So my basic idea is to plug the rockband drums into the Arduino and load some samples into it to turn it into a 'real' electronic drum kit. I'd also like to have midi out and audio out. I've never used an Arduino before however, anyone got any resources that can help me to this end?
Have you done a search online for Arduino drum kits? Look at a few of them and you'll start to get a good idea of what direction you need to be heading. Then you'll want to open up the drums to see what kind of sensor they have so you'll know what your working with. Here is a good one to start with.
http://www.diyblog.net/2007/12/19/diy-arduino-midi-drum-kit/
Whatever the drum pads have in them will effect how close to an actual drum kit you'll be able to get it.
I pretty sure the drums I have aren't velocity sensitive so It might be worthwhile to swap out the sensors. Thanks for the link! I've googled a bit but hadn't found much
How well can the Arduino do real time sample effects? Like if I wanted to add a Pitch control knob and a time knob and an echo knob. Could it handle all of them?