The addition of a laptop using ableton or logic or any other software is really easy and doesn't require a sound card/interface, the sx has a sound card built in, if you connect a laptop via USB and enable your software to use the SX as the sound output device it will take midi information from the SX triggering samples, loops and scenes on your software, then route the audio generated by the laptop back down the USB cable and out of the SX main outs, hence you get all the functionality of Ableton/Superior Drummer etc, from just a laptop, and a USB cable....it's brilliant!
I haven't found any apart from superior drummer has a little lag sometimes that I can detect but Ableton kits and Addictive drums were fine. @@ElEspinaco
Dude. You saved my life. I was having trouble with a BT-1 trigger. Switched it to PD-8 and solved it. No idea why they would make it that way. Anyway your work around helped. Thanks again homie.
Glad I could help. Please note that Xtalk won't function properly when a stereo cable isn't plugged into it. It'll trigger sounds just fine but it might be easy to accidentally trigger from vibrations from things struck near it.
the bt-1 is dual zone because it is for use on a snare. if you don't hit the bt-1 and just hit the snare it will trigger so its like having a trigger on your snare and a pad to sample delay or reverb snare hits. really cool trigger. very useful for acoustic/electric kits
Hi, excellent videos! looking foward for those new series! I'm really interested in those Hihat work arounds. I was thinking that a dual zone pad or cymbal should make the trick by assigning to group mutes. It will requiere some technique with the stick, but it may work. Another idea I have is to make a footswitch for changing the routing from the pad to alternate between trigger 1and 2....but I need try it out.
You can mount the bt-1 on the rim of a drum and set the pad to trigger like normal but set it’s second as an actual drum trigger. So the snare or tom that it’s attached to will trigger whatever sample you assign.
I think that the BT-8 uses 2 leads (tip and Ring) because it has some internal soft-switch to reduce cross-talk. Perhaps tip-to-sleeve detects piezo (hit intensity), and ring-to-ground detects switch action (pad has been hit). This more-complex action would require 3 electrical connects to process, hence BT8 requiring TRS cable. Just a hypothesis, I haven't bought one to rip apart... yet.
Hi Patrick! Thanks for watching! And thank you for the info. After doing some reading, the TRS cable is in fact for reducing crosstalk. I'm not sure exactly which ring has which responsibility so that's some good info to know! Thank you!
I watched this video 4 years ago when I was still learning how to use my SPD properly, and this is still far and away the most useful SPD guide video I've ever seen. Thank you!
Hello aizo! Nice video! :) I'm wondering. When you're using a Daw with your Spd-sx. Like Ableton Live. Does the pad respond well for touch sensitivity volume? I play my Spd-sx in Logic and the midi note velocity are top volume. There is no different variations if I play softly or hard. All the notes are the same volume. Did this situation occurs to you? Thank you!
Thank you so much for all the helpful information. I produce music that uses a lot of electronic samples, so this is really practical for a live setting. I’m just left with one question, & I’m sorry if this has been asked before. Where do you find all of your stands?? I’m looking to get a good stand for the SPD SX to use while standing in a live setting, and I’d want one for a BT-1 + PD-8. The way you have it set up in this video seems like it’d suit all of my needs, I just need a good place to look & buy it. Thank you!
Hi Ricky! No problem at all. My main stand might not work for you, because I sit and it's pretty low. But I recommend 5 things for you. - Roland PDS-10 Stand. This is the main stand the SPD-SX will be mounted on. Perfect for players who stand as well. www.roland.com/us/products/pds-10/ - 2x any drum hardware clamps. For me, I like Pearl, so I use Pearl AX-25s. There are longer versions too. (AX-25L) pearldrum.com/products/hardware/adapters/ - 2 boom cymbal arms. Again, I like Pearl, so I use two Pearl CH-1000s. Any drum cymbal arm will do. pearldrum.com/products/hardware/boom-cymbal-holders/boom-cymbal-holders/ And that's it! The main stand holds the SPD-SX and the two clamps allow you to attach the boom arms to the main stand. One boom arm for the BT-1 and the other for the PD-8! Pretty much works with any pad!
Hi! I have a question about using a BT-1 as a hi hat trigger coupled with an FD-9 (hi hat pedal). Does it work as an open/close kind of set up and if so how do I set it up?? Do I need to use the splitter cable or do I run the pedal to the BT-1, then from the.BT-1 to the SPD-SX?? Thanks for a great video!!
The BT-1 is a 2-zone trigger because it uses 2 independent piezos (as far as i know). They are needed to reduce cross talk. There are a lot of threads mentioning that using a mono instead of a stereo cable on a BT-1 greatly increases cross talk when mounted onto a snare/tom or even a cymbal stand and thus causing false triggers. I recently bought 2x BT-1 myself and mountem them on the snare and floor tom. I didn't had much time to play around with them, but whenever i hit the snare/floor trom, my spd-sx showed an input from the BT-1s
+spamtheram EDIT: At the moment I have connected my BT-1s with mono cables to my spd-sx too, as im using also 2 ddrum triggers on my acoustic snare/bass drum. But i cant reduce false triggers by adjusting sensitivity and stuff, i'll have to use stereo cables too i guess...
+spamtheram Hey! Thanks for watching. I need to add some new videos as I've learned a lot since this one has come out. Not to mention my setup has changed dramatically. I have a TD-11 module connected to my SPD-SX so I can use a stereo cable now and I almost never get crosstalk from it. Of course, I have increased the threshold by a lot as I never use it with anything that requires dynamics. What do you trigger on your kit with the BT-1s?
+aizo yurei depending on the song, percussion or different snare drums with effects, at least thats what i've planned. i just was playing around with my setup today and i've noticed that the false triggers i've noticed earlier are connected to the second zone of the bt-1, not triggering any sound at all, just showing some input. so i guess i'm fine for now
hey great video!! my CY 5 Roland doesn't work with dual zone into my SPD SX roland. How does it work? my SPD SX is already set like that : input mode : head and rim Trig 3/4 type: CY5 . So What is the nex step?Do i have to assign one sample on trig 3 and another one to trig 4? thanks for your answers. My name is Vince , i'm a drummer from france.
Do you know if the octopad would be compatible with an Alesis or Yamaha kick trigger? I can't find any information online about what triggers outside of Roland are compatible to use with the Spd sx or octopad
Dear aizo yurei, great job with the videos, they have been lot of help to me. I have a question for you. I set up my SPD-SX with a KD-9 and everything seemed to be smooth. However, the volume of the sound I set to the KD-9 (usually kick drums) are always lower than the rest of the pads. Even though I set the same sound and volume for the KD-9 and lets say pad 5, it is always louder on the pad, no matter how hard I hit the kick. Could this be a configuration issue or is it something wrong with my KD-9? Thanks a lot for your great videos.
Hi and thanks for watching! I don't think your KD-9 has a problem. You probably just need to adjust the sensitivity settings. Go to MENU > SETUP > PAD SENS. Then tap on your KD-9 to bring up it's settings. For me, the PAD SENS (or sensitivity) is set to 20 and the THRESHOLD is set to 1. Sensitivity settings dictate the dynamics in your playing. If it is set to a low value, then when you play lightly, the sample with trigger at a low volume. The harder you play, the louder your sample will trigger. Threshold settings dictate how hard you have to strike the pad/trigger before the sample is triggered. This is so near by vibrations don't trigger a sample. For example you play pad 7 but it also triggers the sample in pad 8 because the threshold was set to a low value. The higher the value set, the harder you will have to strike the pad/trigger in order for the sample to make a sound. Anyway, I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes!
Dear Aizo. Sorry for the feedback delay. You were right about it! It worked like a charm the soon I modified sensitivity settings. I also tried with different THRESHOLD values and put around 10 for the kick since it is what felt better according my playing style. Please receive a big thank you and kudos for your great work on the videos. Receive greetings from Mexico!Regards.
Very helpful. Now, I have Roland RT-30K on the kick drum, RT-30HR (dual zone) on snare. I now wish to add RT-30H to my mounted tom and floor tom. From your video I see I can do it with a splitter cable. But what about to my floor tom. I’m having trouble figuring it out because of the RT-30HR. How can I accomplish this? Is it possible?
great video. this made me purchase my external pads. waiting for the videos on how to setup the spdsx in ableton? do you do Skype or any type of video chatting? id be really interested. thanks again.
hello, I have a question for you.I play the drum in a band in the east ...north east of france.We play around forty concerts per year.So I have also a spd xs and a up grade of a TD 12 roland.Do you knon how i can enter new samples in my td12 please?
Great video! Thank you! *** Have a question, I'm buying a used Roland SPD-S, Will a Roland VH-11 Hi-hat work as a Hi-hat controller if I connect it to the HH CTRL input in the back of the SPD-S ??
Sorry I missed this. I think the SPD-S doesn't support the VH-11 officially. It was discontinued before the VH-11 came out, but I think you can still use it. It's just a bit of rubber and a piezo, so it still should function if you set the trigger to a CY-5 and the controller to the foot pedal. You probably need to mess with the settings to get it to feel right, however.
The Roland SPD SX only uses certain triggers? I have a Yamaha bass drum trigger. When I set it to trigger 1 and 2 you can see Trigger one flashing every time I hit it. I can't get any sound out.
There’s that Sabian cymbal bag with broken zipper pulls that every drummer in the world has owned. I’ve never bought one, but I still somehow have two of them.
LOL! I didn't buy it either! It came with some cymbals I bought and also left with some cymbals I sold. So whoever bought the cymbals has it now! Maybe it's just the same Sabian cymbal bag being passed around! (O _ O; )!!!!!
Hello, great video. Thanks. We use the SPD-SX to trigger backing tracks. Currently my drummer uses a footswitch. It works fine but we were looking for a trigger that he can hit with a stick! For fun we tried using an external Roland drum pad but the sensitivity of the pad would cause the track to turn off and on again. The BT-1 seems like the answer. Have you had any issues with false triggers? Thanks for any advice
Hi Patrick! Thanks for watching and the kind words! When you used the drum pad did you ever try to adjust the triggering sensitivity and or threshold? Using the setup I have in this video I DID have issues with false triggering because I used only one channel for the BT-1. the BT-1 uses two channels one for sending a signal and another to help with false triggering. But even in that case vibrations from a stand or heavy bass sound could still cause false triggering. If that's the case then adjust the threshold would allow for only a stick strike to trigger the sound.
we did a little bit but since we were using a V Pad (PDX-100) it seemed like the wrong piece of gear to be using for triggering tracks anyway so we didnt explore much. We came across the footswitch solution and because the footswitch doesn't have any sensitivity - it just works. I got 2 BT-1s which are being delivered tomorrow. One is for the tracks and one is for my Handsonic HPD-20! Are you able to share with me the exact settings in your SPD-SX for this stick strike? Thanks! patrickmullady AT gmail DOT COM Thanks so much for the video help.
I have an RT-7K and an RT-5S connected to the SPD-SX on Trigger input 1/2 and 3/4 respectively. RT-7K work fine but not the RT-5S. I know there is nothing wrong with the -5S because it works with my TM-2. I checked the cables and and the trigger settings but still couldn’t get to work. I swapped the RT-5S to trigger input 1/2 and it worked. So something is wrong with the setting for trigger 3/4. Not sure what it is. Any thoughts?
Nice video! One question: how did you attach the PD-8 Pads to the SPD-SX? I have the SPD-SX too and thought about buying two PDX-100 Pads but don't know how to attach them to the SPD-SX and my acoustic drums
Hey Felix, sorry for the late reply and thank you for watching the video! Basically, I use Pearl drum clamps and cymbal arms to attack the pads to a snare stand.
Unfortunately, I don't use this set up anymore. I added a TD-11 to be able to properly control the hi hat. You can check out the current set up here: ua-cam.com/video/1JYrm58cSFU/v-deo.html
This was so helpful. Thank you. I'm experiencing a false trigger from my BT-1. It's mounted on the rim of my snare drum and goes off randomly when the vibrations of my kick drum are set off. I'll try changing the input mode to a PD-8 and see if that with a cross talk cancel will help. Would you happen to know if the BT-1 just might not be a good fit for the older SPD-S? I'm sensing that might be the issue as well...
Hey! Thanks for watching! The BT-1 uses a stereo input so that it can reduce false triggering. Once I tried it without the split cable it, false triggering was reduced, A LOT! The SPD-SX has a function where you can adjust the threshold and sensitivity. If the vibrations from your snare are causing FT, then raise the threshold. That way it will require a direct hit in order to trigger. As far as being a good match with the previous model (the SPD-S), I imagine that if you use a stereo input, it should be OK. I'm not familiar with it so I don't know what kind of adjusts you can make. I imagine that it has the threshold and sensitivity controls. Hope that helps! Let me know if you need anything else!
Does it have to be stereo? and does the cord have to have the red and white left and right channel? I bought a y splitter cable from the music shop but it doesn't work on the module with my triggers I have the spd-s with 1 trigger input but I have 2 bass drum triggers
Hi Yomega Brain! Thanks for watching. Normally a splitter cable has two rings on the single side then each split end has a single ring. The colors don't matter, some splitter cables are completely black. Just as long as the rings looks like these, it should work. goo.gl/images/cQsSj9 Since the SPD-S is discontinued, it might not support some newer triggers. However, triggers aren't really complicated pieces of technology. I'm not familiar with the settings in the original SPD, but if it's anything like the SX, then you can choose from an array of different trigger types. Perhaps going through each type might work out.
Thanks Aizo for the tutorial. I connected a Yamaha KU100 foot trigger to my SPD SX, following the instructions, but I don't get any sound coming through. I tried all of the different trigger types, to no avail. Any suggestions? Cheers
Hey! Thanks for the kind words. I have but unfortunately, there's no way to properly control the hi-hat. You can dedicate one pad to closed hats and one to open, but there is no function in the SPD-SX to control the switching between "opened" and "closed". I bought a cheap TD-11 and daisy chained it to the SPD-SX to be able to control the hi-hat. You can see it in this video: ua-cam.com/video/1JYrm58cSFU/v-deo.html
Hi Aizo, When you connect two external pads to a "Trig In" using a stereo insert cable, as demonstrated in your video, will the SPD-SX play both samples if the two pads (TRIG1/2) are struck at the same time? Any other limitations?
+Todd Erickson Hey Todd! Thanks for watching! If you strike the two pads at the same time. Both will trigger with no problem at all. For example if you make trigger 1 a kick and trigger 2 a snare. You can play them with the same sensitivity as you would with any of the V-drum brains or the 9 pads built into the SPD-SX. There are some settings that you can adjust for a delay in response when triggering two pads at the same time in case you ever have problems with vibrations or false triggering.
