Advice: looking to interface my electronic drum kit with my computer

[Funkblast]

The module is an Alesis DM Pro (on a roland kit). It has Midi in/out/thru. I'm looking to be able to record to a laptop. Or even better, have a program running on the laptop with drum samples where I can just play my drum kit and have it record using the samples on my computer. I don't know much at all about this kind of stuff or even if what I mentioned in my last statement is possible.

would something like this do the trick? http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Oxygen8-v2-25Key-Mobile-USB-Controller?sku=706310
I think having the keyboard would come in handy

edit: or this http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-Photon-X25-USBMIDI-Keyboard-Controller-with-Audio?sku=705525

if not, please recommend a good way to interface my module with my laptop.
thanks.

[Fuzzy]

Futurooo, where are you?

[dairyairman]

i'm not a super expert on this but i'll try to help you anyway. if all you want to do is record your drumming, you can take the analog line out signal from the module and connect that to the line in port of your computer (or maybe microphone in) using a cable and some adapters. you can use a basic sound recording program to record your drumming. i do that myself with my electronic kit and it works great. no midi is involved. if you want to try midi recording/triggering, you'll need a usb midi interface for your computer. those things you picked out are overkill. you don't need a keyboard to do this, just an interface. maybe something like this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/EMu-Xmidi-2X2-USB-MIDI-interface?sku=240551

to record midi, you'll need a special program for that. i've never actually recorded midi, but i believe you'll need a program like cakewalk sonar or similar. once you've got your drumming recorded in midi format you can assign different drum sounds to the midi channels within the program. there's a program called "drumkit from hell" you might want to look into if you're serious that's got a lot of good drum sounds. that's about the limit of my knowledge. maybe someone else can expand on this or set me straight if i've misled you.

[The Chemist]

dairyairman is right. You need an interface, not a controller.

[Funkblast]

i'm not a super expert on this but i'll try to help you anyway. if all you want to do is record your drumming, you can take the analog line out signal from the module and connect that to the line in port of your computer (or maybe microphone in) using a cable and some adapters. you can use a basic sound recording program to record your drumming. i do that myself with my electronic kit and it works great. no midi is involved. if you want to try midi recording/triggering, you'll need a usb midi interface for your computer. those things you picked out are overkill. you don't need a keyboard to do this, just an interface. maybe something like this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/EMu-Xmidi-2X2-USB-MIDI-interface?sku=240551

to record midi, you'll need a special program for that. i've never actually recorded midi, but i believe you'll need a program like cakewalk sonar or similar. once you've got your drumming recorded in midi format you can assign different drum sounds to the midi channels within the program. there's a program called "drumkit from hell" you might want to look into if you're serious that's got a lot of good drum sounds. that's about the limit of my knowledge. maybe someone else can expand on this or set me straight if i've misled you.

thanks for the input. Ill probably go with the interface you posted. but will the 2nd link that I posted work for what I'm looking to do? I wouldnt mind having a partial keyboard midi controller/interface.

[dairyairman]

that alesis keyboard thing *might* do the job for you. it does have midi in/out, but you want it to act as a midi-to-usb interface to your computer. the specs don't come right out and say it'll do that. it looks like it'll probably do that, but before you throw down $199 you should be sure. the simpler midi interface will definitely do that because that's all it's designed to do.

[Funkblast]

that alesis keyboard thing *might* do the job for you. it does have midi in/out, but you want it to act as a midi-to-usb interface to your computer. the specs don't come right out and say it'll do that. it looks like it'll probably do that, but before you throw down $199 you should be sure. the simpler midi interface will definitely do that because that's all it's designed to do.

i gotcha, the interface seems like my best bet. maybe if i want a keyboard later on ill look into it. thanks

[dairyairman]

well, yeah. there are tons of keyboards out there that speak midi. even those cheesy casio things have midi out. you could always get one later and connect it to your fancy midi-to-usb interface.

[Chippy569]

you need an interface, not a controller. the one dairyairman linked to is pretty good. though, always go firewire where applicable.

[flyguy]

yamaha makes a usb-midi cord. it works great and it links your drums to your computer, which in turn you can link to anything else. ive used this for a while now.

do not waste your money on the oxygen 8. its kinda cool at first but its limited range and cheapness will piss you off after a couple days.