Transcript for the video "How I Made My Drumkit, Part4"
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 drumkit. This is part 4 of a 10 part series and in this video I would like to show you how I made my drumpads. First I would like to go back and show you my first designs, then I would like to show you how I got to my current design and to conclude, I will give you tips on how to make your own drumpads. Let’s go the the workbench.
I started in the late 80’s. I started out making pads using wood. This is my very first drumpad.
It consists of two white-painted 8mm plywood discs. It has a 1cm foam layer inbetween, to eliminate or at least decrease the crosstalk. For those of you that do not know what crosstalk is: it is when you hit one pad and you also hear a sound from another drumpad, because they are mounted on the same rack and the vibrations come through. So crosstalk is something you want to avoid and you need to think about that when you design your pads.
On top I glued a common placemat, in that time I also used vinyl flooring as playing surfaces. After viewing part 2 you know that the most important part of a drumpad is the piezo. The piezo should be attached directly beneath the top plate. Here you see the piezo. Today I use a different kind of piezo, but the basics are the same. If I would solder it together again, it would still work!
The reduction of vibration by the foam turned out to be insufficient and that's why I started to use a 'silent block' in the mounting of the pad. A silent block is a rubber cilinder with two screwthreads, that are isolated from each other. So vibrations are damped. You can get them in lots of variations. Most of the time I use the ones with M8 screwthreads and two male screwthreads.
I assumed it would prevent crosstalk enough so that I did not need the foam anymore. So I used one plate and I put some white fabrics around the electronic parts and silent block. I secured the fabric with a stapler and I think this design looks really cool.
After that I wanted to try if I could make better pads out of other materials. So I experimented with different types of plastics. After a few tests, I found out that PVC is really a very suitable type of plastic to use for building things. It is flexible, yet strong. More expensive plastics didn't give better results.
I also tested several types of rubbers as playing surfaces. The result of that test was that neoprene rubber had a good bounce and it was also very affordable material as well. The other types that bounced well, or better, were a lot more expensive.
After those tests, I made a new design. Let’s call that design 3. I chose to combine the best of the two earlier designs. I used two 3mm discs of PVC and in between a foam layer, but I also decided to use silent blocks for mounting. Because 3mm is not enough for a solid screwthread, I glued a PVC cylinder to the bottom. In that cilinder I put an insert with a screw-thread. In order to keep the pad thin, I chose to use a cinch connector. I decided I wanted to sell these, so in 1993 I founded a company called: Marcel Electronic Percussion.
I called this design the EPP-100 and I sold these pads in multiple colors. I used neoprene rubber as a playing surface and by offering different thicknesses, I was able to adjust the pad to the style of the player. I sold 4mm for Jazz drummers, 6mm was standard and I offered 8mm for rock drummers and 10mm for heavy hitters. I had the first 100 pads I made, painted by Dutch rock legend Herman Brood, a famous singer and painter.
In the years that came, I found two things that I could improve on: the connector and the attachment. In 1997 I designed the EPP-200 drumpad and I incorporated the two improvements. The funny thing is, it looks pretty much the same as my second design... This pad is made from plastic with the injection moulding technique. I will show you how this drumpad is assembled. Although I do not sell these parts anymore, after watching this you will be able to use this design to make your own pads.
First let me show you the materials and tools you need. To make a drumpad, you first need to make a trigger. I showed how to make a trigger in part 2, so if you do not know how to make a trigger, watch that video first. If you have seen that video, you'll know that to make a trigger you need a piezo, a cable and a connector. To make a drumpad, you need a trigger and 5 other materials or components: a playing surface, a top plate, a foam layer, the bottom part and a metal insert that has a screwthread.
In part 2 I explained that to make a trigger you need a cutting tool, a stripping tool, a solder station and a glue gun. Which tools you need to make your drumpad, depends on the material you are using for the top plate and for the bottom part. If you are using wood, you probably need a saw, a file and sandpaper. You will also need glue, in my case tix glue. But obviously the type of glue you need depends on the materials you are using.
