Author Topic: Interesting False Triggering Scenario  (Read 1565 times)

Offline AlanK

Interesting False Triggering Scenario
« on: May 30, 2016, 09:34:03 AM »
Thought I'd share this scenario I encountered during a jam this weekend..

Was getting a ghost triggering while we were sitting there quietly in between songs. Coming from something on the DM10 kit we put together a my buddy's place. Was like a slow machine gunning coming from one of the toms.. I thought at first one of them was vibrating on the rack, maybe from the bass guitar being loud..but even when everyone stopped there it was.

Went through my xtalk, sensitivity etc on all toms.. couldn't figure it out.. checked the kick, nope. Was driving me nuts.. somehow cursored my way to Kick2 by mistake and saw the friggin bars lighting up, and of course at that point it clicked in to look at the circles on the module (doh!) and I saw yes, the kick lighting up there too.. wtf? Turned sensitivity on Kick2 all the way down and the noise went away.

I don't have anything plugged into Kick2. I'm fairly sure I've got just a TS cable in the kick pad, but I will admit I forgot to check it out.. anybody ever have a ghost trigger like that? I'm starting to think for sure I must have mistakenly put a TRS cable in the kick drum.. and my Kick2 sensitivity was set to like 60. Weird.. but it's gone now
DM10X with Addictive Drums 2, Pro X hi-hat, 4 crashes, foam cone conversion w Roland mesh heads, Laurin Drums snare and kick, Mapex P710W double kick pedal, Mapex 2 legged hi-hat, Behringer 8 channel USB mixer, Tascam 144MK AI, Samson Expedition Escape powered speakers

Online Hellfire

Re: Interesting False Triggering Scenario
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2016, 11:31:28 AM »
Thought I'd share this scenario I encountered during a jam this weekend..

Was getting a ghost triggering while we were sitting there quietly in between songs. Coming from something on the DM10 kit we put together a my buddy's place. Was like a slow machine gunning coming from one of the toms.. I thought at first one of them was vibrating on the rack, maybe from the bass guitar being loud..but even when everyone stopped there it was.

Went through my xtalk, sensitivity etc on all toms.. couldn't figure it out.. checked the kick, nope. Was driving me nuts.. somehow cursored my way to Kick2 by mistake and saw the friggin bars lighting up, and of course at that point it clicked in to look at the circles on the module (doh!) and I saw yes, the kick lighting up there too.. wtf? Turned sensitivity on Kick2 all the way down and the noise went away.

I don't have anything plugged into Kick2. I'm fairly sure I've got just a TS cable in the kick pad, but I will admit I forgot to check it out.. anybody ever have a ghost trigger like that? I'm starting to think for sure I must have mistakenly put a TRS cable in the kick drum.. and my Kick2 sensitivity was set to like 60. Weird.. but it's gone now

This is actually quite common with the Alesis DM10/8/Pearl REDbox modules. There are two reasons this can happen (assuming proper functioning of module/triggers).

First reason: The module is very sensitive on the inputs and it doesn't like non-grounded connections that are not used. You stated you are not using Kick2 and if you are in fact using a TRS cable, that means you have a floating input (on Kick2) and those inputs tend to false trigger. The way to fix it is either turn your threshold up and sensitivity down (which it sounds like you did) or use a TS cable. The TS cable will ground the second trigger location on that input. Either way should fix it. Unless...

Second reason: If you try to fix the issue with just turning up your threshold and turning down your sensitivity and over time it doesn't work, chances are it is a static electricity problem. The only way to fix the issue at this point is to ground the unused input. I figured this one out because I had solved my issue with just adjusting the settings, but when winter came the problem started again. After a couple of days of really cold temps (house got dryer as I used more heat) I noticed the issue become more problematic. Grounding the unused input was the only way to solve it at that point. Static can also be a problem when using air conditioning. Since that too pulls moisture out of the air making static electricity much easier to happen.

Offline AlanK

Re: Interesting False Triggering Scenario
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2016, 11:43:02 AM »
Thanks for the input Hellfire! Come to think of it, my buddy had his a/c on full blast, we're having a heat wave up here in Canada's capital   ???  So maybe that was adding to the problem.

But I also had brought home the module to update it and sync it with my home trigger and memory settings.. and there was a time I'd set up some kits with the second kick channel for another pad.. and now I remember that at at least one point in the jam (I'd had a couple gin and tonics, mind you, in my defence!) I looked down at the module and saw that I'd moved up to kit 001 or kit 002 (and I'm using Addictive so I need to be on 000 mostly because I've made sure 000 has all the midi settings I need mapped properly, the other kits may not match up 1 to 1 where I want things). I may have put myself on a kit where I had Kick2 programmed as another kick or tom pad.

But even more possible was that when I put the module back on, and plugged everything in, I grabbed a TRS cable and used that on the kick by mistake.. I'm usually more careful but it's been 35 degrees and the first gin and tonic went down pretty fast after walking in his door.. should have had water and waited to hit the harder stuff after I re-configured the kit..hahahaha.. next time I go back first thing I'll check is that cable.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 11:45:08 AM by AlanK »
DM10X with Addictive Drums 2, Pro X hi-hat, 4 crashes, foam cone conversion w Roland mesh heads, Laurin Drums snare and kick, Mapex P710W double kick pedal, Mapex 2 legged hi-hat, Behringer 8 channel USB mixer, Tascam 144MK AI, Samson Expedition Escape powered speakers

Offline rhysT

Re: Interesting False Triggering Scenario
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2016, 05:39:16 PM »
I accidentally found out about this qwirk with the module when I connected a DIY dual trigger bar to the Perc-4 input for switching kits up or down. Whenever I touch either bar the kits increment quickly, which can be quite useful. If the module is connected to my computer via a USB cable I lose this 'hidden feature', which kinda confirms a non/grounding issue.

Online Hellfire

Re: Interesting False Triggering Scenario
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2016, 10:50:08 PM »
I accidentally found out about this qwirk with the module when I connected a DIY dual trigger bar to the Perc-4 input for switching kits up or down. Whenever I touch either bar the kits increment quickly, which can be quite useful. If the module is connected to my computer via a USB cable I lose this 'hidden feature', which kinda confirms a non/grounding issue.

This same qwirk can be used for a touch choke switch on cymbals as well. I remember playing around with that idea for a little bit. Unfortunately, do to the nature of the false triggering "feature" as I stated above, it can sometimes be unreliable. Which is why I don't really push that idea too much.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 10:51:49 PM by Hellfire »