Comments on: Acoustic to Electric Drum Conversion http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion Drums, Computers, and Disjointed Ramblings Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:03:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jacob http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-4958 Jacob Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:19:17 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-4958 The two rim piezos will be wired together. To the module, this will appear like one piezeo who ends up getting two voltage spikes. One spike would be a bit smaller than the other. The distance between the two spikes would be the amount of time it takes for the shockwave to travel through drum itself. The Roland modules already know how to deal with these multiple spikes to some degree. If you've ever seen a drumhead strike on a high-speed camera, you'll see that the drumhead ripples and there is an echo-y effect in the wave. As such, the electronics know not to retrigger a second, third, fourth time, etc. Also, if you take a look at the manual, you'll see their waveforms show this pattern of diminishing strikes. As for my trigger settings, they would not necessarily work for you (plus I'm not near my TD-20). It's just a bit of trial and error. When you start modifying a kit, the thresholds and sensitivity can vary from drumset to drumset. The two rim piezos will be wired together. To the module, this will appear like one piezeo who ends up getting two voltage spikes. One spike would be a bit smaller than the other. The distance between the two spikes would be the amount of time it takes for the shockwave to travel through drum itself. The Roland modules already know how to deal with these multiple spikes to some degree. If you’ve ever seen a drumhead strike on a high-speed camera, you’ll see that the drumhead ripples and there is an echo-y effect in the wave. As such, the electronics know not to retrigger a second, third, fourth time, etc. Also, if you take a look at the manual, you’ll see their waveforms show this pattern of diminishing strikes.

As for my trigger settings, they would not necessarily work for you (plus I’m not near my TD-20). It’s just a bit of trial and error. When you start modifying a kit, the thresholds and sensitivity can vary from drumset to drumset.

]]> By: Marjan http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-4956 Marjan Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:44:34 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-4956 Can u also please state your trigger settings if u're using roland td 12 or td2o module in case i add more piezos and which piezos have you used? Can u also please state your trigger settings if u’re using roland td 12 or td2o module in case i add more piezos and which piezos have you used?

]]> By: Marjan http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-4954 Marjan Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:36:58 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-4954 So if i get it right, they would send 2 different signals at different times? What if i just move piezo to my side of snare in the middle? So if i get it right, they would send 2 different signals at different times?
What if i just move piezo to my side of snare in the middle?

]]> By: Jacob http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-4953 Jacob Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:14:54 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-4953 Another piezo on the side of the shell shouldn't hurt. My snare has 4 on the shell for rim shots. You may end up with a scenario where you trigger multiple times by adding extra piezos, in which case you would just adjust your trigger settings, but even this hasn't really been an issue for me. Another piezo on the side of the shell shouldn’t hurt. My snare has 4 on the shell for rim shots. You may end up with a scenario where you trigger multiple times by adding extra piezos, in which case you would just adjust your trigger settings, but even this hasn’t really been an issue for me.

]]> By: Marjan http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-4950 Marjan Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:48:30 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-4950 Hi, Great job must say. I have a question for you, I have problems with my td12 snare rim shots, it thoesn't trigger the same all arround the shell. Would it help mounting another piezo on my side of shell and would there be any problem with signals or anything else if i do so? Thank you,M Hi,
Great job must say. I have a question for you,
I have problems with my td12 snare rim shots, it thoesn’t trigger the same all arround the shell. Would it help mounting another piezo on my side of shell and would there be any problem with signals or anything else if i do so?
Thank you,M

]]> By: Slink_z http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-77 Slink_z Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:01:12 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-77 Thank you for a no nonsense simply written piece that a DIY electric kit newbie can grasp. As for my standard TD8: "It’s a great kit, but its seriously lacking in feel and the kick drum pad is the most heinous piece of crap ever concieved." applies equally. I've actually used cut down cheap acoustic drums with mesh heads to make pads and I am having allsorts of triggering problems with Ddrum red shots... I was eyeing up the old PD 80 pads as trigger donors earlier and I think your feature has confirmed it a good way to go. Cheers, Chris. Thank you for a no nonsense simply written piece that a DIY electric kit newbie can grasp. As for my standard TD8: “It’s a great kit, but its seriously lacking in feel and the kick drum pad is the most heinous piece of crap ever concieved.” applies equally. I’ve actually used cut down cheap acoustic drums with mesh heads to make pads and I am having allsorts of triggering problems with Ddrum red shots… I was eyeing up the old PD 80 pads as trigger donors earlier and I think your feature has confirmed it a good way to go.

Cheers,

Chris.

]]> By: Jacob http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-69 Jacob Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:16:32 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-69 Well, after I had trouble with the soft cones, I went on ebay and hunted out used/cheap PD-80s. Then, I gutted them. I took out the entire cone/piezo assembly and then mounted it on my crossbars. That's what you see mounted in the picture above. The problem with this method is how long it can take for good PD-80 deals to come around on ebay. I wasn't in any hurry to get the thing built at the time. There is no reason you NEED to gut a PD-80, I was just lazy and didn't want to go through the hassle of delicately attaching the cones to the piezos again (after having been burned with soft cones the first go around). However, I have seen just the cones for sale on ebay quite often. You could probably also call Roland and order a few cones. Let me know if you're band is gonna stop by the Los Angeles area while on tour ;-) Well, after I had trouble with the soft cones, I went on ebay and hunted out used/cheap PD-80s. Then, I gutted them. I took out the entire cone/piezo assembly and then mounted it on my crossbars. That’s what you see mounted in the picture above. The problem with this method is how long it can take for good PD-80 deals to come around on ebay. I wasn’t in any hurry to get the thing built at the time. There is no reason you NEED to gut a PD-80, I was just lazy and didn’t want to go through the hassle of delicately attaching the cones to the piezos again (after having been burned with soft cones the first go around). However, I have seen just the cones for sale on ebay quite often. You could probably also call Roland and order a few cones.

