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My flaky drummer missed practice again this week so we had our singer (my lovely spouse) play drums through midi controller -> mac -> PA. Mid-song we all realized this was an improvement. She was using the other guitarist's akai mpk (I think. It's red...) and just a GarageBand preset kit with some reverb added.

What are some simple setups that we could use for live electronic drums? Not looking to program them, just have her tap them out on a pad type thing. Basic rock kit sounds are good but being able to have some other weird stuff would be cool. Budget: the cheapest stuff that will survive being used live.

I've searched the site and done some googlin' but Im way out of my element here. Is this like asking what kind of guitar I should buy to strum chords on?

You have that set up there, right? Midi Controller -> Computer -> PA is definitely the easiest way about this unless I'm missing something.

Hmm yeah it's all we need for now but it's a desktop computer & big ass monitor, and there's also an external audio interface that's doing something. Wires everywhere. My laptop is old and not reliable, hers is a brand new mac book that I wouldnt want to take to sketchy bars. Some kind of stand alone pad thing would be cool or something small we could plug the controller into that would have the appropriate outs to send to the PA.

Like a korg beats or sample would probably get the job done using that controller

An MPC 500 would be nice and compact. Easy enough to use and can run off batteries.

This might be up your ally. I think you can also load samples into it. So if you have drum samples from Garage band or something else you like, you can program those to the pads. It's only 8 pads, so that may not be enough, but if you just want a basic kit, that might be good.

http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpx8

Edit. There is also a 16 pad version:

http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpx16

The MPX8 would probably suffice. The Akai MPD218 in conjunction with an iPad/iPhone might be a good option too, I think it has better pads than most controllers.

Basically what they've said, maybe check out the Roland SP-series. Had a 555 and a 404SX and they were good fun. Electribes are pretty useful too on the cheaper end of things.

Thanks everybody, this helps narrow things down a lot!

Yeah, really whatever MIDI drum pad you already have, or want, into almost any drum machine will suffice. I guess it depends what kind of music you're doing. Yamaha RM50 and Roland R8 racks are cheap. Old Yamaha RX drum machines can be super cheap, and some have individual outs if that is a necessity. the Kawai R50 is a kind of cheap classic sound.

I've been doing this kind of thing in practice--controlling GB or Logic with an Artutia Beatstep Pro. It's great. Not too expensive, very sturdily built, lots of capabilities. It's fine for just tapping out beats, but the sequencers on it are a sweet route as well.

Aquietcabin1978 wrote:An MPC 500 would be nice and compact. Easy enough to use and can run off batteries.

This is what dude from The XX was doing in 2009 for their (best) debut record. He used a pair of 500s.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EEnpd57Z9E[/youtube]

Boss SP202 with a memory card can be found for $150. Has eight pads and a charming lo-fi sound. Might not be your thing if you want pristine samples.

i have an old roland SPD-6 that's a fun addition to my acoustic kit. might find one of those cheap like i did.
does have some good sounds, toss in EQ and reverb and it's great.

What about the Yamaha dd65?