I would use the dm 5 for thebass and toms, then use real snare and cymbals, works pretty good. The snare sounds on the dm are pretty good but sound the same every lick.

use the module for a trig to midi
use the internal sound for low latency monitoring for the player

but use the midi for BFD or DKFH or similar

Macro,
Professionally speaking? Define professionally. If you mean dynamics, feel, variations in velocities (outside a 1-5 setting), capturing the emotion of the player, expression? That stuff? Forget it. Its like doing surgery through a video game counsel! Which I heard is being done now, however the machinery involved in pulling this off is a heck of a lot more powerful that a D5, a drum machine, a loop or any other sound modules.

Sometimes we have to be careful to define what sounds good, great, awesome. Tapping a tom tom tone on a D5 is hardly like saying that recording through this module sounds like real drums. There is a thing called a player/performer.
For a hack piece of gear, sure it will sound LIKE a drumset. Sound like a drummer, NO! Even if a real drummer plays through it!
It will sound better than any drum machine, primarily because of the real player element. It at least involves the drummers unique thought process, but there is limitations as to how much of this remains intact as it passes through the module.
Professional? NO!
Semi-Professional? No to Maybe!
Demo? Yes!
I am passionate about the art of drumming. So please do not take offense to my post! Just take it as feedback.
Cheers,
Tommy

asd

A couple of questions....I looked up the Alesis D5 online and there's only 2 stereo outputs, so I'm guessing you can't record the triggers individually? Also, does the kick drum sound like the clicks you hear on heavy metal records, like Trivium, for example? Thank you.

-Pat

DM trigger inputs

Frozen,
There are 12 trigger inputs
Here are the specs:

DM5
DM5 18-bit DRUM MODULE

Versatile, Affordable Drum/Percussion Sound Module

For drummers and MIDI composers on a budget, the Alesis DM5™ offers professional performance features and an excellent selection of drum, percussion and special effect samples. The DM5 puts over 540 sounds into a single rack space, many recorded in true stereo and with ambient effects. Both classic Alesis studio drum sounds and new cutting-edge sounds for the latest musical styles are well represented. You'll find a great selection of kicks, snares, toms, hi-hats, percussion instruments, special effect samples and more. Plus, the DM5's Expanded Dynamic Articulation™ feature allows drum sounds to change volume, tone, and pitch depending on how hard they're hit – just like real drums. Plus, the DM5's Random Sample feature brings new life to static tracks by realistically varying the sound of the drum as you play. The DM5 includes an ultra-fast trigger-to-MIDI converter with 12 trigger inputs, 5 programmable parameters for each trigger, 21 programmable drumsets, and four audio outputs for discrete processing and control. Whether you're looking for a MIDI-controlled percussion module, a drum replacement tool for mixing, or an affordable answer for triggering sounds from electronic drum pads, the DM5 is the affordable solution.

Audio Outputs:
_4 (2 stereo pairs)

Trigger Input Jacks:
_12 (each with 5 user adjustable trigger parameters)

DAC Bit Resolution::
_18

Sample Rate:
_48kHz

Sounds:
_Over 500; includes stereo samples with reverb, ambience and dynamic articulation

Polyphony:
_16 voice

Panning:
_7 position, user programmable

Velocity Response:
_127 levels of loudness via MIDI or trigger inputs

Kits:
_21 Memory locations w/defaults permanently stored in ROM

MIDI Jacks:
_In, Out/Thru

Headphone Jack:
_1/4" TRS w/variable gain

Switchable Footswitch Jack:
_1/4" jack can be assigned to hi-hat or program advance mode

Tuning Scheme:
_Coarse (chromatic) and Fine (cents)

Data Input:
_Data knob, front panel keypad
_sound auditioning via velocity sensitive Preview button on front panel

Expanded Dynamic Articulation™:
_Modulates tone and pitch

Power:
_9 VAC external transformer, UL and CSA approved

Dimensions:
_(WxHxD) 19"x1.75"x6"

Weight:
_4.5 lbs.

So, You may be able to get 4 outputs individually,
Hope this helps,
Tommy

See, I'm thinking that since there are stereo outputs, if I record a trigger for the kick and snare, they'd both come out together on those stereo outputs, meaning I can't record them individually. Right?

But, I'm looking at the option of MIDI. So if I record the triggers by MIDI, would I be able to record the trigger inputs separately? I use Mackie Traktion for recording live drums and the mics go through a Mackie 1640 Onyx.

See, I'm thinking that since there are stereo outputs, if I record a trigger for the kick and snare, they'd both come out together on those stereo outputs, meaning I can't record them individually. Right?

You can assign any drum voice to either of the stereo outputs individually. Along with panning you can achieve 4 mono outputs (of sorts).

A reference can be found here on pages 30-31:

http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/DM5_Manual-4839364e9e4d4a41f00e585c5ef7dfe3.pdf

Best regards-

Karbo

Thank you so much! I don't know why I didn't think of panning the kick on the left and snare on the right and send them to two different channels. I'm definitely giving a lot of thought into using triggers in the future instead of spending hours EQ'ing the kick(this one especially) and snare to get them to sound the way I want them to.

"back in the day" I occasionally used the microphone itself as the audio source and the trigger source. You would need a direct out from the pre to send to the triggers etc. This allows you to capture both the triggered sound and the real sound and can be blended etc. I used this more often live than when recording but might be fun to try... Tends to work best on kick and/or snare...

Also, if one is technically inclined they can find a box of generic pizeo buzzers on the net in bulk. This is the exact same component used in triggers. A little handy work and your at a minimal cost per trigger as well as many additional creative uses.

Best regards-

Karbo

All the drums on my record Hollywood Outsider are from the Alesis DM5. Check it out: http://superconductormusic.com/hollywood_outsider/music.html

Karbo......so what your idea is saying that i can record the kick with a mic and then take the signal from its aux and send it to the trigger input of the DM5?

Aaron....the drums on your record "Hollywood Outsider" sound pretty good...

I have recently tried to use Drumagog on replacing my kick drum and so far they sounded pretty good also. But for some reason it had problems replacing the snare(latency). If I buy that program then I suppose that's what I'll mainly use it for because the overheads capture the original snare sound and it will most likely conflict with the replaced snare sound.

Frozenn wrote: Karbo......so what your idea is saying that i can record the kick with a mic and then take the signal from its aux and send it to the trigger input of the DM5?.

Yes, unless my I'm thinking of another box the DM5 was often used like this on live gigs. Live we just split the mic signal and one went to the console and the other to the DM5 trigger input. Then of course the DM5 output to the console giving me a live and a sampled kick on two channels/tracks. However, I suspect the aux method would be better when recording. You'll want to balance the output from aux to the sensitivity of the trigger input.

Karbo