I need my drummer to midi trigger my tr's sequencer. Advice?

StaleYolk · Post by **StaleYolk** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:32 am

I need my drummer to trigger a keyboard sequence in the middle of a song, he would of course have the click in his ears which would be coming from my Korg TR.

So just to clear up everything he will be playing the majority of the song without the click, trigger the keyboard sequence himself with some sort of midi trigger system(any advice please) also sending the metronome to his headphones. I would have the sequencer's song length set to the appropriate number of bars so that he can finish the rest of the song without the metronome.

This is bands first step towards using thick keyboard scores in the middle of a song. (I usually do intros) And were trying to keep it simple for now.
Thanks in Advance.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:44 am

The foot pedal (foot switch, actually) can be set to start/stop a sequence. Look at the foot pedal options in global mode.

If you don't have a pedal, a piano-style damper pedal or any cheap momentary switch pedal would do fine.

StaleYolk · Post by **StaleYolk** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:40 pm

thanks x-trade, the pedal is practical when im triggering the sequence i suppose it would be the cheapest alternative at the moment.
Im just thinking about the benefits of my drummer being the one in control. However as long as we practice we should be able to get it right.

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:25 pm

Don't let your drummer control you.

As in Genesis, Tony Banks is in control of the audio for the whole band. Just look at the rack and mixer console to his right, he controls the volume for all instruments. The drummer might be your metronome, but still the keyboard should be the master.

When I play "Fading Lights" with my drummer (my older son) I control the drum track, when to start and when to end.

Davewavy · Post by **Davewavy** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:04 am

I played for years as the keyboard player in a few different bands. I always would control the start of the click for every sequenced song. I did this in two different ways:

1. (Preferred method for sound quality). The drummer has headphones with the click and whole mix. He's the only one with the click. He'd get 4 counts, then count us off. The limitation is that this adds 4 clicks the the start of every tune. The advantage is that the audience can't hear the click unless your drummer is stupid and wants the click to make him deaf (I definitely caused hearing damage for our drummer). We used either a rimshot sample or a cowbell sample, with the goal being finding a sound that stood out to the drummer even when our guitar player played on 11.

2. Run the click through a monitor. This lets everyone hear the click start but then the whole audience can hear it. This worked, but sucked because of the very audible click. It was also easy for the drummer to lose track of it as it had to really compete with the whole mix.

In all honesty, if I'd given control to the drummer, he'd be able to save the 4 clicks at the beginning since he'd know when he hit the start button/pedal. Of course, my drummer wasn't discipined enough to count off at the right time. Your mileage may vary depending on the intelligence of your drummer (Oxymoron, I know).

Good luck!

StaleYolk · Post by **StaleYolk** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:50 pm

thanks for all the advice, i've brought this topic up before but as i play more shows and now that we are songwriting again i want to do more and more. And now is the time to really start bringing our music to life. thanks for all the advice everyone. If anyone stumbles upon this thread feel free to share your opinion(s).

candlewick · Post by **candlewick** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:53 am

We put all our "tracked material" on minidisc, with a click on the left channel. The drummer used ear buds to hear and sync. to the click. he had total control and could abort the pre-recorded stuff if everything went haywire. About 25% of each set used tracks this way. (big horn stuff) special effects and third and fouth layer key material.

bsr2002 · Post by **bsr2002** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:38 am

[quote="candlewick"]We put all our "tracked material" on minidisc, with a click on the left channel. The drummer used ear buds to hear and sync. to the click. he had total control and could abort the pre-recorded stuff if everything went haywire. About 25% of each set used tracks this way. (big horn stuff) special effects and third and fouth layer key material.[/quote]

We do the same thing

kanthos · Post by **kanthos** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:22 pm

That's a good way of doing it, or, alternately, using an MP3 player if you want to be a bit more modern. It doesn't work so well though if your song arrangements are somewhat flexible (ex. the singer may decide to do an extra chorus sometimes but not other times) or if you want to trigger recorded material at specific points instead of playing a background track all the way through. I'm branching into this a bit for the stuff I do at church, which has both these problems, so I have to figure out how to do the clicktrack myself from my laptop.

candlewick · Post by **candlewick** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:21 am

. I'm branching into this a bit for the stuff I do at church, which has both these problems, so I have to figure out how to do the clicktrack myself from my laptop.[/quote]

This is where the tap in tempo works nice, you can start the song free-form and join in with a drum track using tap tempo. I record entire songs for church using the M50 sequencer then I mute the piano track and play along live with a grand piano. Works well.