Triggers on Electronic Drums
When reviewing the popular electronic kits sold today (found here) you'll notice that many types of materials are used for the playing surfaces. Here's a summary of what is used:
- Drum Heads- gum rubber, mesh heads, mylar "real" heads (designed for electronic drums but have their drawbacks)
- Cymbals- gum rubber, plastic, acrylic, and a combination of these
The goal for each material is to provide the feel of an acoustic drum part while transmitting energy to the trigger without the resonance found in acoustic drums. WHY? An explanation is given in the section below on Acoustic Drum Applications. So read on and all will be revealed! ;-)
You don't always see the drum trigger (especially in cymbals) because they are hidden beneath the playing surface. This is done for several reasons: to transmit energy in a more efficient manner, to protect the trigger, and for a better "look".
When you strike an acoustic drum or cymbals in different places you get different sounds- right? Electronic drum companies mimic this effect with the placement of two to three triggers on a drum pad or cymbal to create dynamics. Just keep in mind that in order to do this, you also have to have a drum module capable of processing this information. Information on drum modules can be found here.
Triggering an electronic drum set is fairly clear cut since they were designed to use triggers in the best way possible. Using them on acoustic drums is where things get interesting...
Triggers on Acoustic Drums
To begin with, I would like to point out that this discussion focuses on the drum, not the cymbal. It's not practical to trigger a metal cymbal. There are some great electronic cymbals to pick from. They can all be placed on existing cymbals stands, and that includes the hi hat for certain designs. You can read up on electronic cymbals here.
The biggest problem to overcome with triggering acoustic drums is the resonance they produce (especially by the drum head).
WHY?
Vibrations are essentially a continued flow of energy that comes in waves. Have you ever thrown a rock in body of water? Ripples move outward from where the rock hit. This is exactly the same.
The drum trigger only needs ONE wave to send a signal to the module for processing. When multiple waves are picked up by the trigger, you get "double-triggering" which isn't good for the trigger, modules, or resulting sound.
Now it may sense why metal cymbals can't be triggered. They rely on vibrations to create sound and tone.
Since our main goal is avoid resonance, there are three great approaches you can use to transform an accoustic set into an electronic drum set...
Stuff It
The first thing you can do it to cram those shells full of some type of stuffing or padding (this is Phase I)
Phase II involves adding the trigger. You can either trigger the drum from the inside or the outside. First, let's look at ways you can trigger from the inside.
Internal triggering can be done with a manufactured device or you can make your own. The goal is to place one or more piezos under the drum head.
A great way to accomplish this is for the piezo to be attached to some type of plate. WHY? Since the diameter of the piezo is so small, you want to increase the area is covered to aid in sensitivity.
A good example of this is a product made by Pulse Percussion. These gadgets were intended to go underneath a practice pad, but they'll work great under your drum head as well. Pick up some Pulse Percussion electronic pad inserts here.
A similar home-made device can be made by gluing a piezo to something like a coffee can lid and addiing a layer of foam to absorb any vibration.
Another example of triggering from the inside of an acoustic drum is Hart Dynamics' Acoustic Conversion (ADC®) kit. This can be used with the shell stuffed or unstuffed.
The installation is simple: remove the hoop and head, set the ADC® on top, insert the plug through the air hole, reinstall the head and hoop, and BOOM- you're in business. The kit comes in sizes ranging from 8" through 24" for you whole set. Get current pricing on the ADC® kit HERE
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Some of this home-made electronic drum building may seem a bit silly, but there is literally a whole society of electronic drummers out there that continually figure out ways to build kit with methods like this. From some of the pictures I've seen, they can turn out looking really sharp! The costs are much less and they a lot of fun doing it (which is the point of all this anyway RIGHT?)
Mesh It
The single best way to take advantage of the low volume offered by an electronic kit is to switch our your regular drum heads for mesh ones (also called woven heads- I like to think of them as heavy duty panty hose).
Mesh heads are made in one and two plies (two-ply is a must for the snare). A good example of mesh heads that are readily available are made by Hart Dynamics which are called Kontrol Screens®. If you are interested in picking up a few of these go here!
The trigger has to be placed under the head for correct energy transfer. Since piezos are fragile, some type of dense foam should be placed between the head and piezo.
The picture below shows a home-made drum trigger system that uses simple items you may have around the house or can be picked up at a general merchandise store, with the exception of the piezo and female RCA receiver, which can be bought at an electronics store like Radio Shack.
The snare and bass drum should be triggered close to the center of the head for best response. Pintech makes a snare drum that may spark some ideas.
A plate simliar to the Pulse Percussion "insert" has a piece of triangular material pointed at the center of the head and the spread evenly across a triggered plate. Of course you can always buy the Pintech snare ready to go!
Triggering an acoustic drum with mesh heads is such an attractive concept that several companies sell a full kit ready to go.
A company that has really created a nice acoustic/electric kit is called Boom Theory, based in Seattle, Washington (USA).
Their Space Muffins sets not only look great, but every drum magazine review gives them technical praise.
Since this is an emerging art and the kits are specially designed, they're not exactly cheap. But the Space Muffins models are certainly worth it if you're a purist wanting to step into the world of electronic drums and don't want to convert your acoustic kit.
Pintech is another company that offers a standard "acoustic style" electronic kit with mesh heads. Thier Visual Customs use acrylic shells that come in a variety of cool colors- even translucent- like the "John Bohnam" styled kit shown here. This kit matches Pintech's newly acquired Visu-Lite acrylic cymbals as well.
Attach It
External triggering is probably the easiest way to convert your acoustic set to and electronic one. There are two external triggers on the market designed to make conversion a simple process that allows full use of the aoustic sound when desired.
The first uses a small piezo-type trigger that is wrapped in a protective sheath and then stuck to drum head near the rim. Several companies make them, including Pulse Percussion and Pintech. Check out the picture below...
The "stick-on" type trigger doesn't always give a natural sound and response from the drum module. Plus they are prone to double triggering due to the vibrations that come from an un-dampened drum head. Another thing to watch out for with the stick-ons is crosstalk, which is where multiple voices play when you only want one.
To reduce these problems, another type of external trigger was designed to account for the vibration waves. A better performing drum trigger is available that doesn't stick to head, it merely presses against it. You can find models offered by Roland, Pintech, and Clavia (Ddrum). Here they are...
Here are a few links to compare the latest prices on each trigger: Pintech, Ddrum, Roland.
