Drummers: Wanna show us what you got?

Can someone help me with recording my TD3 Electronic Drums?

Hey Everyone,

I am trying to record some drum beats with my set of Roland TD3 set and I need some help from my fellow drummers :-)

This is all very new to me so I will keep it short and explain what I have for equipment and would love some feedback and/or possible options. I already am realizing that I may need to upgrade some of the hardware that I have but maybe some of you can point me in the right direction.

Here is what I have so far:

HP Desktop Computer
AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3400+, 2.19 GHz
384MB of RAM
Default Sound Card: Realtek AC97 (not sure on details)
E-MU's 0404 USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface - Details
LE Software included with Interface - Cakewalk SONAR LE, Steinberg Cubase LE, Steinberg Wavelab Lite, Celemony Melodyne essential, IK Multimedia AmpliTube LE, SFX Machine LT

I read here that you need 2 GB's of Ram. If that's the case, I obviously need to upgrade and get some more RAM. I think I may also need to upgrade to a higher quality sound card also?

I have setup the USB Interface and installed all the software packages. I can successfully hear some keyboard sounds through some of the tutorials (even when hitting the drums). I tried a different Drum setup with one of the systems and it was close but not quite right - some drums matched the sounds, some didn't and the latency seemed off by quite a bit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really want to figure this out so I can start recording beats for myself and our band to try and get some solid recordings of some of our songs. Thanks everyone, I appreciate it!

-- Adrian

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Permalink Reply by Adrian Nadeau on February 15, 2009 at 11:55am: Just FYI with the information above. I am not looking to record for any production purposes. I just want to get some beats recorded so our band can record some solid versions of our songs and practice them or maybe upload them to a few spots...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Malcolm Boyce on February 15, 2009 at 2:07pm: Adrian,

This is a complex question, that probably will require work and troubleshooting to get set up.

Firstly, I wouldn't say 2GB of RAM is minimum, although more memory is pretty cheap and does improve performance big time when running a DAW.

As opposed to reading in forums what is required, check with the manufacturers and they will tell you exactly what you need a-la:

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONARLE/System.asp

The EMu interface you have should be adequate to record and monitor to a platform such as Sonar or Cubase. Don't even touch the installed sound card for this type of application.

As this is more of an "audio" question than a "drum" question, might I suggest popping into a local audio forum, where you may already know of some of the moderators:

http://forums.middleaudio.com

Good luck.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adrian Nadeau on February 15, 2009 at 2:43pm: Thanks Malcolm. I appreciate the feedback.

I just wanted to make sure I'm not out in left field on this one before I dig into to much. Adding extra RAM won't be to difficult, I can handle that and should do it anyway. The soundcard issue was confusing me a bit, hopefully I don't have to upgrade that. I will be sure to post a question on the forum recommended... I am lucky to know the moderators there :-) Hopefully they'll be nice.

Do you have any preference between Cakewalk & Cubase for what I'm trying to accomplish? I am new to both and they seem similar. Just wondering if you worked with either or both, etc? Thanks again!

-- Adrian; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by James Babcock on February 15, 2009 at 3:56pm: Adrian,

Welcome to the wachy and sometimes frustrating world of recording! I am using an older machine that has a Pentium 4 2.0Ghz processor and 1.5GB of ram. I am using firewire not USB, but can comfortably record 16 tracks live. The link you posted from Vdrums.com was more aimed at folks using Virtual Plug ins to emulate drums, or to use MIDI to trigger their drum sounds, neither of which you are doing. Lots of VST plugins such as drum replacement programs and even running reverbs and compressors on a LOT of tracks may make an older machine hiccup a bit. I think that for simply recording stereo tracks from your TD3 what you have will probably suffice.

If you are using wireless internet on your recording computer you would be best served disabling the wireless card when you are recording. That is one common item that I have seen to cause huge latency issues. Ideally you would be using the Emu 0404 as your soundcard for both recording and playback. This will save you a world of compatability and driver issues as well. Running your Emu for input and using your onboard card for playback MAY cause some confusion for windows as well........I have seen such things discussed on forums. I have a system that does not connect to the internet, so I have the Network cards disabled in my BIOS, same thing with the onboard sound card.

If RAM is cheap, by all means put the maximum that your motherboard can use. Worst case scenario you have extended the useful life of your PC a few months! I am pretty confident that the PC you have will do the job without any major upgrades required.

Cubase LE is a good enough program for you to accomplish what you are looking to get recorded. I found it to be a bit frustrating to use and switched to Reaper. The program itself is not a system resourced hog and it also has an AMAZING forum full of guys just like us that are learning this recording stuff. It is free to try for 30 days with absolutely no limitations and the home use licence is only 50 bux! As well it is updated VERY regularly, the programmers read the forums and fix bugs quickly for people with hardware or software compatibility issues. At the very least you may want to sign up for the forum there, I have found the people there to be friendly to new arrivals and very helpful.
http://www.reaper.fm

Good luck and have fun!
Jame Babcock
http://www.thevisualtimekeeper.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adrian Nadeau on February 23, 2009 at 8:50pm: Hey Everyone,

Thanks so much for your help... I am about 80% of the way there after some playing and testing. I can now record to Midi in Sonar LE and also playback as Midi. The final step I have to figure out is how to record the Midi tracks to Audio through the USB Interface. I think I'm close and I have to try a few more things. Thanks again for the help!

-- Adrian; ▶ Reply to This