Real drum replacement?

[therecordingart]

I was thinking it'd be neat to somehow us a midi to cv converter to trigger a real drum kit.

Midi drum files -> midi to cv converter -> motor w/attached drum stick mounted on drum

There are so many questions that would need to be worked out like how hard does a drummer hit a drum, can you get a motor that can react fast enough while providing the varying degrees of strength, how accurate can you make it, is it even possible?

With all of the folks using sample replacement on drums it seems that this would be a really cool way for purists to program drums. Yeah yeah, you can always hire a drummer, but this drummer can play all night. In my head I imagine some really cool things that can be done, but maybe I'm just tired.

Your thoughts?

 

[Gilbert]

Check out the band captured by robots.

 

[helterbelter]

There are simply too many factors that influence the sound of each drumhit, that have to be taken into account when building a robot arm. I don't say it can't be done, but I think it'll be extremely difficult.

I don't know if you have checked products like EZ drummer or Drumkit From Hell ? There are midifile drumloops available for EZ drummer and DFHS that sound great. I have just finished my electronic drumkit, and together with these Toontrack software products, I can achieve outstanding results. When a few friends of mine visited the studio, I played back some of the drumparts, and they just couldn't believe it was an electronic drum.

However, I must add that the velocitylayers of these sampled kits need an upgrade, IMO. And there's still one factor that keeps sucking, especially on the snaredrum : The precise location where the drum is hit can't be translated into midi. It's still on/off.

 

[skipwave]

Octant did it.

http://www.urbanhonking.com/greatestband/archives/2004/05/justice_for_dea.html

Short of that craziness, why not use the old "suspend an Auratone speaker over the drum" trick? If you gate the original track hard enough it can really just act as the trigger to excite the drum. Limit the original and you can get the a more steady "hand" that is far more convincing than compressing the crap out of the original.

 

[Piedwagtail]

As an accomplished drummer I'd have to say, go watch a few local older jazz drummers and watch their touch and the way they don't actually play on the beat but around it.
I can't see a mechanical drummer sounding any different than the sample- most people it seems don't use their ears.
There's a universe of nuance past a simple strike but in the simulated culture we're immersed in it's being eradicted.

Meanwhile your project would be a lifetime endeavour in robotics for someone in Japan.

Robert

 

[leswatts]

Yeah, it would be complicated to get all the nuances.

Need to control stick velocity, mechanical impedance (damping and such) hit location, etc.

I do a lot of robotics work. It's often related to my acoustics stuff. I'll make one for you! I'll need a year. And some funding.

Les
L M Watts Technology

 

[sahib]

I was thinking it'd be neat to somehow us a midi to cv converter to trigger a real drum kit.

Midi drum files -> midi to cv converter -> motor w/attached drum stick mounted on drum

There are so many questions that would need to be worked out like how hard does a drummer hit a drum, can you get a motor that can react fast enough while providing the varying degrees of strength, how accurate can you make it, is it even possible?

I have been doing robotics (for almost 15 years) too.

It is possible but not so easy and not so cheap. As Les indicated how big your wallet is and how long you can wait. For single hit action, yeah something can be developed in a year but any more than that forget it.

We are so dumbstruck with the technology that we quite often fail to see how brilliant a human machine is. Get a real good drummer.