Bass Drum Cuts Out Sporadically

[m_ridzon]

Hello!  For 3yrs, I have been playing my first E-kit, Alesis Command X Mesh.  Fairly regularly, I notice the bass drum cuts out; i.e., I'll hit the pedal but no sound comes through.  It's unpredictable, sporadic, and only happens with the bass drum.  It's happened ever since I bought the kit brand new.  I finally decided that it's annoying enough to dig in to find an answer.  It only happens during a song, meaning the whole kit is being played and used.  If I'm just playing the kick by itself (i.e., for foot exercises), it doesn't happen.  It will only occur sporadically during a song.  In other words, it might miss a down beat here and there, a handful of times in a 5min song.  On the module, I didn't alter any trigger settings other than change the sounds of the drums.  It's just a combination of cymbal, snare, tom, and bass sounds that were already hardcoded in the module, brought together into my custom kit.  Could there be some kind of crosstalk going on between the drums that is causing this?  Is there a sensitivity setting out of whack?  Is there a way to fix this?

[m_ridzon]

Bump. 
Anyone have feedback on this?

[AlanK]

Used to be this was one of the wires breaking loose from the trigger (piezo) but if it only happens when you're playing the whole kit and not the kick alone, look in your settings for things like the sensitivity and retrigger, and priority as well.. if the kick has a low priority compared to other pieces it'll get eliminated if you hit another trigger/piece at the same time. Also, try plugging a different piece like a tom into the kick's cable insert and see if you can re-create the issue. Try plugging the kick drum cable into another jack and see if it reacts properly if you hit two kit pieces.. things like that to narrow down the possibilities

[m_ridzon]

This is great feedback!  Thank you!  I'll check the settings.  I'll also try swapping cables.

[m_ridzon]

I had my kit out this weekend and looked through the settings for the bass drum.  See the attached images.  It looks like some of these settings might relate to my problem.  However, I'm not familiar enough with each of the settings to know which ones I should try adjusting and/or how that might impact the outcome.  Can someone explain what each of these does and which ones I should adjust?

[Chaser]

I had my kit out this weekend and looked through the settings for the bass drum.  See the attached images.  It looks like some of these settings might relate to my problem.  However, I'm not familiar enough with each of the settings to know which ones I should try adjusting and/or how that might impact the outcome.  Can someone explain what each of these does and which ones I should adjust?

The Command Module is based on the Medeli DD650.

It's always recommended to read the User Guide/Manual at least once and become Familiar with it.
It is a minimum requirement to understand the basic Trigger adjustments for a drum module.

There is no "Universal" "one works for all"  setting or Fix...
The settings out of the box are generic/starting points and rarely are the perfect settings regardless of the Brand/manufacturer.
For Example: a Jazz or Dynamic Drummer playing style is different than a hard Core Metal Drummer Playing Style.
Everyone plays differently and you adjust them according to your playing style and using settings that work for one player generally do not work as well for another and can often create more issues than when you started.

To edit your trigger setting:
1. Press Kit to enter the Kit Selection page (if you are not already viewing it).
2. Press Menu to enter the Kit Menu.
3. Use the Down and Up buttons to select Trigger, and then press Enter.
4. Hit the pad whose voice you want to edit. The pads name will appear at the top of the display.
Alternatively, use the Down and Up buttons to select the pads name at the top of the display, and then use the dial or Left (<) and Right (>) buttons to change it.
5. The display will show the current trigger and its parameters.

On this page:
To select a parameter you want to edit, use the Down and Up buttons (not all parameters are available for all pads):

Sensitivity: The sensitivity of the head (center) of a drum pad. Higher values let you produce louder sounds with less force.
Lower values require more force to produce quieter sounds.

Rim Sens: The sensitivity of the rim of a drum pad. Higher values let you produce louder sounds with less force.
 Lower values require more force to produce quieter sounds.

Head-Rim Adj: The amount of crosstalk reduction between the head (center) and rim of a drum pad. Higher values reduce the probability that the pads rim sound will be triggered when you play its head only and vice versa (due to the force being transferred through the pad).
Dont set this value too high, though! If this value is too high, you may not be able to trigger its sound if you intentionally play both the head and rim at the same time; it may be silenced because the module incorrectly interprets the hit as crosstalk.

Threshold: The amount of force required to trigger the sound.

Xtalk: The amount of crosstalk reduction. Higher values reduce the probability that the pads sound will be triggered when you play another pad (due to the force being transferred through a rack, through the floor, etc.).
Dont set this value too high, though! If this value is too high, you may not be able to trigger its sound if you play another pad at the same time; it may be silenced because the module incorrectly interprets the hit as crosstalk.

Curve: The velocity curve of the pad. This controls the relationship between the amount of playing force and the volume level of the pads sound.

Retrig Cancel: The required amount of time between successive hits of the pad to produce the sound for both hits.

MIDI Note: When the drum modules USB MIDI port or MIDI Out is connected to a computer or external MIDI device, the pad will send this MIDI note to it. If you are not using those connections, this setting will not affect the trigger or its sound.

Splash Sens: The sensitivity of the hi-hat pedal to create a splash sound rather than the usual closed pedal sound.

To edit the parameters setting or value, use the dial or Left (<) and Right (>) buttons.
To save your changes, press Save. Otherwise, your changes will be lost when you power off the drum module.
Press Exit to return to the previous page.

Command User Guide v1.2  Trigger Settings pg 8

Alesis Command & Crimson Modules | Adjusting & Understanding Trigger Settings

EDIT:
Added Links