Alesis

The Alesis Crimson II Kit is a Nine-piece electronic drum kit featuring exclusive Alesis mesh drum heads that deliver the perfect feel and expression. This article answers some popular questions about the features and functionality of the Alesis Crimson II kit.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What are the differences between the Alesis Crimson Mesh Kit and Crimson II Kit?
• What is included with the Crimson II Kit?
• How many sounds are included with the Crimson II Kit?
• Can I use my own audio files and create my own kits?
• Can I save and load an entire kit from my USB flash drive?
• Are you able to adjust the sensitivity of the mesh head trigger?
• Can I add triggers for more pads or cymbals?
• Is the hi-hat pedal a continuous or a switch-type pedal?
• Can the Crimson II Kit be used with a computer? How?
• Can I reset the module to its factory default settings? How?

What are the differences between the Alesis Crimson Mesh Kit and Crimson II Kit?

The Crimson Kit II module features 4 additional preset kits and 71 new sounds. The Crimson II Kit has smaller tom pads but it includes bigger ride and crash cymbals.

What is included with the Crimson II Kit?

The Crimson II Kit comes with everything you need to start playing right away! This includes:

• Crimson II Sound Module
• 8" Mesh Kick Pad
• 12" Dual-Zone Mesh Snare Pad
• (2) 8" Dual-Zone Mesh Tom Pads
• 10" Dual-Zone Mesh Tom Pad
• DMPad 12" Hi-Hat
• (2) DMPad 12" Crashes with Choke
• DMPad 14" Triple-Zone Ride
• DMHat Pedal
• Premium 4-Post Quick Lock Chrome Rack
• Snare Stand
• Cable Snake
• Cable for Crash 2
• Cable Wrap Strips
• Drumsticks
• Drum Key
• Power Supply
• Module User Guide
• Kit Assembly Guide

How many sounds are included with the Crimson II Kit?

Crimson II Drum Module features 74 drum kits (54 factory + 20 user) with 671 sounds/voices and 120 play-along tracks built-in. Also, you can save as many user kits as you like to your USB flash drive as well.

Can I use my own audio files and create my own kits?

Absolutely!

The Crimson II Kit allows you to add any WAV file up to 16-bit/48kHz to a USB drive and create your own unique kit. USB drives can be anywhere between 4GB and 64GB and should be formatted to FAT32. Each sample must be a 16-bit mono WAV file with a maximum size of 15 MB. It can have a sampling rate of 48, 44.1, 32, 22.05, or 11.025 kHz.

To load your own samples from a USB flash drive to use as voices within a kit:

1. Press Kit to enter the Kit Selection page (if you are not already viewing it).
2. Press Menu to enter the Kit Menu.
3. Use the Down and Up buttons to select USB Memory, and then press Enter.
4. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Sample Load, and then press Enter. A list of your samples will appear in the display.
5. Use the Down and Up buttons to select a sample, and then press Enter.
6. When Load to User Voice? appears in the display, press Enter to load the sample or Exit to cancel. You may need to wait a minute for the sample to load, depending on its size.

Can I save and load an entire kit from my USB flash drive?

Yes!

To save a kit to a USB flash drive:

1. Press Kit to enter the Kit Selection page (if you are not already viewing it).
2. Use the dial or Left and Right buttons to select the kit you want to save. To switch between the preset kits (001–050) and user kits (051–070), Press Kit.
3. Press Menu to enter the Kit Menu.
4. Use the Down and Up buttons to select USB Memory, and then press Enter.
5. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Kit Save, and then press Enter.
6. Use the Down and Up buttons to select a kit number (00–99). A number with no name next to it indicates an empty kit. A number with a name next to it indicates a saved kit.
7. To save the kit to the selected number, press Enter. If the number already has a kit saved to it, Data will be overwritten! Enter or Exit? will appear in the display. Press Enter to overwrite the kit or Exit to return to the list of kits. To cancel, press Exit.

To load a kit from a USB flash drive:

1. Press Kit to enter the Kit Selection page (if you are not already viewing it).
2. Press Menu to enter the Kit Menu.
3. Use the Down and Up buttons to select USB Memory, and then press Enter.
4. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Kit Load, and then press Enter.
5. Use the Down and Up buttons to select a kit number (00–99). A number with no name next to it indicates an empty kit. A number with a name next to it indicates a saved kit.
6. To load the selected kit, press Enter.
7. When Load to User___? appears in the display, use the dial or Left and Right buttons to select the desired “destination” user kit number.
8. Press Enter to load the kit 

Are you able to adjust the sensitivity of the mesh head trigger?

The Alesis mesh drum heads include an added physical knob to adjust the sensitivity of the piezo pickups inside of the head. The knob adjusts how much the module will respond to the inner vs. outer pickups inside of the head. Additionally, you can also adjust the Trigger sensitivity and many other settings within the Crimson II module as well.

Can I add triggers for more pads or cymbals?

The Crimson II Kit comes with 2 available 1/4" Dual-zone connections on the rear which allows you to increase the amount of available single or dual-zone triggers on your kit. Although the inputs are labeled Tom 4 and Crash 2, you can assign any sound you like to these trigger inputs.

Is the hi-hat pedal a continuous or a switch-type pedal?

The Hi-Hat pedal included with the Crimson II Kit is a continuous variable type pedal. This pedal allows for open, half-open, and closed hi-hat sounds, and will also allow for "chick" and "splash" sounds when the pedal is pressed down and released without striking the hi-hat cymbal pad.

Can the Crimson II Kit be used with a computer? How?

The Crimson Mesh Kit module comes with a USB connection allowing you to connect the module to a computer and send MIDI messages over this connection. It is class-compliant which means that it will work with any modern Mac or PC without the need to download any software or drivers.

You may need to adjust some settings in the drum module to ensure all MIDI communication can be properly sent or received. To adjust the MIDI settings:

1. Press Kit to enter the Kit Selection page (if you are not already viewing it).
2. Press Menu to enter the Kit Menu.
3. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Utility, and then press Enter. The display will show the Utility menu.
4. Use the Down and Up buttons to select GM Mode.
5. Use the dial or Left and Right buttons to select On or Off.
6. On: MIDI messages sent into the drum module’s MIDI In will trigger sounds from the General MIDI (GM) specification.
7. Off: MIDI messages sent into the drum module’s MIDI In will trigger the modules internal sounds (the ones played by each kit).
8. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Local Ctrl.
9. Use the dial or Left and Right buttons to select On or Off.
10. On: Playing the pads connected to the drum module will trigger the drum module’s internal sounds.
11. Off: Playing the pads will send MIDI notes from the drum module to a connected computer (connected to the USB MIDI port) or MIDI device (connected to the MIDI Out). See Trigger Settings to learn how to set the MIDI notes.
12. Press Exit to return to the Kit Menu. Press it once more to return to the Kit Selection page.

The default Trigger MIDI Note assignments are as follows:

Can I reset the module to its factory default settings? How?

Yes. To return the drum module to its original default settings:

1. Press Kit to enter the Kit Selection page (if you are not already viewing it).
2. Press Menu to enter the Kit Menu.
3. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Factory Reset, and then press Enter.
4. Use the Down and Up buttons to select which settings you want to return to the defaults.
5. Kit (only the user kits)
6. Song (only the user songs)
7. Voice (only the user voices)
8. Trigger Settings (all trigger settings)
9. All (all of the above).
10. When All data will be lost! Enter or Exit? appears in the display, press Enter to continue or Exit to cancel.
11. Wait a minute while the module restores its default settings. After Reset OK! appears on the display, the default settings are restored.
12. Press Exit to return to the previous page