I think the best thing to do to make those pads to get a higher sensitivity would be to use some copper polish and using a very small amount ( a drop ) on a cotton cloth and rub the copper (gently) so the oxidation will go away and the copper react much more. Warning! Do NOT scrub that board too hard to avoid to damage your device!!
No the FGDP is not waterproof. I just gave some examples. In this case the one you could spill beer on was the Keith Mc Millen QuNeo, which I believe is now discontinued. I did not like the responsiveness of the pads and did not care that much about being able to spill beer on it :-) I do like their BopPad controller though.
If the evil marketing genius from Yamaha is listening: I'll buy the 50 over the 30 if you make a dedicated PC software. That way when I'm at my desk I can do all of my config on a nice big screen and only use the tiny screen when I'm on the go.
Hi, i've sent mine to NI for potis replacement, and they also tell me after test : Pad 1 incorrect data > UI PCB + contact foil must be replaced Do you think a good clean could be an issue ? What they propose is expensive.... Thanks for your help
I think the contact foil is indeed that sheet, but I'm not 100% sure. I paid them in the past to replace it and that worked but I would try cleaning first. If you remove the ink residue from the contact sensors (NOT from the sheet) it will sometimes already sense things better.
Is it possible to switch between different Midi-Note-Configurations in a quick way on the FGDP 50? Because when using Battery4 and then switching to another Drum-VST, i need to be able to quickly switch all Pads to sending other Midi Notes. Is that possible?
Haha, don't blame them. I have been focusing on other things, but playing the FGDP almost every day over the past year. I will release new videos once in a while but only if I have something actually interesting to say :-)
These designers just do not know what the hell they are doing. You obviously do not want buttons below the pads you will be hitting. Obviously you will accidentally hit them. All that junk should be on the top. Also, all the crap on the right should not be there for the same reason. This is why even if the pro is better, its a stupid product. I cannot believe how many finger drums are out there and they have knobs and all kinds of junk basically in the way of what you will be hitting. Nothing like changing modes by accident. If your goal was to make people accidentally hit some unwanted switch, that is exactly the design to put out there. I am surprised they didnt mix knobs and faders in between the buttons because that is how stupid the design it.
Do you know of ANY finger drum module that can take a real kick from a real edrum set? Like roland or Yamaha kick and hat controls so we can actually use this thing as a midi drum input for recording. I am a bit mind blown that nothing has any possible pedal implementation. I have to buy a real roland brain, real kick and hat pedals, then push midi from finger drums into the roland brain. Its crazy. Something so basic I thought would exist in many forms does not seem to exist at all. Real drummers have zero options. Use your fingers for kick and hat? Really? who makes these products? Its not drummers.
I have not gotten it to work. I tried a hi hat pedal to no avail. My guess is it is possible with some roland setup and tweaking and everything. It does not seem to be something that is natively supported in a convenient way for as far as I know.
Why on the website do you count 8th notes with 'a' instead of '&'? Usually 8th notes are counted as '1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &'. Using the 'a' to mean two different things depending on if the beat is 8th notes vs 16th notes is a little confusing.
I went against your advice and got the mpd218, (sorry, I've just heard bad things about the knobs on the presonus atom, and didn't really want to get one at full price, someone also told me they returned their atom because the pads were less sensitive than their mpd218.) The thing is, I'm not sure if I got a good or a bad one, because I have no frame of reference. I know this is quite a bit to ask, but do you have a kitchen scale to stack some things on it, and then place them on the pads of your good mpd218 to give an actual measurement in grams of how much force is needed to trigger the pads? Doesn't have to be a massively accurate measurement, but just an estimate. I understand if you don't have the time, it's just hard to know what a 'good' mpd218 should feel like. I found some objects I could stack onto a pad (I had to use 2 rubiks cubes and a guitar slide), and I measured them at ~200 grams per pad. Some pads triggered instantly with these objects on them, others had to have a tiny tap on top of the objects to trigger.
I understand you want accurate measurements like that but unfortunately that's too much of a hassle and will open up a whole can of worms where I have to go do this for other people as well and also determine what the cutoff is, not to mention the fact that triggering when pressing is not exactly the same as triggering when hitting. Every mpd218 is a little different. I picked mine by trying out 3 devices and keeping the one that responds the best. If I wanted better 4x4 pads I would try out Maschine mikro mk3, ESI Xjam or Nektar Aruba.
@@TheQuestforGroove Okay, no problem. Hopefully mine is a decent one. I don't have to hit it with too much force to trigger full velocity, but it's not as sensitive as something like a touch screen. I saw your video about why you switched to maschine from the mpd218, and my one seems comparable to yours in the video. I don't have to slam my hand down to get full velocity, just drop the wrist with a little bit of arm weight, but triggering lighter notes for more nuance is a little hard, but doable.
I will post a video now and then yes, I did not "quit", just have other things to do. I'm also actively maintaining, adding and improving lessons and courses on questforgroove.com still. That just keeps going.
It's been awhile since you posted this video. I've been subscribed to QFG for a few months after purchasing my M+ and I have to say I like your "If you have a reason" mentality. The M+ is not only offering a solution for not having a drummer at my beck and call 24/7 but it's replacing my live looping rig as well. It's not quite the same as controlling VST but I must admit my drumkit samples that I made for standalone mode work surprisingly well. Now I'm thinking about adding a launchpad pro for additional pads to send midi messages to my M+ to trigger more samples, or create more choke groups for muting simples.. doubling up on my toms for easier fills. That sounds like it'd be off the chain.
