I’ve been using a Maschine mikro and whilst it’s fine, it’s beginning to annoy me a bit with the irregularities on softer hits. I tend to play quite lightly. I really don’t want to get a Maschine mk3 because I just won’t use all those features, software etc.
I’m actually deciding between an Aruba and the FGDP 50. I really like the idea of practicing without the burning blue screen of a computer.
for what it’s worth, the FDGP has been a real win on my side in terms of practice, its very straight forward use is very helpful. Yes, sensitivity is not quite up the best pad controllers and in particular if you play lightly. My soft hits are erratic with FGDP whereas I kind of get them (almost) right with an humble MPD218 so I feel FGDP is kind of behind with soft hits. That said I don’t have a good dynamic control yet and I tend to play rather hard so this downside is kind of mitigated for my personal use but you might feel it much more than I do if you play lightly.
I didn’t try he Aruba but it seems extremely flexible in respect of sensitivity (way more sensitive and also way more customisable) so I guess that from a strict playing perspective the Aruba is probably a much better choice for you -but you’ll need a computer…
Thanks for the input! I’ll probably head down the Aruba route. See if the FDGP comes up second hand later down the line.
The FGDP has been great for me. Launchpad Pro and Maschine are clearly more sensitive but it’s not that big of an issue. The FGDP is to me still very consistent. You can get dynamic with it but it just requires a firmer hit as your starting point. Once you calibrate to that, it feels fine. Whats great is the ease of setup. I find if I practice 4 times a day for 5 min, I progress far more than once a day for 20 min - your brain needs the rest. It’s so easy to do with the FGDP. Before, I would not commit to setting up if I could not play for at least 30 min. I also bought a cheap Bluetooth receiver and keep it plugged in. The audio recording is fun too. I can record a beat and play it back while recording another to layer in other rhythms. So fun and simple. Also note - you need to use headphones to judge the softer hits. It’s too hard to hear them with the onboard speaker as Yamaha soft hits are also very quiet (too quiet probably). Addictive Drums is much better at getting the volume right for soft hits - but still not all that bad on the Yamaha.
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Don’t know if this has been mentioned in this thread before, but figured I should post this link showing how Matt Bolton has integrated the FGDP-50 into his ‘one man band’ setup. Quite impressive use of it working in synergy with a Boss RC-600 live looper and a Roland Handsonic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkztsOb4JTY
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For that purpose (basic beats with one hand - one finger) he can use Alesis SR-18 or Boss Dr-880 from year 200x. FGDP have a bit bigger pads and maybe a bit better sounds.
Yeah, that’s also my experience. Once you gotten used that you need a bit more force to initially trigger them, they respond fine and can be tweaked very nicely with ADGain and other settings.
Btw. I’ve now finally gotten a FGDP-50 again and the new one has consistent pad sensitivity (maybe I had a bit bad luck with my previous unit. This one is a keeper.). I’m still getting some accidental double triggers, though. But overall, I’m now very happy with the combination of a Maschine Mk3 (got a used one and sold my Launchpad instead) + the FGDP-50.
@Fannon That’s good that you got a consistent one. I have never noticed a double trigger. All of my misses are on my weaker left hand also so this is sort of like “weak hand training”. They are probably biasing the pads towards firmness to avoid double triggers. The pads seems very loose when I turn the unit upside down and make a sound when they move - almost like there is some spongy padding in there or something. I would love to see a tear-down of these pads to see what’s going on in there - if I pickup a second one on sale I may get brave and take one apart.
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I confirm this. I got FGDP-30 two days ago. Pads can be easily moved with 1-1.5mm in any direction: left, right, up, down then device lay on surface. And if you upside down the unit, pads fall out about 2mm. If you shake the device pads will rattle inside.
Fortunately it’s not affect on pad consistence (if you not playing upside down) ). Looks like whole pad-sensor block moving around inside. And while device lay on surface this pad block have base, and your finger tappings transmitted to sensor without losses. I think so.
No, pads sensitivity not 100% eqwal pad by pad. Its not 100% consistent even within one pad surface. Edges and corners are more sensitive and produce more velocity then center of the pad. You literally can use that for adding pulse to the beat playing edge-center like Moeller technique) Smaller pads are most sensitive. Thats my first impression, maybe I wrong.
And the good news: I dont find noticible double triggering.
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Now I can ask to that question.
We can disable this “cheat feature” (stay-on-pad finger rolls) by setting 46 “Trigger After Touch Priority” from default Low to High. For each pad. After that pads behaves as regular midi controller. Then you can additionally disable aftertouch if you want.
Yes same observations here. I also don’t have 100% consistency, but it’s on a level where it’s not annoying me compared to Launchpad or Maschine Mk3 (which are also not 100% consistent, too).
Also wondered about why the pads were so loosely put into it. But when I have it in regular playing positino, I can push them so they’re fairly centered. Still have to observe if there are better positions or less good ones. (Would be interested in what other people find out).
But still, such a fun device to play and have laying around. Also, I do quite enjoy to have more pads effectively than on the Maschine Mk3, but still bigger pads where it matters. The layout is imho very well thought through.
The 30 pads move around more than the 50 over here. This would not be the first controller that has this “problem”. Seems to be pretty normal amongst other midi pad controllers as well. In my experience this is not something that messes with sensitivity.
I’ve been doing my regular 10 minute couch sessions in between “real” work for a couple of weeks now and I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my playing. I ofcourse picked the perfect exercises for me at this point in time (benefit of being a teacher myself) but it freakin works. All because of that standalone mode and me being able to quickly do it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been practicing this consistently.
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I agree, that’s not a problem. I’ve just never encountered anything like this before! Thats how my FGDP pads loose:
https://youtu.be/VyDYVF9OBHI?si=02NesOmhkuBNzUuX.
As for standalone device. I have Novation Circuit (2015) for that purpose. Several months. It have some limitations, but pads a very good, more sensitive than FGDP-30 big pads, and on par with “tom pads”. That’s why I am a little disappointed. But overall I am satisfied with FGDP-30 it have own advantages!
So you have second unit with same loose pads? Apparently this is normal for FGDP.
Yes, same with my unit. But if I put my unit down, I need to apply quite some pressure to move the pads like you showed. So not sure if this is really an issue.
The accidental duplicated triggers of my FGDP-50 were annoying me a bit with Melodics, as there it will reduce your score.
So I spent a few hours today and created this web application: MIDI Deduper (fannon.github.io) that detects such duplicates note and sends a cleaned up MIDI signal to a forward MIDI port.
You’ll need a (virtual) MIDI loop device, but then you can set your MIDI drum pad as input and your loopback as forward. For the FGDP it was quite easy to filter out duplicate notes, because they were MUCH faster than it’s possible to play the notes realistically (for me, an interval between 7 and 20 ms between the notes).
Maybe that helps someone else out here, too. It will work with all pad controllers, but at least my FGDP is notorious for giving me double triggers. If I just play with it, it doesn’t hurt much, but for recording or playing with scoring it’s good to have this cleaned up.
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Wow, lovely! When I’m back in work mode (January) I have to remember to check this out!
Hey all. Total noob here. Just starting the QFG lessons. Looking to buy a 50 but can’t find anyone in YSA with them in stock. Are they really not releasing here til march? If so I might have to start with a used Mikro instead which isn’t a bad thing I guess 
I don’t know about exact supplies but I do know that these things sold out very fast and they might be waiting for a new batch from the factory. March does not sound that crazy to m 
Well the good news is the Maschine is down to $199. Mine will here tomorrow
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