The first step is to attach the piezo to the top plate. Just like I explained in the previous video, you could use glue but you run the risk that the signal might be a too strong. If you use thick doublesided tape, the signal may be too soft. So I use thin doublesided tape. Just cut a piece and put it in the middle of the plate, at the bottom side of course. Then press it to remove air and strip off the paper. Now press the piezo on the tape.
The foam I use is polyurethane foam. You can get this in many shapes and colors. It is also often used for soundproofing. Here I have gray foam that is 2 cm thick. This foam is already cut. Cutting the foam is not easy. Make sure you draw a circle first using a marker, otherwise your circle will surely end up being an ellipse. For cutting, it is best to use large scissors like these. After cutting it, take the foam and make a cut in the middle. Put the connector through the foam to the other side.
Then attach the connector to the bottom part of the pad like this. This bottom part already has a hole for the connector, if you make something yourself you obviously need to drill a hole in the bottom for the connector yourself. Tighten the ring outside, so that he connector won't turn loose easily.
Before you glue all the parts together, I suggest you test it first. Even if you tested the trigger after you made it, because it would be a shame if you found out it didn't work after the drumpad was glued together. Here I have an old Roland TD7 module that I use just for testing. Just plug it in and tap the top plate with your finger. If you do not hear a sound, there is something wrong. If you need to hit it very hard, the material might be too thick so you may need to rethink your choice of material or the thickness of the top plate.
When it works fine, it is time to glue the parts together. I use tix glue, which works well on foam and plastic. You can buy tix glue in a bucket like this one, or in smaller tubes. However, do not let it dry 20 minutes like it says on the label, because when used with foam the glue dries a lot faster. Just put the glue all around, put the pad together and put some weight on it for about a half hour or so. Make sure the weight presses evenly. When I glue a single pad, I place a circular object on it and a weight on top. When I make multiple pads, I use these wooden plates. The height of the blocks inbetween the plates are just a little lower than the height of the pads.
What remains is the playing surface. Years ago I had a series of neoprene circles made with a self-adhesive side. So I only have to fold some of the paper, put it on and take the rest off. I assume you don’t have something like this, so you need to cut a circle out of some kind of rubber or vinyl or placemats and glue it on top.
To mount the pad to the rack, I use the silent block that I showed you earlier in this video, and an aluminium cilinder. I will show you how I mount my pads in part 6.
None of the pads I have shown you so far, have multiple zones. In my drumkit I prefer to use a large amount of single zone pads, that is just my preference. But I have made quite a few multipads in the 90’s. Let me show you a few examples.
Here I have a multipad that has 12 zones, which makes it a good match for drummodules like the Alesis D4 or DM5. As you can see, each zone has one piezo mounted underneath and a cable running to the side. It is also possible to use a multi-connector, which enables you to connect everything using a single connector. For more info on how I use multi connectors, watch part 7 of this series.
Here you see a small multipad, which size fits the size of an Alesis D4 or DM5 or DMPro. This design has no bottom layer, because it is meant to be placed over the module. It will hold it’s place using 2 rubber bands. You can play it with your fingers or, if you want more attack, with thimbles. Just plug in the connectors and you have a really great mobile drumkit. I have used this in the past for rehearsals, when I was too lazy to bring my normal kit.
The last multipad I will show you is this one, a multipad meant to be played on with your feet instead of sticks or fingers. You could play kick and snare with your feet while playing a bass guitar. Are you getting the idea? Using this design you can build multipads in any shape and out of any material.
So this is how I make drumpads and multipads. As I said, it doesn’t matter if you use plastic or wood, you should be able to make your own pads from scratch. You could also make pads using practise pads or acoustic drums. You can make pads in any shape, size or material. Just remember three things:
- Make sure the vibration of your hit reaches the piezo
So you get a strong signal to send to your equipment
- Make sure you eliminate crosstalk
By using foam and/or silent blocks or some other method you can think of
- Make sure you make it comfortable to play upon
The surface should not be too hard or too soft
That’s it. I hope this video has has inspired you to make pads or in case you already planned to make some, I hope this video has saved you some time experimenting. What I haven’t shown you is how you could make pads for your feet. I call that Footpads and in the next video I will show you how I made my footpads. The basics are the same, the shape and material is different. I hope you’ll watch that video as well!
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