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Drum Kits: 130 (90 factory, 40 user) Songs: 133 (101 fact ory, 32 user) Chains: 32 (each w ith 32 steps) Tempo Range: 30-300 Resolution: 1/ 95 ppq Trigger Inputs: 15 (8 stereo , 4 dual-mono) MIDI: In, Out, Thru Computer Port: USB Other Inputs: footswit ch , aux in Audio Outputs: 5 assignab le individu al outputs, digital outp ut (S/PDIF), headphones
Effects : 4 (2 global 2 insertion) Sampling Memory : 8MB (94 seco nds mono) Storage : 3.3v SmartMedia Card More Brain Features : Tap tempo, groove check, 3D localizer effect, MIDI drivers. More Pad Features: Three-zone snare and tom s, three-zone ride, pad co ntroller knobs on snare and toms, output level adjustments on all pads.

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Model: Yamaha DTXtreme lis List Price: $3 ,195 Pads: TP120SD, TP 100 (x4). PCY130, PCY130S, PCYI50S, RHHI30, KP55 Hardware: R150 rack, HS740 hi-hat stand, SS552 snare stand Extras: All necessary cables, 2-meter spiral tube (cable management). drum key Sounds: 2,171 drum and percussion, 128 General MIDI Polyphony: 54-voice

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Since rhe very early days of MIDI and elecrronic percussion, Yamaha has produced machines that consistently improve upon the feel, features, and fun factor that elecrronic drum sers can offer. Their newly-upgraded flagship DTXrreme IIs isn't a "from the ground up " rebuild, bur rhere are severa l significanr improvemenrs over the previous version. The IIs is a six-pie ce kir with hi hac and three cymbal s. The big news: all the drum and cym bal pads (includ ing the hi -hat) are newly designed. Th e lIs brain now feature s the abiliry ro creare sam ples, and a selec tio n of ph ysically m odeled voices from Yamaha's popular M orif produ ct line. The Pads. The kit 's pad s include : the TP 120SD 12" sna re pad with a floaring head surface and rwo distin ct rim rriggers ; four TP 100s (a 10" version of the rriple rrigger sn are pad ); and th e new KP65 kick. For cymbals: th e PCY130 and PCY130S are 13" single and double-rrigger pads that are design ed as crashes; th e PCY 150S is a 15" three-zone pad for the rid e; and th e RHH 130 is a 13" stereo hi-hac pad. The rom and snare pads feel a lircle softer th an previou s models, and the built-in pad canrroller knobs are a grear idea. Rather than reaching for the brain to adjust, you can contr ol
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cerra in mu sical param erers (like sna re ten sion and rom pirch) from th is kno b in real rime. Th e rwo di fferenr rim pads can select berween three different not e-on mode s, whi ch include: single (which will cur off a sound assigned to rhe head , perfect for cross-stick rim shots) , hold (used to star t o r srop loop s or any oth er voice), and wirhpad mode (fires --t

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foot -closed vo ice fires. If th e ped al is th en released w ith in a ce rta in tim e, the spl ash voice fires, Thi s is one of those stic ky issue s that co u ld eit her be a prob lem o r a featu re dep en din g on how you loo k at it foot -closed not e, on e sou nd ; splash, rwo so u nds at once. Th e KPkick pad has an ad d itio na l input so that an other single tri gger pad ca n be co n nec ted via a ste reo cab le. Whil e the beat ing

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sur face is large e no ugh ro accommo d at e a d oubl e ped al, it's no t roo bulk y. The pa d include s both a Velcro strip on t he botto m o f the p edal a nd a pa ir o f sp u rs for sta bility. T he enti re kit was resp onsi ve - t he kick pad was parti cu larly impr essive. T he snar e and tom pad s are fast with ou t bei ng too hard o r roo soft, and the cym ba l pads have sligh tly less give th an th e ro m pad s. My favo rite was the rid e, whi ch felt very comf o rt able an d resp ond ed well ro my ro uc h. T he re wasn't any cross talk between t he pad s' hea d and rim tt iggers
Bird's eye view of the brain's panel
(even t he tripl e-trigg er pads ), b u t so me adj ust me nts had to be m ad e ro speci fic pa d reject io n sett ings w he n playing w it h a ve ry heavy han d. Som e vib rat io ns traveled thro ugh the rack betw een th e two mo unted ro ms an d betw een the tw O floo r rom s. T his was fixed w ith a simpl e

