Drummer-less musicians rejoice, there is hope for us yet

Quote from viabcroce

Not only this, you'll miss the touch and the tone from the "famous drummer",

I agree again, it won't be able to replace a physical hit from a stick on a drumkit.

But, that said, if it is recorded by a drummer, it will likely be very close to how he originally played it. Much closer than say if the drummer gave the performance again.

Quote from viabcroce

and the sound of the very expensive drumset he played, and the sound of that very expensive mics and pres set, not to mention the mic placement and the room, and the reverb...

You could use this device on that same drumkit, in that same room, with those same mics, etc. That is the beauty of something like this.

Quote from viabcroce

It doesn't seem to me a way to have the great drummer with you at your local pub, if not for the rhythmic (notation) aspect of it

You must try recording on an electronic drumkit sometime, viabcroce. You would be amazed by how much better it is than triggering loops or programming. I have a kit at home and a recorded performance sounds much more convincing due to the human element.

Quote from Monkey_Man

Please try to ignore my useless ramblings; it's Saturday night and I'm not feelin' alright, and I don't have a Corvette... of any colour.

I'm gonna do the sensible thing now and hit the couch with my ass,

You're probably awake now, so let me tell you that I don't have a corvette either.

Heck, I don't even have a car here in Singapore.

Quote from viabcroce

Ha! In all friendship, aren't you assuming a bit too much here?

Lawl, I apologise! A lot of people don't like programmed drums because they are too robotic, including me!

Quote from viabcroce

I was specifically considering the following in my replies:

I have to disagree with you here. The "sequence from a machine" entirely depends on what's being output from the machine. Look at some of the provided loops from a software like Superior carefully. The artist recordings of the midi grooves are not synced to a grid, they are played with a human element. Routing stuff like that through a VST, for example, would be of the quality of the pro-level loops you're talking about. So there's no advantage to using a loop with a pre-recorded sound vis-a-vis using midi to trigger a VST.

Now, with this device, you could have those same "loops" played on an actual drumkit. Now at a gig, you play on the kit provided or bring your own. So if the kit is crappy, the sound will be crappy. But if the kit is good, the sound will be good. That's important to note.

Now in a gig situation, would you prefer to trigger loops, or have someone, or something, play the kit - no matter how crappy - that is there? I have a VST, and I for one am dead sure I don't want to play at a gig where I am triggering sounds from a laptop, and many in the audience will be wondering, "Where is the band? I didn't come to hear pre-recorded loops."

This device, on the other hand, is likely to provoke a little "wow" factor. It won't help if the music sucks or the performance is bad. But it will definitely get a better response than something being played off a laptop, imo.

[quote='nightlight','http://www.kemper-amps.com/forum/index.php/Thread/28090-Drummer-less-musicians-rejoice-there-is-hope-for-us-yet/?postID=297485#post297485']
Of course, if you can take that studio set and those mics and pres and the DSPs for that unique ambience etc. with you on stage, well that's another story... But then, if you are at such pro level, I wonder how many would prefer this complex thus limited (and somehow risky) solution to just calling the same (or another, very skilled) drummer again.

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No one would prefer this to a real drummer. As mentioned in the thread heading, this looks like a good hope for "drummer-less" musicians who cannot find a drummer for love or money. I have been struggling for years to get my band off the ground, because there is just a dearth of drummers all around the world. Guys who have a drummer will not notice this, the guys who don't can probably tell you all about having to settle for guys who couldn't play the music, or spending countless hours trawling forums looking for someone who fits the bill.

For example, I have put up a thread in a local music forum here in Singapore looking for a drummer and a bassist for a metal project. I have got a few inquiries about the bass position, but none for the drummer.

I have paid guys to play before, only to find that once they had my money, they were more interested in milking more from me. Professionalism amongst musicians is very hard to find at an amateur or semi-pro level.

I would never suggest this machine could replace a good drummer. Drummers have so much more feel, taste and musical sense than a machine could ever have.

As for a recording situation, drummer every time! But that's only if you have one.

Look at a band like Fear Factory, they had a falling out with Gene Hoglan, an excellent drummer, because they used a drum machine on one of their records. But a drum machine only has so much sound quality. Now, this is a pro band with access to studios and gear that many of us amateurs do not have. They could have used something like this device to amazing effect with a good sound engineer and studio set up.

Perhaps Gene wouldn't have been so unhappy about it as a result!

I should point out that I have some more things I would like to know about the Perc, such as how hard can it hit? It won't help if it hits very softly, but there was little I could make out from the videos I saw. I'm also sceptical about the fact that you can't get rim shots. I'm also a bit leery about how it handles cymbals, what I could make out was just stationary hi-hat operation, how would it cope with a swinging cymbal that's been hit hard?

If I am satisfied with these things, I will seriously consider getting a set of these to help me present my music. It may even help interest a real drummer to play with me!

Necro-ing this thread. I think this thing really has potential, check out this new video they did after I asked them how loud it could go.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF…1/?taken-by=madeinpolyend

No mics on the kit, just a mic on the camera in that hall.

The Compressorhead robots are super expensive. I think the three of them cost something like $200k. Very high maintenance too, according to one article I read. I would love to own Sticks though, haha.

I think this Japanese robot band is pretty cool too:

This song is quite beautiful.

Steve Hill uses a bass pickup for his lower strings? Or is that a guitar pickup wound in a certain way? Very cool setup he's got.

Had to resurrect this thread again since we mentioned Steve Hill.

I've been following the Perc team and was asking them to show me the design for the "brain" of their device. Here are some pics:

[Blocked Image: http://i1363.photobucket.com/a…3348803_o_zpsgywdsj9l.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://i1363.photobucket.com/a…0519861_o_zpsiyipatff.jpg]

Take a look specifically at those stomp switches on the top. I believe those will allow you to control those ball beaters by stepping on them.

Seems like this would be a very elegant solution to doing stuff like Steve Hill or Reign Wolf, since you would be able to play more than just a bass drum - say a snare and cymbal as well. Just stomp to have those balls hit the appropriate drum.

Also, let's say you have a Zeppelin cover band and are doing Whole Lotta Love. Need a conga section? How about xylophones?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG…/?taken-by=daedelus&hl=en

No more putting up with mismatched drummers like this guy haha. Without a shirt, without a shirt...