Triggering a Tama Techstar

opg

First off, it's good to be back after such a long break! Who new that offering free web design services to college departments would suddenly get so busy? Rolling Eyes

Here's the deal. After listening to enough Raymond Scott and Mathias Kaden, I decided that one of the best ways to achive the sound I've been searching for would not be a synth with a sequencer, but an analog drum machine like the Tama Techstar series or even a Simmons.

Unfortunately, it's really damn hard to find the all-in-one TS305 machine that has a MIDI input, so I am forced to get separately the TS202 (2 toms), and the TS206 (snare and rimshot). These 2-sound modules are of course not going to include a MIDI in, so I was wondering how I could send separate patterns to each trigger input. I don't want to use drum pads to trigger them, obviously, because how would I get to tweak the knobs while the pattern is playing? Smile

This kind of boils down to having separate sound sources for each trigger input playing at the exact same tempo instead of routing one source (like a cheesy Yamaha PSS-470 drum pattern) to all 4 (or eventually more) inputs.

I'll still be on the lookout for the TS305 (I'm not so fond of the choices on the TS306), but I've already purchased a TS206 that should arrive tomorrow or Monday.

Again, great to be back! cheers

EdisonRex · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject:

Welcome back, indeed. It's been a while. Smile

opg · Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:42 pm Post subject:

So, the 206 came in today, and oh boy, what fun! This unit has two toms, each with a pad trigger in, external trigger in, and output jacks (along with a master out, of course). There is so much to do here!

Right now, I have connected a Casio SK-1 to both trigger inputs, and then I've sent the master out to a reverb/delay unit which is giving it a 4-over-3 rhythm. I'm playing a Casio rhythm that is triggering both toms which are set a major 3rd apart (think Kassen's song, "Warmth" Wink

).

I'll have another module, the 202 (snare and rimshot) arriving soon, so I'll have a total of four voices, none of which can be MIDI controlled, except for a sequencer on the computer used as a trigger for just one of the voices.

What I can't figure out is how I can have 4 separate patterns going, one for each voice. Of course, I can put in guitar pedals and other FX units between the sound source and the trigger input, or send all 4 sounds to my mixer separately, thereby utilizing the FX and AUX inputs. Hmmm.... what to do, what to do....

gzifcak · Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 3 Location: san francisco

i've owned a few simmons and tama modules. first off, i highly recommend the ts306. basically, the tom, snare, bass and rim modules are the same, with slightly different settings. the 306 offers the synth and clap modules in addition.

the way i've triggered them in the past has been to use multiple outputs from a drum machine. short sounds work better, and you can use the sensitivity control to find a place where it triggers nicely. so for instance, you could connect the bass drum output of the drum machine to the trigger input of one of your tama modules, and the rim shot to another, allowing you to sequence different rhythms for each.

the 707 is a nice drum machine for this, since it has a lot of outputs, sliders to bring the sounds in and out, and a nice programming interface. the yamaha rx5 is also good, because you can edit the sounds into short little clicks that trigger well. using actual voltage triggers yields the best results, but it's tough to get ahold of sequencers with multiple trigger outs.