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tw eak. Spea k ing of the rack , the kit's RS 150 fram e feature s sligh tly arced ce nter pipe s, uses rwo ce nter p ipes betwe en eac h vert ical pill ar for add ed stab ility, and t he pad an d boo m cy m bal holder s are mou nt able an ywh ere alo ng th e ce nte r pip es w ith n ewly-d esigned clam ps. It's eas ily ad justa b le, plent y so lid , and goo d- loo king ro boot. The Brain. Th e tOP pan el of th e lis is nearly identical to t he or igin al DT Xrr eme. T he lIs b rai n is organ ized in a log ica l m ann er w ith each b u tt o n, kno b , and slider wit h in easy reach. Ten faders adj us t all o f the volume paramet ers, an d above the fade rs are fou r butt ons th at ca n be used ro m ut e o r acr ivare th e rhyt h m, bass, "o the rs," or clic k tracks dur ing so ng playba ck. Ed it ing is ach ieved prim arily by five dat a entty kn ob s u n der th e LC D screen. Th e playback section of the IIs cont ains five t ransp ort b utt on s used ro CO ro l so ngs: reset (also used for groove nt cont rol ), rewi nd, pla y/stop, fo rward, an d recor d. It also co nt ains the click/t ap temp o butt o n. T he lIs also has 12 input jacks that ca n h an dl e a max imu m of 16 tri gge r input s (eigh t in puts d esigned fo r stereo pads and fo ur d esigned to acce pt rwo mo no pad s co n nec ted wi t h a Yca ble), a h i-h at co nt ro ller jack , a nd a foo rsw irch jack. To co n nect w it h the externa l wo rld, t he lIs has M ID I In/ O u r/T h ru alo ng wi th a U SB POrt for co n nect ing th e br ain d irec tly ro your com puter. Aud io o ut p utS includ e the m ai n L/ R, six ind ivid ua l audi o o u tp u ts, and a S/ P D IF di gital ou tput. Th e back also spo rts 16 sma ll input arre n ua t io n DIP sw itc hes used ro bo ost ind ividual t rigger signa l levels. Under The Hood. Th e li s can keep 130 di fferent drum ki ts in its int ern al m em or y a t o ne ti me, and sh ips w ith 90 ki ts p re-p rogrammed by the factor y and 40 user-p rogramm abl e kit s. Up ro 99 more user kits can be srore d o n an exrerna l memo ry card. For yo u "m usic-minu s-one" fans, the lIs com es wi t h facto ry p re-ser so ngs a nd room for up ro 32 user son gs. T he included II demo so ngs cover ever ything fro m hard rock ro salsa ro blu es to dru m ' n' bass. Wa nt sou nds' You ger 127 aco us t ic and 87 elect ro ni c k icks; 249 acous t ic, electro n ic, and 105 "other " sn ares; aco ust ic and 96 elect ro ni c tom s; 126 cy m ba ls and I02 hi -h at s; 227 percu ssion so u nds; effect s; 80 loop s; voices; and 34 mel odi c fragm ents. O h yeah, th ere's also a co mp lete G en er al MIDI so u nd modul e th row n in for extra m easure. A major ity of the new vo ices faJI in the aco us t ic d ru m