Hey! thanks for taking your time and creating such video. 3 question for you: 1.) If I'm using 1 RT-30HR dual zone trigger and a RT-30K would that be 3 ins id need to set up? 2.) This is may be dumb lol but: Hence I will be triggering 2 of my sample pads, would the other 7 be able to just simply directly hit it or would it be blocked off? 3.) If i were to change scenes, say 018 to 019, the triggers would change as well or would it stay programmed with the previous scene? Thanks in advance!!!!!!!
Thank you for the kind words and thank you for watching! OK! 1.) You will only need 2 cables to connect your RTs. You won't need any splitter cables, just one mono (like a guitar cable), and one stereo cable (has two rings on the metal part). The two cables will be plugged into TRIG IN 1/2 and 3/4 in the back of the SPD-SX. 2.) Triggers or pads connect to the TRIG IN ports in the back of your SPD-SX have their own sample/settings page, meaning, they are independent of the 9 pads on the face of the SPD. You can have 9 loops or samples on the pads and up to 4 loops/samples on external triggers/pads for a total of 13! 3.) Settings for the scenes are stored within that scene. So you'll need to set up the samples, loops, and midi assignments for each scene separately. It takes a while to set up but it allows for extremely flexible use. Let me know if you have any other questions!
@@aizoyurei Thanks so much for your response! 1.) So if I were to want, 1 RT-30HR dual zone trigger (Stereo 1/4"), a RT-30K (Mono 1/4"), and a RT-30H single trigger (Mono 1/4"), that'll make up for 4 ins on the back of my SPDSX correct? 2.) this is INSANE!!!! could you please elaborate on this? How you would go about with storing the samples for the trigger? I can safely say that I know how to make my way around the pads themselves and assigning my own, hand picked/produced samples. Or even better, could you make a video JAJAJA! I would've never thought I could've expanded my SPDSX to be 13 triggers/pads!! 3.) I guess this could relate to question 2. if I had my triggers set up (keeping in mind the amount of memory space available), for every scene, I would be abled to load 13 samples? lol, I hope you dont regret on letting me know I could keep asking you questions xD ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Thanks so much!!!!!!!!
Yonny Torres Roland's website says it supports all of the PD series. However the settings in the SPD-SX's menu doesn't show the PD-5 listed. But it should work the same as the PD-8.
Hello! Very informative video and you seem to know what you are talking about so I have an unrelated question. I heard that one could use the SPD-SX to trigger video clips or lighting affects through the midi or usb output. By plugging the SPD-SX into a laptop, it would allow for one to control video or lights using the pads. Do you have any insight on this? (if its true/any idea how to do this, especially with video) Thank you!
Hi! Thanks for watching and YES the SPD-SX can control lights and visuals via midi. Actually pretty much any midi controller in the world can do this if hooked up to DMX. However, the SPD-SX and many other Roland products have what's called "V-Link" which is something Roland uses to connect its machines to machines that produce visuals. There are also many people in the Ableton community that use Max4Live and midi clips to control visuals, movie clips, effects, etc.. There are TONS of possibilities!
Thank you very much! I knew other controllers could but I wanted to be positive that the SPD-SX could. I don't find that a lot of people mention the V-Link aspect. I appreciate your response!
In using this spiliter technique, is there anyway to hook-up (1) an hi-hat pedal and pad to the SPD-SX along with (2) a kick pad to create a compact and portable e-drum set?
Hi Jean! Unfortunately, the SPD-SX doesn't support hi-hat functionality. You could do that with the Octapad. But for some reason, Roland removed the hi-hat trigger functionality from the SPD-SX. A small work around is you can use one pad for closed hats and one for open hats and then have them in the same choke/mute group. But then you have to use 2 pads for hi-hats only.
Can someone help me? I’ve encountered a glitch with my new SPD-SX, that I’m using together with two RT-30HR triggers mounted on two converted toms. The shopkeeper has sent to me another one but I encountered the same problem on the new machine… I’m starting to think that the issue is intrinsic to the SPD-SX in general; otherwise I’m very unlucky. The system crashes for a short time (1-2 seconds) and then returns to normal (a kind of false triggering is audible, accompanied by a noise). The defect exists using both my samples and stock sounds. I exclude that it is caused by the trigger settings, since the triggering itself is more than good; moreover, I tried to change every parameter, without any success. I have already updated the system to the latest version available (1.08). I tried to disable the polyphony, but the problem recurred. I’ve even replaced the cables, changed the electrical outlet and performed the factory reset. I’ve also tried to use other triggers. However, the problem persists. Lastly, I’ve seen on the internet that someone has encountered and solved this issue doing a deep format of the SD card or changing it. What do you think?
So I just purchased some axis double bass pedals and two e kit triggers to put on them. Idk if you're familiar with those triggers but basically its a little box connected to each pedal and a hammer connected to each beater so when u strike u get your sound. How do I run those to the spdsx? Can I have the same kick sound for each trigger or not? Pretty much any info or tips would be much appreciated. Thanks
Thank you for watching! 1.) Just run a 1/4" cable from your trigger to the SPD-SX (one ring, like a guitar cable) into trig input 1/2 & another one into 3/4. Now, if you have a splitter cable, like the one in this video, you can put both kick pedals on one input. For example, right pedal on input 1 and left pedal on input 2. 2.) Since it's not a Roland product, you'll have to try out the different trigger types in the external trigger type list. I recommend trying one of the K-series since they are for kicks (the KD-9 for example) . Just look towards the end of this video to see how to adjust the external trigger settings (from about 4:20). After that, you should be ready to roll! Let me know how it goes!
Sorry, I missed this. The BT-1 is on a Pearl CH-1000 (a cymbal arm) clamped to a snare stand (Pearl S-1000). The Snare stand is what the SPD-SX is mounted to. The cymbal arm clamp is a Pearl AX-28. LEt me know if you have any other questions!
Does the SPD SX act as a brain module for any kit? If you wanted to incorporate the SPD-SX into your existing kit, would it replace the sound module/brain for that kit? Or does it act as a standalone piece of hardware? There are videos around that imply that the SPD-SX can control aspects of Roland V-Drum kids. I'm looking to get a starter electronic kit, like the TK-4KP and the SPD-SX as well. I love the idea of sampling sounds from Ableton. It looks like you have quite the awesome setup here.
The SPD-SX is not meant to replace your drum module. It just doesn't have enough ports for external triggers/pads to replace it. However it is an amazing companion to an e-kit. If you chain the SPD-SX to a drum module via a midi cable you can control the BPM and change songs/patches with a foot switch. Let's say you have a gig where you use an e-kit for drums and the SPD for sound effects, loops, backing tracks, etc. You can set it up so that the SPD-SX is the master and your module is a slave device. You can go through your set list with just a hit of your foot switch (you can also connect a pad, like a PD-8, to the foot switch port). One thing you have to keep in mind is that your drum module has to have a midi and foot switch input for it to be controlled by the SPD-SX. For example, my module is the TD-11 -- a lower tier module. It has no foot switch controls and only has a "midi out" port. That means I cannot send data TO the TD-11. I can only send data FROM the TD-11. So it is not possible to run my TD-11 as a slave to the SPD-SX. Off the top of my head, there are three Roland modules that can't be slaved to the SPD-SX. The TD-11, the TD-15, and the newer TD-25. All three of these modules don't have a "midi in" port. Only "midi out."
Sorry, I missed the part where you said you wanted the TD-4KP. Unfortunately, that module only has a midi out, so you can't use the SPD-SX to control the TD-4 drum module. HOWEVER, you can send midi out from the TD-4 module to the SPD-SX and then run a USB cable to your computer. Ableton will receive midi information from your two modules and you can trigger any sound from Ableton. TD-4 -- [midi cable] --> SPD-SX -- [USB cable] --> computer (Ableton Live)
Thank you for the super quick reply, much appreciated. Okay, so then I need to have a V-Drum kit module with midi in to work the way you explained first. But, i see you gave me an alternative option. Is that a recommended way of going about it? Does that add any more latency then doing midi in right to the drum module? Instead of spending less money and jerry-rigging it to work, I'd rather spend a little more on a higher model V-Drum set and have the MIDI in input. Could I still buy the TD-4KP, replace the drum model with one that does have MIDI in? Or is that a HUGE price difference? Thanks again for the help.
You're welcome! I use the suggested set up now instagram.com/p/4bTP4NSiI8v9rXSB7-ZO8msjDoGs6KXS_5dDM0/?taken-by=aizoyurei. (Sorry it's an older pic). Latency is NOT a problem at all. If you only use samples in Ableton (no VSTs) then it uses next to nothing in CPU. (of course that depends on the power of your computer and the number and size of your samples). The cool thing about V-drums is that a lot if not all pieces are interchangeable. If you get a low budget kit and later when you have more money want to buy a better module, or add pads, triggers, or cymbals triggers, you TOTALLY can! What I did was buy a module first, used. It was super cheap only about $300. If I bought the whole kit that module comes with it's easily over a grand. Since I already had drums, I just bought mesh heads (about $5 a piece) and triggers for the tom, kick and snare (I bought the RT-10 [$30 each] series because Roland came out with the RT-30 series which are not necessarily better but A LOT more expensive.) [$100 each] and used cymbal pads (about $30 each, except the hihat which was about $100). Look on eBay because when people upgrade they get rid of their old pads. You can find a lot of good deals! I really only recommend using the SPD-SX as a master and your V-kit as a slave if you're NOT going to use your PC. That set up is simple, but a lot more limited. But it depends on what you want to do. If you're in a band, and you just wanna play drums with loops, samples, and maybe some backing tracks, it's all you'll need. But if you want to do something more intricate, trigger Ableton with your V-drums/SPD-SX. The possibilities are limitless! I'll be putting out a video series pretty soon (I'm still editing it) about different possibilities with V-drums, drum pads, and Ableton.
Alright awesome. It's good to hear that you can upgrade and interchange parts! I have a pretty beefy computer that I know can run ableton, so maybe i'll try out the TD-4KP first and see about the other stuff later! I'm not in a band, just looking to get back into playing drums but reallllyyy want to try an electronic kit. Like you said, possibilities are endless. I listen to a LOT of electronic music, and I would love to try sampling with ableton. Thanks again for all the info. I'll be sure to check ebay for deals.
Thanks for the video! Brand new to the SPD-SX. Is there any way to setup a kick pad to trigger an instrument sound through the foot switch jack? For example, it would be like running your kick pad into the foot switch port and playing a one shot kick wave file. I've tried this but it doesn't work. The Sys settings for the foot switch are basically for on/off type functions. I'm guessing this is not possible.
Hi Marc! Thanks for watching and thank you for the kind words. You know, I once saw an Instagram picture of someone who used 2x KT-10s with an SPD-SX. I asked him and he said he used the Foot Switch port for one of the kicks. I should have asked him how, because I guessed I could just "figure it out". However, I never did figure it out, and when you published this comment the other day I spent a good hour looking for that damn pic again on Instragram to no avail! LOL. Over the weekend I'll try to figure it out again. Can't promise anything but I'll keep you updated!
Thank you sir! I decided to write Roland support too. If I get an answer from them I'll post back here. I really appreciate your efforts to help. Thanks again.
Got the reply from Roland (not possible)... Unfortunately, the footswitch jack on the SPD-SX can only be used with a momentary footswitch (i.e. BOSS FS-5U, FS-6, etc.). The KD-140 (or any of our other trigger pads) can only be connected to the trigger inputs and will not work when connected to the footswitch input jack.
Thanks for the video. 👍🏼 I want to use very similar set up to you. Run a kick, hats and cymbal. You talk about the open hats not being playable on a pad. Is this your choice or a limitation. Is there anyway possible to hook up a FD-8 hi hat pedal and have the option to have open and closed hats? Thanks again :-)
+Kerrilee Gallagher Thanks for watching, Kerrilee! Unfortunately, you are unable to use a hi-hat controller with the SPD-SX. It's a really strange decision by Roland, because the previous model, the SPD-S, had an input for a hi-hat controller. there are only 2 stereo inputs on the back of the SPD-SX. either 2 dual-zoned triggers, a dual-zone trigger plus 2 single-zone triggers, or 4 single-zone triggers. That's why I had the closed hi-hat and the open hi-hat on separate pads. I've actually upgraded my setup since this video to incorporate a TD-11 (which has support for a hihat controller)
Tnx for quick reply Aizo ! Yesterday i figured out how to do that. The bigest thin drummer should be sure that he"s cable 100% is working co i bought new and one side doesn't work ,,, Finally everything is working !
+ebe parco Hey thanks for watching! the clamp holding the middle PD-8 is a Pearl PPS37 The PD-8 to the left is sitting on a Pearl CH-1000 Cymbal Arm. Let me know if you have any other questions.
thanks man,big help bro,...very informative,...cool....actually there are some questions,some more,..about the "SUB OUTPUTS"?,what does it mean?...what "sub output" can do?,also for master output,..informations like : cables,what we should be using or the dont's...IN AND OUT from amps and mixers....this video is very helpful bro..thank you for having the time to reply man....#drumbros
+ebe parco On the back there are 3 outputs. Mains, Sub, and headphones. If you want a pad, click, or sample to go to a different destination, you can use the sub outs. Some people might have the sounds outputted through the main outs and then the click outputted to the headphones or a sub out. In general, you should connect your SPD-SX's MAIN OUT to a mixer or a recording device. Cables depend on what you want to do with your SPD-SX. There are so many options, I don't think I'll be able to list them here. But I'll give you a few to start. TRS or 1/4" cables one ring cables for your main and sub outs. Sometimes you can buy stereo cables with one red tip and one tip. (red is the right channel, white is the left channel) USB cable to connect your SPD-SX to your PC. You can load samples onto from the included software or connect it to your favorite DAW to control a VST through USB midi. Midi cables to daisy chain other Roland devices, like a V-drums module, an Octapad, or an external drum machine/sampler.
hey so question can i program the sounds into the spdsx and use the triggers for those sounds? instead of hooking up to ableton . like i want to hook up the RT-30 trigger to the spdsx with the sound already on it .is this possible? thank you
Hi Brittany, thanks for watching! You can assign samples or loops to any external triggers. For example if you have an RT-30 connected to a kick drum and wanted to layer an 808 sound over your acoustic kick, you totally can. You don't a computer at all! All external triggers can have samples or loops assigned to them independent from the main 9 pads using the SPD-SX's sound engine.
