Hi All!
I love to build stuff and always have some edrum projects going
I want to show you two things I have been working on. I have been obsessed with stand up drumming for a bit, no pedals
I created this Alesis nitro percussion station it is an 8" mesh tom and 8" dual zone snare with an additional "Pipe Bomb" trigger I learned to make here, thank you (I have made a few of them!)
I was using this as a kick, snare and hi hat for industrial/dance beats but then I made a kit with some toms and a cowbell for timbales, then a kit with timpani's and a gong- Lot of fun
Then I got a deal on a KAT percusion pad and saw that it had inputs for an external Kick and Hi Hat so I plugged in an extra pad and nothing! I saw that it worked with a KAT pedal as did the Hi Hat. I had an old momentary pedal and hooked ti up the the kick input and Viola! it worked. It uses a switch trigger not piezo! I searched for switch trigger pads- NADA, ZIP! I built one, over and over. too sensitive, not sensitive enough, finally got something that worked reliably but you had to whack it pretty good and I was worried about longevity. I was watching some vids on old keyboards and saw this Casio that had optional drum pads and thought hey maybe those were the good old switch triggers?
I they come in two set of two so I thought great one Hi Hat and one for Kick! I found some NOS Casio DP-1's still in the box for a reasonable price and took the chance.
The two pads on one unit have a male mini stereo jack, I got a splitter to get them to two mono 1/4" and plugged them in each the Hi Hat and Kick. Yay Success!!!! Whilst plugging them in I saw something I had missed. A little switch next to the kick input that lets you select Piezo or Switch trigger D'OH! There is no switch for the Hi Hat though and this configuration is just fun to play! I have the Hi Hat on the left, Kick on the right, then the KAT is Snare, Tom1, Tom2 and crash. I still have a minty Casio DP-1 unit as back up too.
I really love tinkering!
Next I am upgrading some old 1980's Russian, Simmons knock off pads