alesis d4 16bit drum machine

Just picked up a damn near new alesis d4 drum machine at a garage sale for 25 bucks. Been tryin to slave it to mpc2000 classic but have no luck. Any 1 know how this is done, I have read the manual for both and searched the forums and still cant get it? Is it even worth midi syncin it or is it better to just sample the drum sounds and do it that way? Never used a seperate drum machine before.

I would just sample all the sounds and put it away in a nice box. Nice find by the way

Thats what I was thinkin would be easier just make some programs w the sounds I like. Dude had a kawai R-100 that had some dope sounds but 2 buttons were broken and the screen was barely readable, didnt want to pay 25 for it and dude wasnt comin down. the d4 has some tight sounds tho..

I dont know the sound of this unit but 25 bucks is a good price for 12 trigger inputs. You could buy some used practice pads for drummers and build a DIY e-drum set to trigger your MPC or VST sampler (or whatever you want).
There are tons of tutorials how to mod. A practice pad on the net.

peace

peterpiper wrote:I dont know the sound of this unit but 25 bucks is a good price for 12 trigger inputs. You could buy some used practice pads for drummers and build a DIY e-drum set to trigger your MPC or VST sampler (or whatever you want).
There are tons of tutorials how to mod. A practice pad on the net.

peace

Exactly what I did with my D4. It's not a drum machine, but rather a drum module. The sounds are a bit dated, but I use it as a trigger-to-midi converter for my Remo practice pads. I got 2 pads on a stand for hat and snare, and got a practice kick/stand as well. Opened up the pads, split the foam in half, soldered a piezo/jack to a sheet metal disk, and connect to the pads to my D4. I then go from D4 to mpc, sp1200/eps16+/s950/omputer and trigger sounds in anything. I used a cheap piano sustain pedal as a hi hat switch. There are better options but it works. My hi hat is either open or close, so I don't have any half open/in-between sounds (some drum software supports this).

Good Find!
I have the D4 and I love the sounds, but the way I have my set up it's a pain to use my MPC as the master so I just have samples of most of my gear (except synths) -plus I don't have to involve a mixer and all the sounds are in one box.
As suggested before, I would have samples of the D4 but there are 500 individual sounds so maybe you can find a D4 set on the internet the same for the R-100 which I also have. The parameters for those drum machines' individual sounds are only pitch which the MPC will do (and in more increments)

But if you want to use the MPC to control your D4 or any other piece of MIDI gear just hook the MIDI OUT from your MPC into the MIDI IN of your D4 then in the main screen on the bottom left of your MPC select the proper configuration for MIDI then adjust the proper MIDI channel on your D4 and then you should be set. If you need further instructions email me at: [email protected]

damn lots of good info here thx, I think for now I am just gonna sample the sounds I like and use them in the mpc, but as I am reading up on this thing online, I would be interested in getting some pads for trigering some drum sounds, maybe get a couple drum pads and figure out how to hook it w mpc to play hat patterns or drums..

I saw some tutorials for the REMO Pads but I got a DW complete practice set form ebay (paid 50 Euro):

http://cgi.ebay.de/DW-GO-ANYWHERE-Drums ... 0375335648
(mine was without the footpedal but I got one from a friend)

Its a bit harder to get this modded cause you need to be careful at removing the foam and need much more glue to put it together but you dont have to cut the foam.

peace

Personally, I would just sample a sound when you need it. For the $25.00 you payed for it, I wouldn't sell it, and if your gonna keep it, why sample the sounds when their already in the box. I think it would be easier to sample a sound when you need it than to sample all the sound, and scroll through the all them .wav's.
Now if you spent $500.00 on a DR-880, I would say, "SAMPLE AND RETURN IT," ...then get your money back! hahaha!

nah im not gonna sample alll the sounds just make a couple kits of the stuff I like..

firstly, a 25$ D4 is stolen.

here is a list of things i used my D4 for:

1. tama/home-made drum pads.
2. syncronizing amiga500 to multi-track tape machines.
3. MIDI to CV converter for old analog synths... mainly drums.

HAS 12 INPUTS.
this thing is no joke. My dad still used his for his country music demos. it's not the built in sounds (although they are not that bad), you can just MIDI them out to other samples or synths. u can use it for things like live noise gates for smart drums... it's infinite with this thing. I have 1 that works and one for spare parts. very proud D4 owner... havent used the shit in 20 years... but... time to dig it out and hook it up.