Hooks New Toy

[Hook]

So it was community yard sale Saturday in the neighborhood I live in and I happen to find this for $15 (after haggling down from $30)

stand, pedals & all. Some of you know I've been wanting a kit for a while now, this isn't exactly what I've been hoping for but I couldn't pass it up. It is surprisingly fun to play and does have quite a "drum set" feel to it. I'm still searching through the drum sounds, the crash cymbal sounds aren't the best but this might have to satiate my kit desires for a little while at least. I did put a track down yesterday on a tune I just started and it's not that bad, I should be posting it sometime this week once I finish it.

One question & I haven't really read the manual but it is midi capable. I know absolutely nothing about midi  does it mean that I can import drum sounds (I know ...read the manual) & if that's the case are there good midi drum sounds out there & how do I find them?

Drum On!

[Greeny]

Looks great! And you won't have the neighbours screaming blue murder at you!

[Speed Demon]

                                                                               GAS attack!

[cuthbert]

Nice score, Hook!

I doubt you can actually load samples into the kit, but with midi, you can use it as a controller in a DAW, and then assign the drum sounds to trigger from the midi on note data (each pad likely has its own unique midi note number).

Never have used a pad controller for drums myself (usually I just use a keyboard as a midi controller), but I'd like to try it myself someday.

[Flash Harry]

Yep, it looks like you can use midi.

A pair of midi cables into a Midi interface on your computer - I have a Scarlet 8i6 which has in and out and the Midiman USB MidiSport with two in and two out, both work with DAWs such as Reaper and Logic.

Great for tapping out your drum tack and importing into something like Hydrogen for good drum sounds.

Nice one!

[64Guitars]

So it was community yard sale Saturday in the neighborhood I live in and I happen to find this for $15 (after haggling down from $30)

Wow! What a fantastic bargain! That drum kit (Yamaha DD-65) is a current model and selling for $220 at Sweetwater. And that doesn't include the stand which would cost about $40 more. Well done!

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DD65

I've always wanted an electronic drum kit but I don't have the money or the space. I had looked at the earlier DD-55 once and nearly bought it. It would have solved the space problem.

One question & I haven't really read the manual but it is midi capable. I know absolutely nothing about midi  does it mean that I can import drum sounds (I know ...read the manual) & if that's the case are there good midi drum sounds out there & how do I find them?

I just had a quick look at the manual and it doesn't look like you can download samples to it. However, it includes 254 drum/cymbal samples which you can combine in whatever combinations you like to create up to 3 custom drum kits. So, if you've found a preset kit that you like but you don't like the crash cymbal in that kit, then check out the other cymbals available and make a new custom kit with the drum samples from the preferred kit plus the preferred cymbal. See pages 16 and 17 of the DD-65 manual. A list of the 254 built-in drum and cymbal samples can be found on pages 38 and 39. It looks like there are 4 crash cymbals - 2 in stereo (113 and 114) and 2 in mono (120 and 121).

are there good midi drum sounds out there & how do I find them?

MIDI isn't sound. It's a way of triggering sounds in other devices. For example, you could connect the MIDI Out from the DD-65 to the MIDI In of a keyboard instrument. When you hit a pad on the DD-65, it will send a command via MIDI to the keyboard instrument telling it to play the corresponding note. That note could be a saxophone, flute, piano, or whatever, depending on the currently-selected keyboard patch. Many keyboard instruments include patches for drum sounds where each note on the keyboard plays a different drum, cymbal, or percussion sample. If one of those patches is selected on the keyboard, then playing the pads on the DD-65 would trigger the corresponding drum/cymbal sounds on the keyboard. In other words, you could play the DD-65, but the sounds wouldn't come from the DD-65 - they'd come from the keyboard. Or you could do the same thing using your computer and a soft synth instead of a keyboard instrument. Lots of drum/cymbal samples are available for soft synths. By connecting the DD-65 to your computer via MIDI, you could use it to play the soft synth with whatever samples you like.

[Hook]

Thanks for the midi info guys, it sounds like a giant pain in the ass! Since I really don't use daw except for some finishing touches I doubt I'll mess with midi anytime soon.


64 - The model # on mine is DD-60 so I think it's a discontinued model, not sure if there is much difference in the dd-65 though. They look the same, perhaps some sounds have been changed. I did see that I had 3 user patches I could program myself, I hope to have some time to sit with the manual and figure it out but for the time being I'm just playing it and searching through the presets. The track I recorded the other day I did in mono but I guess I should be recording in stereo.
 All in all I'm very pleased with it and I think I'll be able to work up my chops. My oldest seems to have some recently discovered rythm and I'm hoping in about 6 months or so I might need to get her (us) a full size kit but this one is pretty darn cool.
 I forgot to mention it came with a light weight stool also so it was a pretty good deal even if it was an older model. My big concern is that it's just not built to be played as hard as I tend to play & that I'll break it but you only live once right. Play hard or don't play at all!

Rock On!

[64Guitars]

64 - The model # on mine is DD-60 so I think it's a discontinued model, not sure if there is much difference in the dd-65 though. They look the same, perhaps some sounds have been changed.

I think you mean the YDD-60 (not DD-60, which doesn't seem to exist). Yes, it is discontinued.

The manual I downloaded actually applies to both the DD-65 and the YDD-60, so they must be very similar.

http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/emi/english/port/dd65_en_om.pdf

In fact, I can't see any difference at all. Here's a comparison of features:

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/drums/drums_digital_percussion/portable_digital_drums/dd_series/?tab=product_lineup&list=all&mode=compare&selected=28350_28351_

Anyway, even though the YDD-60 is discontinued, you still got an amazing bargain. This Canadian store shows it at $299.99.

http://cosmomusic.ca/drum-machine-yamaha-ydd-60.html

And here's a USED one at Guitar Center for $149.99.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store-Used-USED-YAMAHA-YDD60-109382666-i3365501.gc

And those prices don't include a drum stand or stool, either of which would cost more than the $15 you paid for the whole kit and caboodle.

[Hook]

I think you mean the YDD-60 (not DD-60, which doesn't seem to exist). Yes, it is discontinued.

The manual I downloaded actually applies to both the DD-65 and the YDD-60, so they must be very similar.

Indeed you are correct sir, I thought we were playing "drop the 1st letter of the model" but it seems that Yamaha has done that for us on the DD-65.I wonder if the "Y" was just too much for them when they added 5 to the end.

In fact, I can't see any difference at all. Here's a comparison of features:

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/drums/drums_digital_percussion/portable_digital_drums/dd_series/?tab=product_lineup&list=all&mode=compare&selected=28350_28351_

Isn't it odd how the are the same except that the DD-65 is Silver & mine is Steele...that silver does look sharp!!!

/products/musical-instruments/drums/drums_digital_percussion/portable_digital_drums/dd_series/?tab=product_lineup&list=all&mode=compare&selected=28350_28351_[/url]

Anyway, even though the YDD-60 is discontinued, you still got an amazing bargain. This Canadian store shows it at $299.99.

http://cosmomusic.ca/drum-machine-yamaha-ydd-60.html

And here's a USED one at Guitar Center for $149.99.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store-Used-USED-YAMAHA-YDD60-109382666-i3365501.gc

And those prices don't include a drum stand or stool, either of which would cost more than the $15 you paid for the whole kit and caboodle.

I've seen them used locally for about $150 and yea no extras. I'm not sure it's worth anymore than $150 since you can get a decent full size kit for under $400. I guess the size is a plus but not for that kind of cash.

Yard Sale On!

[bruno]

'Yard sale on' indeed, great bargain. Can't wait to hear it in action :-)
B