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Any Korg Wavedrum Global Players?


KuruPrionz

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I own one (Ha!). I got it for home recording, it seemed like a good solution. Then it sat for a couple of years, tonight I fired it up.

I got a better interface and now I can turn it way up with almost zero noise. So I went through the presets, playing with my fingers and hands.

I think it is fantastic. The sounds you can pull out of a single setting are very nice and much more "natural" to my ear than electronic drums or samples of "real" drums.

 

I think it's because I can "play" it. FWIW, I am a guitarist/songwriter/vocalist and I want to record my creations. Plus write/record more. I have pretty good timing and a good version of my own idea of how drums work or should work. :- D

I also play bass, like a bassist.

You can't always get a group together when inspiration hits and I live in a multi-unit condo so real drums, bass amps etc. are not practical.

I have the original Roland Handsonic too but it's just not as fun.

 

Does anybody else use one? What do you think of it? Have you tried programming it (I hear it is tedious!). Thanks in advance!!!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I always wanted one, but never pulled the trigger. I"ve had Octapads on and off, but they"re not as cool.

 

I"ve been checking out the Djambe. Looks very interesting.

 

dB

 

Could you plaeas link a Djambe? I keep finding actual acoustic drums. Love those, had a big Remo but too loud for inspiration at 11pm.

I've had (and have) other electronic drums. Still keeping my Handsonic, it has so many great samples.

And samples are the difference, the Korg does not use them.

 

Playing a Wavedrum is totally different. It is alive. There is a tunable drum head and in many of the presets it behaves like an actual acoustic drum. You can hear your fingernails scratching, get a huge range of sounds depending on how and where you strike the head, push down in the middle and shift the pitch or strike the edge of the drum for a hard attack and a tighter tone.

 

Some of the presets have "surprises" with very different sounds and/or effects on head and rim. If you hit either hard enough it will engage the other so there are blends that can be made depending on the impact of your strike. Very different things happen when you push down on the head, unexpected tones appear and you can shift the pitch of the rim tones. It becomes uniquely musical, I can vision writing a song where the only instrument is a single Wavedrum setting - so many tones and the intervals are musical.

 

It is alive, you can play it. Turned well up with headphones on (careful, it will feedback if room speakers are too loud!!!), you can get a satisfying variety of responses.

For me, best of both worlds. It is electronic and the volume can be controlled. If it is not turned on the tapping sound it makes is not very loud at all. You will hear some of it blending when you play but not when you record and play back. Unlike all the sampled drums I've played, I can PLAY it. The samples have gottem much better but they still are not like this.

 

I wasn't able to demo one, nobody carries them around here. A good friend in music sales down in California "slid one out" for cost plus 5%.

I would pay full price and I would get another as soon as possible if this one went away. And, I don't work for Korg or own any stock or any other affilition, it's just that awesome.

 

So, try it!!!! :- D

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Could you please link a Djambe?

I misspelled it in my original post - s/b Jambé. Sorry... :facepalm:

 

Here's a link.

 

dB

 

Thanks, I checked out this video demo.

 

 

It is a nice unit. It looks like fun. I would like to have one, it appears to be a considerable step up from my first version Handsonic.

That said, it is still a sample player. It does not have a real drum head. It appears to be velocity sensitive and perhaps a bit pressure sensitive but not in the same way that the Wavedrum is.

I could learn to play those sounds for the most part on my Akai midi controller with keys and pads.

 

If you scrape the pads on the Jambé with your fingernails I doubt it will trigger anything like what you are doing. The Wavedrum will capture and reproduce that, it sounds like fingernails on a drum head because it is.

 

If you could play a Wavedrum (I think the Global is the most recent and the best in the series) you would "get it" immediately.

I've a friend who has a fairly recent Roland e-kit, a higher end one. It's nice for low volume and the kick sound is awesome. He uses actual cymbals and snare, the Roland falls short on expression.

He is afraid of my Wavedrum!!!! He made it feedback once and it scared him :- D

 

It truly is a different animal than a sample player, there is a microphone, a pressure sensor and synthesizer section at play. Analog and sythesized sounds are morphed together.

The combination "speaks". There are no samples, there is no MIDI, just stereo audio outputs reproducing your playing and triggering synth sounds that can be varied with velocity, pressure and location of the strike.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Never played the Wave Drum but I noticed that Pearl's e/MERGE drum kit is powered by Korg's Wave Trigger Technology - an extension or evolution of the Wave Drum technology? This kit was introduced over a year ago but didn't make such a big splash. Wonder why they didn't play that up more.

 

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Never played the Wave Drum but I noticed that Pearl's e/MERGE drum kit is powered by Korg's Wave Trigger Technology - an extension or evolution of the Wave Drum technology? This kit was introduced over a year ago but didn't make such a big splash. Wonder why they didn't play that up more.

 

Interesting, thanks! From this page: https://pearldrum.com/products/kits/electronics/emerge/#wave-trigger-technology

 

"This ultra-fast and highly sensitive technology partially based upon KORG"s groundbreaking Wave Drum allows even your stick choice to make a discernible difference in the sound of your drum."

