anyone know of a cheap drum machine with assignable pads that i can use as a midi controller? something like the akai mpd-16 but preferrably half the price.
any suggestions?

thanks!

i can't really think of anything besides the Zoom rhythmtrak 123,and i'm not sure its gonna do assigns,etc. i have the mpd-16, if ya have the extra cash go for the AKAI,it has made my work alot easier,and if your working with a good sampled kit,it sounds very realistic.

Hammer

You might consider a used Alesis or Roland drum machine. I am not sure if the pads are assignable or if you would have to match your battery programs with the pads on the hardware. Someone else here may know.

Robert

A Boss DR-660 makes a great little drum pad controller. I used to muck about with it all the time triggering other synths. Good fun. It sends roll and flam info over midi as well!

Here's one on Ebay for $92.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=927678276


Edit: It's not Mine on ebay BTW. I sold mine years ago.

battery cells are assigned by notes right? c1, b1, etc...
so how would i assign dr-660 pads to cells in battery?
do notes (c1, b1, etc...) each correspond to a midi signal number?
not sure how it works...

i think the akai s20 would do it for you also...

Quote:

battery cells are assigned by notes right? c1, b1, etc... so how would i assign dr-660 pads to cells in battery? do notes (c1, b1, etc...) each correspond to a midi signal number? not sure how it works...

Yep.. you pretty much know how it works already... notes on a standard keyboard are directly mapped to MIDI "note numbers". The top left cell of Battery is by default triggered by the key C1 (the bottom key on a 61-key controller), which is represented in MIDIspeak by note number 36. You can see a full list of midi note numbers and the actual keys that they correspond to here:

http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/table2.html

With the 660, you can assign any pad to any note number (if memory serves me correctly), so by referencing the chart in the link you could easily set up the pads on the 660 to mirror Battery's cells. What's more, pads on the 660 respond not only to velocity but to aftertouch (pressure) as well, so you could have lots of fun with that and Battery.

Hmmm.. if you don't buy it maybe I will.

thanks for all the very useful info. this has cleared up a great deal for me.
looks like i'm gonne be bidding on that 660.

regards,
d.

drumkats baby drumkats

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=927791327
or this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=927779898

I think i'm gonna bid on the first one