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I was tired of using my Evolution
MK249C MIDI keyboard controller to enter my drum parts. I have wanted
an electronic drum kit for quite
some time, but could never justify dropping any serious coin on a set
because I am a terrible drummer. So... being the DIY kinda cat that
I am, I decided to just make my own.
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I was originally intending on building my own drum cage out of
PVC pipe and using Remo practice pads as my basis for trigger devices.
I priced the raw materials for PVC pipe and all necessary attachments,
and the rack would have cost approximately $40 to build. Then needing
5 practice pads, those would cost roughly $15 a piece, for a total of
$115 for rack and 5 pads..
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I was at Guitar Center a few days ago,
and really lucked out by snagging a 5 piece
Remo practice kit with nice metal cage for $100. It was a floor demo
but
in perfect condition. Quite a
snag indeed. It was sold to me way below cost, because they just
wanted to get rid of it, since they no longer plan on carrying that
kit
any
more.
Remo
Practice Kit |
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What you will need:
Radio Shack Piezo
Transducer (273-073A), Radio Shack Shielded Phono
Jack (274-346), soldering iron, liquid flux, epoxy, xacto
knife, 1/4" drill bit, 26awg 12" x 24" plate metal, cutting sheers,
20
minutes of your time, and music of choice, I chose the new Opeth
CD - Damnation for this particular pad
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When you take the pad apart, you
will find 3 things inside. The head, a mylar disc, and a circular foam
piece. |
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Set the other things aside, and split the foam piece
in half using an X-Acto blade. Try to keep it as even as possible, in
other words, take your time. |
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Make a 2" slit all the way around the pad, and you
have this clam here. Keep going, split it in half |
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Foam piece split in 2. Set these aside for now.
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Now you need to take the actual piezo element
out of the plastic housing. Stick a blade into the little notched corner
on both sides, and pop the plastic plate off.
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Don't break the piezo! Be careful.
It's not incredibly easy, but it's not terribly difficult. Just get
rid of all the plastic shit. When done you will have the bare piezo
element as such. Set this aside for now. |
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Take the mylar disc and use it as a template for
our transfer plate.
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Use the shears and cut the bulk of your circle out.
Its much easier to work with this metal when you just need to cut away
small parts. This is kind of a bitch, and its not as easy as scissor
and paper, but it's totally manageable. BTW. DO NOT CUT yourself. This
shit is very sharp, and if you jack up your fretting hand because of
this, don't blame me. Wear gloves if you are freaked, but this stuff
will slice your hands in a hurry if you are not careful. You have been
warned. =) |
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Here is the circle cut out and placed inside of
the pad. It does not have to be a PERFECT circle, but as close to it
as you can get. As long as it fits inside of the pad with a small gap
on all sides, you are fine. When cutting this out, you want to cut about
3/4" INSIDE of the circle you drew. |
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Draw a dot in the very center of your circle, and
then score it with a knife. This gives the epoxy and piezo a nice coarse
surface to stick to. Draw about 12 - 14 lines from many different angles
to make a sort of waffle type of pattern. |
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Grab the piezo element, mix your epoxy and apply
a good amount covering the ENTIRE BOTTOM side of the piezo. The BRASS
bottom side, NOT the top portion, heh.
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Gently push the piezo element
onto the metal plate. Once it is placed, push down kind of firmly so
that the epoxy makes a nice ring around the element as the photo shows.
This will cure in about 5 minutes, and its not going ANYWHERE. I've
read people have used hot glue for this, but hot glue becomes very
brittle and will fall apart. Silly choice if you ask me. |
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Take one of the foam halves,
and slice a 1" - 2" slit all the way through the pad in the center.
This is the pass through for the wires from the piezo that will go
to our
RCA
jack. |
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Punch a hole through the bottom
of the pad using an ice pick. Don't make the hole too close to
the edge, or the piezo wires won't reach. After
punching the hole, use the 1/4" drill
bit and hand drill the hole for the RCA jack.
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After the hole is drilled, insert the RCA jack through
the hole. |
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View of the other side with the jack coming through.
You see the metal washer, locking nut, and the RING element here. RING
is for negative, and TIP is for positive. (Ring/negative being black
wire, Tip/positive being red wire from piezo element). |
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Follow this closely. Take the BLACK lead from the
piezo element, apply a nice dollop of flux to the end of the wire and
to the ring element and make a nice quick clean solder bond. |
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Run both wires from the piezo
through the bottom foam piece with
the slit in it. Now you can slide the ring element on the rca jack,
slide the washer on,
and tighten the lock nut.
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Now we can solder the positive/red wire to
the TIP portion of the RCA jack. Again, only after the negative has
been soldered to ring, and the ring has been attached and the locking
nut tightened down. Also, this must be done with the piezo wires
passed through the slit of the bottom foam piece. We're almost done.
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Now we have the plate, with
the all brass part of the piezo epoxied to the bottom. The red and
black wires from the piezo element have passed through the slit we
made on the bottom portion of foam, and have been properly soldered,
and the rca jack is bolted in.
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Now, take the remaining foam half, and place it
over the metal plate. Put the mylar disc on top of that, and assemble
the pad.
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Pad is now re-assembled. |
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And this is what the back looks like. Total time
to make this pad, with the hinderance of taking photos: 30 minutes. You
now have a fully functional, velocity sensitive, solid as a rock electronically
triggered drum pad. Of course, you can always blow $120 and buy a Roland
pad, or you can get a used Remo on eBay for $10, and spend $3.00 at Radio
Shack. |
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