Midi Out from Alesis Nitro Drumkit to Electribe 2

scum · Post by **scum** » Fri Jul 01, 2016 10:39 pm

Hello, I posted this to Alesis support, so far without success, I will try here as well..

I am trying to send midi out from my Nitro kit to my Korg Electribe, I would like to use the electribe sounds and effects - but - when I hit the drums, only one part from electribe is playing different tones, like piano, the kit is not sending midi to the different parts as it is supposed to do..Am I missing something?

Here is the Alesis topic:
http://community.alesis.com/alesis/topi ... -electribe

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 12:59 am

Are you sending on just one midi channel? Each part on the E2 corresponds to one midi channel.

scum · Post by **scum** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 3:04 am

I don't know how many midi channels I am sending..

That is what is about MIDI in Alesis manual:

To adjust the MIDI settings:
1. Hit the pad whose settings you want to adjust, or press its corresponding Pad Select button.
2. Press Utility, then press Page/Select until the desired setting appears in the display:
• LOC (Local Mode):
o When set to ON, playing your electronic drum kit will trigger the sounds in the drum module.
o When set to OFF, playing your electronic drum kit will trigger sounds in a sound module
connected to the module's MIDI Out, bypassing the drum module's sound library.
• GM (General MIDI Mode): See Accessing the module's programs below for more information.
o When set to ON, Channel 10 in the drum module will use General MIDI percussion sounds.
o When set to OFF, Channel 10 in the drum module will use the module's internal drum sounds.
3. Use the <and> buttons to adjust the value.

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 6:12 am

Unless you can change the midi channel of each pad you are out of luck... Unless you use another device( laptop, iconnect, etc) to re-map your drum notes.
Right now you are sending every drum hit on the nitro to channel 10, so you will only hear the sound that is assigned to pad 10 on the e2.

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 6:13 am

Unless you can change the midi channel of each pad you are out of luck... Unless you use another device( laptop, iconnect, etc) to re-map your drum notes.
Right now you are sending every drum hit on the nitro to channel 10, so you will only hear the sound that is assigned to pad 10 on the e2.

scum · Post by **scum** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:12 pm

Thanks a lot for the response. Do you know what do I have to do with my laptop to remap the drum notes? I could try at least..

And I still don't get, what is the meaning of this "midi out" if you can not use the kit with another drum module, what am I supposed to play with it, piano? This is stupid..

scum · Post by **scum** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:22 pm

Update - Alesis still don't have answer to my question, but today I've connected the drums to my old Boss DR-5 drum machine - it plays like hell, kick is kick, snare is snare, toms are toms..So I think the problem is with the complicated electribe, can I make it just to perform like normal channel 10 drum machine?

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:40 pm

The "problem" really depends how you look at it. Is it the drum pad controllers fault for not being able to send notes on whatever channel you want, or is it the electribes fault for not being able to change the midi channel of each sound individually? It takes two to tango and you've got incompatible devices.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a midi controller that only sends on one channel.

Most drum machines operate on midi ch 10 with the individual drum sounds assigned to different note numbers on that channel.

The electribe works in a way that you can have 16 sounds assigned to midi ch. 1-16.

Yes it sucks that you can't change channels on either of your devices to make them compatible.

Have you looked at the alesis sample rack unit that is out?
I know nothing of the specs but maybe that could work for you?

scum · Post by **scum** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:28 pm

Thanks for the explanation and the advice, but I'm tired of samples/levels/ quality/libraries etc, I just wanted nice drum synth with effects, just like e2, and the option to control it with my drums was a nice idea, but so far impossible..

Poumtschak · Post by **Poumtschak** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:10 pm

As musicmagus said, you need a device in between that converts the variable note messages on channel 10 sent by you kit to fixed note channel 1~16 as understand by the electribe (or the Korg Volca Sample).

It can be a computer with MidiOX, or MIDI Translator, or a DAW software, an iPad with MIDIFlow, a programmable standalone unit like MIDI Solutions Event Processor Plus, Bome Box, a custom firmware for the RK-002 MIDIator, or a custom program running on an Arduino with a MIDI shield.

This case has been covered here for the Beatstep Pro:
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... p?t=100125

Tons of possibilities, really.

scum · Post by **scum** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:14 am

I think if I put a computer with some running software between - this will cause some delay, some latency. I was trying to connect my drums to the e2 to avoid this, otherwise I can just plug in the usb in the laptop and play with some vst's, but there is always latency.. Thanks for the advices, but I'm not buying any new cables or midi transformers etc. because of this. If I can fix this from the e2 or from the drums module, I will, if not - f*ck it..

Poumtschak · Post by **Poumtschak** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:55 am

scum wrote:I think if I put a computer with some running software between - this will cause some delay, some latency

Given the rudimentary of the processing, latency and jitter would be marginal if any with any microcontroller based hardware, compared to a complex device like a computer.

For a few bucks, you could start with this:
http://www.midikits.net/midi_chan_chang ... hanger.htm
And run a customized Mauricio Maisterrena's code to suit your needs.
If you have the extra cash, the MIDI Solution Event Processor Plus would do.

In both cases, you'd have to program the device to map the incoming note messages on channel 10 to C-4 and the channel of your choice on the electribe (depending on which part has the sound you want to assign the controller to).

Kick Channel 10 Note 36 -> electribe Channel 1 Note 60
Snare Channel 10 Note 38 -> electribe Channel 2 Note 60
...

Velocity would be passed on unaffected.

But since your Nitro kit has 19 controllers, hence sends 19 notes, and the electribe is only 16 parts, that means you'd have to compromise, and sacrifice 3 out of the 4 toms rims for instance, or send a different message (e.g. pitch change with a upper or lower note number than C-4) on an existing part for these note numbers for variation. Everything is possible.

Anyways, what you want to achieve has been done before by people using the Arturia Beatstep Pro with Korg Volca, electribe2, whatever. It's neither rocket science nor very expensive.

Cheers.

scum · Post by **scum** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 3:58 pm

thanks a lot for your time, this sounds like solution, but I'm not going to spend any extra money to make $400 piece of hardware act like normal piece of hardware, sounds more like feature request, I think they will be able to add this..This "midi channel changer" costs 5 12-packs, so - cheers.

scum · Post by **scum** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 3:51 am

I found a solution - bought an old yamaha dtx drum module on ebay, replaced the crappy nitro module, midi channel settings works great, spent $150, but at least i got new and nice drum module, not some midi processor..

scum · Post by **scum** » Thu May 11, 2017 2:14 am

Hello, old topic, but I have another question/issue - when I hit fast the drums, the sounds are being cut by the next hit, so every hit cuts the previous sound, is there any option in E2, which I was not able to find, to make the sound to last after every hit. Here is example how is thins explained in Alesis Performance Pad manual:

SET TRIGGERING MODE (ASN MODE)
The display shows ASN MODE (short for Assignment Mode), the currently selected
Multi: When hitting a pad repeatedly, each hit will cause the sound to go through its
entire decay. This is useful with cymbals, since early strikes will continue to decay as
you play later strikes.
Single: When hitting a pad repeatedly, a new hit will automatically terminate any
sound that is still decaying. This is useful with many percussion sounds (such as
tambourine, agogo, etc.).

I need the MULTI-like setting for E2..