Has yours held up? I have a bad experience with the launchpad mk2. The usb connection on mine constantly disconnects at the slightest nudge, sometimes even randomly, and I have to plug in/out like 10 times until it's recognised. I sadly never took advantage of the warranty (got it almost 9 years ago), so I'm stuck with it. I probably haven't even used it for more than 5 hours, sadly. So I'm a little bit worried about putting money into a launchpad only for it to break after a few years again. I recently took out my mk2, and I liked the 8x8 pads more than I realised (after comparing them to my mpk mini mk2 pads) and I really enjoyed jamming with the ableton session controls. I'm just sad the usb is so bad on it. In my opinion, USB ports should be able to withstand thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of insertions without breaking. Launchpads are commonly use as a live device, so bad usb ports is a huge problem. I don't think it was just me either, I saw a comment saying that the mk2 (and the original LP pro) have bad usb ports that are common to fail.
Do you know if there's any problem with the encoders? I've seen some people say they feel sluggish, but apparently it was going to be addressed in an update. I have no idea if it was fixed, though.
Would you recommend it now? It seems like it's getting quite old now, but I've heard mixed things about the knobs on the xjam and atom, and I'm not sure I love the fact that the atom is fairly closed down. I'm also not sure I love the smaller size of the xjam, and lack of built-in ableton support. The atom costs 1.5x more than the mpd218 where I live, for reference. Xjam costs about 1.4x more than the mpd218. I just want to buy a simple drum pad that will last me years. I don't want to be looking for another one in a couple years. The maschine seems a bit overkill for me, given that I'd just want to use the pads, not the maschine software. Although, the maschine mikro seems only a little more than the atom. But the maschine mikro also seems to be getting on in age.
These are my current recommendations. I don't have any info that's newer or more up to date than what's on this page: questforgroove.com/gear-recommendations/
How is it holding up? I've had a bad experience with more affordable midi devices breaking in some way. My akai mpk mini keyboard key snapped off after a couple years of light use, and my launchpad mk2's usb went bad after a couple months and it's now barely usable with how much it disconnects. I don't want to have to buy something that'll need to be replacement after a couple years. I'm a little bit worried about the usb-c on this device. Does it seem like it's still fine? Also, I use ableton, and the presonus ATOM seems to have better ableton support with it. Do you think that would make it worth it over the xjam? Or would you think the xjam is still a better choice? I'd like the features for triggering clips and stuff like that. The maschine is a bit overkill for me, because I mainly just want some drum pads.
@@MichaelEdelman-h5z upload your own sounds. Plug into your laptop or tablet or whatever and use fl studio or garage band and ect daws that you prefer. Get an akai mk2 or any cheap midi controller with pads and keys...so you have the best of both worlds. The mk2 you have piano keys and mpc pads. And you can get one for $100 or cheaper used. Also many other brands that do the same thing for $100 or cheaper because there's always sales.
@MichaelEdelman-h5z upload your own sounds. Plug into your laptop or tablet or whatever and use fl studio or garage band and ect daws that you prefer. Get an akai mk2 or any cheap midi controller with pads and keys...so you have the best of both worlds. The mk2 you have piano keys and mpc pads. And you can get one for $100 or cheaper used. Also many other brands that do the same thing for $100 or cheaper because there's always sales.
There's also cheaper akai controllers with no keys and just pads for cheap too. But I would get the akai mk2 because it has keys too. But there's other brands that make the exact same things for cheap budget prices so its your preference. For around $100 you will find whatever you prefer and work for whatever you want to do. It's really a pandoras box these days and with cheap prices. We're lucky to be alive right now with music production at home and for cheap prices.
Well, not really opposite. I just prefer using both methods and apply them to different situations. I use independent hand playing quite often actually, but there are a lot of situations in which I think the only practical way to get it done is alternating.
I got an MPD 218 a month ago at the pawnshop for $60. I can just rest my fingers on the pads and send brain signals to my digits. The pads pick up the neural synapses. That’s pretty sensitive…
Yes it can also do pitch control with aftertouch. I have to admit I haven't gotten around to using both those features, but I did see they were available.
I got an FGDP-50 a couple days ago. I already have two (don't ask me why!) Maschine Mk3 and a Maschine Mikro Mk3, but have not yet got to use them (BTW, all were bought used and in like new condition). My idea is to setup a keyboard (MODX+/MONTAGE) along a finger drum system and a Boss RC-600. The problem with the Maschine is that it requires a PC (except for the Maschine+, which I don't have). So, for practical reasons, the immediacy of the FGDP-50 is great. Also, due to its size, it could fit over the MODX+ 6 (better than on the MONTAGE 6). So I am excited to get into finger drumming with this instrument and hope, once it begins to click, to get into more advanced things with the Maschine. I will get back in some months to share my experience!
Do you have a video that talks about a pad controller with DIN midi? Or TRS midi even. I want to find the right unit for my Elektron Analog Rytm (worthless pads)
The device looks good. I will not be buying it because I want all of my practice and playing time to be on the same layout which is the standard 4x4 grid. I just cannot understand why Yamaha would have not gone with the industry standard if they wanted to sell this to the masses. Just my 2 cents.
