Vintage Simmons Drums (UK) Users Group

WHERE TO BEGIN!!!!!!!
Ok, midi is a protocol that will let you transmit/recieve data via a
multi-pin cable...looks like a DIN cable. The data can be notes
program changes commands, pitch bend, modulation and so on.
The data transmission is segregated to 16 channels, one for each of
sixteen intruments.

Each of the 16 intruments can be assigned a midi channel...each
instrument has midi' 'in' for being controlled as a slave, and midi
'out' for controlling as a master.
In most key board applications, if you select your first keyboard
......say kutrz 1200 synth as master controller, and your alesis virus
as slave. .....the alesis wil continue the play where you touch its
keys.......if you play the kurz 1200, both instuments will sound from
the kurz keyboard..

With-in the midi spec, are a host of rules and expectations that are
the general midi standard. Each manufacturer will impliment these
standards as they see fit.
What you propose with multiple kits is certainly possible: you will
have to decide which of the machines should be the master, and connect
the out of it's midi to the in of each other machine using midi cable
@ the in and thru midi jacks.
Next open the midi menus on the master instrument and select midi
channel one, and do the same for each other instrument you wish to
control.
Now when you strike the master instrument, each instrument conected
and set to the same midi channel will be triggered from the master
instrument.
In my case, my sillicon ma"let has a 3 octave controller. If i plug it
midi out into my kurz 1200 keyboard, which has 6 octaves, i can use
the transpose function to slide the sound to the range
needed.......any notes triggered by the mallet now trigger the kurz
keboard.
When more detailed controll with recall is needed, a dedicated midi
controller is can be applied. I have several keyboard controllers that
make no sound on there own..These controllers are designed strictly
for their powerful control over all things midi and the ability to
store complicated, detailed set_ups and store them as a single
program.
Using midi, i now have most of my instruments in rack form and a
couple of controllers to tell everything what to do. One program
change command can reconfigure the modules and send program change
commands to up to 32 instruments ........instantly!!!!!!!
In my mallet rig, the mallet is the controller, it's midi out goes to
the midi in of one of my yamaha tx816s, and then to a kurz PX1000 rack
module.
The mallet send/transmts in omni mode so it sends to all of the midi
channels...the yamaha is set to channel 1 and the kurz to channel 2. I
store the midi transmit channel number along with the sound in the
mallet as a program location and walk thru the programs with the
footswitch on the mallet.

I hope this helps....everyone should in where i missed or left off,
and add clarity or corrections.
Hit me back with any other Qs.............I'll do my best to answer.

Derrick

On 4/8/09, p_k_daniels <p_k_daniels@...> wrote:
> Ok I have SDS1000/2000/9 and a multimallet, as well as an alessis D4. (I
> hope to get a V soon fingers crossed that the other ebay bidder has exceeded
> his budget!but thats besides the point!)
>
> I have a fifteen pad simmons rackmounted kit and I want to be able to midi
> all the above together so that I can access all the sounds from the one set
> of pads. The plan is to use all the simmons brains as various drum sounds,
> the allessis for cymbal sounds and the multimallet for occasional other
> sounds.
>
> I have no experience at all of midi but understand its done as a daisy chain
> bus. I assume something has to be master and others slaves. Do i need to add
> a laptop? how the hell would I program this? how do you go about saving and
> recalling different midi kit setups? Does the fact that some pads are
> connected to one brain and another to a seperate brain complicate matters?
>
> Basically I would like to have 20-25 different kit layouts available at the
> touch of a button/turn of a knob
>
> oh how I wish i could as the manuals suggest "call simmons technical advise
> line for detailed midi help" ho hum
>
> oh and it needs to be robust and repeatable as its going to Gig!
>
>