Effects / Triggers

[guitarguy19]

So me and our singer have been talking about figuring out a way to trigger sound effects/samples for songs. Think Bruno Mars Locked Out of Heaven (the vocal sounding whop whop whop sounds) or similar.

As many of you may know from all the posts here I recently added a keyboard to my rig, which gets used for some piano, synth, and horns sounds. In these songs, our singer can handle the light guitar duties that go along with the keys just fine while singing and/or I can switch back and forth to help cover everything.

The issue is that when there are more significant guitar lines that need to be played throughout a song and just a minimum amount of effects/triggers (again think Bruno), it doesn't make sense for me to swap off guitar for this. So, we were talking yesterday about him getting some kind of small effects unit (don't know exactly what I'm even looking for...) and getting it up front by him like Gotye does. The thought is that he could trigger some light sounds while singing and it'll add another dynamic to what we can do on stage, and also it'll help the authenticity of what we're doing because the sounds won't just all be adapted to guitar (or left out).

 

Anyone do anything like this, and/or know what type of unit we should be looking at??

Since it'll be used only sparingly (especially at first) we'd like to keep the cost down and would be open to looking at something used. Also simplicity and small footprint are huge.

[StratGuy22]

There's a kind of pad that's almost like a solid cowbell. It's a midi trigger. Can't remember the name.

[wesg]

You could repurpose a Yamaha DD-series "drum kit" as a MIDI trigger. The pads can be set up to work like either hand drums or can be hit with a stick. You do not have to plug in the hihat or kick, and you can attach them to a commodity snare drum stand.

 

They are also cheap.  I have a DD-65, I impulse-bought it at Radio Shack on Boxing Day one year. I think I paid like $170 for it. Whatever you get, make sure it is a real MIDI device and not this BS USB crap that has been showing up over the last decade.

I have been thinking about repurposing an AKAI MPC2000XL looping station as a sample player, myself. I think I can assign a different sample to each of 16 pads.

[guitarguy19]

I see there is a MicroKORG...is that basically the same thing?

 

Also, you can send the wav files over and store them on the sampler, right? Using a laptop at home would be no big deal...don't want to set it up at gigs though.

[mstreck]

I have never looked at the mocroKorg, but I think it is a synth (not a sampler).

The .wav samples are stored in the microSampler's memory. There is no need for a laptop at a gig. 

FWIW - I trigger the microsampler with my M50 via MIDI - I never even touch it except to change to a different patch (although I could just as easily play it as a second keyboard).

[n9ne]

 

It's been out of production for years, but it sounds like a Zoom ST224 SampleTrak might be exactly what you're looking for.  

It holds up to 100 samples in memory (I think);  it also supports SDHC cards for additional storage.   It has eight pads/triggers in three banks, so you can use up to 24 samples in a single preset.   (I think).  It also has basic looping/editing features, some basic effects, and a simple step sequencer.

If you're just looking to trigger some samples and maybe the occasional loop, this would be perfect.   You can usually pick up a used one for around $100.

 

 

 

[Roy Brooks]

There is this.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug04/articles/crosstalk.htm