Transcript for the video "How I Made My Drumkit, Part2"

Note: this page includes very few pictures, watch the video for the complete story!

Hi my name is Marcel and I would like to share with you how I made my electronic drumkit and how you could be making your own electronic drum kit. This is part 2 of a 10 part series and in this video I would like to show you how to make triggers. Triggers can be used to electrify acoustic drumkits, where they are in fact complete products. But triggers are also used as a component in other products, for example in electronic cymbals and drumpads.

First let me show you the materials and tools you need. To make triggers, you need 3 materials or components and 4 tools. The materials you need are a piezo, a cable and a connector. I will show you different variations in a minute. The tools you need are a cutting tool, a stripping tool, a solder station and a glue gun.

Before I proceed, let me give you a warning about these tools. The purpose of this video is to explain how to do things briefly, I am assuming that you know how to use these tools properly. If you don’t, please ask someone else to show you how they should be used. I don’t want you to blame me for any burns or cuts, okay?

The main component in a trigger is the piezo. The piezo is the component that converts the energy from a hit on an electronic cymbal or drumpad, into an analog signal.

All drummodules are designed to convert these analog signals into sounds, or MIDI. I’ll explain more about drummodules and interfaces later in the series, in part 8. I got the piezo that I am using here from Conrad Electronic. You should be able to find these in your own country as well. This one is 27mm in diameter and for the Dutch people watching this, the article number of the ones I use is 712930. It is very cheap, less than 1 euro or US dollar.

Before we start we have to choose between two different approaches. Here on your left you can see a trigger with a short cable and a female jack connector, this type of trigger is the type you would use in a drumpad. The drumpad can then be connected to your equipment using a separate cable. On the right you see a trigger with a long cable and a male jack connector. This type is a trigger that you would use when you want to add electronics to an acoustic drumkit.

In this video I will make a trigger of the first type, because that is the type I use to make drumpads later on. After I’ve made it, I will show you some more variations on triggers.

Start by turning the solder station and the glue gun on. They both need to heat up, we need the glue gun last, but that one needs a while longer to heat up.

We start with the cable. Generally, you could use any type of cable. Since the trigger produces a pulse rather than sound, the quality of the cable is not really important. Here I have strong speaker cable and here I have flexible cable. Which I use, depends on the use of the trigger. For this one I will use the speaker cable.

Now I strip the cable using a stripping tool, leaving two contacts at either end. Then I put some tin on each of the four ends, so the tin will flow better when the parts are put together. Then depending on how long the ends are, I might cut a small bit off.

Now at one end solder the jack connector of your choice. If you use a connector with a shell like that one, make sure you do not forget to take the cable through first. It doesn’t really matter which end goes on the tip or the ring of the plug, it works both ways.

Then solder the two contacts at the other end to the piezo, one to the edge and one to the middle, not neccessarily the small part. When soldering the middle contact, make sure you do it fast because the coating melts when it gets too hot. I recommend soldering the edge first, because that makes it easier to solder the middle because you can bend the cable towards the center.

When both sides are done, you should test the trigger using a drummodule. Over here I have an old Roland TD7 module that I use just for testing. As I explained, the cable is not important. So don’t mind this blue cable, any cable will do. Just connect the trigger to one of the inputs on your module and tap on it with your finger. You should hear the sound that is progammed for that input, in my case you can hear a snare sound. If you do not hear a sound, check the module or test another trigger, to determine whether the trigger is good or faulty.

If the triggers works fine, you’re done. However, experience shows that after a million hits or so, the middle contact on the piezo could break off. My tip is to secure the contacts on the piezo with a glue gun. Make sure the glue gun is really hot, so the glue flows well.

Since the glue is very hot, you need to be careful not to get any glue on your hand. The glue stays hot for about 20 seconds so wait a bit before you touch it. Also, do not try to spread the glue after applying. If it does not flow nicely, it is too thick and that means it is not hot enough. OK?

As I explained this is the type of trigger I use in drumpads. I will show how this trigger becomes a drumpad in part 4. I promised to show you several variations on this trigger. A variation on the type I just made, is a trigger that I use in cymbals. For cymbals I prefer the flexible cable because I want the cymbal to bounce freely. So when I make a trigger to use in a cymbal I use the other cable I showed you earlier. I will show how to make a cymbal with a trigger like that in part 3.

You can put triggers like this in almost anything. You probably have seen people with triggers in clothing before. It's not difficult. Here I have a vest, I cut it open to insert triggers into the underlay. If you want to do something like this, it's a good idea to use zippers. Because triggers can break and zippers make it more easy to repair things.

If you do not want to ruin your clothing, here is another idea. You could use long sleeved underwear. This piece of clothing has pockets sowed on, to put the triggers in. It could be a little hot during a gig, since it can be hot on stage if you use a lot of lights... But this way you can wear a different outfit each gig but still use triggers in your clothing.

As I explained in the beginning, there are triggers that can be used to make drumpads, but you could also use triggers to electrify acoustic drums. You could glue the piezo directly to a drum head or a shell, and it will probably work fine. But if you want to take it off and put it back on regularly, I suggest you put it in some casing.

Here you see a casing I made from PVC, it’s basically a box consisting of two parts. These were made out of PVC bars. But you could make any kind of casing. Just make sure the vibrations of the hit, reach the piezo. So generally a hard casing is a better conductor than a soft casing.

An alternative for a casing, would be to make or buy a trigger that can be mounted on a rim of an acoustic snare or tom. If you browse the internet, you will find several drum manufacturers that sell triggers like that and you will find several DIY solutions. Do not ask me for advice there, I do not ride on that road. It is my firm belief that acoustic drums and electronic percussion are different instruments. So putting triggers on an acoustic snare or tom just isn't for me, I look at triggers and try to imagine what I can build around it. That could be a drumpad, but it could also be something entirely different.

I have a few more ideas for you. This picture shows a trigger that can be attached with velcro. So you could attach this one to a piece of clothing.

On this picture you see a variation with straps, that you could wrap around your leg. So this is something that you could wear on top of your clothing.

In this video I showed you how to make a trigger and I have shown you six different variations. In the next three videos I will show you how you could use these triggers to make cymbals, drumpads and footpads and I will give you lots of tips, so you can learn from my experiences. I hope you enjoy these videos!

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