External Controller for Finger Drumming?

[Jeff Shirkey]

I have EZ Drummer 2, and I hope to upgrade to 3 soon.

My question: Is there an external controller anyone would recommend for playing the EZ drum kits in real time by finger drumming?

Thanks in advance.

EZdrummer version: 2.2.3
Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15)

Topic

[Shootie]

Anything that transmits midi really. I believe you’re free to choose anything that has the right shape and layout for your preference. Consider getting something with good reviews on top of that and that meets your system specs. It’s pretty darn universal now a days.

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[Gary Clontz]

I agree with Shootie. I got an inexpensive Alesis V25 with pads and keys. The pads aren’t great. They either skip/miss or double hit. So you’ll need a higher quality than

this $50 midi keyboard. I do have a nice Roland keyboard with midi. I’ll try that next and forget the Alesis.

EZdrummer version: 3.0.0
Operating system: macOS Monterey (12)

[Jeff Shirkey]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I should have been a little more specific. I have a NI Komplete Kontrol S61, so I *do* have an external controller. But it’s not ideal for playing drums in real time, imo. I’d rather have pads that I can assign the kit to.

I was thinking of NI’s Maschine Mikro or Maschine Mk3, but I wondered if they were more than I need. If anyone has experience with either of these two, please let me know what you think. If you think there are more affordable options that would work just as well, I’m all ears.

Thanks again.

[dokrok5150]

Presonus Atom.

Compact and does everything you need. I also have a Komplete Kontrol S61. Atom is currently on sale for $135.

EZdrummer version: 3.0.2
Operating system: Windows 10

• This post was modified 3 years ago by dokrok5150.

[Jeff Shirkey]

Thank you. It looks great.

I was just reading some Sweetwater reviews, and a couple people report that it has issues with double tapping, even if you hit a pad once. (User error??) Others say it doesn’t work well with 3rd party software. Your experience is obviously different with EZ Drummer 3. Do you also use it with any NI software? One guy reports problems with Kontakt. Thanks again!

[dokrok5150]

jcshirke, I have zero issues with the Atom. I use it with NI Komplete 13 with no issues and other third party such as Modo Bass. Not to say others haven’t had an issue but I’ve often found that a lot of these issues could be solved by READING THE MANUAL. The Atom is a very capable device for me. Besides finger drumming I’ve used it to input other sounds like bass notes, horn hits, string section chords. Of course this requires that I set up the MIDI notes on the Atom to trigger the software. I read the manual. Hope this helps.

[redddog]

I never really got a believable track with those pads. I have seen people do amazing things with them but I never could. Maybe if you practiced a bunch you may get there. I would look at maybe a used Alesis Nitro or something. It’s around $300 – more than one of those Pads but not much – and the triggering is night and day.

EZdrummer version: 3.0.0
Operating system: Windows 10

[Jeff Shirkey]

Did you try adjusting the sensitivity of the pads on the Atom? I don’t play drums, so buying a real electronic kit isn’t in the cards for me. Plus, I don’t have the space. I would imagine that I will mostly import and edit MIDI files/grooves, but I will also add my own parts as needed. I can’t imagine not getting a realistic or believable track, based on what I’ve heard people do with this software.

[Jeff Shirkey]

dokrok5150 wrote:

jcshirke, I have zero issues with the Atom. I use it with NI Komplete 13 with no issues and other third party such as Modo Bass. Not to say others haven’t had an issue but I’ve often found that a lot of these issues could be solved by READING THE MANUAL. The Atom is a very capable device for me. Besides finger drumming I’ve used it to input other sounds like bass notes, horn hits, string section chords. Of course this requires that I set up the MIDI notes on the Atom to trigger the software. I read the manual. Hope this helps.

I ended up getting the Atom to control EZ Drummer 3. I have figured out how to use MIDI mapping to assign specific drums and other percussion (tambourine, etc.) to the Atom’s pads, and everything seems to be working as I’d hope it would. It was virtually plug and play. I just tweaked a couple of things.

However, I still have a question. I learned how to do the MIDI mapping by consulting the manual, section 9.4.7 (E-Drum Settings). There is a video that shows how EZ Drummer 3 should recognize the MIDI controller and display its name in the upper left side of the main window. If your MIDI controller doesn’t show up, the video says to hit the refresh button and try again. The issue: I do not see my MIDI controller or the refresh button anywhere on my screen. Like I said, everything appears to be working as it should, but I still wonder if I’m missing something, and I wonder why that menu doesn’t appear.

[dokrok5150]

the controller that is assigned to the track is displayed in each separate track menu on the left. Let’s say I’m recording a live drum track from the Atom I have to tell each that track where the input is coming from – my NI keyboard, my midi guitar, the Atom. And which midi channel I want the track to listen to. So I expand the track (pull down the bottom of the track on the left) and now I can see the input device that the track is currently listening to. Then I can assign the track to listen to the input from the Atom or whatever input device I wish. I hope this helps(if I understood your question correctly)

[matchless35]

Since there is no midi learn function for the actual drums and no midi-mapping ability in EZdrummer, how do you customize your pads?

EZdrummer version: 2.2.3
Operating system: macOS Monterey (12)

[Shootie]

Most midi controllers have a way to assign notes to the pads internally. I would start looking it up in the manual.

Also consider upgrading EZD for the Midi Learn function.

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Thanked by: matchless35

[matchless35]

Once you did the midi mapping, did any grooves you imported from the groove library sound all screwed up because you changed the midi notes for the drums? Just got the Atom and trying to do the same, I want to map all the extra hits EZ doesn’t show up normally on the atom, extra hi hat hits, snare sounds and cymbal sounds and the different brush hits. Would love to know how if you found a video? Thanks

EZdrummer version: 2.2.3
Operating system: macOS Monterey (12)

[John]

Hi matchless35,

if you do the mapping in your controller’s software, you don’t have to worry about groove libraries not working as they should.
In EZdrummer 2 you can’t re-map anyway and in EZdrummer 3 the remapping is done for incoming notes only, not the actual notes used by the groove libraries, i.e. a real-time transform.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

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Thanked by: CouchingTiger

[Author]

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