Alesis

The Alesis Crimson Mesh Kit is a flexible, powerful, and affordable five piece electronic drum kit with mesh heads and the Crimson Advance Drum Module. This article walks through a number of frequently asked questions about the Crimson Mesh Kit.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• How many preset kits are included and what are they?
• How many sounds are included with the Crimson Mesh Kit?
• How does the Crimson Mesh kit compare to 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 Mesh Kit be used with a computer? How?
• Is there a recommended kick pedal or beater for use with this kit?
• Can I reset the module to its factory default settings? How?
• My headphones have a built in microphone. Can I use these with my module?

How many preset kits are included and what are they?

The Crimson Mesh Kit module comes complete with 50 classic and modern ready-to-play kits. They are:

How many sounds are included with the Crimson Mesh Kit?

There are over 600 voices so that you can easily tweak any existing kit, or create your own using the 20 User Kit preset slots. Also, you can save as many user kits as you like to your USB flash drive as well.

Additionally, there are 60 preset songs that you can play along to. Each song has a drum part and accompaniment. You can adjust the volume of each so you can listen to the drum part, and then lower its volume and play along!

How does the Crimson Mesh kit compare to the Crimson II kit?

See the chart below for an overview comparison of the two kits:

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

Absolutely!

The Crimson Mesh Kit allows you to add any WAV file up to 16-bit/48kHz to a 4GB to 64GB FAT32 formatted USB drive and add to/create your own unique kit. 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 kit module as well.

Can I add triggers for more pads or cymbals?

The Crimson Mesh Kit comes with an impressive 5 premium mesh heads in ‘Special Edition Red’ finish and 3 premium DMPad cymbals. Additionally, there are 2 available 1/4" Dual-zone connections on the rear of the module which allow 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 those trigger inputs.

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

The Hi-Hat pedal included with the Crimson Mesh 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 Mesh 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.
   • On: MIDI messages sent into the drum module’s MIDI In will trigger sounds from the General MIDI (GM) specification.
   • Off: MIDI messages sent into the drum module’s MIDI In will trigger the module's internal sounds (the ones played by each kit).
6. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Local Ctrl.
7. Use the dial or Left and Right buttons to select On or Off.
   • On: Playing the pads connected to the drum module will trigger the drum module’s internal sounds.
   • 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.
8. 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:

Is there a recommended kick pedal or beater for use with this kit?

We recommend using a kick beater made of a hard material such as plastic, wood or metal when using a mesh kick pad.

Felt beaters can be popular with electronic drum kits with rubber pads, but they should be avoided for use with mesh drum heads. The added friction from the felt can quickly wear down and puncture a hole in the mesh.

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 Upbuttons to select which settings you want to return to the defaults.
   • Kit (only the user kits)
   • Song (only the user songs)
   • Voice (only the user voices)
   • Trigger Settings (all trigger settings)
   • All (all of the above).
5. When All data will be lost! Enter or Exit? appears in the display, press Enter to continue or Exit to cancel.
6. Wait a minute while the module restores its default settings. After Reset OK! appears in the display, the default settings are restored.
7. Press Exit to return to the previous page

As an alternative, the module can be fully factory reset by holding down the < and > buttons while powering on the module. This will return the module to its full factory default settings.

My headphones have a built in microphone. Can I use these with my module?

The headphone output of the module is a common 1/8th inch (3.5mm) stereo output. Using headphones with a built in microphone (TRRS) may cause drops in your audio. It is recommended to use standard headphones with a TRS cable.