Let me know if you’re band is gonna stop by the Los Angeles area while on tour ;-)

]]> By: Danny http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-66 Danny Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:49:25 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-66 thats fantastic information thanks Jacob :) just one last question.. where did you buy the roland firm cones from? With the kickdrum.. the funny thing is, on the TD-12 kick pad, it's also a soft one large enough to accomodate twin beaters, so that worked out really well even if by accident! You've been a great help, and I'll keep you posted with progress. Hopefully I'll be up and running by the summer. I know the band have a US tour comming up, so If i can get it going for that then i'll be really happy thats fantastic information thanks Jacob :) just one last question.. where did you buy the roland firm cones from?
With the kickdrum.. the funny thing is, on the TD-12 kick pad, it’s also a soft one large enough to accomodate twin beaters, so that worked out really well even if by accident!
You’ve been a great help, and I’ll keep you posted with progress. Hopefully I’ll be up and running by the summer. I know the band have a US tour comming up, so If i can get it going for that then i’ll be really happy

]]> By: Jacob http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-65 Jacob Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:23:09 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-65 Firm roland cones for the snare/toms. While you're making crossbars, do yourself a favor and make a really long bar that stretches across the diameter of all of your shells (or use a yardstick). This will make it easier to position the height of your cones. You want them about an 1/8" above the edge of the shell. This should translate to being about the perfect location for it when you get the mesh heads on. On my super-long crossbar, I grooved out a little 1/8" deep slot in the center. If I can slide my crossbar across it and it doesn't snag, it means I've positioned the cone low enough. Just about any cone will do for the kick. I have a softer foam cone in my bass drum. This was NOT because I was well-informed and chose soft because I possessed some sort of some supreme encyclopedic knowledge. Quite the opposite, in fact. My conversion started out with a soft foam on ALL of the drums. It didn't take long to find out that the firmer Roland cones are much better for anything I'm hitting with a stick. The kick drum, however, is more versatile. You're dealing with a much larger source of energy (from the beater) so you have more range to work with. Even a soft kick beater hit sends a pretty powerful wave through the cone. This is great because it is a nice clear signal for your TD-12 to work with. "Tuning" the kick should ultimately be FAR more trivial than tuning your snare. Toms will fall somewhere in the middle. And yeah, the wiring should be fairly trivial. If you're going to have rim piezo's on the shell, I found that double sided tape didn't work well at keeping them in place. Instead, I used wood glue to permanently fix them on the side. You just need to be committed to them being there, because they won't come off very easily once that wood glue dries =) And as a look and feel goes, I think the Diablo kits would look totally badass. Especially for this type of project and for an industrial band. Firm roland cones for the snare/toms. While you’re making crossbars, do yourself a favor and make a really long bar that stretches across the diameter of all of your shells (or use a yardstick). This will make it easier to position the height of your cones. You want them about an 1/8″ above the edge of the shell. This should translate to being about the perfect location for it when you get the mesh heads on. On my super-long crossbar, I grooved out a little 1/8″ deep slot in the center. If I can slide my crossbar across it and it doesn’t snag, it means I’ve positioned the cone low enough.

Just about any cone will do for the kick. I have a softer foam cone in my bass drum. This was NOT because I was well-informed and chose soft because I possessed some sort of some supreme encyclopedic knowledge. Quite the opposite, in fact. My conversion started out with a soft foam on ALL of the drums. It didn’t take long to find out that the firmer Roland cones are much better for anything I’m hitting with a stick. The kick drum, however, is more versatile. You’re dealing with a much larger source of energy (from the beater) so you have more range to work with. Even a soft kick beater hit sends a pretty powerful wave through the cone. This is great because it is a nice clear signal for your TD-12 to work with. “Tuning” the kick should ultimately be FAR more trivial than tuning your snare. Toms will fall somewhere in the middle.

And yeah, the wiring should be fairly trivial. If you’re going to have rim piezo’s on the shell, I found that double sided tape didn’t work well at keeping them in place. Instead, I used wood glue to permanently fix them on the side. You just need to be committed to them being there, because they won’t come off very easily once that wood glue dries =)

And as a look and feel goes, I think the Diablo kits would look totally badass. Especially for this type of project and for an industrial band.

]]> By: Danny http://inchoatethoughts.com/acoustic-to-electric-drum-conversion#comment-63 Danny Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:21:52 +0000 http://inchoatethoughts.com/?p=115#comment-63 awesome :) can i ask what you used for the foam cones? I can pick up piezo's for next to nothing, and i've got access to a workshop where i can create the cross bar's easily enough, and the wireing up to a female jack shouldn't bee too much hastle (i hope) Because of the musical project i'm thinking about converting a ddrum Diablo kit. the sizes of drums are ideal, and the black with red hardware would really suit the onstage appearance. And the kit's reasonable priced too. any more tips you can think of would be really helpful thanks :) awesome :) can i ask what you used for the foam cones? I can pick up piezo’s for next to nothing, and i’ve got access to a workshop where i can create the cross bar’s easily enough, and the wireing up to a female jack shouldn’t bee too much hastle (i hope)
Because of the musical project i’m thinking about converting a ddrum Diablo kit. the sizes of drums are ideal, and the black with red hardware would really suit the onstage appearance. And the kit’s reasonable priced too.
any more tips you can think of would be really helpful thanks :)

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