 

Reading further, they are using samples also. So it appears to be a hybrid - part Korg Wave Drum tech and part the usual approach. That should improve transient response and sensitivity to sticks/brushes while maintaining the bread and butter sounds.

 

The primary thing I would like to see on my Wave Drum is a more hands-on interface for creating your own patches. The current iteration provides an LED screen that is 1 inch by 1/2 inch, a single Value knob and a series of 6 buttons that somehow get you deep into the program to address one parameter at a time.

 

My first thought is that I would LOVE a computer interface similar to the one provided for my Boss Katana amp. I can connect the amp to the computer with a USB cable and quickly adjust EVERYTHING on that amp and then save it to a preset. There are 2 banks of 4 presets for the Katana, would be simple enough to add a Bank selection switch to the Korg to provide more user preset access.

 

That said, the sense that I am actually playing the instrument - the sensitivity - sets the Wave Drum apart from every other electronic drum system I've tried.

So it looks like Pearl is onto something!!!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 4 weeks later...

It's still pretty spendy if you go by specs. A single pad (plus rim), 200 presets, no MIDI, difficult to program etc.

 

I watched some Mandala Drums videos on YouTube, that is a fantastic instrument.

Maybe Korg's patents have expired? They made the first Wavedrum a long time ago and would have had a patent well before release.

 

I like it, thanks for sharing!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the reminder! I had avoided the WAVEDRUM models originally (the new ones; I never saw the old ones way back), due to some flimsy construction and concerns over longevity (mostly the thinness of the edges), as well as lack of MIDI for capturing ideas to possibly re-track later with other sounds.

 

As I am racing away from MIDI these days, it's a good time to give the WAVEDRUM -- and especially the World Edition -- another look. I'm burnt out from over ten years (maybe 15 total) of trying to finesse MIDI parts through editing, sound reassignment, etc., and at my advanced age I want as much as possible of my music to be PLAYED live, even it sometimes involves electronically generated sources.

 

I had also looked into the Mandala Drums a year or two ago, and wrote a bit about them on the Keyboard forum but don't remember off-hand why I also dismissed those (yet keeping an eye out for useful updates).

 

Years ago, I had the original Roland HPD-15 HandSonic for a few years. It was fun, but heavily flawed, as are its descendants. Not enough resolution, lack of good tactile sensitivity on the pads, reverb baked into the raw samples, difficulty of assigning one's own settings or putting together custom kits or sound sets, and even with the expensive stand (which I bought), it never felt very sturdy. But I did use it on one film score, and at some gigs.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Thanks for the reminder! I had avoided the WAVEDRUM models originally (the new ones; I never saw the old ones way back), due to some flimsy construction and concerns over longevity (mostly the thinness of the edges), as well as lack of MIDI for capturing ideas to possibly re-track later with other sounds.

 

As I am racing away from MIDI these days, it's a good time to give the WAVEDRUM -- and especially the World Edition -- another look. I'm burnt out from over ten years (maybe 15 total) of trying to finesse MIDI parts through editing, sound reassignment, etc., and at my advanced age I want as much as possible of my music to be PLAYED live, even it sometimes involves electronically generated sources.

 

I had also looked into the Mandala Drums a year or two ago, and wrote a bit about them on the Keyboard forum but don't remember off-hand why I also dismissed those (yet keeping an eye out for useful updates).

 

Years ago, I had the original Roland HPD-15 HandSonic for a few years. It was fun, but heavily flawed, as are its descendants. Not enough resolution, lack of good tactile sensitivity on the pads, reverb baked into the raw samples, difficulty of assigning one's own settings or putting together custom kits or sound sets, and even with the expensive stand (which I bought), it never felt very sturdy. But I did use it on one film score, and at some gigs.

 

I have the HPD-15, got it cheap. I think I can do some cool things with it as part of the one man "drum circle" but I agree it is deeply flawed and not inspiring.

 

Last night I decided to tackle a remix contest on Metapop. The prizes are good.

The one I worked on had no drums. One of the keyboard parts is intentionally erratic and sounds crazy.

I decieded I would try some live Wavedrum tracks to see what happens. I found patches that were tuned to C, just like the song.

 

I've found that turning it way up and playing with fingers delivers a much broader range of sounds than smacking it with your hands or sticks.

In other words, there is a very wide range of velocity sensitivity and it does not always change the tones in a "logical" or linear fashion.

Sometimes pressure on the head brings the pitch down rather than up. In any case, it is more versatile if you include more subtle strikes.

 

I cranked out my tracks, put a mix together, called it done and tossed it up there.

I learned a lot doing it and it was FUN!!! I already knew I was not much of a drummer (yet). The end is my favorite part, quite a few boogers in the rest of it.

Hopefully this at least makes you curious rather than driving you away.

It is the song at the top of this page.

 

https://metapop.com/opossum-apocalypse/tracks/rushing-back-opossum-apocalypse-remix/110184

 

And don't worry, nothing you say will hurt my feelings. I know my drumming is not good. I wasn't good on guitar when I started 50 years ago, now I am. I think I may not be hopeless for simple beats so I will persist. :- D

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I am pretty sure that particular one is not one I was yet aware of, as neither its looks nor its name ring familiar. Hopefully I can watch the video tonight; it's been a hectic week with deadlines at work and with the aftermath of home-buying. But if these are affordable, they look well-constructed from the still image and are probable a low risk investment.

