Flexible piezo PVDF question

[vodoochild_ar80]

Hi, has anyone used this piezos for drum triggering?
I tried to search in forum but nothing show up...
any advice to use them? are they suitable for triggering?

pd:im tired of breaking piezos!

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9196
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9197
http://www.meas-spec.com/downloads/LDT_Series.pdf
http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sens ... echman.pdf

thanks !

[everson]

Seems interesting! And probably suitable ...

[vodoochild_ar80]

yup very interesting you can even fold them
it seem no one has use them for drumtriggering altough is one of th aplications sugested in the manual (page 45, listed above ),
i read that can reach 90v, guess that its just to much for the megadrum, maybe 1Mohm resitor? im really guessing,
dont even know if megadrum can handle 90v, any idea?
still didnt order them to test, i was hopping to ear your experience first.... so.... come on, tell us!

thanks for reply, sorry my poor english.

[vodoochild_ar80]

no one?, really?
ok, gonna buy some and test them, stay tune!

[Bean]

no one?, really?
ok, gonna buy some and test them, stay tune!

Very nice find! This is by far the best price I have seen for a piezo strip's.

Did you order some and give it a try yet? Please share the results if you have. I will be putting these to test someday as well; however I am a full time student and my studies seem to absorb all of my time. It will likely be a while before I put it to the test and have acclimated data to report.

I have been looking into flexible piezo strips and have tested flexible piezo rods to capturing the sound of the drum as a surface contact mic. I rigged up a setup that is both acoustic and electric just by flipping the drum over. I am attempting to also make my setup compatible with audio amp in the same manner as an electric guitar works with a pickup. My setup has both 3-ply mesh heads and drum heads on each drum. I did test the flexible piezo rods on the mesh head with my 56 inputs MegaDrum.

I have been testing ways to optimize my setup so it sends a nice single out to the MegaDrum. The MegaDrum is incredible because it has the flexibility to correctly interpret the pore quality of my signal into a useful data just by tweaking the appropriate parameters. I discovered that the flexible piezo material emphasis the transfer of energy from both the mesh head as well as the object it is mounted upon. I used Sorbothane on the side that the piezo is mounted to eliminate most of the false shell trigger. What I have found now is that the mesh head resonates when hit just like a drum head, the flexible piezo material emphasis the resonates of the mesh head and the megaDrum ends up with an aggressive input signal to process.

I have been exploring ways to remove the mechanical resonate effect that occurred on the mesh head without introducing visual obstruction inside the drum. Most people just overcome this resonate effect by adding foam or rubber inside the drum. I am testing ways to place the sensor and dampening material around the inside perimeter of the rim (hoop) so that it rest against the top of the mesh head from the outside of the drum and looks like it is part of the rubber rim protector. I may be seeking a solution that is mechanically impossible; yet much of my setup that works incredibility well was believed to be mechanically impossible until I made the prototype.

Best Regards,
- Bean

Mesh side - all drums

Mesh_side-in_use.jpg

Drum-side

Polycarbonate_to_add_MIDI.jpg

Test Drum - useing piezo rod's on my 16" tom

16-inch_tom_testing_piezo_in_center_and_sides.jpg