Ok awesome thank you! Also another question is it possible to hook up a delay pedal into the spdsx and come out into the PA. ? I'm going to try it today but I'm not sure how
Absolutely. But most pedals (assuming it's like a guitar FX pedal you're talking about) are only mono, so if you're just using regular samples it should be OK. If you're using stereo loops it might be a problem. SPD-SX (direct outs) > delay pedal > PA system
Hey Aizo, I am trying to use the Roland FD-8 HiHat Pedal to triger samples and it's plugged into TRIG IN 1/2 and the samples are saved there but no sound when I step on it. It works on my Octopad though.. When I pull out the patch cable out it triggers and I hear the sample so I know it's in the machine. Have you heard of any problems with the Roland FD-8 Hi Hat pedal to trigger the sounds? Or am I doing something wrong here? Your help would be so appreciated. Jason Popovich
Thank you for watching! As far as the FD-8, it's not really meant to be a trigger but that's not going to stop us from using it. The FD-8 (to my knowledge) still sends midi information. The VH-11 controller works the same way. There is a hi-hat connection and a hi-hat controller connection. I think the problem is the setting. Go to: Menu > Setup > Trig In. This is where it's gets iffy. I'm not sure if the FD-8 uses a stereo cable (TRS = two rings) or a mono cable (like a guitar). First, I would try the TRIGX2 setup so that you only have to use one input. Then try scrolling through the different trigger types (e.g. - PD-8, CY-5, etc..) Since the SPD-SX wasn't designed to control a hi-hat (unfortunately), there won't be a setting or port for one (like the Octapad does which is really fucking stupid). If this doesn't work, I would try setting it to HEAD & RIM and then try each of the different triggers. If that doesn't work then I'm afraid you'll have to use a different trigger for those samples. Please let me know how it turns out and thanks again for watching!
I tried what you said and it does not work. Not compatible. I will use my KD-9 BD trigger instead it just takes up more space in an already over crowded zone. I wonder what would be the best 'compact" foot trigger to use that actual works for this?
Jason Popovich Sorry to hear it doesn't work man. Well, if you've got the coin to spend, you can get yourself a KT-10. It's super nice and very low profile. I wish I could afford two of them. They feel real smooth and they're crazy quiet.
Here in Japan, there a bunch of audio technica cords you can buy. One side is TRS (two rings) on a 1/4" and the other side is split 1/4" with one ring on each split
Hi there! I recently got a SPD-SX. Other than connecting it to your computer to transfer sounds on a new kit, is there a way to add the pre-existing pad sounds to a new kit?
Hello and thanks for watching! Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You want to add the sounds already in your SPD-SX to another kit, for example, a USER kit? Like, add the 909's snare onto a USER kit that has the 808 kick? If that is the case it's SUPER easy to do. First off, scroll to a USER kit. Then hit MENU > PAD. At the top of the tab "MAIN," you should see "WAVE" and "-- NO ASSIGNED" next to it. Simply use the PLUS and MINUS buttons to scroll through all samples that are in your SPD-SX's memory. You can change the pad that you want to edit by striking it or using the right and left arrow buttons to scroll through all 9 pads and triggers. You can even assign samples to the Foot Switches. If you go to the SUB tab, you can assign a secondary sample to a pad. For example, add a crash to bassline loop. I hope that helps you out. Let me know if you need anything else!
aizo yurei Thank you so much for the response! I actually ended up figuring it out about an hour after I send out my question. I came across anther issue though. when it chines to basic sampling, is there a way I can preview the sample I took right off my ipod as a loop before I save it? I never seem to get the correct start/end time of a sample for it to flow smoothly in a loop. thanks again. hope my question makes sense
I saw your videos in youtube!! great!!! I wanna ask you something!! I have a roland spd sx and a snare drum trigger by ddrum. I don t know how to set up to work together. I hit the acustic drums and the roland recognice it but nothing came out of the speaker. What is the right configuration? Can you help me with that? Thank you very much!!! Peace bro!!!
Hey! Thanks for watching! I have a few questions for you. We might be able to get this solved! - Which channel (1, 2, 3, or 4) is your DDrum trigger connected to? - Is your DDrum trigger a single or dual zone trigger? Meaning, is it head only or head and rim? - What settings do you have the channel set to? Head only or head and rim? - Is the volume up? - Is the sample volume up or is there a sample on the channel?
aizo thanks for your help. The trigger is the ddrum snare trigger. The red one, and i have it in my accustic snare drum. I put it on the channel 1/2. I don't know if is a single or dual zone but I guess for the information in the ddrum page is dual. The settings is what I don,t know what to put. NOw I have Head & rim and in trig 1/2 type it says pd-8, but there I have lot of options. The volume is up cause I hit the pads and the sound on the amplifier were i got the roland conected. I go into the kid pad section and I assigned a sound of the roland to the trigger. SO when I hit the snare the red light of the trigger goes on every time I hit but i don't get the sound. Thanks again for your help!!!!
I have been debating getting this thing over the octapad, and your videos seem to be the most informative for what I'm looking to do. The no hi hat control, as silly as it seems, really bothers me. Couldn't I just get a trigger to midi converter box with a hh control on it and expand the amount of triggers through the midi in out cable?
Hey! Thanks for watching! I had the same conundrum when I was trying to decide which to get. What are you going to use it for? With an acoustic kit to trigger samples and loops? As a mini kit in standalone or connected to a PC & a DAW? Do you want to connect external triggers like a kick trigger and pads? For me, it was a combination of both. I have a rock band and sometimes need some samples or loops to play with it. But I don’t want to drag my computer and audio interface around too. Also, I have another “band” that only uses a computer and I wanted to play the drum parts live (but using the same samples). Finally, I have my own music, which uses a lot of samples, loops, and drum VSTs (addictive drummer, easy drummer, etc.). Because of all this, I went the SPD-SX route. The only downside is it’s missing the hi-hat controller. Roland dropped the ball on that. Anyway, now my needs are expanding. My setup is completely different from this video (I need to make a new video). I’m going to add a TD-11 module to the set up and more pads + the SPD-SX. To answer your question, you can get a Roland TM-6 to expand your external triggers. It also has an input for hi-hat control. I was thinking about getting one. (They have one used at my local drum shop.) I’m not 100% sure, but basically you hook a midi cable between them. The output of the TM-6 goes into the SPD-SX and you can either trigger onboard samples or samples from your DAW (via USB or midi). I don’t have experience with it but I was reading the owner’s manual and that’s pretty much all there is to it. You can download the manual from Roland’s site. They go for about $150 on eBay now.
I have my setup for hi hat hack..... use PD8..... add close hi hat and open hi hat ( since PD8 is dual Trigger) and add a switch control for the open hi hat.... basically when you hit the switch (I am using boss switch ) it stops the open hi hat
Hey! Thank you for watching! The PD-8 is mounted on a Pearl cymbal arm. I use the same cymbal arm for the BT-1. The SPD-SX is mounted on a Pearl snare stand tripod with a Pearl UX-80 coming out of the top. The SPD-SX's mount sticks in the top of the UX-80.
Hi. I hooked my SPD-SX up to my computer and I have to agree that the output is quit low. There are system settings to increase the output gain but even then, I can't get it to output up to 0db. I've even tried cranking up my audio interface's gain, but it's still pretty low. You can put it through a hardware compressor and that will definitely boost the volume. You'll lose some dynamics though depending on how hard you slam it, though.
Love your setup, unfortunately my strike multipad Is now broken and keeps freezing at start up, of coarse this would happen as soon as the warranty just ran out. I’m using my spd-30 as mini kit now, unfortunately it can’t load user samples, I have to use AB live with it. I only have a Mac mini so my spd-30 rig is not very portable like that.
Oh, man! But It CAN be! Do you have an iPad? If not I heard that portable game monitors were crazy cheap, like around $100. If you have an iPad there's a cool app where you can use you iPad as a screen for your mac mini. Gives you touch input too! I was thinking about buying a mac mini and using it with my iPad for my live rig instead of spending 2k on a laptop.
@@aizoyurei oh snap!!! I’ve heard heard about that iPad app before. Mine is currently broken, however I would definitely buy another one with this knowledge. I bought my Mac mini 16gb ram, 2.4ghz core i5, 100gb ssd( I know definitely needs upgrade) for 217$ on FB marketplace, an iPad and that app would work out very nicely until I can afford laptop for my music production. Gotta cut corners and save where you can, Roland gear expensive, I need new spd-sx my damn alesis one died!!!!!! It’s become heart of my setup, it’s a jack of all trades!!!thank you so much for responding
@@mattryan6886 Anytime yo! This video is the video that inspired me to buy a mac mini. ua-cam.com/video/cOT_2NxHco0/v-deo.html And yeah! stuff is expensive!
excellent stuff. Looking at buying one but need hi hat foot pedal trigger as well. In vid you say it cant do it, only on pad, but a comment below says you can do hi hat trigger pedal just got to go to settings and select it. Is this correct?
I'm still pretty sure that there is no way to use any of the hi hat controllers with SPD-SX. There has been no official announcement or update about it, and I'm pretty sure that's the number one request with this thing. www.rolandus.com/support/knowledge_base/206902296 even says it's not compatible. What do you want to use it for? If you don't mind using a computer too, the Octapad is better in almost every way. hi hat controller, more ports for external triggers, sequencer, and a huge library of sounds. But if you want to use your own samples, and using a computer is too much of a pain, then go with the SPD-SX. One more alternative is the previous version of SPD-SX, the SPD-S. It has a port for a hi hat controller and can you load your own samples into it.
thanks heaps aizo. yeah i cant have a PC on stage. Think i can get away without hihat now, but i want to load my own samples. i'm thinking the SPD -SX. Do you know if the SX has more improvements/features on the S model?
brett anderson Hi Brett, it's almost as if Roland took the SPD-S and split into the Octapad and SPD-SX. The Octapad took the sequencer and hi-hat controller input and the SPD-SX took the sampling ability. SPD-S: - 1x dual zone trigger / 2x single zone triggers - hi-hat controller input (that can also be used as a foot switch input) - 16 minutes total sampling time - built in sequencer/looper - no USB connectivity - Compact flashcard storage SPD-SX - 2x dual zone trigger / 4x single zone inputs - Foot switch input (can NOT be used as a hi-hat controller input. - 160 minutes of sampling time (stereo) / 720 (mono) - No built-in sequencer - USB audio/midi - USB memory storage (separate from the USB audio/midi port, so in total, two USB ports) Despite not being able to use a hi-hat controller, there is still a workaround. One pad can be used for closed hats and the other for open hats. They can be linked together so that when you play the pad with the closed hat sample after the open hat sample, it will stop or "choke" the sample from playing. This is very common with drum machines like the MPC series or even in software like Ableton Live's Drum Racks. Since the SPD-SX doesn't use multisampling, it wouldn't have a very dynamic transition between closed hats and opens hats anyway. However the Octapad does have this dynamic feature. If you have anymore questions let me know. Also, I have a new tutorial video series coming out. I just built a new setup and a new PC to edit videos, so look out for that. I'm going to be talking about more SPD-SX options/features/possibilities along with a whole bunch of other hybrid drums/electronic drums and drumming stuff! You can see the new set up here: (slightly older pic during the transition) instagram.com/p/4bTP4NSiI8v9rXSB7-ZO8msjDoGs6KXS_5dDM0/?taken-by=aizoyurei
thats excellent info cheers. I reckon the spd sx is what we need. Cant wait for your new series. Going to buy 3 of kd7 trigger pads. do you know what is best kick drum pedal to buy for these? I see there is pedals with 1 chain or 2 and some with 1 side spring or 2? its all for my son who is setting up a better live act/sound and replacing foot stompbox and foot tambourine with kd 7's and spd sx. he plays the didges too which he has made. here is his link to bio, music etc. onepagelink.com/willandersonmusic/
Hi Brett, Wow! That's so cool! To be perfectly honest, it's best for your son to go to a music store and try out pedals. While I'm personally a huge fan of Pearl drums and hardware, all of the major companies make excellent products. There are some super expensive pedals that feel like trash and super cheap pedals that feel buttery smooth. Since I'm guessing he's not going to be playing speed metal during his live shows, single chains (which are generally cheaper) should be fine. But again, he should try out what feels best first. If the store you go to is REALLY cool, they'll let you try out the pedals with a KD7 as the angle of the beater and the rubber pad feels a lot different than a regular kick drum. Shoot, even Roland makes a pretty good foot pedals and it's a decent price to boot!
C.J. Beckwith You can setup 7 single zone external triggers. Int he back of the Octpad there is - HH ctrl (hi hat control) - kick (single zone) - snare (dual) - HH (dual) - ride (dual) I'm not sure about if you can use the HH ctrl plug for a separate trigger but it might be possible. On my TD-11, it sends a midi note. so you could program it to send a different note. I'm not sure if you can unlink them so it doesn't mute the open hihat sound when you play it.
Hi Brandon, thanks for watching! I'm using a Pearl Snare drum stand as the main stand with a cymbal boom arm (Pearl CH-1000) for the left side PD-8 and a cowbell holder (Pearl PPS-37) for the center PD-8. Let me know if you have any other questions!
this may have been asked before, but do the 4 triggers take up 4 of the 9 pads? as in...do you still only get 9 sounds, with 4 of them being triggered by the external pads, or do you get 13 sounds. does this make sense?
Hi Jake! Thanks for watching! Not a stupid question at all because gear like the Nord Drum has this very problem but lucky for us the SPD-SX does not. Each trigger has their own page for editing parameters. Each trigger can have a main sample and a sub samples so you can have 26 samples mapped out on your SPD-SX. All you have to do once you set them all up is to strike the external trigger (or page over to the trigger) then edited the parameters.
I have the 3p! i actually love it as a midi controller for things like kontakt and battery, but would love more than 6 notes. If i can get 13 on the spd-sx with the addition of triggers, that would be huge. how do you feel about the octopad vs spd-sx?
