While I've been Reaper fanatic for some time now, I've only recently begun to dig into programming my own effects, purely out of necessity. I've decided to make the fruit of these efforts publicly available at no charge, under the Creative Commons license.

The library is still in its infant stages. It presently has but one humble effect, though as I gather ideas for more I will be adding them. The initial effect is one that is extremely useful to me personally (and I suspect other Zendrummers as well). It's a MIDI filter that will turn specific CC messages into MIDI note-on messages. For instance, this enables you to choke cymbals in various VSTs using the momentary switch on the back of the Zendrum.

Please feel free to download and use the library. If you find it useful, then please consider throwing me some loose change. A link to donate via PayPal is on the library page.

My Zendrum returned to me over the holidays, after trekking across the country for some upgrades.

This was absolutely the best decision I've made in some time as while I was pleased as punch with my Zendrum to begin with, its upgraded form has me absolutely giddy! Here's what all I had done to it:

1. Upgraded controller and firmware. There's been alot of hype around the new 4.0 Zendrum and its improved sensitivity, and while I was keeping my expectations low as to not be dissapointed, I needn't have worried -- the new board is 100% as awesome as claimed. The sensitivity is absolutely mind-blowing! Every little nuance of my playing is picked up, even 32nd notes at top speed.
2. New wireless capability. I can now ditch the cable completely and go wireless, without needing any external battery packs or antennae -- it's all built right in and powered off a single 9-volt.
3. Six extra triggers. The new board can handle a maximum of 30 triggers, so I of course had to max mine out :)
4. New CC control knob. In addition to the stock momentary switch on the back, I now also have a variable CC knob. I'll more than likely be using this as a volume knob, seeing as since now that I'm wireless, I'll probably be some distance from my rig.

There are some pictures of my upgraded axe in the slideshow.

Here's a sneak peek of my Zendrum customizations. It's currently under the knife back in Atlanta getting 6 triggers added, an upgraded controller and internal wireless capabilities. I'm also having a volume control and extra CC switch added to the back.

Can't wait to get it back!

Some additional photos from this month's Hard Rock gig.

Just an FYI, the Spancky's show has been moved from December 4th back to the 19th.

Sorry for any inconvenience if you were making plans to attend. Hope you can still make it!

Some photos from last weeks' Hard Rock gig.

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There can be little question that stand-alone sound modules are quickly becoming a thing of the past, although the writing has been on the wall for a number of years now. E-MU systems for instance has stopped producing hardware modules and now only offers their most popular sound sets in software form.

Software sound sources, or VSTi's have however been slow to catch on in electronic drumming circles, and for very good reasons:

• Cost - Unlike simple synths, realistic drum sounds require a ton of processing power, gobs of ram and dedicated external hard drives. You can easily wind up dropping a few grand on what is effectively just a drum brain. By contrast you can pick up a top-of-the-line brain from Roland, Yamaha or Alesis for a fraction of that.
• Complexity - As drummers we already have a lot to worry about on stage. Dealing with a finicky laptop and software up there doesn't exactly equal fun. Plus you'll now wind up walking around before and after the gig with a laptop strapped to your back (you're not going to really leave that expensive machine on an unguarded stage between sets, are you?).
• Road Ruggedness - Most dedicated sound modules are built like tanks. They power up instantly and have next to zero lag time between changing patches. None of this can be said for software solutions.

Despite all these impediments, VSTi's are slowing gaining ground in the edrumming community, due to their hyper realism and flexibility. Crossover products such as the Alesis DM-10 are starting to emerge which allow limited uploading of VST instruments.

Zendrummers seem to be quicker to pick up the VSTi torch, mostly owing to the facts that we already have a lot less to lug around and setup and therefore have more wiggle room for allowing excess complexity to sneak in. Plus we don't require external MIDI interfaces or even dedicated drum modules and can get by solely with using a laptop solution.

Enter the Muse Receptor. These machines quickly have become favorites among Zendrummers for their ability to run full VSTi suites and for their convenient rack mount form factor. These machines are not without problems however. I've read numerous reports of hardware problems and apparently Muse customer support can be spotty. These are basically Linux machines crammed into a full rack space and weren't spec'ed aggressively enough considering their price tags. For instance, while the Receptor was able to handle running the popular BFD VSTi, it was not able to cope with the newer BFD2 version. To run that, you'd have to shell out another $3k for a Receptor 2. Ouch.

Smaller, cheaper, more reliable products have been popping up from time to time, but all have proven to be vaporware. However one such product that was previously assumed to never make it to market apparently has, the SM Pro Audio V-Machine. While the initial offering here isn't quite ready for the stage, it's very exciting to finally see a proper successor to the Receptor coming of age. Still on their "coming soon" list is a rack mount version of the V-Machine, with proper balanced XLR connections. If this product also turns out to not be vaporware, then this could usher in a new age in electronic percussion. No doubt Roland, Alesis and Yamaha will continue to sell standalone drum modules, but they are going to have to play some serious catch-up to grab a piece of the VSTi market.

It's truly an exciting time to be an edrummer.

I've added some new tracks to the the audio page, this time from a pseudo-blues project I was involved with earlier this year.

These were all done with the Roland TD-20 and SPS-S.

One of the groups I play with recently headlined at the Last Day Saloon. The way this venue is setup, all acts need to arrive early for load-in. There is only one stage, so each group needs to setup their equipment off stage in such a way that the promoter and sound crew can progressively cycle the bands on and off.

Being the headliner and with two other opening acts, we naturally had to be there early so as to the be the first group to load-in. This then meant that we, along with our entourages, needed to sit through the two opening acts. This is something we would have done anyways. It's just the way things are done -- you always support the other bands you play with. You loudly applaud each song (even if you don't like the music). You ask all your fans that are coming to see you to also stick around and support the other acts. These things are just basic courtesy.

Unfortunately 'courtesy' was not part of the openers dialect. I'd never before seen such an unprofessional display. These guys just rolled in right before curtain time, took the stage, played their tunes and then split. Without a word.

I often hear people complaining about the fact that there no longer is a strong live music scene here in the North Bay. Heck I've even been guilty of bemoaning this myself. But how can we as musicians expect people to support and back us if we don't first do the same to each other? Common courtesy can really go a long way.