Drum triggers and midi converters?

[o'malley]

So basically I want to do some live electronica projects, and use ableton live to do looping and run a drum sampler. I play drums and percussion. So I have 2 questions...

I was thinking of using a Roland SPD-6 to control ableton's looping functions etc. Do you think this would be a good controller for this application? I don't want a trigger finger because I can't hit it with a stick


Also, I want to use drum triggers to control battery or a similar drum sampler plugin, to add more timbres to my acoustic drum kit. Anyone have recommendations on a trigger to midi converter? I was looking at the roland TMC-6, eDrum, or Alesis DM5 brain. Does anyone know of anything less expensive, or that would work better? I don't really care about built in sounds, they almost always sound like crap, I only care about the midi output. I do like the idea of it being rack mountable.

I have a MOTU MIDI Express XP interface, so I'm hoping I can use both controllers in Ableton.

thanks

[stk]

I was thinking of using a Roland SPD-6 to control ableton's looping functions etc. Do you think this would be a good controller for this application? I don't want a trigger finger because I can't hit it with a stick

Mate of mine (incredible drummer) used to play solo shows using his acoustic kit, supplemented by something like the SPD-6 to trigger loops. I'd say it's a good choice.

I was looking at the roland TMC-6, eDrum, or Alesis DM5 brain. Does anyone know of anything less expensive, or that would work better?

I picked up an old Roland PM-16 for ~$50 a while back, 16 trigger inputs, some interesting realtime midi processing, etc.
I'd say shop around ebay and whatnot.

EDIT- there's also the low-end Roland V-drum stuff like the TD3, pretty cheap, 9 trigger inputs (some of them dual, for rimshots, ride bell, etc) + highhat control (sends midi CC). With a stero->2xMono adaptor you can use the dual trig inputs with two separate triggers.
Inbuilt sounds are pretty naff but they're useful for quiet practice if you have some decent trigger pads.

cheers, sk

[runagate]

Rock Band video game drums as midi controller from Create Digital Music blog

Free, open source (PC/MAC/Linux) software for using Wii controller as "air drums" from Create Digital Music blog

Not exactly what you're asking but it may strike a chord with peole who check out this thread, especially they, unlike I, already own that stuff.