Alesis Demonstrates New DM Pro Expandable
20 Bit Drum Module
January 28, 1999Alesis is demonstrating the new DM Pro expandable 20-bit
drum module, the company's most advanced electronic drum and percussion
device available to date. The DM Pro provides composers with a dedicated
MIDI drum module and gives drummers a professional solution for triggered
electronic drum performances. The DM Pro, with 64-voice polyphony, a massive
drum and percussion library, and the ability to import new sounds through
ROM expansion cards, carries a list price of $899 USD MSRP.
"Alesis knows how to make drum sounds - the market has always loved
our drum machines," said Jim Mack, Alesis vice president of sales
and marketing. "And with a market-driven approach to product development,
including input from composers and players, we've been able to make what
we consider to be the ultimate drum and percussion module."
"The DM Pro ships with 16 MB of studio-quality sounds onboard -
more than any other dedicated drum module available today," said
David Bryce, synthesizer marketing manager. "The unit's flexibility
makes it an indispensable tool for the MIDI musician and electronic percussionist."
A total of 1,664 sounds are packed into the DM Pro, designed for a wide
variety of musical styles. The module includes hundreds of kicks, snares,
toms, hi-hats, cymbals, percussion instruments and special effect samples.
The DM Pro also enables users to design and store up to 64 virtual drumkits,
which can have up to 64 different drum sounds assigned to each kit. The
16-channel multitimbral unit also offers tremendous flexibility to customize
its drum, percussion and effect samples. Up to four samples can be layered
on each drum and sounds can be edited for pitch, volume, panning, output
selection and MIDI note assignment. The DM Pro provides envelope control
for synthesizer-like programming and two buses for adding reverb, gating
and other effects. The DM Pro's six independent audio outputs with 20-bit
digital-to-analog converters allow for discrete outboard processing of
levels and effects.
Sounds on the DM Pro can be triggered using acoustic drums with triggers,
electronic drum pads or MIDI synthesizers. Each of its 16 trigger inputs
offers five separate common trigger parameters (gain, velocity curve,
crosstalk, threshold, retrigger) and several uncommon ones (noise suppression,
sequence start, pedal switch select).
For unprecedented expandability, the DM Pro includes a card slot like
those found on the Alesis QS Series synthesizers. The PCMCIA-format cards
can have up to 8MB of memory, allowing the DM Pro to simultaneously access
up to 24MB of sounds. With the included Alesis Sound Bridge software,
a personal computer, and the DM Pro, the user can store any sounds and
sequences on the card and access them from the unit.
The DM Pro also includes stereo audio inputs on RCA connectors so that
external audio sources, like CD players or tape decks, can be routed through
an audio system. The unit is expected to be available in February 1999. For more information, visit Alesis at www.alesis.com. |
