Author Topic: DIY practice cymbals?  (Read 13495 times)

DIY practice cymbals?
« on: March 16, 2010, 01:57:52 PM »
Hi, just wondering if anyone has any ideas about making cymbals?

I found wooden plates (about 12" not too thick, but not thin either), from a thrift store and used foam tape to attach piezo under it and used my cymbal mutes from my acoustic set for padding.

I found that for the crashes  and effects this seems to work amazingly well, but for my hi-hat and ride, its absolutely horrible! I get no articulation, and little if any control of velocity on the ride especially. Im thinking that the wood just doesn't allow enough flexibility to absorb more of the impact from the sticks, and when it does trigger because its so tight, that its pretty much all or nothing. My hi-hat and ride are just not usable like this.

i was wondering if the plastic practice cymbals are a good way to go for a DIY kit on a budget and if anyone has had any luck with them and the alesis trigger io.

I've been checking ebay and craigslist for acoustic cymbals to convert, but lately it seems that the choices in my area are few and far between for my price range and i really don't want to change my own acoustic cymbals in anyway at this point.

The plastic cymbals seem like the way i should go, i just hope that it works well with the trigger io.

Offline Guinness

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2010, 03:01:09 PM »
How about Tuperware lids?
 
Or...  you know those cheap drum sets they sell at Toys-R-Us...  in those kits, there are really cheap cymbals.  I've often thought of finding just the cymbals, and then applying the piezo, and then pouring plasticizer onto the bottom of the cymbal, muting it.  The plasticizer I'm thinking of can be found at home depot, and it's used for dipping tool handles to improve grip.
 
I think wood would not allow the vibrations to travel through it, and thus your ride challenges.
 
My two cents...

Offline H3RB

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2010, 08:11:30 PM »
not sure if your from the uk or not but on ebay.co.uk they have practice cymbals with the stand for £19.99 i plan on getting a few and adding a piezo and some rubber to deaden the sound.
the stand is good for me as i cant seem to find any rack clamps for the dm5 pro frame which is damn annoying

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2010, 11:17:31 PM »
Thanks for the great ideas! still not sure what im going to do though. I will keep an eye out for those toy cymbals, thats actually something that didnt cross my mind at all!

im actually getting use to the reponse from the wood plates, and its liveable for a while yet, so at least i have something to play with for now.

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Pintech-5Piece-Practice-Cymbal-Set?sku=444926

is starting to look like a good deal though!, i just really worry about the hi-hats not being sturdy enough, but either way its gotta be better than these neoprene covered wooden plates that i have now lol



Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2010, 10:38:30 AM »
I use plastic practice cymbals, cheap enough to buy from most music stores, then simply attached the piezo and jack underneath each one.

They seem to trigger very well and look the business - check out my pictures in the album in my signature.

I'm quite a heavy hitter as I've been an acoustic drummer for twenty years, and so far I haven't had any problems with damage on the cymbols and have been using them for nearly twelve months.
Premier Royale 7 piece A to E with T-Trigger mesh heads on a Dixon Chrome rack.
DIY piezo triggers. 
Alesis I/O.
BFD2. 
Reaper.
ETrigger.


Kit album:http://www.vdrums.com/forum/album.php?albumid=228

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2010, 11:54:07 PM »
awesome thanks so much pughey! this is going to be the way i go for a while yet, at least until i can pull together some cash for something better.

im looking forward to them now! i was worried they wouldn't hold up but if they're working for the heavy hitters i think i should be fine!


Offline DeeDubs

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2010, 10:42:20 PM »
I've often thought of finding just the cymbals, and then applying the piezo, and then pouring plasticizer onto the bottom of the cymbal, muting it.  The plasticizer I'm thinking of can be found at home depot, and it's used for dipping tool handles to improve grip.
 

I wondered about that too. If I can dig up an old cracked cymbal I might try it.
Bashing away on: Alesis DM10 Pro Kit w/ Bluejay soundset, Yamaha DTXM12, Addictive Drums, Gibraltar Cage & old skool Ludwig Maple Kit.


Check out my silly mug with "So What" at http://www.sowhatct.com

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2010, 09:23:28 AM »
well i got my cymbals, i have to say i didn't expect this much of an improvement! much better than the wooden plates!
 
so far only have the hi-hat and ride done, but they're much better than before. I can't figure out what im going to do for the bell of the ride though, i tried just placing a piezo on the bell and playing with the trigger io settings, but there was way too much cross talk between the bow and the bell.

any ideas? i could just use a switch like Hellfire's choke that im going to be making for my other cymbals i guess, and it wouldn't matter much because the 4th input on the trigger io is set to piezo/switch anyway.....


Offline Guinness

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2010, 12:04:46 PM »
I can't figure out what im going to do for the bell of the ride though, i tried just placing a piezo on the bell and playing with the trigger io settings, but there was way too much cross talk between the bow and the bell.

any ideas?

There's an article about just that in http://www.digitaldrummermag.com/
 
FYI.

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2010, 01:26:35 PM »
perfect, thanks a ton! forgot to look at the newest issue!


Offline Hellfire

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2010, 11:53:23 AM »
perfect, thanks a ton! forgot to look at the newest issue!
Have you made any progress yet? Looking forward to some pictures.

Re: DIY practice cymbals?
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2010, 06:51:28 PM »
yep, some progress.

I found a cheep kids drum set on salvage from musicians friend for about $40. So i packed away my pearl set to go with the more compact kids set, which also came with some really cheep, but perfect for DIY electric cymbals! and lots of other hardware also, all in all it was a much better deal than i originally thought.

so far i have split the 13" floor tom to make a 13" snare, and 13" floor tom. From the kid set i dumped the 8" tom.. its tiny and i used the hardware to mount the old 12" snare as a mid tom. all in all i still have a ton of work to do on the kit, but i will  post some pictures once i get the chance.

I'm currently in the middle or preparing for my MCAT which i take May 22nd so I haven't had much time for hobbies.. or my girl friend for that matter lol but i will be back to work on it soon.

Still debating using the cake pans and a reflection plate within the drums also, but we'll have to see which is easier because i already have triggers made from the ones i had in my pearl set and they seem to be working well.

so for the practice cymbals them selves. I have an interesting idea that i tested and it seems to work well. To make them dual zone I'm using your choke design, but I'm using pop cans for the aluminum flashing. Its super thin and with a little sanding its been a great conductor. The only problem i think i might have is if the practice cymbals flex upon striking to the point that the initial momentum causes the plates to  connect and short the circuit.

One way i think around this is to use either a sandwiched cymbal (Thicken them um so there's a little less movement, or make sure the material between the plates is thick enough and doesn't have so much of an open space as to transfer the movement through out the whole switch rather than just the top layer, but i haven't been able to try it just yet.

As for single zones though they work great, hi-hat feels flimsy, but its workable for now i think.