 

The one in the link is $1600, but I'm too busy right now to check whether it's a set, a single one, and whether the different sizes and/or shapes and/or features offer cheaper options.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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I am pretty sure that particular one is not one I was yet aware of, as neither its looks nor its name ring familiar. Hopefully I can watch the video tonight; it's been a hectic week with deadlines at work and with the aftermath of home-buying. But if these are affordable, they look well-constructed from the still image and are probable a low risk investment.

 

The one in the link is $1600, but I'm too busy right now to check whether it's a set, a single one, and whether the different sizes and/or shapes and/or features offer cheaper options.

 

As near as I can tell, they make one model for one price.

 

One of my takeaways is that it appears to be much easier to program than the Wavedrum and not only is there a way to load other people's programs but also a community sharing these sounds.

That adds a level of versatiltiy the Wavedrum does not have.

 

It doesn't diminish the Wavedrum in my mind, I will keep it and use it, I have fun trying to play it.

Someday I would like to have this also.

 

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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On the other hand, I can't tell yet if the A-Frame drum allows you to assign different sounds to different parts of the drum.

It doesn't appear to be an option.

 

The Wavedrum has two separate surfaces, the drum head and the rim. Both can have the same sound, and sound different because of the difference in surface. Each can have it's own sound, very different than the other.

That is fun because striking one or the other with a bit more force can activate the sound from both surfaces. There is "bleed" in other words. The bleed is blendable by adjusting force and location of strike.

This opens up a range of tonal blends that can be manipulated on the fly, very intuitive.

 

The Wavedrum wins that round. They are quite different and both would be useful to me.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 2 months later...

I've got the first and second versions and have finally come up with a regimen that helps me walk through the editing process (and a documenting process that helps me sort out the results.) So I kept my eyes open for a good deal on a used global version and just scored it. I was torn between that and putting some $s into other options but watched this review and it clinched it for me.

 

Once I shift the useful stuff I've edited on the silver/first version over to the "oriental"/red version, I'm selling the silver one and am looking forward to having the Oriental and Global versions to work from, side by side.

 

My method has been to finally sit down and audit them for sounds that I find useful. To do this, I had to zero out the levels of all but one of the instrument sources, stick in the algorithms or pcm's one at a time, and work through some of the more important options for each voice (esp. decay and tuning) to make sure I understood the potential (or not) of each voice. Then, with some amount of categorization (and documentation,) I can build stuff that's more in line with what I want rather than being reliant on the factory programs to (not) demonstrate the unit's potential.

 

Other things I found useful were 1) ditch the korg head in favor of one of the thinner Remo heads (the replacement is easy. 2) while you're at it, recalibrate 3) change the global hand-vs-stick option to all hands 4) change to the X2 gain structure (this is apparently not relevant on the global). There are also some learning curves around the fact that some of the options you set, change when you drop in a different algorhythm and odd things like that.

 

I am primarily playing these with my hands but I have some plastic rings and a palmed metal rib I use to get some things I want from the rims. It will be interesting to see if I need to do that with the global version. Also, has a hand drummer, I've learned to at least START with the velocity curve set to 6 and the pressure curve set to 3.

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I've got the first and second versions and have finally come up with a regimen that helps me walk through the editing process (and a documenting process that helps me sort out the results.) So I kept my eyes open for a good deal on a used global version and just scored it. I was torn between that and putting some $s into other options but watched this review and it clinched it for me.

 

Once I shift the useful stuff I've edited on the silver/first version over to the "oriental"/red version, I'm selling the silver one and am looking forward to having the Oriental and Global versions to work from, side by side.

 

My method has been to finally sit down and audit them for sounds that I find useful. To do this, I had to zero out the levels of all but one of the instrument sources, stick in the algorithms or pcm's one at a time, and work through some of the more important options for each voice (esp. decay and tuning) to make sure I understood the potential (or not) of each voice. Then, with some amount of categorization (and documentation,) I can build stuff that's more in line with what I want rather than being reliant on the factory programs to (not) demonstrate the unit's potential.

 

Other things I found useful were 1) ditch the korg head in favor of one of the thinner Remo heads (the replacement is easy. 2) while you're at it, recalibrate 3) change the global hand-vs-stick option to all hands 4) change to the X2 gain structure (this is apparently not relevant on the global). There are also some learning curves around the fact that some of the options you set, change when you drop in a different algorhythm and odd things like that.

 

I am primarily playing these with my hands but I have some plastic rings and a palmed metal rib I use to get some things I want from the rims. It will be interesting to see if I need to do that with the global version. Also, has a hand drummer, I've learned to at least START with the velocity curve set to 6 and the pressure curve set to 3.

 

Thanks for all this!!! I've yet to even go into the edit mode. I'll have to give it a go.

The head change idea is interestng as well, that's an inexpensive way to get different results.

I've had a few drum sets in my time and yes, changing heads is pretty easy. Cheers, Kuru

 

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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