The lis has 12 input jacks
both th e rim an d head so u nds wi th a sing le strok e). W ith differ ent ins t ru me nt s assign ed ro all rhree t rigger areas, that 's a lor of so u nd at yo u r di sp osal. Th e ne w round cymb al pads fearu re a di m p led playing su rface rh ar gives rhem a slick "han d -h amm ered" lo o k, and in clud e ant i-sw ive l br aces th at attac h to rhe mo u nt ing rods and allow rhe cym ba ls ro swing in a natu ral mann er. Whil e rhe PCYI30 is mono, th e PC YI 30S h as a rim- sty le rrigger so rhar you ca n assign ano rher crash (or any oth er so u nd) whe n you str ike rhe ed ge of th e pad. And afte r yo u st rike, g rab th e cymbal's edge to ge t that "ch oke." T he PC Y1 50S has all the afor eme nt io ned featu res w ith rhe ad d itio n o f ye t ano the r tri gge r o n the bell. Th e kit's m ost notew o rth y ad vanc e is t hat th e RH H 130 hi-hat pad ca n sit on to p of a norm al hi -h at stand. Th e ped al ac t io n feels like yo u r favo rite hi-hat pe da l becau se. well. it is your favo rite hi-hat ped al. Th e H Ssta nd is includ ed w ith th e kit, but yo u ca n use any ot he r m odel o r brand. By way of a sp ecial c1utch/p adllever system, th e pad "kn ows" if yo u're playin g th e su rface of th e cym bal, clos ing th e hat w ith YO foor , Ut o r even playin g a sp lashed not e. The ped al can also serv e as a MIDI co nt in uo us co ntroller, so its positi on ca n be p rog ra m med to send co nt ro l cha nge messages ro u ted to afrerro uc h, pir chb end u p o r d own , o r any o t her co ntinuou s co nt roller numb er. Th e RH H 130's play in g su rface has a tri gger under th e edge - eve n mor e flexibili ty. You may have ro tweak t he " h i-hat o ffset" values to fin e-tune yo u r foot "sp lash" respon ses, but all in all , it's a p ret ty co mp lete solution for an elect roni c hi -h at. Whil e first playing th e RHH 130, I noti ced a slight del ay from t he ti m e 1 played a fo o t sp lash to w hen I heard rh e sou nd. Tu rn s out t hat the " h i-ha t offse t" va lue need ed a little adjus tme nt ro fix t he p ro b lem. Also no ticeabl e, w heneve r I played a spl ash, I also heard rhe sound assigned ro th e fOOl-closed not e. Acco rdi ng ro Yam aha, th e system detect s the foot- splash by measu rin g th e tim e-du ration th at the ped al

118 DRUMI

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th e cymb al's edge to ge t that "ch oke." T he PC Y1 50S has all the afor eme nt io ned featur es w ith th e ad d itio n o f yet an o the r tri gger o n the bell. Th e kit's m ost notew o rt hy ad vanc e is t ha t th e RH H 130 hi-hat pad

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w nil ruur compJere Jy separare errecrs sections , the brain has a lor of aud io flexibiliry. Th ere's a reverb and a choru s rhar are global sysrem effects, as well as two separate inserr effects that can be applied ro ind ividual voices.

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you want ro experiment. The unit comes from the factory with six pre-defined "trigger sets." If you pu rchased th e brain with a recom mended pad set, one of
Test Drive. Th e DTXtr eme JIs is a blast ro play. After rhe first hour , you might thin k, "I can sell my acoustic kit on eBay and buy this." I thoro ugh ly enjoyed playing along with