Sweet! Since making this video my laptop has pretty much died so I can't use my gear much with Ableton so I've tried to move to hardware as much as possible. Right now I have a TD-11 going through the SPD-SX (so I can more pads/triggers and hi hat control) to a Novation Circuit and the first gen Nord Drum. It's really fun and even though it's limited it's been very inspiring. The reason why I want the 3P is because it has delay and reverb among a bunch of other features. Regarding the Octapad, I thought about making a comparison video because I originally wanted one, but now I'm pretty sure I won't get one. Unless I get an amazing deal. If you want a mini drumset for playing gigs without a laptop and you want ride and hi-hat control, it's perfect. Also it has a built in looper, which sucks because that would be perfect for the SPD-SX. And what's worse is both of those features (looper and hihat control) were both in the SPD-S. Anyway, the downside is less pads and the inability to add your own sounds. But if you connect it to a computer via USB that doesn't matter. You can use Battery or Kontakt just as you do with the 3P. SPD-SX --> 9 pads + up to 4 (single zone) triggers. (+) Add your own sounds. (-) no looper or hihat control Octapad --> 8 pads + kick, snare, cymbal, & hihat. (+) Looper and hihat control (-) only stock sounds
Hey Wesly! Thanks for watching! When did you buy your SPD-SX? There's a System Update for the SPD-SX that added functionality for the KT-10 along with the new RT-30 triggers series. You can find the update and instructions on how to install it here: www.roland.com/us/support/by_product/spd-sx/updates_drivers/7b0afd9d-a8c1-4c96-8904-998333695c0a/ If your system is up to date or after you've updated the system, make sure that the trigger input that you've connected your KT-10 is set to KT-10 under MENU > SETUP > TRIG IN. Also make sure the INPUT MODE is set to TRIGx2 If that doesn't work for you, make sure that you've assigned a sample for your KT-10 under MENU > PAD I hope that works for you and thanks again for watching!
Do your cables on the single end have tip / ring / sleeve (2 lines) and the split end has two one ring end? I know Ddrum triggers work with Roland gear because my friend uses a Roland brain with Ddrum triggers. What you might want to try is set the SPD-SX to different pads. Try pd-8, RT-10, etc.. The cables might be fine, but the pad setting might not be reading the triggers correctly. Something worth trying. I'm not sure if GC has the cables I have because I live in Japan. They are really cheap cables that you probably can get a Radio Shack.
Yeah, I tried a PD-8 with this. The middle pad for the closed sound and the rim trigger for the open sound. It was kind of clunky but it definitely worked.
Sorry for calling you Michael! I haven't found a hi-hat solution yet. The KT-9 can't invert its signal, so I'm still searching. What hi-hat pedal are you using there? Does it work? Thanks so much.
No problem, sorry to get back to you late! As far as I know, and as much as I've tried, I cannot get the SPD-SX to have any kind of hi-hat controller functionality except using multiple pads and mute groups.
IS there an Off and on Switch button for triggers???? I have a roland rt 30 and need a way to turn it on and off manualy with a click of a button to get back to my regular sound while playing? Please help!!! Thank you!
Hi Wesley, Thanks for watching. I'm not sure actually. I want to say no, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm at work right now, but when I go home tonight, I'll test a few things and see if there is a way. But just to clarify, you want to know if there is a way to toggle a pad or this case a trigger on and off so that for one song you can have your drum sound + the trigger sound but for another song (or part of a song) you just want to have the sound of your acoustic drum only?
Alright my dude. I did some checking and there is no way I can find to toggle a pad or trigger on or off. HOWEVER, I have a great work around. 1.) Use a Footswitch to change kits. What you do is set up the first kit to trigger all the sounds, loops, etc. you want. Then set up the next kit to be either a.) completely blank that way your RT-30 won't trigger any sound. or b.) have all the other sounds, loops, etc. on the kit but just your RT-30 blank. Use the footswitch to change between the kits as needed. 2.) Use another Pad/Trigger to change kits. Then go with a.) or b.) from above.
Thanks for your help and getting back to me! What I'm trying to do is play with my regular bass drum sound while I have my rt 30 plugged into the pad and be able to play that regular bass drum sound while my pad is on and be able to turn on the trigger rt 30 and off when I need to. That way I can use my pad with a regular my regular bass drum without triggering the rt 30 at the same time. You get what Im trying to do? Basically want to find a way to turn on and off the trigger when I need to and use my regular bass drum sound when I have my pad on and use my pad with the regular bass drum sound then when I need to turn on the trigger of the bt 30 I can do so. Right now my rt 30 I cant use it with my pad because if I turn on my pad and have the trigger set up to a sound, Im not able to use my regular bass drum sound when Im using my pad.
Hi again Wesley. I totally get what you're trying to do. Here's what you do: 1.) Kit #1: no sample on RT30, other pads have samples 2.) Kit #2: sample on RT30, other pads have same samples as Kit#1 3.) Go to MENU > SYS(system) > PAD/FS CTRL > if you have a footswitch (like a BOSS FS-6) you can assign KIT INC and KIT DEC to it, or you can use one pad for KIT INC and one pad for KIT DEC.* *KIT INC(kit increase) will switch to the next KIT, and KIT DEC (kit decrease) will switch the previous KIT. So you can't toggle the sound on and off per se, but you can switch between kits freely. So with KIT #1 you only hear your kick sound while all the samples on your SPD-SX play, and on KIT #2 your RT30 will trigger a sample along with your other samples. Let me know if you have any other questions!
+Keith Schwier Hi there! Thanks for watching! The SPD-SX while advanced is still pretty simple. The triggers are all just wires attached to a piezo. While I can't guarantee they work as well as Roland triggers as they are designed for each other. Yamaha triggers, along with any other brand that uses a 1/4" cable, should work fine. I'm not sure how adjustable they are, but basic feature should work.
so i got some triggers for my toms but I'm having some problems getting sound out of em. let me explain. my kicks are triggered (1 and 2) and i have sound, but for my toms the spdsx is showing me its only getting signal from the 3rd trigger and not the 4th. is this an internal problem with the spdsx or do i need to adjust a setting somewhere? hope someone can help me cause i didn't get the pro coverage and the spdsx is fairly new. thanks
Hello maschinemademan! Thank you for watching! First, I have to ask, which triggers are using for your toms? Second, Is your SPD-SX's software up to date? Have you adjusted the "TRIG IN" setting in the "set up" menu? Push menu > set up > trig in. It has two settings for input mode "trigx2" and "head&rim". "trigx2" is the setting you should use for two single zoned triggers (in this case your 2x tom triggers). Make sure you have both channel 3 and 4 set to the trigger you are using. If it doesn't display, for example you're not using a Roland brand trigger, then try different trigger types and see if they work. Make sure you adjust pad sensitivity in "pad sens" menu. Just go to to menu > set up > pad sens. Also make sure that all of your cables are correct and that they are connected properly. Please let me know if you have any further questions! Again, thanks for watching!
Are you referring to the KT-10? If so yes, it definitely works. The KT came out last year so it won't appear in the owner's manual. ua-cam.com/video/i69cABXBvw8/v-deo.html This video shows it being used together.
You can sample 360 minutes of mono audio or 180 of stereo audio. It has 2gb of internal memory. You can also load samples from a USB thumbdrive or connect it to your computer and have unlimited sampling time (well at least whatever your computer limit is)
Oh man There are TONS of free samples on the internet. Just type in "free drum samples" into Google! If you don't mind paying $1 there is this great sample pack: producerschoice.leadpages.co/5-packs-1-dollar-offer/
If you bought it new, connect the cable it came with into the back where it says, Trig In 1/2 or 3/4. Then go in to settings [Menu --> Setup --> TRIG IN] Set it to "Head & Rim" (if it already hasn't been set to it) and adjust the trigger type to the BT-1. If the BT-1 doesn't show up in the trigger types, you might need to update to the latest version. After that, you just need to assign a sample or loop to it. If you just want a sample to play from the BT-1 (for example, a clap, etc.), set the trigger to "one shot" (and turn loop off)
Hello, i need your help, i want to connect my FD8 hihat pedal, and i want to assign it to pad 9,. And is it possible to control the open and close hat? Pls. Help. Thanks
+Mark Anthony Asuncion Unfortunately, the SPD-SX doesn't have hi-hat control. You can assign one pad to open hihat and another pad to closed hihat and assign both of the pads to a mute/choke group. But the SPD-SX doesn't support hi-hat control pedals. Only the Octapad(SPD-30).
Hey Glowing One! Thanks for watching!!! I don't have much experience with Logic, but I can say -- it depends. What do you want to do with the SPD-SX and Logic? Do you just want to use VSTs like Addictive Drummer, Superior Drummer, etc., or your own samples (like in Logic's Ultrabeat)? If that's it, then the SPD-SX and Logic are probably all you need. Now, if you want to control parts of your song or switch between different kits. I think Ableton is better suited. For example: I might have one pad dedicated to switching scenes in Ableton. Every time I hit that pad, it'll progress the song. But at the same time, I might have it programmed so that when it changes scenes it also switches drum kits or VSTs. If you have any other questions, let me know!
Hi, Philipee! Thanks for watching! Dang has it been 7 years!? Anyway, here’s what I used: - Pearl S-1000 Snare drum tripod as the bottom half of the main stand with a with a Pearl UX80 universal clamp in the tripod to mount the SPD-SX. - Cymbal boom arm (Pearl CH-1000) for the left side PD-8 - same as about to mount the BT-1 - A cowbell holder (Pearl PPS-37) for the center PD-8. They’re all attached to the snare stand using Pearl clamps! Let me know if have any other questions!
@@aizoyurei thanks a lot man, I am beginner e-drummer, so it helped me🙏 So If I have SPD SX with dedicated stand without clamps and want to have left and right PD8 pads, the 2x clamps + 2x cymbal arms will do the job? Did your cymbal arms fitted the PD8 without problem on the edges? Btw yeah,time flies like sh#t⌚😖 hoping you still have this magical SPD sx machine
@@aizoyurei oh, I see the Pearl1000 is not made these days, but I think I have to find some boom arm for cymbals with uni holder on the edge, right? Thanks brother
@@DJPhilipee Anytime yo! To answer your question, the PD8's mounting bracket will fit ANY cymbal boom. Pearl is just what I use. You can use a different brand or a cheaper brand. So all you need is a cymbal boom arm for each pad and a clamp to mount them to the main stand. I do have my SPD-SX. And I still use it as much as possible. I have a completely different set up now, but I still use a lot of Pearl hardware mixed in with Roland's rack system. You can check it out here: ua-cam.com/video/1JYrm58cSFU/v-deo.html (e-drums can be seen from 1:40)
@@aizoyurei what amazing setup, maan ! I see step by step you upgraded, its lot of passion in this drum upgrading right ;) I just got 2x PD8 to SPD SX so dont U know, if its possible to use in triggers: 2x head and rims on 2x PD8 + the single kick? but when I use 1x pD8's head+rim (with TRS cable so = 2triggers), only 2 are free with stereo splitter, so... i think not... but You the boss ;)
does it use 1/4" jacks? If it does, I don't see why it wouldn't. As far as setting it up, I'm not sure which pad you should set it to in the options but I recommend taking it to a local music store and hooking it up. If you're gonna drop the dough that an SPD-SX costs I don't see why they wouldn't let you try.
Hello,i use a lot of e-drums & also have the spd-sx,love it,i have'nt used a BT-1,would it work on the BT-1 pad setting if it was on trigger 1,& kick on trigger 2??Just a thought???i also split the signals,nice video by the way 8-)
That's a good question man! I'll have to try to see if it matters which input you use. The TM-2 has a diagram that shows it can use 2x BT-1s off a split channel. That'd be strange if they'd allow that on the TM-2 and not the SPD-SX Thanks for the nice comments!
The addition of a laptop using ableton or logic or any other software is really easy and doesn't require a sound card/interface, the sx has a sound card built in, if you connect a laptop via USB and enable your software to use the SX as the sound output device it will take midi information from the SX triggering samples, loops and scenes on your software, then route the audio generated by the laptop back down the USB cable and out of the SX main outs, hence you get all the functionality of Ableton/Superior Drummer etc, from just a laptop, and a USB cable....it's brilliant!
It truly is.
Is it possible to just use the SPD-SX as a sound input and use a separate interface as the sound output?
Would that have noticeable latency?
I haven't found any apart from superior drummer has a little lag sometimes that I can detect but Ableton kits and Addictive drums were fine. @@ElEspinaco
Dude. You saved my life. I was having trouble with a BT-1 trigger. Switched it to PD-8 and solved it. No idea why they would make it that way. Anyway your work around helped. Thanks again homie.
Glad I could help. Please note that Xtalk won't function properly when a stereo cable isn't plugged into it. It'll trigger sounds just fine but it might be easy to accidentally trigger from vibrations from things struck near it.
Sean Maestri The BT-1 is actually a dual zone trigger, but the second zone (sound) is triggered by velocity rather than location.
on the SPD-SX during setup you would select BT-1 if you are using 1 input when using 2 triggers you would select PD-8
VERY HELPFUL! I am rigging up external triggers for a show i have coming up (not roland however) hopefully its as easy as you have demonstrated!!
the bt-1 is dual zone because it is for use on a snare. if you don't hit the bt-1 and just hit the snare it will trigger so its like having a trigger on your snare and a pad to sample delay or reverb snare hits. really cool trigger. very useful for acoustic/electric kits
Very useful vid w/ nice calm voice. Really great instructor.
Wow! Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!!
Hi, excellent videos! looking foward for those new series!
I'm really interested in those Hihat work arounds. I was thinking that a dual zone pad or cymbal should make the trick by assigning to group mutes. It will requiere some technique with the stick, but it may work.
Another idea I have is to make a footswitch for changing the routing from the pad to alternate between trigger 1and 2....but I need try it out.
You can mount the bt-1 on the rim of a drum and set the pad to trigger like normal but set it’s second as an actual drum trigger. So the snare or tom that it’s attached to will trigger whatever sample you assign.
I think that the BT-8 uses 2 leads (tip and Ring) because it has some internal soft-switch to reduce cross-talk. Perhaps tip-to-sleeve detects piezo (hit intensity), and ring-to-ground detects switch action (pad has been hit).
This more-complex action would require 3 electrical connects to process, hence BT8 requiring TRS cable.
Just a hypothesis,
I haven't bought one to rip apart... yet.
Hi Patrick! Thanks for watching! And thank you for the info. After doing
some reading, the TRS cable is in fact for reducing crosstalk. I'm not
sure exactly which ring has which responsibility so that's some good
info to know! Thank you!
I watched this video 4 years ago when I was still learning how to use my SPD properly, and this is still far and away the most useful SPD guide video I've ever seen. Thank you!
Wow! Thank you for the kind words! I meant to put out a full series of guides, but now I have to buy a Pro!
hey dude cool stuff - what are you using to mount those pd8 pads?
Thanks, clear and straight forward!
Nice set up! :) Thumbs up from Dublin (Ireland)! :)
Thank you~~~~~~!
Wonderful informative video, thank you
Hey, how do you assign a sound to the kick trigger with spd-sx? I got a KD-10 and need some help with it.
Hello aizo!
Nice video! :)
I'm wondering. When you're using a Daw with your Spd-sx. Like Ableton Live. Does the pad respond well for touch sensitivity volume? I play my Spd-sx in Logic and the midi note velocity are top volume. There is no different variations if I play softly or hard. All the notes are the same volume.
Did this situation occurs to you?
Thank you!
