Reflection plate trigger / plexiglas plate (diy-project)

[TeroVesterinen]

Hello everybody and greetings from Finland. I'm new to the forum, new to this hole diy-drum thing and better still, not a drummer at all. So obviously I have to build myself a drumkit to fool around. It's going to be acoustic conversion -type with reflection plate triggers. And while I'm at it, I thought to build cymbals also by myself. I've gathered a loads of useful and excellent information from this great forum, thank you all for that. Still few things to be planned before I can start actually building the kit. For console I'm getting 32-input Megadrum (or at least I hope so, if it's possible to get one build and shipped to Finland, allready sent e-mail to Dmitri). I'll be posting some pictures of the project along the way. Hope they are helpful for someone, but at least you'll get a good laugh or two on me messing up my nerves and ruining my life with this project... Before I head to workshop I've got a couple of questions to clarify my plans:

1. Does anyone have experience using plexiglas (maybe 3-4mm / roughly 1/8inch) as a reflection plate? I could also use aluminium but since I've got loads of plexi around I thought tp give it a try. Structure for snare and toms will be pretty similar to this http://www.wastingwebspace.com/Html%20Pages/ClonezDrumsPage.htm only with few differences. Second layer is going to be foamed plastic (or at least I think that's what it's called in english, not shure about that). And bottom plate is made of 12mm / 15/32inch plywood. Otherwise it's more or less similar, just a bit adapted to fit my shells.

2. Should I use more than one piezo for rim? I've planned to use just one attached to shell, but after reading through couple of posts I've started to question that.

Anyway, I'm thankful for any ideas, opinions, suggestions and information you might have.

-Tero

[stefan1982]

Hi TeroVesterinen..

I'm familiar with using plexiglass as the base piezo-mounting plate for the actual drums, as well as for cymbals.
I used 5-6 mm PMMA.. I'll post some pictures later today once I'm home to give you an idea.

Are there any particular questions you would like to know? Or just _if_ it works this way?

[TeroVesterinen]

Hey Stefan and thanks for a really quick reply. This is great to have such an forum.

Mostly I've been wondering if plexiglass is used succesfully at all as a reflection plate? I guess you have. It would be really great to have some pics (of cymbals also). And I'm curious if I should use thicker plate than 3-4mm? I'm using 10", 12" and 14" shells so I think that 3-4mm plate will hold itself stiff enough with 6 rigging points set evenly and about 2,5cm inwards from the shell. But would thicker plate work better in your opinion?

Thanks in advance, as I said, it's awesome to have this forum and all the knowledge gathered in one place.

-Tero

[stefan1982]

Here you go...
my cymbals are 6mm thick and my reflection plate is exactly the same. I made them this because i think thinner will get more bouncier and give you more false triggering...

Bassdrum:




Toms 10/12, and 14/16 floor:


Snare




Small setup for fast practise:


And some of my my real-size cymbals: 22" ride, 18/17/16" crashes, 14" hihat, 10/12" splashes.


This is what I have so far here laying around.. The set is at home (I am at work now), so have nothing really at hand to show you the complete set but this should give you an idea.
In the upcoming weeks I could not post more pictures of the full setup, as I'm unable to set the kit up atm.

[ignotus]

Very nice work stefan1982.

However, I think TeroVesterinen wants to use the plexiglass for a slightly different approach. You're using them as a solid platform to put the trigger/cone assembly on, but the reflection plate design is a little different. It's a sheet of aluminium/plexiglass/whatever with the piezo stuck directly to it, no cones. Then a layer of foam goes on top covering the entire surface area and presses against the drum head. The thing is, you want the 'reflection plate' the piezo is stuck on to be able to flex or vibrate easily. I've even seen people use a mylar disc from a drum head as a reflection plate embedded in the foam. I've never tried that approach and can only speak from what I've seen, but if you have a lot of plexiglass lying around it won't hurt to see if it works, which it could well do.

[TeroVesterinen]

Thanks Stefan for the pics, really nice looking set you have there. And yes, Ignotus is right. I'm planning to make reflection plate system with piezo attached to the plexiglass-plate. I did read a couple of posts on using mylar as a reflection plate and that's why I first started thinking of using plexi. Too bad that I'm not even decent drummer, but when I have something ready I'll ask our drummer to bang few hits on one of the drums just to get you a reference of plexiglass as a plate. I'll try with different thickness plates since the structure makes it quite easy to change plate (and height of it).