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categor y. In th e sim plest term s: th e new sou nds are great, especially the new kick d rum, rimshor, ride , and rom voices. H owever, some of the soun ds, especially from the percussion and effects sound sets, are gen ing dated. Th e DTX has always includ ed a sequencer, and the new JIs is no exception. Two tracks hold data for 16 MIDI cha nne ls each. Recordi ngs can be made in replace, overd ub, or step-time mo des. Th ere are plenty of contro ls that let you edi r and tweak ind ividual events from not e numb ers, program cha nge messages, con tro l cha nge messages, pitc h bend , channel afterto uc h , poly key pressure, tem po, and pad song event s. If you don't wa n t ro create your own songs from scratch, the lIs will read standard MIDI files from th e SmarrMe dia card. Wi th four com pletely sepa rat e effec ts sections, the brain has a lor of aud io flexibility T here's a reverb and a cho rus that are global system effects, as well as two separate inserr effects that can be applied ro individual voices. Each inserr selects from 44 different effect rypes covering the gamut from basic reverbs to mor e sophisticated rotar y, distort ion, auto wah, and amp simulations. In each effect, one pre-determined parameter (such as wet/d ry balance or LFO speed) can be controlled in real time using t he in tern al MID I EG fun ction or an externa l MI DI con troller. Ir's cool th at th e brain can sample, bu t you shouldn't conside r it to be a rep lace me nt for a full-featur ed sampler. Th e lIs samp les the signal com ing inro th e auxiliary input. You have the choice of samplin g the left cha nnel , th e right channel, or th e left and rig ht channe ls com bined togeth er in to a mo no

signal (rha r's righr, no stereo). If you wa nt ro record a sample that has m ovem en t with in the stereo field, such as a pad or special effect, you're our of luck. T here's a way around this problem: create a sample on a com put er, copy it over ro a SmarrM edia card, and then load it into the lis. Th e brain will read bot h.wav and.aiff stereo files and play them back in tru e stereo. Editing. Th ere are 17 edit pages to the trigger serrings area of the brain. Thi s may seem like a large number of editing op tions, and it is. Howe ver, getring co nrro I of a complex insrrurn enr like th e JIs requires a pretry deep operati ng system. For those of you who may use the ki t for acoustic drum emulation and practice at home, you'll rarely need ro go into these settings. But, it's great ro know that this level of con tro l is available if you want ro experiment, T he unit comes from the factor y with six pre-defined "trigger sets." If you purchased the brain with a recomme nded pad set, on e of these set tings shou ld work perfec tly. If you want to use any ot her rypes or brands of pads, there are plent y of o ptio ns. The trigger functions co nr ro I rhe pad rype, gain, velociry curve, pad contr oller, level, velocity, trigger rejection (self rejections and specifi c rejection), u igger fun ction , key-on mod e, note on event , veloc iry crossfad e, tri gger copy, M ID I envelope generaro r, hi-hat contro ller function , foo rswirch funcrion, kit com mon setti ngs, and kir name. Inputs 1-6 can be assigned ro stack up ro six notes simul tan eously, or alterna te between up to nine notes. Each alterna te note can have its own MIDI not e num ber, M ID I channel,
and gate rime. Thi s is perfect for int er facing with the on -board GM soun ds, or external hardware or softwa re sound modul es. Each of th ese modes can be either monoph oni c (cunin g off previous sounds) or rnulriphonic (allowing all notes ro cont inue soundin g). Th e hi-ha t co ntrolslet you program uniqu e sounds for the foll owing physical act ions: open, closed , foot closed , splash , closed on the rim, open on the rim , and open on th e rim 2. Th e JIs gives you everything you might need for voice ed iting. Param eters includ e: voice, out put volume, tuning (over a four octave range in one-c en t increm en ts), pan po sition , layer ba lance (when a voi ce is compri sed of two separate layers), low-pass filter, Q, envelope at tack, envelope decay, note polyphony, alr group, receive key on and off, output tout ing, reverb send , and chorus send. Test Drive. Th e DTXtr eme JIs is a blast ro play. After th e first hour, you might thin k, "I can sell my acoustic kit on eBay and buy this." I th oroughly enjoyed playing along with the facrory songs and trig ger ing the ou tstand ing sounds. Interacting with the kit got my creative juices going with new groove patt ern s, soloing ideas, and song con cepts. Sure, there are some things abou t the JIs that are a lirrle disappointing - no on-bo ard ste reo samp ling, minim al sample ed it ing featur es, and do ub le tr iggers on hi-h at splashes. But th ere are eno ug h majo r improvem ents to make the kit a winner in rhe ban g-for- the-buck de part m en t. T he new sounds are fresh and hip , the new pads and rack feel just fine, and the whole package is a joy to play.fJ.