Hi! Great video. I just bought spd sx . can i connect 5 external triggers by using 1 bt-1 and 4 rt-1?
Thank you so much for all the helpful information. I produce music that uses a lot of electronic samples, so this is really practical for a live setting. I’m just left with one question, & I’m sorry if this has been asked before. Where do you find all of your stands?? I’m looking to get a good stand for the SPD SX to use while standing in a live setting, and I’d want one for a BT-1 + PD-8. The way you have it set up in this video seems like it’d suit all of my needs, I just need a good place to look & buy it. Thank you!
Hi Ricky!
No problem at all. My main stand might not work for you, because I sit and it's pretty low. But I recommend 5 things for you.
- Roland PDS-10 Stand. This is the main stand the SPD-SX will be mounted on. Perfect for players who stand as well.
www.roland.com/us/products/pds-10/
- 2x any drum hardware clamps. For me, I like Pearl, so I use Pearl AX-25s. There are longer versions too. (AX-25L)
pearldrum.com/products/hardware/adapters/
- 2 boom cymbal arms. Again, I like Pearl, so I use two Pearl CH-1000s. Any drum cymbal arm will do.
pearldrum.com/products/hardware/boom-cymbal-holders/boom-cymbal-holders/
And that's it! The main stand holds the SPD-SX and the two clamps allow you to attach the boom arms to the main stand. One boom arm for the BT-1 and the other for the PD-8!
Pretty much works with any pad!
Hi!
I have a question about using a BT-1 as a hi hat trigger coupled with an FD-9 (hi hat pedal). Does it work as an open/close kind of set up and if so how do I set it up?? Do I need to use the splitter cable or do I run the pedal to the BT-1, then from the.BT-1 to the SPD-SX??
Thanks for a great video!!
The BT-1 is a 2-zone trigger because it uses 2 independent piezos (as far as i know). They are needed to reduce cross talk. There are a lot of threads mentioning that using a mono instead of a stereo cable on a BT-1 greatly increases cross talk when mounted onto a snare/tom or even a cymbal stand and thus causing false triggers. I recently bought 2x BT-1 myself and mountem them on the snare and floor tom. I didn't had much time to play around with them, but whenever i hit the snare/floor trom, my spd-sx showed an input from the BT-1s
+spamtheram EDIT: At the moment I have connected my BT-1s with mono cables to my spd-sx too, as im using also 2 ddrum triggers on my acoustic snare/bass drum. But i cant reduce false triggers by adjusting sensitivity and stuff, i'll have to use stereo cables too i guess...
+spamtheram Hey! Thanks for watching. I need to add some new videos as I've learned a lot since this one has come out. Not to mention my setup has changed dramatically. I have a TD-11 module connected to my SPD-SX so I can use a stereo cable now and I almost never get crosstalk from it. Of course, I have increased the threshold by a lot as I never use it with anything that requires dynamics. What do you trigger on your kit with the BT-1s?
+aizo yurei depending on the song, percussion or different snare drums with effects, at least thats what i've planned. i just was playing around with my setup today and i've noticed that the false triggers i've noticed earlier are connected to the second zone of the bt-1, not triggering any sound at all, just showing some input. so i guess i'm fine for now
i appreciate you making this video, thank you
I appreciate you watching, Harlan!
Sir do you have any idea about foot switch using on SPD 30 for switching on and off loop play
hey great video!! my CY 5 Roland doesn't work with dual zone into my SPD SX roland. How does it work? my SPD SX is already set like that : input mode : head and rim Trig 3/4 type: CY5 . So What is the nex step?Do i have to assign one sample on trig 3 and another one to trig 4? thanks for your answers. My name is Vince , i'm a drummer from france.
What sort of rig are you using to hold your two external pads?
Do you know if the octopad would be compatible with an Alesis or Yamaha kick trigger? I can't find any information online about what triggers outside of Roland are compatible to use with the Spd sx or octopad
Dear aizo yurei, great job with the videos, they have been lot of help to me. I have a question for you. I set up my SPD-SX with a KD-9 and everything seemed to be smooth. However, the volume of the sound I set to the KD-9 (usually kick drums) are always lower than the rest of the pads. Even though I set the same sound and volume for the KD-9 and lets say pad 5, it is always louder on the pad, no matter how hard I hit the kick. Could this be a configuration issue or is it something wrong with my KD-9? Thanks a lot for your great videos.
Hi and thanks for watching! I don't think your KD-9 has a problem. You probably just need to adjust the sensitivity settings.
Go to MENU > SETUP > PAD SENS. Then tap on your KD-9 to bring up it's settings. For me, the PAD SENS (or sensitivity) is set to 20 and the THRESHOLD is set to 1.
Sensitivity settings dictate the dynamics in your playing. If it is set to a low value, then when you play lightly, the sample with trigger at a low volume. The harder you play, the louder your sample will trigger.
Threshold settings dictate how hard you have to strike the pad/trigger before the sample is triggered. This is so near by vibrations don't trigger a sample. For example you play pad 7 but it also triggers the sample in pad 8 because the threshold was set to a low value. The higher the value set, the harder you will have to strike the pad/trigger in order for the sample to make a sound.
Anyway, I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes!
Dear Aizo. Sorry for the feedback delay. You were right about it! It worked like a charm the soon I modified sensitivity settings. I also tried with different THRESHOLD values and put around 10 for the kick since it is what felt better according my playing style. Please receive a big thank you and kudos for your great work on the videos. Receive greetings from Mexico!Regards.
Very helpful. Now, I have Roland RT-30K on the kick drum, RT-30HR (dual zone) on snare. I now wish to add RT-30H to my mounted tom and floor tom. From your video I see I can do it with a splitter cable. But what about to my floor tom. I’m having trouble figuring it out because of the RT-30HR. How can I accomplish this? Is it possible?
thanks for Your help god bless
great video. this made me purchase my external pads. waiting for the videos on how to setup the spdsx in ableton? do you do Skype or any type of video chatting? id be really interested. thanks again.
hello, I have a question for you.I play the drum in a band in the east ...north east of france.We play around forty concerts per year.So I have also a spd xs and a up grade of a TD 12 roland.Do you knon how i can enter new samples in my td12 please?
Great information here!
Great video! Thank you!
*** Have a question, I'm buying a used Roland SPD-S,
Will a Roland VH-11 Hi-hat work as a Hi-hat controller
if I connect it to the HH CTRL input in the back of the SPD-S ??
Sorry I missed this. I think the SPD-S doesn't support the VH-11 officially. It was discontinued before the VH-11 came out, but I think you can still use it.
It's just a bit of rubber and a piezo, so it still should function if you set the trigger to a CY-5 and the controller to the foot pedal. You probably need to mess with the settings to get it to feel right, however.
The Roland SPD SX only uses certain triggers? I have a Yamaha bass drum trigger. When I set it to trigger 1 and 2 you can see Trigger one flashing every time I hit it. I can't get any sound out.
There’s that Sabian cymbal bag with broken zipper pulls that every drummer in the world has owned. I’ve never bought one, but I still somehow have two of them.
LOL! I didn't buy it either! It came with some cymbals I bought and also left with some cymbals I sold. So whoever bought the cymbals has it now!
Maybe it's just the same Sabian cymbal bag being passed around! (O _ O; )!!!!!
Hello, great video. Thanks. We use the SPD-SX to trigger backing tracks. Currently my drummer uses a footswitch. It works fine but we were looking for a trigger that he can hit with a stick! For fun we tried using an external Roland drum pad but the sensitivity of the pad would cause the track to turn off and on again. The BT-1 seems like the answer. Have you had any issues with false triggers? Thanks for any advice
Hi Patrick! Thanks for watching and the kind words!
When you used the drum pad did you ever try to adjust the triggering sensitivity and or threshold?
Using the setup I have in this video I DID have issues with false triggering because I used only one channel for the BT-1. the BT-1 uses two channels one for sending a signal and another to help with false triggering. But even in that case vibrations from a stand or heavy bass sound could still cause false triggering. If that's the case then adjust the threshold would allow for only a stick strike to trigger the sound.
we did a little bit but since we were using a V Pad (PDX-100) it seemed like the wrong piece of gear to be using for triggering tracks anyway so we didnt explore much. We came across the footswitch solution and because the footswitch doesn't have any sensitivity - it just works.
I got 2 BT-1s which are being delivered tomorrow. One is for the tracks and one is for my Handsonic HPD-20!
Are you able to share with me the exact settings in your SPD-SX for this stick strike? Thanks!
patrickmullady AT gmail DOT COM
Thanks so much for the video help.
I have an RT-7K and an RT-5S connected to the SPD-SX on Trigger input 1/2 and 3/4 respectively. RT-7K work fine but not the RT-5S. I know there is nothing wrong with the -5S because it works with my TM-2. I checked the cables and and the trigger settings but still couldn’t get to work. I swapped the RT-5S to trigger input 1/2 and it worked. So something is wrong with the setting for trigger 3/4. Not sure what it is. Any thoughts?
The BT-1 is like a piezo and switch pad trigger and needs the full TRS input connection to have the ability to have zero cross talk.
Nice video! One question: how did you attach the PD-8 Pads to the SPD-SX? I have the SPD-SX too and thought about buying two PDX-100 Pads but don't know how to attach them to the SPD-SX and my acoustic drums
Hey Felix, sorry for the late reply and thank you for watching the video! Basically, I use Pearl drum clamps and cymbal arms to attack the pads to a snare stand.
hello there. is that possible to use a boss FS-5U as a Bass from trigger pedal?
Great stuff man!
I appreciate it! And thank you for watching!
Thanks Man!
Thanks for the video, btw You sound like Tobias from Arrested Development
hey man! great stuff, do you have a video on you playing this too? i'm curious how you hi-hat workaround sounds!
Unfortunately, I don't use this set up anymore. I added a TD-11 to be able to properly control the hi hat. You can check out the current set up here:
ua-cam.com/video/1JYrm58cSFU/v-deo.html
Hey!!! Can you make a video playing this kit?
great video mann
This was so helpful. Thank you. I'm experiencing a false trigger from my BT-1. It's mounted on the rim of my snare drum and goes off randomly when the vibrations of my kick drum are set off. I'll try changing the input mode to a PD-8 and see if that with a cross talk cancel will help.
Would you happen to know if the BT-1 just might not be a good fit for the older SPD-S? I'm sensing that might be the issue as well...
Hey! Thanks for watching! The BT-1 uses a stereo input so that it can reduce false triggering. Once I tried it without the split cable it, false triggering was reduced, A LOT! The SPD-SX has a function where you can adjust the threshold and sensitivity. If the vibrations from your snare are causing FT, then raise the threshold. That way it will require a direct hit in order to trigger.
As far as being a good match with the previous model (the SPD-S), I imagine that if you use a stereo input, it should be OK. I'm not familiar with it so I don't know what kind of adjusts you can make. I imagine that it has the threshold and sensitivity controls.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you need anything else!
I increased the threshold and used a stereo input at the show last night and it totally worked! Thank you
So glad it worked out for you!
Does it have to be stereo? and does the cord have to have the red and white left and right channel? I bought a y splitter cable from the music shop but it doesn't work on the module with my triggers I have the spd-s with 1 trigger input but I have 2 bass drum triggers
Hi Yomega Brain! Thanks for watching.
Normally a splitter cable has two rings on the single side then each split end has a single ring. The colors don't matter, some splitter cables are completely black.
Just as long as the rings looks like these, it should work. goo.gl/images/cQsSj9
Since the SPD-S is discontinued, it might not support some newer triggers. However, triggers aren't really complicated pieces of technology. I'm not familiar with the settings in the original SPD, but if it's anything like the SX, then you can choose from an array of different trigger types. Perhaps going through each type might work out.
cheers. i emailed Roland and they said I need a Stereo to dual-mono Y cable
Thanks Aizo for the tutorial. I connected a Yamaha KU100 foot trigger to my SPD SX, following the instructions, but I don't get any sound coming through. I tried all of the different trigger types, to no avail. Any suggestions? Cheers
Aizo - got it sorted, I didn't have a sound assigned - works now. Cheers
Quality content! I noticed an electric hihat stand in the studio. have you tried connecting it with the SPD SX?
Hey! Thanks for the kind words. I have but unfortunately, there's no way to properly control the hi-hat. You can dedicate one pad to closed hats and one to open, but there is no function in the SPD-SX to control the switching between "opened" and "closed". I bought a cheap TD-11 and daisy chained it to the SPD-SX to be able to control the hi-hat. You can see it in this video: ua-cam.com/video/1JYrm58cSFU/v-deo.html
Hi Aizo, When you connect two external pads to a "Trig In" using a stereo insert cable, as demonstrated in your video, will the SPD-SX play both samples if the two pads (TRIG1/2) are struck at the same time? Any other limitations?
+Todd Erickson Hey Todd! Thanks for watching!
If you strike the two pads at the same time. Both will trigger with no problem at all. For example if you make trigger 1 a kick and trigger 2 a snare. You can play them with the same sensitivity as you would with any of the V-drum brains or the 9 pads built into the SPD-SX. There are some settings that you can adjust for a delay in response when triggering two pads at the same time in case you ever have problems with vibrations or false triggering.
Hey! thanks for taking your time and creating such video.
3 question for you:
1.) If I'm using 1 RT-30HR dual zone trigger and a RT-30K would that be 3 ins id need to set up?
2.) This is may be dumb lol but: Hence I will be triggering 2 of my sample pads, would the other 7 be able to just simply directly hit it or would it be blocked off?
3.) If i were to change scenes, say 018 to 019, the triggers would change as well or would it stay programmed with the previous scene?
Thanks in advance!!!!!!!
Thank you for the kind words and thank you for watching!
OK!
1.) You will only need 2 cables to connect your RTs. You won't need any splitter cables, just one mono (like a guitar cable), and one stereo cable (has two rings on the metal part). The two cables will be plugged into TRIG IN 1/2 and 3/4 in the back of the SPD-SX.
2.) Triggers or pads connect to the TRIG IN ports in the back of your SPD-SX have their own sample/settings page, meaning, they are independent of the 9 pads on the face of the SPD. You can have 9 loops or samples on the pads and up to 4 loops/samples on external triggers/pads for a total of 13!
3.) Settings for the scenes are stored within that scene. So you'll need to set up the samples, loops, and midi assignments for each scene separately. It takes a while to set up but it allows for extremely flexible use.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
@@aizoyurei Thanks so much for your response!
1.) So if I were to want, 1 RT-30HR dual zone trigger (Stereo 1/4"), a RT-30K (Mono 1/4"), and a RT-30H single trigger (Mono 1/4"), that'll make up for 4 ins on the back of my SPDSX correct?
