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Just wanted to share something I discovered this weekend while re-organising my kit slightly.....
I've already posted that the hex arms used for toms and cymbals are the same as 10mm allen keys (and I use a couple of long allen keys as longer reach tom arms on my kit).
I am adding a couple of extra cymbals to my kit, and don't have enough cymbal arms so started looking at alternatives.
I discovered that the plastic 'ball joint' fittings are capable of clamping an M8 bolt quite succesfully (despite being a smaller diameter than the 10mm hex rods), and so I have now created a couple of very small cymbal mounts using a 2Box clamp, a long M8 coach bolt and a locking nut.
I'd already discovered that if you don't want the clamp to be at 90degrees to the rock pole, you can remove one of the countersunk allen bolts holding the two halves of the clamp together and then rotate the sections to any angle you want.
I now have my two main crash cymbals mounted very neatly just above the top of the upright rack poles:




Also - if you find (as I did) that the limited adjustability on the standard cymbal arms prevents you from getting the cymbal angle you want, I suggest a simple 'adjustment' of the arm..... It's only aluminium and you can bend it over your knee to get the required angle 

Anyone know what has changed in 1.32.4?
I can't see anything on the site to say??

Hi
Just wanted to suggest an idea for consideration....
The 'Sound' option (on Page34 of the D5 manual) is quite useful for selecting which Zone you want available - but there seems to be an option missing.
On a cymbal (typically the Ride) I'd like to be able to play the bell sound (on the bell) and the bow sound (on the bow) but not the edge sound (typically a crash sound). There seems to be lots of options, but not that one!
I can get round this by editing sounds to remove the edge samples, but it would be more convenient if this was an option from the 'Sound' setting.....

Just looking at this again, and although you can set a Cymbal input to be PadPP, I can't find any way for it to recognise the rim trigger signal. Pressing 'More' and the Cym1 button doesn't give any options for additional trigger settings or sounds, so I'm thinking that although it can be used as a pad input, it can only be a mono pad.....
Looks like I'm going to have to go the more traditional route and split the tom rim inputs off....

Happy to help if I can, but I can only answer with more questions.....
Do you want to record your drums alone, or with a backing track?
Are you playing the backing track on your computer, or from the drumit module?
Do you want to be able to mix the track after recording (i.e. adjust the relative volumes of the different drums after recording)?

I play a Drumit5, but I think the D3 has 4 or 6 audio outputs (depending on if you use the headphone output as additional audio outs).
If you want to have some mixing options, the you'll need a 4 or 6 input audio interface for your PC - that will be more expensive than a simpler 2 input interface (but if you only record in stereo then you won't be able to do any mixing afterwards). You will need a relatively good quality interface to ensure it comes with good drivers to allow low latency - look for ASIO drivers and USB2 or USB3 interfaces. (Firewire is also good, but more expensive and probably unnecessary). I use Focusrite interfaces, but there are many others.
If you are only recording audio (either 2 or more tracks) then Audacity is a free software package that will be sufficient.
Cakewalk is also free now - and that is a more full featured DAW software (including effects and options for Midi recording and VSTs) - again not necessary for very simple recording, but gives you room for growth in future....

I appreciate this is a lot of information...If you can start by answering the questions then I'll try and narrow it down a bit for you.

Just had a quick try of this…… PadPP works but plays the 'bell' sample across the whole cymbal - however you can then select the 'Sound' setting in the kit and then choose the edge or bow sound to be played.

Like I said above - the amount of flexibility built into this system continues to amaze me....

Hi!
That's quite a wide ranging question...…

You say you want to use a VST (e.g. SD2 or similar) rather than the onboard Drumit sounds.. Therefore you will need a PC/Laptop/Mac to host this. You will also need a good quality Audio Interface to be able to playback the sounds in real-time with very little latency. If this interface doesn't include Midi connections, you will also need a Midi interface. You will need an DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to host the VST and record the Midi / Audio performances.

