Question about e-drum compatibility…
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Playing open/close hihat is great but most songs are charted to have open HH as blue, which is ride. I just hate it when songs are charted with yellow/blue played one after another (like in Manuel – Gas Gas Gas, it’s just impossible to play on edrum) and i have to act like a metronome because hihat and ride are on opposite side of drums. Also, i had to get used to the thing that i have green cymbals in the middle and blue on my right so inverted as on screen, but that’s the small problem compared to yellow/blue played one after another.
I think Spike1958 managed to trigger blue notes with hihat + depressed pedal, so you play open/closed hihat as in the real thing. The only issue remaining is how to tell when a blue cymbal note is an open hihat rather than a ride.
The alternative is to chart all hihats as yellow, and basically give up on open ones. But this is then unfair to those who play with RB drums where blue notes are not much of a problem.
To get the best of both worlds, we need two versions of the same custom.
But what “conversion” is done to the MIDI events? The game itself uses MIDI events, so is the MPA really converting them?
The game itself uses MIDI files to store instrument charts and other in-game events, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s getting MIDI from the controllers. Others can answer better than I can, but essentially all “approved” game controllers, including RB and GH instrument controllers, are exactly that: game controllers. They have to speak the same language all other game controllers do. Somewhere I read how Harmonix had to map out exact positions of the two analog thumbsticks that could translate into all the possible single notes and chords playable on the official keyboard controller, and that’s also how the MPA tells the console what keys are pressed on a MIDI keyboard.
But if that’s the case, then there could be a possibility for a DIY simpler device that multiplexes together MIDI from an eDrum and controller signals.
Some sort of do-it-yourself MPA that has a USB port instead of a MIDI jack might be possible, but you’re still going to be at the mercy of how the drum module sends its MIDI data over USB. As I mentioned before, apparently that isn’t the most standard of standards.
Someone made a DIY MPA for the PS3 version (only for drums). I think PS3 and Wii are possible to make, but X360 you would probably have no luck. These controllers uses special chips to be recognized by the console (by these I mean all 360 controllers, including the MPA).
Okay, so I managed to get my new drum kit working on my PS3/Rock Band. As it turns out, neither MIDI-OX nor the midi cable I bought were the problem. I was thrown for a loop because the video Fujiskunk posted above about how to get an Alesis drum kit to work on RB3 requires a slight alteration if you want to get a DTX502 drum brain up and running. At the 5:27 mark, the author of the video shows you what you’ll need to select in terms of inputs and outputs in the “Midi device” section of MIDI-OX. He tells you to select “USB 2.0-MIDI” and “MIDIOUT 2 (USB 2.0-MIDI)” in the output section. However, when I hooked everything up to my Yamaha kit, only one USB-related option showed up — the one for my USB-to-MIDI cable. But once I selected “MIDI mapper” — which the guy in the video explicitly tells you not to select — I got it working. I’m not sure why this worked, but at this point I don’t really care. I’m just happy that I can now use my new kit to play drums on Rock Band.
Anyway, I’m going to provide some instructions here in case anyone else buys a Yamaha kit with a DTX502 brain in the not-too-distant future:
1. Buy a USB cable that can plug into both the DTX502 brain and a computer (one end will be type B, the other will be type A).
2. Buy a USB-to-MIDI cable. There are a bunch of options here, but I went with a Roland cable that cost around $40 Canadian.
3. Buy a Madcatz midi pro adapter. These things are expensive now, but it’s well worth buying one if you want to escape from the fragile kits that came with the game.
4. Download MIDI-OX (it’s free!) from http://www.midiox.com.
5. Hook up the DTX502 brain to your computer with the USB cable. Make sure your kit is OFF when you’re doing this.
6. Hook up the USB-to-MIDI cable to your computer. Make sure your computer is ON when you’re doing this. Depending on what type of cable you buy, you might have to install a driver.
7. Hook up the other end of the USB-to-MIDI cable to the Madcatz midi pro adapter.
8. Plug the Madcatz midi pro adapter into your PS3. I don’t think it matters whether your PS3 is on or off at this point, but I had it on.
9. Turn on your drum kit. Your PC should make a noise indicating that it’s detected a new device.
10. Install MIDI-OX and fire it up.
11. Click on “Options” and select “Midi devices.”
12. Select the name of your drum kit in the Input section.
13. Select the name of your USB-to-midi cable and “Midi mapping” in the output section.
14. Click OK and you should be good to go.
Unfortunately, these instructions are meant for PS3 owners who run a PC with a recent version Windows on it. I have no clue if this will work for Xbox/Mac owners. You guys are on your own.
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