2.) this is INSANE!!!! could you please elaborate on this? How you would go about with storing the samples for the trigger? I can safely say that I know how to make my way around the pads themselves and assigning my own, hand picked/produced samples. Or even better, could you make a video JAJAJA! I would've never thought I could've expanded my SPDSX to be 13 triggers/pads!!
3.) I guess this could relate to question 2. if I had my triggers set up (keeping in mind the amount of memory space available), for every scene, I would be abled to load 13 samples?
lol, I hope you dont regret on letting me know I could keep asking you questions xD
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Thanks so much!!!!!!!!
This is really helpful, thanks a lot
does it work with PD-5 pads?
Yonny Torres Roland's website says it supports all of the PD series. However the settings in the SPD-SX's menu doesn't show the PD-5 listed. But it should work the same as the PD-8.
Hello! Very informative video and you seem to know what you are talking about so I have an unrelated question. I heard that one could use the SPD-SX to trigger video clips or lighting affects through the midi or usb output. By plugging the SPD-SX into a laptop, it would allow for one to control video or lights using the pads. Do you have any insight on this? (if its true/any idea how to do this, especially with video) Thank you!
Hi! Thanks for watching and YES the SPD-SX can control lights and visuals via midi. Actually pretty much any midi controller in the world can do this if hooked up to DMX. However, the SPD-SX and many other Roland products have what's called "V-Link" which is something Roland uses to connect its machines to machines that produce visuals. There are also many people in the Ableton community that use Max4Live and midi clips to control visuals, movie clips, effects, etc.. There are TONS of possibilities!
Thank you very much! I knew other controllers could but I wanted to be positive that the SPD-SX could. I don't find that a lot of people mention the V-Link aspect. I appreciate your response!
Anytime yo! Thanks again for watching!
In using this spiliter technique, is there anyway to hook-up (1) an hi-hat pedal and pad to the SPD-SX along with (2) a kick pad to create a compact and portable e-drum set?
Hi Jean! Unfortunately, the SPD-SX doesn't support hi-hat functionality. You could do that with the Octapad. But for some reason, Roland removed the hi-hat trigger functionality from the SPD-SX.
A small work around is you can use one pad for closed hats and one for open hats and then have them in the same choke/mute group. But then you have to use 2 pads for hi-hats only.
@@aizoyurei, thanks Aizo for your quick response and for your suggestions; it is much appreciated! All the best.
Can someone help me? I’ve encountered a glitch with my new SPD-SX, that I’m using together with two RT-30HR triggers mounted on two converted toms. The shopkeeper has sent to me another one but I encountered the same problem on the new machine…
I’m starting to think that the issue is intrinsic to the SPD-SX in general; otherwise I’m very unlucky.
The system crashes for a short time (1-2 seconds) and then returns to normal (a kind of false triggering is audible, accompanied by a noise).
The defect exists using both my samples and stock sounds. I exclude that it is caused by the trigger settings, since the triggering itself is more than good; moreover, I tried to change every parameter, without any success.
I have already updated the system to the latest version available (1.08).
I tried to disable the polyphony, but the problem recurred.
I’ve even replaced the cables, changed the electrical outlet and performed the factory reset. I’ve also tried to use other triggers. However, the problem persists.
Lastly, I’ve seen on the internet that someone has encountered and solved this issue doing a deep format of the SD card or changing it. What do you think?
So I just purchased some axis double bass pedals and two e kit triggers to put on them. Idk if you're familiar with those triggers but basically its a little box connected to each pedal and a hammer connected to each beater so when u strike u get your sound. How do I run those to the spdsx? Can I have the same kick sound for each trigger or not? Pretty much any info or tips would be much appreciated. Thanks
Thank you for watching!
1.) Just run a 1/4" cable from your trigger to the SPD-SX (one ring, like a guitar cable) into trig input 1/2 & another one into 3/4. Now, if you have a splitter cable, like the one in this video, you can put both kick pedals on one input. For example, right pedal on input 1 and left pedal on input 2.
2.) Since it's not a Roland product, you'll have to try out the different trigger types in the external trigger type list. I recommend trying one of the K-series since they are for kicks (the KD-9 for example) . Just look towards the end of this video to see how to adjust the external trigger settings (from about 4:20). After that, you should be ready to roll!
Let me know how it goes!
WILL IT WORK WITH SPD S?
Lovely set up, will like to know, what stand did u use to mount your roland bt-1 trigger?
Sorry, I missed this. The BT-1 is on a Pearl CH-1000 (a cymbal arm) clamped to a snare stand (Pearl S-1000). The Snare stand is what the SPD-SX is mounted to. The cymbal arm clamp is a Pearl AX-28. LEt me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you very much , I Really do appreciate,
Will go and look it up, I will go and make my inquiries onto where I can get it
Does the SPD SX act as a brain module for any kit? If you wanted to incorporate the SPD-SX into your existing kit, would it replace the sound module/brain for that kit? Or does it act as a standalone piece of hardware? There are videos around that imply that the SPD-SX can control aspects of Roland V-Drum kids.
I'm looking to get a starter electronic kit, like the TK-4KP and the SPD-SX as well. I love the idea of sampling sounds from Ableton. It looks like you have quite the awesome setup here.
The SPD-SX is not meant to replace your drum module. It just doesn't have enough ports for external triggers/pads to replace it. However it is an amazing companion to an e-kit. If you chain the SPD-SX to a drum module via a midi cable you can control the BPM and change songs/patches with a foot switch.
Let's say you have a gig where you use an e-kit for drums and the SPD for sound effects, loops, backing tracks, etc. You can set it up so that the SPD-SX is the master and your module is a slave device. You can go through your set list with just a hit of your foot switch (you can also connect a pad, like a PD-8, to the foot switch port).
One thing you have to keep in mind is that your drum module has to have a midi and foot switch input for it to be controlled by the SPD-SX. For example, my module is the TD-11 -- a lower tier module. It has no foot switch controls and only has a "midi out" port. That means I cannot send data TO the TD-11. I can only send data FROM the TD-11. So it is not possible to run my TD-11 as a slave to the SPD-SX.
Off the top of my head, there are three Roland modules that can't be slaved to the SPD-SX. The TD-11, the TD-15, and the newer TD-25. All three of these modules don't have a "midi in" port. Only "midi out."
Sorry, I missed the part where you said you wanted the TD-4KP. Unfortunately, that module only has a midi out, so you can't use the SPD-SX to control the TD-4 drum module. HOWEVER, you can send midi out from the TD-4 module to the SPD-SX and then run a USB cable to your computer. Ableton will receive midi information from your two modules and you can trigger any sound from Ableton.
TD-4 -- [midi cable] --> SPD-SX -- [USB cable] --> computer (Ableton Live)
Thank you for the super quick reply, much appreciated.
Okay, so then I need to have a V-Drum kit module with midi in to work the way you explained first. But, i see you gave me an alternative option. Is that a recommended way of going about it? Does that add any more latency then doing midi in right to the drum module?
Instead of spending less money and jerry-rigging it to work, I'd rather spend a little more on a higher model V-Drum set and have the MIDI in input. Could I still buy the TD-4KP, replace the drum model with one that does have MIDI in? Or is that a HUGE price difference?
Thanks again for the help.
You're welcome!
I use the suggested set up now instagram.com/p/4bTP4NSiI8v9rXSB7-ZO8msjDoGs6KXS_5dDM0/?taken-by=aizoyurei. (Sorry it's an older pic). Latency is NOT a problem at all. If you only use samples in Ableton (no VSTs) then it uses next to nothing in CPU. (of course that depends on the power of your computer and the number and size of your samples).
The cool thing about V-drums is that a lot if not all pieces are interchangeable. If you get a low budget kit and later when you have more money want to buy a better module, or add pads, triggers, or cymbals triggers, you TOTALLY can! What I did was buy a module first, used. It was super cheap only about $300. If I bought the whole kit that module comes with it's easily over a grand. Since I already had drums, I just bought mesh heads (about $5 a piece) and triggers for the tom, kick and snare (I bought the RT-10 [$30 each] series because Roland came out with the RT-30 series which are not necessarily better but A LOT more expensive.) [$100 each] and used cymbal pads (about $30 each, except the hihat which was about $100). Look on eBay because when people upgrade they get rid of their old pads. You can find a lot of good deals!
I really only recommend using the SPD-SX as a master and your V-kit as a slave if you're NOT going to use your PC. That set up is simple, but a lot more limited. But it depends on what you want to do. If you're in a band, and you just wanna play drums with loops, samples, and maybe some backing tracks, it's all you'll need. But if you want to do something more intricate, trigger Ableton with your V-drums/SPD-SX. The possibilities are limitless!
I'll be putting out a video series pretty soon (I'm still editing it) about different possibilities with V-drums, drum pads, and Ableton.
Alright awesome. It's good to hear that you can upgrade and interchange parts! I have a pretty beefy computer that I know can run ableton, so maybe i'll try out the TD-4KP first and see about the other stuff later! I'm not in a band, just looking to get back into playing drums but reallllyyy want to try an electronic kit. Like you said, possibilities are endless. I listen to a LOT of electronic music, and I would love to try sampling with ableton.
Thanks again for all the info. I'll be sure to check ebay for deals.
Thanks for the video! Brand new to the SPD-SX. Is there any way to setup a kick pad to trigger an instrument sound through the foot switch jack? For example, it would be like running your kick pad into the foot switch port and playing a one shot kick wave file. I've tried this but it doesn't work. The Sys settings for the foot switch are basically for on/off type functions. I'm guessing this is not possible.
Hi Marc! Thanks for watching and thank you for the kind words. You know, I once saw an Instagram picture of someone who used 2x KT-10s with an SPD-SX. I asked him and he said he used the Foot Switch port for one of the kicks. I should have asked him how, because I guessed I could just "figure it out". However, I never did figure it out, and when you published this comment the other day I spent a good hour looking for that damn pic again on Instragram to no avail! LOL. Over the weekend I'll try to figure it out again. Can't promise anything but I'll keep you updated!
Thank you sir! I decided to write Roland support too. If I get an answer from them I'll post back here. I really appreciate your efforts to help. Thanks again.
Got the reply from Roland (not possible)...
Unfortunately, the footswitch jack on the SPD-SX can only be used with a momentary footswitch (i.e. BOSS FS-5U, FS-6, etc.). The KD-140 (or any of our other trigger pads) can only be connected to the trigger inputs and will not work when connected to the footswitch input jack.
Awww man! Too bad. Thanks for the heads up!
I need learn how to hook my trigger up to my pad . It’s not working for me
Thanks for the video. 👍🏼
I want to use very similar set up to you. Run a kick, hats and cymbal. You talk about the open hats not being playable on a pad. Is this your choice or a limitation.
Is there anyway possible to hook up a FD-8 hi hat pedal and have the option to have open and closed hats?
Thanks again :-)
+Kerrilee Gallagher
Thanks for watching, Kerrilee! Unfortunately, you are unable to use a hi-hat controller with the SPD-SX. It's a really strange decision by Roland, because the previous model, the SPD-S, had an input for a hi-hat controller. there are only 2 stereo inputs on the back of the SPD-SX. either 2 dual-zoned triggers, a dual-zone trigger plus 2 single-zone triggers, or 4 single-zone triggers.
That's why I had the closed hi-hat and the open hi-hat on separate pads. I've actually upgraded my setup since this video to incorporate a TD-11 (which has support for a hihat controller)
+aizo yurei YOU CAN USE the Roland Hi Hat trigger! You have to go into settings to choose it.
is this after an update?
nice tips man! Want to ask you i have regular trigger for tom trying adjust but its doest work,,, what trig type i should select ?
Thanks for the nice comment and thanks for watching! What&s the model of trigger you're using? Roland RT-10T or RT-30? DDrum?
Tnx for quick reply Aizo ! Yesterday i figured out how to do that. The bigest thin drummer should be sure that he"s cable 100% is working co i bought new and one side doesn't work ,,, Finally everything is working !
hey man,thanks for the video,..just wanna ask what clamp did you use here for PD8 pad?the one under spd?
+ebe parco Hey thanks for watching! the clamp holding the middle PD-8 is a Pearl PPS37 The PD-8 to the left is sitting on a Pearl CH-1000 Cymbal Arm. Let me know if you have any other questions.
thanks man,big help bro,...very informative,...cool....actually there are some questions,some more,..about the "SUB OUTPUTS"?,what does it mean?...what "sub output" can do?,also for master output,..informations like : cables,what we should be using or the dont's...IN AND OUT from amps and mixers....this video is very helpful bro..thank you for having the time to reply man....#drumbros
+ebe parco
On the back there are 3 outputs. Mains, Sub, and headphones. If you want a pad, click, or sample to go to a different destination, you can use the sub outs. Some people might have the sounds outputted through the main outs and then the click outputted to the headphones or a sub out.
In general, you should connect your SPD-SX's MAIN OUT to a mixer or a recording device.
Cables depend on what you want to do with your SPD-SX. There are so many options, I don't think I'll be able to list them here. But I'll give you a few to start.
TRS or 1/4" cables one ring cables for your main and sub outs. Sometimes you can buy stereo cables with one red tip and one tip. (red is the right channel, white is the left channel)
USB cable to connect your SPD-SX to your PC. You can load samples onto from the included software or connect it to your favorite DAW to control a VST through USB midi.
Midi cables to daisy chain other Roland devices, like a V-drums module, an Octapad, or an external drum machine/sampler.
aizo yurei hey bro,..wow thank you for information,..thank you for having the time to reply,...ill try this out,..ill let you know soon,...thank you.
hey so question can i program the sounds into the spdsx and use the triggers for those sounds? instead of hooking up to ableton . like i want to hook up the RT-30 trigger to the spdsx with the sound already on it .is this possible? thank you
Hi Brittany, thanks for watching! You can assign samples or loops to any external triggers. For example if you have an RT-30 connected to a kick drum and wanted to layer an 808 sound over your acoustic kick, you totally can. You don't a computer at all! All external triggers can have samples or loops assigned to them independent from the main 9 pads using the SPD-SX's sound engine.
Ok awesome thank you! Also another question is it possible to hook up a delay pedal into the spdsx and come out into the PA. ? I'm going to try it today but I'm not sure how
Absolutely. But most pedals (assuming it's like a guitar FX pedal you're talking about) are only mono, so if you're just using regular samples it should be OK. If you're using stereo loops it might be a problem.
SPD-SX (direct outs) > delay pedal > PA system
Hey Aizo,
I am trying to use the Roland FD-8 HiHat Pedal to triger samples and it's plugged into TRIG IN 1/2 and the samples are saved there but no sound when I step on it. It works on my Octopad though.. When I pull out the patch cable out it triggers and I hear the sample so I know it's in the machine.
