Rockdudes Yamaha 3 zone replica for MegaDrum (build log)

[kimouette]

hmmm, 3 zone hihat... never thought of it!
Though I wouldn't necessarely want to have switches on my hihat : hitting a switch is not exactly like hitting a regular cymbal. I'm sure I'd loose some important sensibility (especially with soft notes).
Like I already said, this design works great, but I do have to use a little more strenght to trigger the switches.

I can't really figure if a 3-zone Yamaha design on a hihat would be compatible with both MD and any drum software. For instance, I dont think you could control a 3rd note with your pedal in BFD2.

[einkahumor]

I can't really figure if a 3-zone Yamaha design on a hihat would be compatible with both MD and any drum software. For instance, I dont think you could control a 3rd note with your pedal in BFD2.

Don't know about BFD as I've never used it but Toontrack's SD2 has great support for 3-zone hihats.

[rockdude]

It worked! My first build failed, but after I rebuilt it using a plastic practice cymbal and modified some parts it suddenly just worked. I could trigger all three zones after I followed the documentation of how to set up MegaDrum for a 3 zone Yamaha cymbal (http://www.megadrum.info/content/settin ... one-cymbal).

I did some more tweaking after that to fine tune everything and now I can play a Ride cymbal in Superior Drummer without any hassle. Bell, Bow, Edge and choke works very good!

Tomorrow I'll start building a three zone hihat! I've got a few more modification I want to try on that build to make it even better
I'll post new pictures of how my new successful build looks like later on.

[dm9876]

great news.. look forward to see how you worked the bell switch on the plastic practice cymbal. I have pintech single zone for my ride that I would like to convert in this way to 3 zone. I was thinking I would have to use piezo in the bell (with KR circuit to make it Yamaha style).

[rockdude]

great news.. look forward to see how you worked the bell switch on the plastic practice cymbal. I have pintech single zone for my ride that I would like to convert in this way to 3 zone. I was thinking I would have to use piezo in the bell (with KR circuit to make it Yamaha style).

You don't need a bell-piezo or KR circuit to make a 3-zone Yamaha design. I'm almost finished with my 3-zone hihat now. I recently made a quick test and so far so good! I'll get back with pictures and an explanation of how I did it later on.

[whiskey29]

Hi Rockdude, can you post the pic for the build or schematic for the build for 3 zone without KRC.
Is that the one hat is using two switch, one on top bell with 10kR, one on the edge and a bow piezo ?
hitting bell or bow, the velocity is registered from bow piezo, and if no switch closed then only bow sound produced ?

[rockdude]

Hi Rockdude, can you post the pic for the build or schematic for the build for 3 zone without KRC.
Is that the one hat is using two switch, one on top bell with 10kR, one on the edge and a bow piezo ?
hitting bell or bow, the velocity is registered from bow piezo, and if no switch closed then only bow sound produced ?

The schematic is in my first post. The resistor is on the edge switch. You're right about how it functions. I'll post more pictures when I've got more time to load and sort my pictures onto my computer.

[whiskey29]

I remember seeing that construction from batacas.com

Do you put any bitumen to dampen the cymbal?
I figure that if just using one piezo, the bitumen serve no purpose other than keeps it quiet.
In fact it could be dampening too much and make light hit on bell or edge doesnt register the velocity from the bow piezo.

Currently I am trying to do one with the KRC. Havent got the KRC made thou.
Right now with two zone, I need to tweak it a lot so it will register properly.

Do you know how to set so the edge piezo send aftertouch message ?
Right now they are both piezo/piezo.

In MidiOX, when both edge and bow triggered, what should it say in midiOX, aftertouch AND bow piezo velocity ?

Thanks in advance mate

[rockdude]

I remember seeing that construction from batacas.com

Do you put any bitumen to dampen the cymbal?
I figure that if just using one piezo, the bitumen serve no purpose other than keeps it quiet.
In fact it could be dampening too much and make light hit on bell or edge doesnt register the velocity from the bow piezo.

Currently I am trying to do one with the KRC. Havent got the KRC made thou.
Right now with two zone, I need to tweak it a lot so it will register properly.

Do you know how to set so the edge piezo send aftertouch message ?
Right now they are both piezo/piezo.

In MidiOX, when both edge and bow triggered, what should it say in midiOX, aftertouch AND bow piezo velocity ?

Thanks in advance mate

Right now I don't use any bitumen to dampen anything. My cymbal is plastic so it doesn't vibrate that much and my new design uses dampening materials on top of the cymbal. If you experience a lot of false triggering I would suggest adding that. A real cymbal is far more prone to vibrate and cause false triggering than a plastic one.

I used Midi OX to monitor at which thresholds the switches send aftertouch messages. I ended up at 8 for bell and 34 for edge. I used this guide first though to let MegaDrum find a good setting to start with: http://www.megadrum.info/content/settin ... one-cymbal

[whiskey29]

I remember seeing that construction from batacas.com

Do you put any bitumen to dampen the cymbal?
I figure that if just using one piezo, the bitumen serve no purpose other than keeps it quiet.
In fact it could be dampening too much and make light hit on bell or edge doesnt register the velocity from the bow piezo.

Currently I am trying to do one with the KRC. Havent got the KRC made thou.
Right now with two zone, I need to tweak it a lot so it will register properly.

Do you know how to set so the edge piezo send aftertouch message ?
Right now they are both piezo/piezo.

In MidiOX, when both edge and bow triggered, what should it say in midiOX, aftertouch AND bow piezo velocity ?

Thanks in advance mate

Right now I don't use any bitumen to dampen anything. My cymbal is plastic so it doesn't vibrate that much and my new design uses dampening materials on top of the cymbal. If you experience a lot of false triggering I would suggest adding that. A real cymbal is far more prone to vibrate and cause false triggering than a plastic one.

I used Midi OX to monitor at which thresholds the switches send aftertouch messages. I ended up at 8 for bell and 34 for edge. I used this guide first though to let MegaDrum find a good setting to start with: http://www.megadrum.info/content/settin ... one-cymbal

Ow.. thresholds is something I havent set Was in hurry the other day
I will look into it.
Do you think its possible just play with the settings and avoid the KRC whilse still using piezo/piezo on the bell and edge