Erick Falc'her-Poyroux (since 1996)
Drums
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HOW TO TURN YOUR ACOUSTIC DRUMS INTO ELECTRONIC DRUMS
EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT AND ARE NO PRO IN ELECTRONICS
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Here's how I converted a cheap drum kit (any kit will do) into an electronic kit. Honestly, I never thought I'd be able to do that, so thanks a lot to all those who've put their experiments and expertise online.
Most of the stuff was bought either at Michenaud & Co. (Nantes, France), or www.drum-tec.de (Germany). Thanks to Alex & Michael for their advice and their patience.
NB: I am not saying the conversion was cheap (except for the toms)...
EQUIPMENT USED
- 5 mesh heads (from Michenaud & drum-tec). Don't forget to stick some kind of plastic reinforcement where the bass-drum beater hits the head, since felt beaters damage mesh heads (and vice-versa).
- 5 DDRUM replacement triggers (piezo + foam) from Drum-tec + double sided carpet tape (something really strong!)
- 5 female mono jacks (www.e44.fr)
- 5 metal corner braces (any DIY shop)
- VH-11 hi-hat Roland
- 1 dual-zone Smartrigger crash cymbal (Drum-tec)
- 1 triple zone Smartrigger ride cymbal (Drum-tec)
- 1 Roland TD10 sound module (second hand) - any module by Roland will do the trick (but the VH-11 hi-hat is not compatible with all modules).
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RESULT
The snare drum needs another job with a stereo jack and two piezos, but I haven't done that yet. For the moment I am using a Roland td5-rs trigger on it (Michenaud, with mesh head).
INSTALLING THE TRIGGERS
- For each shell, take off the original head,
- unscrew a tension lug (the one closest to where you will fit the jack plug),
- adapt the holes of a metal corner brace so as to install it inside the shell by using the original lug screws,
- solder a mono jack to the piezo (red = tip)
- stick the foam inside the mesh head, dead centre, with double-sided carpet tape.
- drill a hole near the tension lug where you will fit the jack plug,
- if necessary, work out the boring inside
- fit the female jack plug
- put the mesh head on the shell, and fix the piezo cables on the corner brace with tape to prevent them from moving around when you're playing,
- repeat the same operation for each shell, and plug !
The rest is a question of finding the right settings on your module.
It's working great for me !
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