Have you heard of any problems with the Roland FD-8 Hi Hat pedal to trigger the sounds? Or am I doing something wrong here?
Your help would be so appreciated.
Jason Popovich
Thank you for watching!
As far as the FD-8, it's not really meant to be a trigger but that's not going to stop us from using it. The FD-8 (to my knowledge) still sends midi information. The VH-11 controller works the same way. There is a hi-hat connection and a hi-hat controller connection.
I think the problem is the setting. Go to: Menu > Setup > Trig In. This is where it's gets iffy. I'm not sure if the FD-8 uses a stereo cable (TRS = two rings) or a mono cable (like a guitar). First, I would try the TRIGX2 setup so that you only have to use one input. Then try scrolling through the different trigger types (e.g. - PD-8, CY-5, etc..) Since the SPD-SX wasn't designed to control a hi-hat (unfortunately), there won't be a setting or port for one (like the Octapad does which is really fucking stupid). If this doesn't work, I would try setting it to HEAD & RIM and then try each of the different triggers.
If that doesn't work then I'm afraid you'll have to use a different trigger for those samples.
Please let me know how it turns out and thanks again for watching!
I tried what you said and it does not work. Not compatible. I will use my KD-9 BD trigger instead it just takes up more space in an already over crowded zone. I wonder what would be the best 'compact" foot trigger to use that actual works for this?
Jason Popovich
Sorry to hear it doesn't work man. Well, if you've got the coin to spend, you can get yourself a KT-10. It's super nice and very low profile. I wish I could afford two of them. They feel real smooth and they're crazy quiet.
What is the exact cable that you bought? We tried a TRS to split but it didn’t work. It was also al 1/8” and we used an adapter so maybe that’s why?
Here in Japan, there a bunch of audio technica cords you can buy. One side is TRS (two rings) on a 1/4" and the other side is split 1/4" with one ring on each split
Hi there! I recently got a SPD-SX. Other than connecting it to your computer to transfer sounds on a new kit, is there a way to add the pre-existing pad sounds to a new kit?
Hello and thanks for watching!
Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You want to add the sounds already in your SPD-SX to another kit, for example, a USER kit? Like, add the 909's snare onto a USER kit that has the 808 kick? If that is the case it's SUPER easy to do. First off, scroll to a USER kit. Then hit MENU > PAD. At the top of the tab "MAIN," you should see "WAVE" and "-- NO ASSIGNED" next to it. Simply use the PLUS and MINUS buttons to scroll through all samples that are in your SPD-SX's memory. You can change the pad that you want to edit by striking it or using the right and left arrow buttons to scroll through all 9 pads and triggers. You can even assign samples to the Foot Switches. If you go to the SUB tab, you can assign a secondary sample to a pad. For example, add a crash to bassline loop.
I hope that helps you out. Let me know if you need anything else!
aizo yurei
Thank you so much for the response! I actually ended up figuring it out about an hour after I send out my question. I came across anther issue though.
when it chines to basic sampling, is there a way I can preview the sample I took right off my ipod as a loop before I save it? I never seem to get the correct start/end time of a sample for it to flow smoothly in a loop.
thanks again. hope my question makes sense
I saw your videos in youtube!! great!!! I wanna ask you something!! I have a roland spd sx and a snare drum trigger by ddrum. I don t know how to set up to work together. I hit the acustic drums and the roland recognice it but nothing came out of the speaker. What is the right configuration? Can you help me with that? Thank you very much!!! Peace bro!!!
Hey! Thanks for watching! I have a few questions for you. We might be able to get this solved!
- Which channel (1, 2, 3, or 4) is your DDrum trigger connected to?
- Is your DDrum trigger a single or dual zone trigger? Meaning, is it head only or head and rim?
- What settings do you have the channel set to? Head only or head and rim?
- Is the volume up?
- Is the sample volume up or is there a sample on the channel?
aizo thanks for your help. The trigger is the ddrum snare trigger. The red one, and i have it in my accustic snare drum. I put it on the channel 1/2. I don't know if is a single or dual zone but I guess for the information in the ddrum page is dual. The settings is what I don,t know what to put. NOw I have Head & rim and in trig 1/2 type it says pd-8, but there I have lot of options. The volume is up cause I hit the pads and the sound on the amplifier were i got the roland conected. I go into the kid pad section and I assigned a sound of the roland to the trigger. SO when I hit the snare the red light of the trigger goes on every time I hit but i don't get the sound. Thanks again for your help!!!!
www.ddrum.com/query?upc=834035000366 this is the trigger i use
I have been debating getting this thing over the octapad, and your videos seem to be the most informative for what I'm looking to do. The no hi hat control, as silly as it seems, really bothers me. Couldn't I just get a trigger to midi converter box with a hh control on it and expand the amount of triggers through the midi in out cable?
Hey! Thanks for watching!
I had the same conundrum when I was trying to decide which to get. What are you going to use it for? With an acoustic kit to trigger samples and loops? As a mini kit in standalone or connected to a PC & a DAW? Do you want to connect external triggers like a kick trigger and pads?
For me, it was a combination of both. I have a rock band and sometimes need some samples or loops to play with it. But I don’t want to drag my computer and audio interface around too. Also, I have another “band” that only uses a computer and I wanted to play the drum parts live (but using the same samples). Finally, I have my own music, which uses a lot of samples, loops, and drum VSTs (addictive drummer, easy drummer, etc.). Because of all this, I went the SPD-SX route. The only downside is it’s missing the hi-hat controller. Roland dropped the ball on that. Anyway, now my needs are expanding. My setup is completely different from this video (I need to make a new video). I’m going to add a TD-11 module to the set up and more pads + the SPD-SX.
To answer your question, you can get a Roland TM-6 to expand your external triggers. It also has an input for hi-hat control. I was thinking about getting one. (They have one used at my local drum shop.) I’m not 100% sure, but basically you hook a midi cable between them. The output of the TM-6 goes into the SPD-SX and you can either trigger onboard samples or samples from your DAW (via USB or midi). I don’t have experience with it but I was reading the owner’s manual and that’s pretty much all there is to it. You can download the manual from Roland’s site. They go for about $150 on eBay now.
Great Big House Just found out my VH-11 is not compatible with the TM-6 so I guess, I'm not going to get one.
I have my setup for hi hat hack..... use PD8.....
add close hi hat and open hi hat ( since PD8 is dual Trigger) and add a switch control for the open hi hat.... basically when you hit the switch (I am using boss switch ) it stops the open hi hat
The BT-1 is a dual zone trigger, when you mount it on snare, or a Tom.
+Ivan George Thanks for the info!
How did you mount your left hat (the PD-8) I assume its connected to the pds 10 stand? Cheers :)
Hey! Thank you for watching!
The PD-8 is mounted on a Pearl cymbal arm. I use the same cymbal arm for the BT-1. The SPD-SX is mounted on a Pearl snare stand tripod with a Pearl UX-80 coming out of the top. The SPD-SX's mount sticks in the top of the UX-80.
Thank god I have a pearl kit and pearl hardware! Cheers for your help and thanks for the cheap setup ideas :)
Would like to check is therr anyway to clean the middle screen of scraches?
Hi, Benjamin. I'm sorry but I'm not aware of any way to get rid of scratches from plastic.
Would you say the output level of the SPD-SX is quite low on its own? I have the master volume turned up all the way and it's still pretty quiet.
I need to check. I almost never use it as a standalone sampler. I mostly use it via USB to Ableton. I'll check it out tonight and report back to you!
Hi. I hooked my SPD-SX up to my computer and I have to agree that the output is quit low. There are system settings to increase the output gain but even then, I can't get it to output up to 0db. I've even tried cranking up my audio interface's gain, but it's still pretty low. You can put it through a hardware compressor and that will definitely boost the volume. You'll lose some dynamics though depending on how hard you slam it, though.
Love your setup, unfortunately my strike multipad Is now broken and keeps freezing at start up, of coarse this would happen as soon as the warranty just ran out. I’m using my spd-30 as mini kit now, unfortunately it can’t load user samples, I have to use AB live with it. I only have a Mac mini so my spd-30 rig is not very portable like that.
Oh, man! But It CAN be! Do you have an iPad? If not I heard that portable game monitors were crazy cheap, like around $100.
If you have an iPad there's a cool app where you can use you iPad as a screen for your mac mini. Gives you touch input too! I was thinking about buying a mac mini and using it with my iPad for my live rig instead of spending 2k on a laptop.
@@aizoyurei oh snap!!! I’ve heard heard about that iPad app before. Mine is currently broken, however I would definitely buy another one with this knowledge. I bought my Mac mini 16gb ram, 2.4ghz core i5, 100gb ssd( I know definitely needs upgrade) for 217$ on FB marketplace, an iPad and that app would work out very nicely until I can afford laptop for my music production. Gotta cut corners and save where you can, Roland gear expensive, I need new spd-sx my damn alesis one died!!!!!! It’s become heart of my setup, it’s a jack of all trades!!!thank you so much for responding
@@mattryan6886 Anytime yo!
This video is the video that inspired me to buy a mac mini. ua-cam.com/video/cOT_2NxHco0/v-deo.html
And yeah! stuff is expensive!
excellent stuff. Looking at buying one but need hi hat foot pedal trigger as well. In vid you say it cant do it, only on pad, but a comment below says you can do hi hat trigger pedal just got to go to settings and select it. Is this correct?
I'm still pretty sure that there is no way to use any of the hi hat controllers with SPD-SX. There has been no official announcement or update about it, and I'm pretty sure that's the number one request with this thing.
www.rolandus.com/support/knowledge_base/206902296 even says it's not compatible.
What do you want to use it for? If you don't mind using a computer too, the Octapad is better in almost every way. hi hat controller, more ports for external triggers, sequencer, and a huge library of sounds. But if you want to use your own samples, and using a computer is too much of a pain, then go with the SPD-SX. One more alternative is the previous version of SPD-SX, the SPD-S. It has a port for a hi hat controller and can you load your own samples into it.
thanks heaps aizo. yeah i cant have a PC on stage. Think i can get away without hihat now, but i want to load my own samples. i'm thinking the SPD -SX. Do you know if the SX has more improvements/features on the S model?
brett anderson Hi Brett, it's almost as if Roland took the SPD-S and split into the Octapad and SPD-SX. The Octapad took the sequencer and hi-hat controller input and the SPD-SX took the sampling ability.
SPD-S:
- 1x dual zone trigger / 2x single zone triggers
- hi-hat controller input (that can also be used as a foot switch input)
- 16 minutes total sampling time
- built in sequencer/looper
- no USB connectivity
- Compact flashcard storage
SPD-SX
- 2x dual zone trigger / 4x single zone inputs
- Foot switch input (can NOT be used as a hi-hat controller input.
- 160 minutes of sampling time (stereo) / 720 (mono)
- No built-in sequencer
- USB audio/midi
- USB memory storage (separate from the USB audio/midi port, so in total, two USB ports)
Despite not being able to use a hi-hat controller, there is still a workaround. One pad can be used for closed hats and the other for open hats. They can be linked together so that when you play the pad with the closed hat sample after the open hat sample, it will stop or "choke" the sample from playing. This is very common with drum machines like the MPC series or even in software like Ableton Live's Drum Racks. Since the SPD-SX doesn't use multisampling, it wouldn't have a very dynamic transition between closed hats and opens hats anyway. However the Octapad does have this dynamic feature.
If you have anymore questions let me know.
Also, I have a new tutorial video series coming out. I just built a new setup and a new PC to edit videos, so look out for that. I'm going to be talking about more SPD-SX options/features/possibilities along with a whole bunch of other hybrid drums/electronic drums and drumming stuff!
You can see the new set up here: (slightly older pic during the transition) instagram.com/p/4bTP4NSiI8v9rXSB7-ZO8msjDoGs6KXS_5dDM0/?taken-by=aizoyurei
thats excellent info cheers. I reckon the spd sx is what we need. Cant wait for your new series. Going to buy 3 of kd7 trigger pads. do you know what is best kick drum pedal to buy for these? I see there is pedals with 1 chain or 2 and some with 1 side spring or 2?
its all for my son who is setting up a better live act/sound and replacing foot stompbox and foot tambourine with kd 7's and spd sx. he plays the didges too which he has made. here is his link to bio, music etc. onepagelink.com/willandersonmusic/
Hi Brett, Wow! That's so cool! To be perfectly honest, it's best for your son to go to a music store and try out pedals. While I'm personally a huge fan of Pearl drums and hardware, all of the major companies make excellent products. There are some super expensive pedals that feel like trash and super cheap pedals that feel buttery smooth. Since I'm guessing he's not going to be playing speed metal during his live shows, single chains (which are generally cheaper) should be fine. But again, he should try out what feels best first. If the store you go to is REALLY cool, they'll let you try out the pedals with a KD7 as the angle of the beater and the rubber pad feels a lot different than a regular kick drum. Shoot, even Roland makes a pretty good foot pedals and it's a decent price to boot!
Do you know if you can connect 8 single zone triggers on an octapad? Or does that not work the same way?
C.J. Beckwith
You can setup 7 single zone external triggers.
Int he back of the Octpad there is
- HH ctrl (hi hat control)
- kick (single zone)
- snare (dual)
- HH (dual)
- ride (dual)
I'm not sure about if you can use the HH ctrl plug for a separate trigger but it might be possible. On my TD-11, it sends a midi note. so you could program it to send a different note. I'm not sure if you can unlink them so it doesn't mute the open hihat sound when you play it.
hi! can i plug an homemade trigger pad? or it just recognize the roland pads? thanks for your time!
What kind of input does your home made pad have? If it's a 1/4" input, I don't see why it wouldn't work. It's not such a complicated machine.
Thanks for watching!!
i thought that the roland products did not support unbranded pads. i´ve already plugged in my pad and works perfectly. thanks!
I have the same bass drum trigger but a single jack. How can I manage to make it work to use the pedale for a pad on my spd sx?
David Adelson single jack will work fine for the KD-9.
Hi Aizo, What is your mounting hardware for your PD-8's? Thanks in advance!
Hi Brandon, thanks for watching! I'm using a Pearl Snare drum stand as the main stand with a cymbal boom arm (Pearl CH-1000) for the left side PD-8 and a cowbell holder (Pearl PPS-37) for the center PD-8.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Can we see a picture!
Thanks!
this may have been asked before, but do the 4 triggers take up 4 of the 9 pads? as in...do you still only get 9 sounds, with 4 of them being triggered by the external pads, or do you get 13 sounds. does this make sense?