PC/Laptop/Mac
I'm a PC user, so I have no experience on Macs. From a PC spec perspective you'll probably need i7 CPU, 16Gb RAM, SSD hard disk with 500Gb minimum space. Depending on the Audio Interface you choose, you'll need either USB2 / USB3 or Firewire connectivity

Audio Interface
If you are sure you only want to use Midi recording and VST sounds, then you can choose a smaller interface (2in 2out) - but to get low latency you need a 'pro' interface with ASIO drivers. I use Focusrite but there are many to choose from. USB will be more than good enough for a 2in 2out interface.
If it doesn't have Midi connections as well (some do, some don't) you'll need a separate Midi interface - this can be very cheap.
However, if you want to consider audio recording from the D5, then you have got up to 8 audio outputs available. To record this in one take you'd need an interface with 8 audio ins (and that gets expensive). These are often on Firewire, so you need a laptop with this connection. Alternatively USB3 (and probably USB2) should be fast enough for 8 inputs.
You can record the Midi performance to the DAW and then play that back multiple times playing only certain drums / cymbals in order to record multiple audio tracks through a 2 input interface (but it will take more time).

DAW
Cakewalk is now free on a PC - that's more than good enough for what you are describing and is particularly good at Midi editing. If you are going down the 'audio recording' route, then Mixbus in relatively cheap (watch out for seasonal offers) and has a very good name.


I'm having similar thoughts, but aiming towards audio recording rather than Midi. I have been looking at potential 'non-PC' options, and looking carefully at the Zoom R16
This is a 16 track recorder with 8 inputs. It can also easily transfer the audio recordings to a PC for editing etc., and can also act as an 8 input Audio Interface into a DAW if required.....
2nd hand prices are not dissimilar to 8 input audio interfaces for the PC, and gives a lot more options (for audio recording).....

Hope this is helpful - I'm sure others will add their thoughts and advice. (These are just my thoughts and experience)
Any questions, just ask

 
Thanks Anders -  that's great news - I never thought/realised that the inputs were that flexible!
The 2Box just keeps getting better and better 

Hi! Hmm...you can do this only with a split cable. No circuit required.

Anders - I thought the 2box cymbals were piezo-switch? To get the edge sound you'd need a piezo trigger signal, and to activate the switch.... So that's why I thought I'd need the Raper circuit or something similar?

If I'm wrong and I can do this with a split cable then I'd be really pleased.....

I use a D5, but assuming it's similar you press 'More' and the trigger button

I recently helped a customer and custom designed a new kind to piezo to switch converter...(some similarities with the quite generic KRC stuff but with some design improvements + newer and more sensitive components)

Would this circuit be suitable for connecting two 2Box cymbals to a single D5 cymbal input (losing the edge sensors and using them both as simple single zone cymbals)?

Is this something you would be prepared to sell/share?

I've been thinking about something similar. I am torn between using the Raper circuit and losing one of the edge triggers on a cymbal (and using the splash cymbal and Raper circuit to trigger it), or losing a Tom rim and triggering the splash from there.
The first option makes the sound management more complex (I'd have to build new SND files with the splash sounds on the edge) and there would be no way to adjust relative volumes from the module (I'd have to go back to the DSND and recompile it).
However i do like (and use) the tom rims, and i feel i would miss those more than some of the cymbal edges (especially the ride edge - I really find that distracting / annoying on many samples - in fact i have rebuilt a number of stock ride DSNDs with the edge crash replaced with the bow sound because of this).

But at least it's good to have options - too many options is far better than no options 😀

When gigging in 'random' locations with an electric kit (or any sensitive electronic instruments), I always err on the side of caution and use surge protectors etc to reduce the risk of power problems. For outdoor gigs (using generators) I even had a small UPS to try and keep the power as clean as possible.
No idea if this was the cause, but worth a thought...

Thanks!

Thanks Jman!