I actually just use a microphone on my bass drum directly into the line in and just train it as a single zone. After messing with the input settings it works 100%.
I also have an ancient Roland pad with a trs line out that I sometimes use as a single zone tom. It also works perfectly.
Now that I have maxed out the inputs with the cymbals, I am able to get a 9-piece kit set up like this:
Sensory triggers x4: snare, tom 1, tom 2, floor tom
Line in mic used as a bass drum trigger.
Cymbal sensors for the hats, crash, ride.
A second mic to pick up the physical sound of the 18â evans db one cymbal that was left over. With some eq it soundsâŚ. Not bad.
Hereâs my ideas for preferred options to expand for extra Sensory Inputs.
An In-line USB-C device between Portal and Computer (to avoid using additional ports on computer), or regular secondary device plugged into separate port on computer. The device could have various options for price point dependent on number of new ports and features included.
A expanded/upgraded general portal device available for possible trade-in or upgrade price to existing users. Perhaps a higher tier bundle package option. A simple design would be to just double the TRS input row to a 2nd layer of 7 more inputs.
My personal setup started with the 7 sensors on a kick, snare, and 5 toms. I then used MIDI from an Alesis Command brain and cymbal pads/controllers for hi-hat, ride, crash, and 2nd crash, with moderate success until the MIDI Pad Update (very helpful). I have since purchased the full cymbal package, but have removed 2 toms to allow hi-hat and ride sensors (so much better), while keeping the Crash and 2nd Crash MIDI inputs.
I can imagine others wanting 2 kick sensors (double kick drums vs. double pedal on single drum setup), multiple toms, and full cymbal sensor setups in the future, so let the awesomeness proceed!!!
If youâre asking whether you can completely remove the edrumin from your setup and connect a Roland rubber pad to your computer via TRS â USB cable to use as a MIDI input in Sensory Percussion, I donât think so. Unless your Roland pad sends MIDI on its own, I believe the edrumin is what converts the signal from the pad to MIDI.
Sounds like your best bet would be to connect all your rubber pads to your edrumin and connect that via a single USB cable, rather than using a TRS â> USB cable for each individual pad. I imagine you would run out of USB ports on your computer pretty quickly that way haha.
When you do that, assuming youâre using e-kit style drum pads, Iâd suggest using a generic MIDI input in Sensory Percussion, since the Grid Pads input is more for a specific type of MIDI device that is laid out in a grid, like a Roland SPD, Ableton Push, Novation Launchpad, etc.
Lastly, I think others have pointed out in this thread that you can use almost any rubber pad for super basic single-zone input without having to worry about MIDI. A common one is using a Roland KD-7 as a kick drum, treating it as a sensor input and just training one zone with it. Itâs important to note, though, that these are connected via one of the combo XLR/Instrument jacks on the front of the Portal (Mic/Line A + B) or Line Inputs (C + D) on the back, NOT any of the 7 sensor inputs on the front, nor via USB cable.
Youâre correct on the pads to I/o interface then to sp and just mapping the pads that way. I want to move away from the rubber pads into a full mesh setup at any rate so having a setup to hold me over while those get built would be ideal so we shall see. Solid input. Thanks!!!