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Wavedrum Oriental - early thoughts and questions

 
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shedboyxx



Joined: 12 Jan 2012
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 5:13 pm    Post subject: Wavedrum Oriental - early thoughts and questions Reply with quote
I'm a fairly new Oriental Wavedrum owner so please bear with me.

First I want to again thank Wavedrummer for his informative posts. I printed them out and I'm still reading through them.

I haven't gotten to editing sounds on the Wavedrum but I think that will be important for me to make sure I get the most value from it.

Couple issues I could use guidance on.

One thing I have noticed which is a bit frustrating is that on some of the patches, you can't produce sounds using the same technique as you would on the acoustic version of the instrument that it emulates.

Case in point is the conga and bongo sounds. I learned how to play congas and bongos years ago but these days do more conga/djembe work than bongos.. For example, trying to play time using 'dead tones" with your hand rocking while controlling the resonance, doesn't work. This is a common technique on conga. Bongos are similar but even more detailed in that you use fingers on one hand and more of a hand rocking motion in the other hand. That doesn't translate either.

Another thing I've noticed is that some patches seem inconsistent even when striking the same area the same way. Darbuka Ensemble is one example of this. There seems to be a randomness to how the sounds get produced as well as what sounds get produced.

Am I missing something about these two issues? A patch like the tabla patch seems much more consistent - even though I'm not trained on tabla. Others like the Bata drum samples and congas not so much. The 'ensemble' patches don't seem to have much consistency at all. Just a bunch of sounds that 'could' happen at any moment.

I'm optimistic about using the WD in performances but need to know I can count on some consistency in the sounds and what patches have the most comparability to their acoustic sources. If it's random, it can't be controlled and therefore doesn't add to the musicality of a group's performance much like an inconsistent player.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance folks.

Jim
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Bertotti
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Joined: 10 Jul 2010
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
For the inconsistent patches have you tired tweaking any of the parameters? Pressure curves, algorithms, etc? I have found I prefer certain responses over others.
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WaveDrummer
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Joined: 25 Jan 2011
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Location: Connecticut, USA
PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 12:22 am    Post subject: Re: Wavedrum Oriental - early thoughts and questions Reply with quote
shedboyxx wrote:
I'm a fairly new Oriental Wavedrum owner so please bear with me.
Hi Jim,

Welcome to the forum!

I'll try to add what I can to the issues you are describing. Starting with the Conga program: It can be a bit tricky to emulate all the nuances of an actual conga, especially some of the muted sounds as you describe. One issue is the size of the playing surface. Even with a 10" head, the logo portion that protects the underlying transducer ends up reducing the effective playing surface to something smaller. What I have found to be helpful is to change the position of the playing surface. By rotating the Wavedrum clockwise, so that the logo plate is in the 2:00 to 3:00 position seems to make it a bit easier to control the muted and open sounds. This also gives the left hand more room to manipulate the head.

At NAMM, we did a performance in the sound room as part of a HK Audio PA demonstration. The idea was to show off this modular sound system with a solo act, a duo, a trio, and a quartet. We had acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass, and myself playing two silver Wavedrums. I primarily played with one set to the Conga program and one to the Djembe program. Using the orientation I described above was very helpful for making the conga sound more expressive. There was some high-quality video shot during the performance, so if it becomes available I'll be sure to post a link.

There is one other issue that relates to your questions, and it's something that was raised my another forum member several months ago (although I'm not sure it was properly addressed at the time). That has to do with increased sensitivity and response in different locations on the head of the Wavedrum itself. For whatever reason, there is definitely a heightened sensitivity around the 1:00 position on the head itself. A little below the logo plate and slightly to the right is where many of the sounds seem to be the most responsive. I'm still not quite sure why that is. The main head transducer is dead center at the top of the head. The rim has two sensor at approximately the 10:00 and 2:00 position, so I don't fully understand why this one area is more sensitive...but it is!

More often than not, I perform on the Wavedrum with an open left hand, and a stick or mallet in my right hand. If I'm using my left hand to manipulate the pressure sensor in the middle of the head, that sensitive area to the right of center naturally becomes the most accessible area to play within, so that's usually where my stick or mallet is most active. For me, it just happens to be a convenient merger of form and function — the area easiest to play is the area that offers the most!

This helps explain (to me, at least) why rotating the Wavedrum when playing the conga sounds is beneficial. That heightened area of sensitivity allows for greater expression and for more contrast between the slaps and open tones. In the end though, the Wavedrum offers a decent conga sound but it doesn't offer what I would consider a truly "great" simulation of a conga. I think the Djembe sound is more impressive in terms of simulating the real thing, but it's difficult for the Wavedrum to be all things, to all people, at all times. It's an amazing, wondrous instrument, but it does have some limitations. I would also agree that the bongo program leaves a bit to be desired in terms of truly reproducing the real thing, but the above approach may be of help.

Re: Darbuka Ensemble, Program #100
That's one of my favorite all time sounds! This program is a layer of several different percussive voices that are mostly separated by velocity. I often use that program to demonstrate the sensitive nature of the Wavedrum. By playing very, very softly with the fingers towards the edge of the head (just under the logo plate) you should be able to hear just the jingle sounds. With a slight increase in velocity you should hear more drum sounds. Then as you move to the center of the head and increase the velocity some more you should hear the more full-bodied drum sounds come into play. Personally, this is one program that I wouldn't consider to be "random." Once you become familiar with just how sensitive this program is to the changes in striking techniques (and hands seem to work best for this program) you should be able to gain quite a bit of control over how the program responds.

Here's one video clip from NAMM 2011 where I demonstrate exactly what I'm trying describe here. The part in question occurs between 2:25 to 2:50.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYLWcc_LDeQ

Well, I guess you got me a roll this evening! Hope this helps.
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shedboyxx



Joined: 12 Jan 2012
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks to you both, WaveDrummer and Bertotti.

I just noticed this reply as I must have something off in my notification settings so - sorry for the late acknowledgement. Smile

I'm not at home in front of the drum so I'll have to check out the suggestions and comments you guys are making later.

I'm still learning this thing and every time I start messing with editing I run out of time. I figure that when I invest a decent amount of time to understanding and implementing tweaks, I'll come closer to getting optimal response and will learn the nuances of best practices for the programs and algorithms.

Good to hear the input you have to help confirm going certain directions.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted.

Jim
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