[sdiy] percussion sensors?

[DrumBoy5 at aol.com]

Hey

I've been lurking for a while but this is the first post I think I've made...

Anyway, there are a number of people who do DIY drum trigger pads (being a 
drummer and engineer, I naturally had to try it).

There are free plans on these sites:

<A HREF="http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/1995_articles/diydrumpad.htm">http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/1995_articles/diydrumpad.htm</A>
<A HREF="http://www.electronicdrums.com/">http://www.electronicdrums.com/</A>

This is probably one of the best sites on homemade electronic drum triggers:
<A HREF="http://www.derksens.com/Beatnik_mirror.htm">http://www.derksens.com/Beatnik_mirror.htm</A>

I know you don't want to build "real drums", but the principle is the same.  
You can get piezo triggers (maybe a couple of bucks each, at least at radio 
shack...you could probably buy them cheaper elsewhere) and put them under 
some sort of foam (mouse pads work well) or gum rubber pad (the majority of 
rubber drum pads work in this manner).  The trigger response is great with 
drumsticks, so it would probably be flawless if you had, say, 1" round gum 
rubber disks over your piezo trigger.  If you're looking for a larger pad 
area or just to beef up the trigger, you can hot glue it to a sheet of thin 
metal (coffee can bottom or the like) to help transfer the impact directly to 
the piezo.  One of the major problems is cross triggering with the pads (this 
is a problem on commercial drums sets as well).  There are two options to 
solve this: either build a mounting box to isolate each trigger or dial down 
the sensitivity of the trigger-midi converter, or both.  You might be able to 
work out some sort of screw/spring shock absorber:

Rubber pad
Trigger
|  ______|              <--  Screw head or nut 
|__|    |__|
  <|-----|>               <--  Spring
  <|-----|>
__|___|___             <--  Screw head or nut
Mount to something

Foam or rubber might also do the trick...you'll have to experiment.  I know 
this is a DIY group, but if you're looking for a cheap commercial version, 
you could find an old Casio DZ (or DT...I can't remember) trigger to midi 
interface.  They work really well and are probably the same price as the PAIA 
trigger interface.

This sounds pretty cool...maybe I should build one too :)

Hope this helps.  If you need any more info, drop me an email at 
Drumboy5 at aol.com.

Morgan
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