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How to Use My Digital Drums on My Computer

Being able to record drums into your computer is the best way to ensure you don’t forget that drum fill you used to connect the bridge and chorus. In the past, you had to have multiple microphones set up and connected to a reel-to-reel recorder or a DAT recorder that was dedicated just to drums. You also had to remember to turn it on. However, with the advent of the electronic drum set in the early 1980s, the ability to interface with a computer to record your drum tracks has been turned into a plug and play proposition.

Things You'll Need

  • Drum module with MIDI output
  • MIDI-equipped sound card
  • MIDI cable
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Instructions

    • 1

      Connect your electronic drums to a drum module that is equipped with MIDI outputs. (Reference one) (MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface.) The drum module is the controller that emulates the sound of drums, and MIDI is required for latency-free connection to a computer. This means your drum will sound through the computer when you hit the drum. If latency occurs it means the drum sound will be delayed.

    • 2

      Install a MIDI-equipped sound card into your computer. Most sound cards the come with a computer are designed to enable a user to listen to music via music player software installed on the computer. Therefore, they do not come equipped with MIDI input. (reference two)

    • 3

      Connect the drum module to the computer's sound card with a MIDI cable. The length of cable used depends on the location of the drum set in correlation to the computer. Because digital drums do not put off vibration, the location of the drums can be within a few inches of he computer.

    • 4

      Install studio monitors to allow for playback of drums when being played. Studio monitors are intentionally voiced to be flat to allow the listener to add digital reverb and effects via recording software. This makes studio monitors better for playing live music then computer stereo monitors that are commonly sold with computers. (reference three)

Recording Music

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