This powerful, all-in-one percussion pad suits beginners and experts alike, accommodating different levels of playing, as well as a wide variety of playing styles and performance situations. The 12 stepped pads make this unit as compact as it is limitless. Infinite usability You can use the DTX-MULTI 12 in many ways, such as using the percussion pad in combination with acoustic drums and percussion to accent music with a rich variety of voices, transferring data to the connected computer where you can compose music with the included Cubase AI-5 program, and connecting kick and hi-hat pedals (sold separately) to create a compact drum set. Unlimited sonic possibilities In addition to a broad spectrum of voices taken from the MOTIF-series synthesizers, the DTX-MULTI 12 also features many new percussion sounds that have been collected through Yamaha's advanced sampling techniques and ready-to-use effect sounds for a grand total of 1,277 voices. The DTX-MULTI 12 includes not only digital sounds but also DJ sounds and a rich variety of voices from percussion, chromatic percussion, folk, and acoustic drum instruments. If you'd like to mix in some sounds from your own sample collection, you can also import WAV and AIFF audio files via USB and use them as voices. The DTX-MULTI 12 functions as a sample playback device with 64MB of battery-backed Flash ROM. Effects The DTX-MULTI 12 is loaded with sweet effects including delays, flangers, phasers, pitch shifters, and more. Great-sounding reverb and chorus effects can be applied to entire drum kits, but there is also a Variation effect unit that can be used to enhance individual voices in many exciting ways through compression and EQ. A five-band master EQ adds yet another level of sound sculpting possibilities. Patterns The DTX-MULTI 12 comes complete with 128 different MIDI playing patterns (including 3 demo patterns) from a worldwide range of musical genres including folk music, rock, and house. You can easily start and stop patterns by simply striking the pads. In addition, you can record your own performances as patterns or create patterns on a PC. These patterns can then be assigned to pads. Using the Tap Tempo function, you can set the tempo for patterns and the click track by simply striking pads. In this way, you can conveniently and intuitively set the tempo that you need. Play modes The DTX-MULTI 12 provides a number of playing modes and features that enable performers to directly express their art and talent by making the pads more or less sensitive. In Stick Mode the pads have low velocity sensitivity and are optimized for playing the instrument with drumsticks. Conveying subtle expressions through hand percussion is easy in Hand Mode, but if your style involves extremely intricate finger drumming, Finger Mode is ultra sensitive. A Muting Feature enables sounds to be muted or changed when a hand is pressed down on a pad as it is struck. This allows for skin bends, drum mutes, and other feel-based modulations. Assignable pads Up to four different voices can be assigned to each pad. You can then creatively trigger those voices through several functions such as Stack mode in which all the notes assigned to a pad are triggered simultaneously with a single strike and Alternate mode in which the notes assigned to the pad are played individually in turn each time it is struck. You can also set the pads to trigger each of the four samples based on the velocity with which you strike the pad. Music production interface In addition to the MIDI In/Out port, the DTX-MULTI 12 is equipped with a USB-to-host port that can be connected to a PC with a USB cable (sold separately) and a USB-to-device port that can save the user kit data on a USB memory device. This connection can be used in a variety of ways. For example, those who have difficulty playing a keyboard can input MIDI data directly to Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software, and others can play computer software synthesizer sounds by striking the DTX-MULTI 12. Essentially, this allows the unit to be used as a MIDI controller using USB instead of MIDI. Start your recording career today. Cubase AI 5 by Steinberg, a DAW software application, is bundled with the DTX-MULTI 12. You can begin modifying the pitch and rhythm of the MIDI data that you input using the DTX-MULTI 12 and begin composing elaborate pieces of music on the same day you receive it. Additionally, by installing the DTX-MULTI 12 Extension from Yamaha's website, you will be able to control Cubase AI 5 directly from the DTX-MULTI 12 front panel. This extension will dramatically improve your efficiency in music composition. Trigger Expandability The DTX-MULTI 12 comes with trigger-input jacks that five external pads can be connected to as well as a foot switch jack and a hi-hat controller jack. This allows for a wide variety of set-ups including connecting a hi-hat controller and a kick pad to use the DTX-MULTI 12 as a compact drum kit; using a foot switch to switch between different drum kits and phrase patterns; using a foot controller to control the volume and effect values in real time; or connecting a drum trigger to convert acoustic drum performances to trigger signals and input these signals for playback. * Hi-hat controllers, foot switches, foot controllers, kick pads, and drum triggers are sold separately.