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Forums - Drums / rhythms / programming
Subject: Roland SPD6
Viewing all 10 messages - View by pages of 10: 1
Original Message 1/10 06-Jul-01 @ 11:51 AM - Roland SPD6
Hi,
Anyone tried the Roland SPD6 drumpads? I am very interested in them. Altough I have never drummed myself, I would like to learn and wondered if the SPD6 could help me to learn this.
Regards,
Vincent
Message 2/10 07-Jul-01 @ 01:01 AM - RE: Roland SPD6
it would help if you require stick use, you might get the same from keys ona keyboard otherwise with hands. I dunno how much it costs, but if you have already your drum sound source also look out for old Roland Octapad which is older sister of the SPD 6, or the humble buit great Yamaha DDD1 drum pads.. almost regarded as a toy but very good for the money. or of course, build your own pads.
___________________________________
I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!
Message 3/10 08-Jul-01 @ 10:15 PM - RE: Roland SPD6
i've spent a healthy amount of time considering the spd-6 as well.. if you go for it, let me know how you like it.. how playable the pedals are et c. i quite doubt i'll get one for a few years.
an option would be paia's kit. around $90.. byo pads ($1 r.s. piezo mic, cable, and something to hit) converts signals from your homemade piezo pickups or whatever to midi. defector z had a go, didn't finish the kit, but i think he sold the parts to someone skilled.. might be worth asking for a review.
Message 4/10 10-Jul-01 @ 07:11 PM - RE: Roland SPD6
They look ok to me - and being knocked out for about £230 seem pretty reasonable. I've been looking to get something like these for a while.
Theres also an older 8-pad version which you might be able to pick up cheap 2nd hand.
I'll try and check some out next time I'm up in London, and let y'all know if they're any good.
Message 5/10 11-Jul-01 @ 01:28 AM - RE: Roland SPD6
"Theres also an older 8-pad version which you might be able to pick up cheap 2nd hand." - yup, that's the 'Octopad' - a classic.
___________________________________
I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!
Message 6/10 11-Jul-01 @ 06:20 PM - RE: Roland SPD6
yes, but thats not what I was thinking of - theres an 8 pad version of the SPD-6, the SPD-20.
http://www.roland.co.uk/prodcat/DETAIL.asp?ID=SPD-20
Message 7/10 12-Jul-01 @ 02:16 PM - RE: Roland SPD6
haha... only with MT would the SPD6 be 6 pads and SPD2 be 8 pads.. heh heh
___________________________________
I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!
Message 8/10 25-Jul-01 @ 02:04 AM - RE: Roland SPD6
Hello, would-be pad bashers. I bought an SPD-6 a couple of days ago so thought I’d share my initial impressions.
I got the unit as I wanted to try entering drum patterns in a more "natural" way. As I was not really interested in the internal sounds I have not been disappointed with them as some reviewers seem to have been. I view them as a nice bonus for practicing without having to hook up to anything else. This said, whatever wit decided that the wretched General-Midi SFX noises would endear anyone to this unit wants a good kick up the arse!
Physically, the SPD-6 is small! At first I was disappointed with this, but am now totally won over. It doesn’t take up much desktop and feels really comfortable played on the lap. I have had great fun bashing away with both percussion and standard sounds from my various synths and am already confident that the purchase was a good move. The whole experience of getting away from the keyboard, combined with the primitive buzz of hitting something really changes how you approach your music. The big surprise to me has been that using my hands to strike the pads has been far and away my favourite way to enter patterns, even conventional kick/snare ones. I suppose that using sticks is not as natural and I will have to put a bit of practice in (and lose about 4 stone) before I can attempt any Karl Bartos “Ubermensch-Maschine at Perkussion Workstation” impressions.
The only problem I have noted (other than the rather cheapskate omission of a mains adapter) is that striking pads 2-6 near the edges often causes Pad 1 to trigger! As this tends to be a crash cymbal on the basic presets this is most annoying (unless you want to sound like Keith Moon in a tumble-dryer. To be fair, the manual does say that you should strike the pads centrally - but I’m sure that I’m not the only uncoordinated thrashing retard who will find this irritating. I’ve noticed that even placing the unit on a desk will cause a spurious trigger, so perhaps Pad 1 is some kind of default setting for non-assignable hits? This problem is much more noticeable when using the sensitivity setting for hands, and I’m sure is a price worth paying for a responsive unit (see my Yamaha note below).
All in all, I’m well chuffed with the SPD-6. I hope to get a bit more into the setup side of things to remove any reference to crash cymbals when I get time to read the manual properly. I have had hours of good clean fun hitting it and feel that the pads fill a real hole in the marketplace for a cheap percussion trigger without unnecessary bells and whistles, except of course those in the bloody SFX kits!
N.B.
I did manage to buy one of the Yamaha units mentioned fairly cheaply but was very disappointed in the triggering aspects of it - anything subtle like holding the stick loosely after the initial strike to get those nice “secondary/echo/ghost” hits (there’s probably a proper term for these) just didn’t register as midi velocities, whatever adjustments I made. The SPD-6 has no problems with this.
Message 9/10 27-Jul-01 @ 04:07 PM - RE: Roland SPD6
Horizens has been using the 8 pad unit for a long time and in live situations too. I think it's the SPD20 he has. Anyway, he's complained about it having a double triggering problem. That keeps him from ever using it for drum solo breakdowns on the stage. I've heard him use it in the context of a full track and it does just fine there. The double hits sound intentional with loops running alongside.
I too am thinking about this little 6 pad beast. So it doesn't seem to have a duoble triggering problem besides pad 1 triggering when you play it too close? Maybe there is a sensitivity setting that'll minimize this problem?
Message 10/10 01-Aug-01 @ 02:36 AM - RE: Roland SPD6
Hi roller (geddit?)
Just to confirm that the only "double triggering" that I am getting is with pad1 triggering when hitting any of the other pads toards their edges, as described. I haven't noticed any other double hits being generated (yet).
I'm sure you're right when you suggest that this can be cured by altering the sensitivity of the unit. There is a switch on the back for quickly selecting the two sensitivity "modes" (hands/sticks) but the individual sensitivity for each mode can be further fine tuned to suit the player.
The only thing that's made me reluctant to alter anything is that I like having the fine sensitivity to pick up all the sensitive nuances (actually just scratty mistakes) in my playing. I don't mind taking out the odd double trigger in the sequencer.
Of course, if you were using the unit live you would probably want to set the sensitivity a lot higher in case your delicate jazzy tinkerings trigger the "Angry robot shouting down a wet pipe" sample you foolishly assigned to pad 1!
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