Homemade E-Drums

[Coheed]

All right guys I finally jumped the boat to E-drums. I'll never leave acoustic, I just love the idea of being about to play at 3 in the morning without making a single sound. I have a couple of question though...

1) I have found a couple of sites that teach me about electronic drum building and wanted you opinion of which is the best design. These sites include:

a)http://members.cox.net/ampage/triggers.htm
b)http://edrum.for.free.fr/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=32
c)http://www.electronicdrums.com/pads/pads2.htm
d)http://users.pandora.be/philippe.ceuppens3/DIYdrum/index.htm

2) I have heard of a couple Drum Modules and was wondering what the best “bang for my buck." Now I am not looking into spending a lot of money but I don’t want a Mod that sounds like ****. Can someone lead me in the right direction?

3) I have checked Radio Shack and asked them if they sell Piezos. They said no, but after some looking around the shop...I found a few. 1 to be exact. The only problem was that it was 10$ Now I’m not sure if this is the correct price but this seems like a lot considering I have heard people getting them for around 3-4$

Little help guys...

[skaman]

chekc out jlee 's posts about his edrum project. it's pretty awesome.

[Coheed]

Yes...I did look at that style of building, but the websites I suggested don’t use a cone, but foam backer and metal plating.

Also would these piezos work?:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5789295755&category=14943&rd=1

[drummerdan]

I'm not trying to pimp my stuff but you might want to take a look at my blog I did recently on buildng an ekit. I couldn't be more happy with the way my kit turned out. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

http://edrumbuild.blogspot.com/

[Coheed]

Yup, I have read you site before...many times. I am stealing the idea on the piezo on the inside snare shell with the tube line around the rim...awesome. Although it still results back to stock shell which I didn't want to use. I was hoping to use Remo practice pads.

[drummerdan]

I was hoping to use Remo practice pads.

If that's the case, here's what you want.

http://www.electronicdrums.com/pads/pads2.htm

As far as piezos - ask for part #273-073 at Radio Shack - $1.99 each.

[JLee]

Skaman

Thanks for the compliment. Very Much appreciated.

Coheed

I actually started off planning to just convert practice pads, but just figured I wanted to try my luck at the whole thing from start to finish. So far, I am glad I did as it has been a blast. I, as well, do not consider myself an electronic drummer per se, but I can already tell the mesh heads are going to be silent enough that I will be able to play pretty much at all hours, though I might have to insulate the rims like Drummerdan did. (He really does know what he is doing, while I am kind of making it up as I go along.)

Piezos should not come in at more than $3-4 a piece. I ended up having to go to two different Radio Shacks, and I am now convinced that the service there has really gone down the crapper in a big way. I got the same story about piezos (how they don't carry them) and had to rummage through the drawers myself until I found one.

Modules are a trade off. I have seen DM5's on Ebay for as little as $145, but bear in mind you do not get the luxury of really hi hat effects, only open or closed. I ended up biting the bullet and paying about $290 for an Alesis DMPro on
Ebay, which should give me everything I need,including the ability to play along with recorded music from an external source, a pretty cool feature.

Another lower end module would be the TD3. You also have to consider just how many inputs you will need as well, since once you run out, that's it -you can't add more later.

Regardless of the design you choose, there are plenty of resources (many right here on Ghostnote) to help you through.

Good Luck

[tcraw1010]

Geez . . . No love for the guy that got E-Dog to start this section in the first place. :(





;)


TOM

[Coheed]

Are the item numbers the same for Canadian Radio Shacks and American ones?

[JLee]

Are the item numbers the same for Canadian Radio Shacks and American ones?


If you are referring to the model #'s, I am not really sure, although I would think so.

[HiString]

Coheed,

Have you ever played on Remo practice pads? If not, I suggest you do, before committing to go down that road.........while they are bucket loads quiter than "real" drums, they still make quite a noise, (especially when you are laying into them), which can still be annoying to people in other rooms.

I know this as I have 10 converted Remo pads which are ultimately destined to be replaced by something along the lines of JLee's awesome creations.

:cool:

[JLee]

I actually ended up going the route of mesh heads and real shells originally because of the reduction in noise. Practice pads are a LOT quieter than real drums, no doubt, but I did find while taking a "test drive" on a set of Remo practice pads, that the noise was still not inconsiderable. The noise was acceptable while playing patterns and the like, but while playing along with music (over headphones) I just kind of got the feeling that it would still be an issue under certain circumstances.

The mesh heads are, in my opinion, much quieter than the practice pads. While I still don't have all the triggers connected, and am waiting on the module that should arrive tomorrow, I have played the toms a number of times and I can lay into them pretty hard without making too much noise, and the noise they do make has a much less sharp sound.

No doubt that going the pad route would save some money, though.

And Hi String, thank you.

[Coheed]

I guess when I say, you know what you’re talking about, you really do. I was hoping that I would not have to go with the acoustic - electric conversion but for what I am looking for...I guess I must. I was talking to some people about this and they all said to me that it's not worth it. I don’t have an extra acoustic kit lying around and I contacted Steves for an old used kit and the cheapest one was $800. I might just go with a set of Roland stage kit or even a v-custom. I know I will be spending a bit more money than I wanted to, but I know they will last.

Now...anyone on the board got one for sale?

Thanks for the help guys!

[JLee]

Coheed

I am pretty sure you can find a cheaper kit to work with, if you want to convert an acoustic kit to an electronic. I see kits at places like music123.com and musiciansfriend.com for a lot less than that new. I would think that shipping to a city as big and busy as Toronto would not be an issue, but I may be wrong. And because this is a conversion, you will not have to worry about the shells not being top quality. Certainly this would save some time as well.

If you have the time and a little bit of space to work, you might just want to go get the parts like I did and do the same thing. The whole thing, with module, will finish up just a little more than the quote you got for the drumset. I figure I will be out the door at under $1000 with EVERYTHING included (rack, shells, hardware, mounts, metal parts, heads, module, kick trigger, hi hat controller).

Hope it turns out well for you.

[Coheed]

How is the "Hart Dynamic Prodigy" set. It has a resonable price for all mess heads and comes with all cables, mounts, rack, and even cymbals.

[JLee]

How is the "Hart Dynamic Prodigy" set. It has a resonable price for all mess heads and comes with all cables, mounts, rack, and even cymbals.


Probably pretty serviceable, as far as being a practice kit. And yes, you can get that kit pretty cheap - about $499 on ebay, without module. Not sure if it comes with hi hat controller and bass drum trigger.

[Coheed]

Well there going for around 700 canadiam with module on eBay. Comes with Hi-Hat controller and the nice thing is it accucally uses a bass drum pad. Black on Black...

http://www.hartdynamics.com/products/drumsets/prodigy/PRODIGY+TD3.jpg

[DarthWader]

Probably pretty serviceable, as far as being a practice kit.

Right on. I have one and it's fine but has never felt quite right to me. It makes a little noise but not as much as practice pads. It's great for a cheap, quick e-drum choice (I got mine so I could take drums to college with me). Now that I'm home I never really play them, but I'm hoping to build my own e-drums with a more acoustic drum look to them. I am using the real old-school Alesis D4 (woo! it was cheap and functions fine) with my Hart kit. It's a pain to adjust all the rack stuff but once you get it just leave it there. Also, tighten that sucker down GOOD! I set my rack up and tightened stuff pretty well, but not tightly enough it seems. Bit of a shock when your toms just roll away from you...

Good luck with it, I think it's a fine kit for messing around on :)

Wade