Hi Jake! Thanks for watching! Not a stupid question at all because gear like the Nord Drum has this very problem but lucky for us the SPD-SX does not. Each trigger has their own page for editing parameters. Each trigger can have a main sample and a sub samples so you can have 26 samples mapped out on your SPD-SX. All you have to do once you set them all up is to strike the external trigger (or page over to the trigger) then edited the parameters.
thanks man! as an owner of the nord drum, this is my biggest gripe. thanks again for the response.
No problem dude! Which version of the Nord Drum do you own? I have the very first one but was thinking about getting a 3P.
I have the 3p! i actually love it as a midi controller for things like kontakt and battery, but would love more than 6 notes. If i can get 13 on the spd-sx with the addition of triggers, that would be huge. how do you feel about the octopad vs spd-sx?
Sweet! Since making this video my laptop has pretty much died so I can't use my gear much with Ableton so I've tried to move to hardware as much as possible. Right now I have a TD-11 going through the SPD-SX (so I can more pads/triggers and hi hat control) to a Novation Circuit and the first gen Nord Drum. It's really fun and even though it's limited it's been very inspiring. The reason why I want the 3P is because it has delay and reverb among a bunch of other features.
Regarding the Octapad, I thought about making a comparison video because I originally wanted one, but now I'm pretty sure I won't get one. Unless I get an amazing deal. If you want a mini drumset for playing gigs without a laptop and you want ride and hi-hat control, it's perfect. Also it has a built in looper, which sucks because that would be perfect for the SPD-SX. And what's worse is both of those features (looper and hihat control) were both in the SPD-S. Anyway, the downside is less pads and the inability to add your own sounds. But if you connect it to a computer via USB that doesn't matter. You can use Battery or Kontakt just as you do with the 3P.
SPD-SX --> 9 pads + up to 4 (single zone) triggers. (+) Add your own sounds. (-) no looper or hihat control
Octapad --> 8 pads + kick, snare, cymbal, & hihat. (+) Looper and hihat control (-) only stock sounds
I watch the video,I can't get any sound from my kick trigger i have the kt10,any help with the setup thanks
Hey Wesly! Thanks for watching! When did you buy your SPD-SX? There's a System Update for the SPD-SX that added functionality for the KT-10 along with the new RT-30 triggers series.
You can find the update and instructions on how to install it here: www.roland.com/us/support/by_product/spd-sx/updates_drivers/7b0afd9d-a8c1-4c96-8904-998333695c0a/
If your system is up to date or after you've updated the system, make sure that the trigger input that you've connected your KT-10 is set to KT-10 under MENU > SETUP > TRIG IN. Also make sure the INPUT MODE is set to TRIGx2
If that doesn't work for you, make sure that you've assigned a sample for your KT-10 under MENU > PAD
I hope that works for you and thanks again for watching!
this was so fucking helpful. thanks a lot.
I have bought 3 splitter cables and no luck getting it to allow 4 triggers. Where did you get yours?
Just some regular cords from the music store. Which pads are you trying to connect?
I must need exactly what you have. Guitar center has mislead me 4 times now
Ddrum triggers btw
Do your cables on the single end have tip / ring / sleeve (2 lines) and the split end has two one ring end?
I know Ddrum triggers work with Roland gear because my friend uses a Roland brain with Ddrum triggers.
What you might want to try is set the SPD-SX to different pads. Try pd-8, RT-10, etc.. The cables might be fine, but the pad setting might not be reading the triggers correctly. Something worth trying.
I'm not sure if GC has the cables I have because I live in Japan. They are really cheap cables that you probably can get a Radio Shack.
Use a dual zone pad trigger for the hi-hat?
Yeah, I tried a PD-8 with this. The middle pad for the closed sound and the rim trigger for the open sound. It was kind of clunky but it definitely worked.
Hi, William!
How would you use a KT-9 to open a hi-hat with your feet?
Didn't think about that!
Oh, wait, this question is not for me...
Sorry for calling you Michael! I haven't found a hi-hat solution yet. The KT-9 can't invert its signal, so I'm still searching. What hi-hat pedal are you using there? Does it work? Thanks so much.
I caught your solution 3:18. I'll keep searching for some kind of pedal that does the trick.
What's the solution?
No problem, sorry to get back to you late! As far as I know, and as much as I've tried, I cannot get the SPD-SX to have any kind of hi-hat controller functionality except using multiple pads and mute groups.
IS there an Off and on Switch button for triggers???? I have a roland rt 30 and need a way to turn it on and off manualy with a click of a button to get back to my regular sound while playing? Please help!!! Thank you!
Hi Wesley, Thanks for watching. I'm not sure actually. I want to say no, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm at work right now, but when I go home tonight, I'll test a few things and see if there is a way.
But just to clarify, you want to know if there is a way to toggle a pad or this case a trigger on and off so that for one song you can have your drum sound + the trigger sound but for another song (or part of a song) you just want to have the sound of your acoustic drum only?
Alright my dude. I did some checking and there is no way I can find to toggle a pad or trigger on or off. HOWEVER, I have a great work around.
1.) Use a Footswitch to change kits. What you do is set up the first kit to trigger all the sounds, loops, etc. you want. Then set up the next kit to be either a.) completely blank that way your RT-30 won't trigger any sound. or b.) have all the other sounds, loops, etc. on the kit but just your RT-30 blank. Use the footswitch to change between the kits as needed.
2.) Use another Pad/Trigger to change kits. Then go with a.) or b.) from above.
Thanks for your help and getting back to me! What I'm trying to do is play with my regular bass drum sound while I have my rt 30 plugged into the pad and be able to play that regular bass drum sound while my pad is on and be able to turn on the trigger rt 30 and off when I need to. That way I can use my pad with a regular my regular bass drum without triggering the rt 30 at the same time. You get what Im trying to do? Basically want to find a way to turn on and off the trigger when I need to and use my regular bass drum sound when I have my pad on and use my pad with the regular bass drum sound then when I need to turn on the trigger of the bt 30 I can do so. Right now my rt 30 I cant use it with my pad because if I turn on my pad and have the trigger set up to a sound, Im not able to use my regular bass drum sound when Im using my pad.
Hi again Wesley. I totally get what you're trying to do.
Here's what you do:
1.) Kit #1: no sample on RT30, other pads have samples
2.) Kit #2: sample on RT30, other pads have same samples as Kit#1
3.) Go to MENU > SYS(system) > PAD/FS CTRL > if you have a footswitch (like a BOSS FS-6) you can assign KIT INC and KIT DEC to it, or you can use one pad for KIT INC and one pad for KIT DEC.*
*KIT INC(kit increase) will switch to the next KIT, and KIT DEC (kit decrease) will switch the previous KIT.
So you can't toggle the sound on and off per se, but you can switch between kits freely. So with KIT #1 you only hear your kick sound while all the samples on your SPD-SX play, and on KIT #2 your RT30 will trigger a sample along with your other samples.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
hi there, do you know if the spd-sx is compatible with other brands of electronic pads? like yamaha?
+Keith Schwier Hi there! Thanks for watching! The SPD-SX while advanced is still pretty simple. The triggers are all just wires attached to a piezo. While I can't guarantee they work as well as Roland triggers as they are designed for each other. Yamaha triggers, along with any other brand that uses a 1/4" cable, should work fine. I'm not sure how adjustable they are, but basic feature should work.
+aizo yurei thank you for the quick response, and the quality video :)
+aizo yurei also, where did you get your splitter cables?I'm having a hard time finding one. Thanks again for your time!
so i got some triggers for my toms but I'm having some problems getting sound out of em. let me explain. my kicks are triggered (1 and 2) and i have sound, but for my toms the spdsx is showing me its only getting signal from the 3rd trigger and not the 4th. is this an internal problem with the spdsx or do i need to adjust a setting somewhere? hope someone can help me cause i didn't get the pro coverage and the spdsx is fairly new. thanks
Hello maschinemademan! Thank you for watching!
First, I have to ask, which triggers are using for your toms? Second, Is your SPD-SX's software up to date? Have you adjusted the "TRIG IN" setting in the "set up" menu? Push menu > set up > trig in. It has two settings for input mode "trigx2" and "head&rim". "trigx2" is the setting you should use for two single zoned triggers (in this case your 2x tom triggers). Make sure you have both channel 3 and 4 set to the trigger you are using. If it doesn't display, for example you're not using a Roland brand trigger, then try different trigger types and see if they work.
Make sure you adjust pad sensitivity in "pad sens" menu. Just go to to menu > set up > pad sens. Also make sure that all of your cables are correct and that they are connected properly. Please let me know if you have any further questions!
Again, thanks for watching!
Any update on your situation? Did you figure it out or are you having the same problems?
Are you sure it's compatible as it's not on their listing of compatible triggers in the SPD-SX
Owners Manuel.
Are you referring to the KT-10? If so yes, it definitely works. The KT came out last year so it won't appear in the owner's manual.
ua-cam.com/video/i69cABXBvw8/v-deo.html
This video shows it being used together.
Hello There
How to assign kd9 to spd sx
how many minutes can you sampling in a file? I can load or take a 5 minute sampling or more ?
You can sample 360 minutes of mono audio or 180 of stereo audio. It has 2gb of internal memory. You can also load samples from a USB thumbdrive or connect it to your computer and have unlimited sampling time (well at least whatever your computer limit is)
thanks
where did you get the open and close hi-hat sound.
thank you
Do you mean "where can you find closed and open hi-hat samples?
aizo yurei yes sir
Oh man There are TONS of free samples on the internet. Just type in "free drum samples" into Google!
If you don't mind paying $1 there is this great sample pack: producerschoice.leadpages.co/5-packs-1-dollar-offer/
Question I just got the Roland BT-1 how to use just it for the Spd SX
If you bought it new, connect the cable it came with into the back where it says, Trig In 1/2 or 3/4. Then go in to settings [Menu --> Setup --> TRIG IN] Set it to "Head & Rim" (if it already hasn't been set to it) and adjust the trigger type to the BT-1. If the BT-1 doesn't show up in the trigger types, you might need to update to the latest version. After that, you just need to assign a sample or loop to it.
If you just want a sample to play from the BT-1 (for example, a clap, etc.), set the trigger to "one shot" (and turn loop off)
Ok thx so much
Ok how do you assign a sound to the pad (BT-1)
Hello, i need your help, i want to connect my FD8 hihat pedal, and i want to assign it to pad 9,. And is it possible to control the open and close hat? Pls. Help. Thanks
+Mark Anthony Asuncion
Unfortunately, the SPD-SX doesn't have hi-hat control. You can assign one pad to open hihat and another pad to closed hihat and assign both of the pads to a mute/choke group. But the SPD-SX doesn't support hi-hat control pedals. Only the Octapad(SPD-30).
+aizo yurei thanks bro.. 😊😊
Where did you get the cables ??
Any music store has them, no? If not just look on Amazon!
Is Ableton Live any better suited to the SPD SX than Logic?
Hey Glowing One! Thanks for watching!!!
I don't have much experience with Logic, but I can say -- it depends. What do you want to do with the SPD-SX and Logic? Do you just want to use VSTs like Addictive Drummer, Superior Drummer, etc., or your own samples (like in Logic's Ultrabeat)? If that's it, then the SPD-SX and Logic are probably all you need.
Now, if you want to control parts of your song or switch between different kits. I think Ableton is better suited.
For example: I might have one pad dedicated to switching scenes in Ableton. Every time I hit that pad, it'll progress the song. But at the same time, I might have it programmed so that when it changes scenes it also switches drum kits or VSTs.
If you have any other questions, let me know!
If you are interested in playing Logic sounds or samples live Mainstage 3. Is the way to go at 30 dollars it's a steal!
Hey man, I know its 7 y.o.video 😬 but what clamps and L rods did you use for the Roland pd8 pads please? Thanks a lot
Hi, Philipee! Thanks for watching! Dang has it been 7 years!?
Anyway, here’s what I used:
- Pearl S-1000 Snare drum tripod as the bottom half of the main stand with a with a Pearl UX80 universal clamp in the tripod to mount the SPD-SX.
- Cymbal boom arm (Pearl CH-1000) for the left side PD-8
- same as about to mount the BT-1
- A cowbell holder (Pearl PPS-37) for the center PD-8.
They’re all attached to the snare stand using Pearl clamps!
Let me know if have any other questions!
@@aizoyurei thanks a lot man, I am beginner e-drummer, so it helped me🙏 So If I have SPD SX with dedicated stand without clamps and want to have left and right PD8 pads, the 2x clamps + 2x cymbal arms will do the job? Did your cymbal arms fitted the PD8 without problem on the edges? Btw yeah,time flies like sh#t⌚😖 hoping you still have this magical SPD sx machine
@@aizoyurei oh, I see the Pearl1000 is not made these days, but I think I have to find some boom arm for cymbals with uni holder on the edge, right? Thanks brother
@@DJPhilipee Anytime yo!
To answer your question, the PD8's mounting bracket will fit ANY cymbal boom. Pearl is just what I use. You can use a different brand or a cheaper brand. So all you need is a cymbal boom arm for each pad and a clamp to mount them to the main stand.
I do have my SPD-SX. And I still use it as much as possible. I have a completely different set up now, but I still use a lot of Pearl hardware mixed in with Roland's rack system.
You can check it out here: ua-cam.com/video/1JYrm58cSFU/v-deo.html
(e-drums can be seen from 1:40)
@@aizoyurei what amazing setup, maan ! I see step by step you upgraded, its lot of passion in this drum upgrading right ;) I just got 2x PD8 to SPD SX so dont U know, if its possible to use in triggers: 2x head and rims on 2x PD8 + the single kick? but when I use 1x pD8's head+rim (with TRS cable so = 2triggers), only 2 are free with stereo splitter, so... i think not... but You the boss ;)
Any idea if the SPD-SX works with ddrum DTS snare trigger?
does it use 1/4" jacks? If it does, I don't see why it wouldn't. As far as setting it up, I'm not sure which pad you should set it to in the options but I recommend taking it to a local music store and hooking it up. If you're gonna drop the dough that an SPD-SX costs I don't see why they wouldn't let you try.
Thanks for watching!!
Hello,i use a lot of e-drums & also have the spd-sx,love it,i have'nt used a BT-1,would it work on the BT-1 pad setting if it was on trigger 1,& kick on trigger 2??Just a thought???i also split the signals,nice video by the way 8-)
That's a good question man! I'll have to try to see if it matters which input you use. The TM-2 has a diagram that shows it can use 2x BT-1s off a split channel. That'd be strange if they'd allow that on the TM-2 and not the SPD-SX
Thanks for the nice comments!