutoff frequencies to brighten dark sounds or vice-versa, and 
you can use the coarse/fine tuning to move them up or down the 
register.

But they may still not satisfy if you compare them side-by-side with 
the real thing as you can. The single biggest issue, for me anyway, 
is that the brain only cares about the attack phase - how hard did 
you hit it (volume), and for how long (was it a strike or a choke)? 
On sensing a strike, it retriggers the sound *from scratch* - which 
is to say that it doesn't care if it's already been hit recently, or 
how it's been hit. Which means that you can't get "cymbal rolls" at 
all (other than by using the sample), and you can't get that 
interaction between edge and crash on a crash/ride.

Stewart