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View Full Version : DIY MIDI drumset

AkeJay02
10-09-2007, 08:37 AM
Okay, so I don't play drums that frequently (I'm just a lame guitarist...sorry guys if this post sounds stupid). I recently got married and moved into an apartment with my wife. I'd like to play drums, but they're too loud. So, I've been looking into making my own set, and it doesn't sound that complicated. I just wanted to make sure that it maybe makes a little sense in the community, first, and maybe get some input from actual drummers about some of the stuff I'm not sure about. So, here it goes:

I am planning on buying a practice drum set, with just a bunch of pads, rather than actual drums. If I don't do this, I may try to make it more portable by buying different sized drum pads and turning those into triggers that can mount on regular drum heads.

When I was in middle school, I played the snare for a while in band. In practice, we would put a silencing pad on the snare, and it would make it ABSOLUTELY quiet. Some pads seem to lighten it. How would I find one of those absolutly quiet ones?

Anyway, I'm going to mount a piezo transducer into each one (found a crapload of 10-for-$20 sales of them on Ebay), and then run that into an Alesis Trigger iO to convert the triggers to MIDI. Then, I'll just run that into my computer and connect it to Battery, which is what I use to play my preprogrammed drums right now.

Am I missing anything? What do you think?

PS: Please, no "why don't you just buy an electronic drumset" comments. I'm not spending the money on one when I can have one for a little bit of time, and about $200.

THANKS!!
Chippy569
10-09-2007, 08:51 AM
by extra piezos because you're going to be knocking them off the practice pad "heads" a lot. there's no good place to put them, 'ya know?
here's a great place to read more about diy drums:
http://www.drumshed.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=42
AkeJay02
10-09-2007, 09:27 AM
by extra piezos because you're going to be knocking them off the practice pad "heads" a lot. there's no good place to put them, 'ya know?
here's a great place to read more about diy drums:
http://www.drumshed.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=42

I am actually planning on putting them INTO the pads, rather than on them.

http://members.cox.net/ampage/triggers.htm
DrummerJonny
10-09-2007, 09:47 AM
it may be worth looking into buying a cheap, crap drum kit, fitting it with mesh heads, and placing the triggers inside the shells. can always cut the shells down if you need....
AkeJay02
10-09-2007, 09:58 AM
I thought about that. I actually have my brother's old First Act drum set that he got a couple of years ago when he started drumming. It sounds like crap, but I don't really need the sound anyway. However. Using mesh heads can be dangerous, I've heard, as they can break. So, I actually found this:

http://www.toontrack.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=36449

I think that's what I'm going to go with.
Chippy569
10-09-2007, 10:31 AM
I am actually planning on putting them INTO the pads, rather than on them.

http://members.cox.net/ampage/triggers.htm
oh good, you found that. that's what i was going to suggest but i couldn't find that site!
AkeJay02
10-09-2007, 11:09 AM
I got a friend that works at GC, and he's going to hook me up with some sweet deals on the equipment.