Author Topic: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?  (Read 9482 times)

So, just last night i did my first attempt at sewing screen around a piece of plastic tubing to make a mesh head for an old snare drum, I think it's a 14" snare.

I was going to do a beatnick / roland style crossbar with cone style trigger.  But I've also heard of foam and a piezo mounted on an L bracket near the rim, and now I hear about reflection plate designs.  My available trigger inputs are Alesis D4 and DrumKat based, at least for now.

I guess the questions I'd have are:  Has anyone done the reflection plate style with full size drums with mesh heads, not just the smaller Alesis pads?  How well did it work?  Is there any "main reference" for reflection plate designs, like beatnick sort of is for the cone / mesh head conversions?  All I've really seen is Hellfire's alesis pad conversion information.

Given I'm not starting with a bunch of existing foam in my snare drum, what would the pro's and cons of reflection plate vs crossbar & cone?

(Right now, I'm using old Simmons hexagonal pads and some frisbees with piezos hot-glued on them with the D4.)

Thanks!
Alesis D4 with old simmons hex pads, frisbees w/ piezos and rockband cymbals, and an experimental mesh-head snare conversion; DrumKat 3.8 with pintech kick & hat pedal.

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2010, 06:26:26 PM »
Here's one that Hellfire wrote up using Polyfil cushioning for the reflection plate.

http://www.hellfiredrums.com/archives/468#more-468

From what I understand, with the reflection plate design softer rolls suffer a bit where the cone system is prone to hotspots. Wish I could be more help, but I'm sure someone more familiar on the subject will be able to answer better than I can :)

Offline Guinness

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2010, 06:48:06 PM »
Logically thinking, I don't think there would be any issue in duplicating what's inside the "smaller Alesis pads", the reflection plate should work, imo.
 
It would be key to use correct foam and corresponding sized reflection plate.  Not sure if a larger piezo would be needed.
 
Let us know how it goes.  :)

Online Hellfire

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2010, 12:54:07 PM »
Reflection plate is not new. As a matter of fact it was standard until Roland came up with the cone. Reflection plate can be adapted for any size drum. The bigger the drum the bigger the plate. It's that simple. The magic is in the foam you use and the material for the plate. That is a personal taste thing. So some trial and error might be required. Here's a pic I did showing a REMO pad conversion (same principal apply for larger drums). One piece of advice I can give you is don't make the foam just under the head too thick. No more than 1 inch to 1-1/2. I hope that helps.

One other note. Alesis equipment works best with Reflection plates or off set trigger mounting (ie. Ddrum red shots or the L bracket style triggering).

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2010, 03:29:12 PM »
One other note. Alesis equipment works best with Reflection plates or off set trigger mounting (ie. Ddrum red shots or the L bracket style triggering).

Well, I didn't have all the foam necessary around the house, while I did have the parts on hand for an L-bracket style attempt, so that's what I went for.

It works amazingly well, especially if I treat it as a single zone.  I mounted a plastic L-bracket I found in my junk drawer, a block of foam on top of that, a piezo on top of that, and half a nerf ball (the kind that some nerf guns shoot) on top of the piezo, reaching about 1/8" over the rim, touching the homemade mesh head.  I also put a piezo on the drum shell for a rim trigger.

There's quite a bit of crosstalk between the head and the rim trigger.  Not sure if the foam supporting the piezo from below transmits vibration too well (it's rather rigid), or if I need to adjust my D4's setting better.  And it is rather hot where the ball touches the head, but I can avoid that.

All in all, I'm quite happy with it!  I tried to post a picture here, but I couldn't get it to work.

Thanks for your help!  (Here, and in this forum on other topics, and on other forums as well!)
Alesis D4 with old simmons hex pads, frisbees w/ piezos and rockband cymbals, and an experimental mesh-head snare conversion; DrumKat 3.8 with pintech kick & hat pedal.

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2010, 11:15:26 AM »
You might have to use a resistor to fix the crosstalk. Of course, you'll lose a lot of responsiveness doing that.

Offline ghostman

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2010, 06:46:50 PM »
I built a 13" snare using a wood shell a buddy gave me.  it's a soft wood, but that's pretty much it's only discerning property.  I mounted the head piezo to an aluminum cross bar, mounted to "L" brackets screwed in with the lug screws.  in between the L bracket and the Aluminum cross bar, I used foam tape, and more foam tape under the piezo element.  I was hoping this would give me a little isolation from the rim piezo that is taped directly to the shell.  It was tricky to dial in, but it works fairly well after all is said and done.

I am not sure what a resister would do in my setup, I haven't tried it.  I am pretty pleased, and am thinking about dual-zoning my toms now. :).
Alesis DM10 & Trigger IO, 5 8" single input DIY shells; 2 18" DIY Bass drums, 1 13" DIY eSnare, PinTech 14" Visulaite Hi-Hats, 2 PinTech 14" choke-able crashes & 18" dual-zone ride; Steven Slate Drums EX.  Mounted on Superstrut custom rack.

Re: Acoustic snare DIY mesh head conversion triggering options?
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2010, 03:46:33 PM »
Ghostman,

What module are you using in your setup?  A D4 like me?  Or something newer?
Alesis D4 with old simmons hex pads, frisbees w/ piezos and rockband cymbals, and an experimental mesh-head snare conversion; DrumKat 3.8 with pintech kick & hat pedal.