@westerlu77 - basically a multisample takes the velocity value of your physical drum hit, and the drum brain (or sampler or whatever) plays back one of a number of samples that have been mapped according to that velocity - that way you can simulate more natural characteristics from each hit (like including audible snare buzz on a kick drum played more quietly, or getting rid of the 'machinegun' effect when you do a roll with an unchanging drum sound...). A single-shot will just trigger that one sound and it will sound the same every time (maybe just the volume will be changed according to how hard you hit).
@Calimero ...I know what you mean, but hang in there. I'm getting my kit in a few weeks - and in all honesty, if I could have afforded it sooner, I would have bought when the first batch hit the shops. I've spent a good few hours playing the drumit over the last few months, in a shop with whole rooms devoted to V-drums and Yamahas, and I've given them all a good thrashing, and I still feel that bang-for-buck, it's better than any other e-drum kit in the price range, even with the current OS.
If you're considering buying but not sure, I would say don't jump into getting something else if you can wait a bit longer. And certainly go to the
Alesis site and listen to their samples. Hmm.
For multisamples (if you really can't live without a particular drum sound from BFD or whatever), one way to do it would be to set up a really simple midi track in a sequencer with say 4 - 8 beats on the same instrument, evenly spaced to play out the full tail of each hit, and draw in distinct velocity envelopes for each note, so you get a good range. Bounce down the audio to a wav, and then chop it up, naming each slice as you go. I can't see myself doing this to be honest, except maybe to add a subtle FX change on each hit and come up with some weird combinations, like filter cutoffs controlled by velocity, or maybe increasing overdrive or something. Would be great for some heavy d'n'b I reckon. You could even really mash up the pitch of the drum. Lots of possibilities!
@Nussbaum - Windows Vista became pretty good after Service Pack 1, and Microsoft never apologised for getting people to pay for it up to that point
Seriously though, I wouldn't spend this much money on
anything without researching it carefully first. If you're not sure, wait until you're either happy with the product or decide it's not right for you.
I'd like to state for the record that no-one has paid me to write any of this, I'm just an old DDrum4 fanboy, and I'm putting my money where my mouth is in the next couple of weeks.
