Photo Step By Step - GHWT Drums To Rack Mount Midi Box For E-DRUMS - EASY DIRECTIONS

[Doc_SoCal]

Yeah, if I had a TD-12 I'm sure I'd quickly forget about the TD-3 too.

Hehehehe, good point.

[OhioBuckeye]

Doc_SoCal,

Just got my Drum Rocker today and love it. I doubt I'll touch my GHWT kit for sometime. At least as a drum set.

My question to you is can wireless compare to wired? I haven't hooked up by DM5 drum brain and attempted to midi connection yet. But my set has been so accurate connected via USB. Can wireless provide a perfect connection like USB does?

[Doc_SoCal]

Doc_SoCal,

Just got my Drum Rocker today and love it. I doubt I'll touch my GHWT kit for sometime. At least as a drum set.

My question to you is can wireless compare to wired? I haven't hooked up by DM5 drum brain and attempted to midi connection yet. But my set has been so accurate connected via USB. Can wireless provide a perfect connection like USB does?

The short answer is, Yes it works just as good as a hard wire.

I finally pulled my MIDI Solutions R8 and all the a associated wires and whatnot to run the GHWT Box only with my TD-12.

That little box replaced 10 pounds of gear and works every bit as good as my sophisticated relay setup otherwise I simply would not be using it.

My wife even noticed. "Where did all that stuff go".

Zeds dead baby, Zeds dead....

[LoopyChew]

So reading through this, and let me see if I totally get this:

* The GHWT drum kit brains, including the MIDI in, are based exclusively in the black box above the blue pad, much in the same way the RB kit brains are housed in the black box in between the blue and the yellow pads.
* You can detach the black box from the rest of the kit by removing these three screws, which I would assume is significantly easier than cutting out the RB black box.
* You can then feed the MIDI out from your e-kit's brain into the GHWT brain's MIDI in, provided your e-kit has assignable notes.
* From there, it's a matter of assigning the appropriate values from the different inputs (hi-hats in open-closed states, different strike zones on assorted pads, etc.) to the corresponding notes.
* Your 360 (and any other potential connector, including the Windows Wireless Gaming Receiver), only caring about the connection interface, recognizes your e-kit as a GHWT drum kit and acts accordingly.

Am I getting this right?

I don't have any sort of e-kit right now, but every single time I see one of these posts it becomes more and more tempting to try and purchase one.

When it comes to programming an e-kit drum brain, can you typically save the note assignments as a preset? I ask to allow for different pad assignments for GHWT and RB (e.g. in GHWT, HHs will be yellow, no matter what, whereas with RB, HHO would be blue and HHC would be yellow). It'd be a pain to do that over and over again.

[Doc_SoCal]

So reading through this, and let me see if I totally get this:

* The GHWT drum kit brains, including the MIDI in, are based exclusively in the black box above the blue pad, much in the same way the RB kit brains are housed in the black box in between the blue and the yellow pads.

Almost. The MIDI PCB and the pad Input PCB's are not in that box but in the main part of the drum shell so it has to get put into the box but there is room. Just be careful not to damage one of the small PCb's or fine connections. If wires start popping there can be some fine solder work to be done.

* You can detach the black box from the rest of the kit by removing these three screws, which I would assume is significantly easier than cutting out the RB black box.

Prettier too.

* You can then feed the MIDI out from your e-kit's brain into the GHWT brain's MIDI in, provided your e-kit has assignable notes.

Spot on - OR if your MIDI kits native notes match the needed notes (like a TD3) then you are good with a less capable brain.

* From there, it's a matter of assigning the appropriate values from the different inputs (hi-hats in open-closed states, different strike zones on assorted pads, etc.) to the corresponding notes.

Exactamundo

* Your 360 (and any other potential connector, including the Windows Wireless Gaming Receiver), only caring about the connection interface, recognizes your e-kit as a GHWT drum kit and acts accordingly.

Am I getting this right?

Spot on again, It works great.

I don't have any sort of e-kit right now, but every single time I see one of these posts it becomes more and more tempting to try and purchase one.

You wont regret it if drumming is your goal.

When it comes to programming an e-kit drum brain, can you typically save the note assignments as a preset? I ask to allow for different pad assignments for GHWT and RB (e.g. in GHWT, HHs will be yellow, no matter what, whereas with RB, HHO would be blue and HHC would be yellow). It'd be a pain to do that over and over again.

A capable brain like say a TD-12 has more settings than you will ever use. You can save all sorts of custom kits with different MIDI assignments as well as add/alster sound profiles via MIDI uploads.

I use the V-Expressions sounds and VLIB to upload 50 band drum kits to my drum brain and then I can use my drum sounds with the Rockband tracks and it all sounds proper. Duran Druan for DD, AC/DC for Angus and the boys, Stews kit for the Police sets, etc etc

[LoopyChew]

Almost. The MIDI PCB and the pad Input PCB's are not in that box but in the main part of the drum shell so it has to get put into the box but there is room.

I'm assuming it's wired into the black box already and that it's just a matter of extracting the connectors from the main shell.

Just be careful not to damage one of the small PCb's or fine connections. If wires start popping there can be some fine solder work to be done.

Boy am I glad I practice micro-origami as a hobby.

You wont regret it if drumming is your goal.

This is where I'm trying to decide what my goal is. I've definitely taken a keen interest in drumming since I first laid my hands on RB, I just haven't figured out how dedicated I am to it. Am I willing to commit to a full-fledged e-kit at the moment, or not?

A capable brain like say a TD-12 has more settings than you will ever use. You can save all sorts of custom kits as well as via MIDI uploads.

Is the TD-12 a midrange brain, or would you consider it more of a high-end deal? I ask because a quick Google search suggested that the brain alone is about $1.5k.

I once saw a (apparently new) DTXplorer for a little bit under $1k, but I hesitated and it was gone. did I miss out on a reasonable opportunity?

[Liquidmantis]

I got my MDP-7U/MPC-7U mount in yesterday and finished up my mod. I desoldered the ribbon cable from the breakout PCB and soldered it up directly to the panel mount MIDI connector (NYS326 from Mouser). I wanted mine on the left side for cleaner cable routing and got it to fit in between the two main PCBs, there's more clearance on the right side of the box though.

Sorry for the poor photos, I just used my pocketcam and had to use the flash.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ontroller2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...t/midiJack.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...rumset/set.jpg

[Liquidmantis]

I'm still playing with fine-tuning the placement. I play closed style with my right stick out in front of the left for snare stick clearance. If I moved the hat I'd have to switch to playing further back and get behind the snare stick then I guess?

I'm left-handed though so there's probably all kinds of weirdness in what works for me.

[moneyp]

Stupid question, probably already answered. In Freestyle Mode, does this method register cymbal hits as cymbals and drum hits as drums? It seems that Rock Band has slightly more than just five MIDI notes.

[Liquidmantis]

Nope. Seems to get that you have to add considerable expense. I decided it wasn't worth it just for fills and BREs for me.