What is the CHEAPEST Way to Build a MegaDrum?

[sumpm1]

Hey guys. I am a high school teacher. I have built a couple of edrum kits myself. I like to show this stuff to my high school students, they get very interested, and they want to try it themselves, and I want to build some kits during the school year to get them inspired. The most expensive part of a DIY edrum kit is the brain, or $150 for an Alesis trigger to midi, which only give 10 inputs.

I would like to build a couple of MegaDrum units with the students so they see it is possible. I would even like to first start with a breadboard version so that they can really SEE the nuts and bolts. After I build a breadboard version, we may build a pcb version.

So the students will probably fund this, and those students that donated will be put into a raffle to win the drumset at the end of the year or the semester.

What is the totally CHEAPEST way to make this happen?

The kit will only be connected to a pc, so midi may not even be necessary, and even an lcd and buttons may be excluded just to keep it super cheap for the kids.

Thanks in advance.

[ignotus]

Apart from the atmega and pic microcontrollers and the LCD, the rest of the components (resistors, caps, headers, etc.) cost pennies. You can leave out the midi in and out parts if you don't need them.

I wouldn't skip the LCD, troubleshooting can be a nightmare without it - you can get them on ebay for around 5 euros/dollars/whatever, and any old piece of electronic equipment with buttons on it will have momentary switches inside that you can recycle if you don't want to buy them.

I don't know what the story is now, but a few years ago Microchip kindly sent me a few free samples of the pic - if you work at a school they might still do it. Atmel wasn't as obliging; I never got a reply.

If you flash the last unencrypted firmware in the atmega you'll also save a bit, but I'd still recommend getting some pre-programmed ones off Dmitri.

Another thing you can do is skip all the trs jacks and cables if the e-kit is DIY and will only be used with the megadrum - you can just use terminal strips and normal shielded cable from the module to each pad. It won't be as comfortable to plug and unplug pads but this will save you a considerable amount of money. For the enclosure you can also try to find something that can be recycled, or even a sturdy tupperware box.

I built a megadrum on breadboard and I reckon the electronics (board with all components + lcd + buttons) cost me around 20 euros, maybe even less. I then spent around three times that on jacks, enclosure, cables... Turns out the actual electronics are the cheapest part, though the rest can also come out cheap with a bit of imagination.

[germtangc]

If you have a carpentry shop then I would suggest building your own drum and cymbal pads. The students would then have the opportunity to learn electronics and carpentry in one project: two birds with one stone, eh.

I would also suggest not leaving out at least the MIDI OUT 5-DIN port. You may need it for troubleshooting.

[sumpm1]

Apart from the atmega and pic microcontrollers and the LCD, the rest of the components (resistors, caps, headers, etc.) cost pennies. ..

...I built a megadrum on breadboard and I reckon the electronics (board with all components + lcd + buttons) cost me around 20 euros, maybe even less. I then spent around three times that on jacks, enclosure, cables... Turns out the actual electronics are the cheapest part, though the rest can also come out cheap with a bit of imagination.

This is good news. So building on a breadboard is a good idea for a first try?

Cool to hear that it can be done on the cheap, the rest of the stuff we will get creative with too. Like instead of using 1/4" jacks, I will use some super cheap rca jacks, and use rca cables for the triggers; this is what I use on my home diy kit already.

For an enclosure? I'm not sure. But the enclosure may end up being made of tupperware! Haha.

I will have to search the forum for how to program the atmega.

This will be my first megadrum build as well, so I'm not totally familiar with all of the components. I believe when I searched online for components in the past, I found all kinds of "generic" atmegas. Are you familiar with these? Will they work?

[sumpm1]

If you have a carpentry shop then I would suggest building your own drum and cymbal pads...

I am a math teacher. We don't have shop at all in my school district sadly. Only vocational students get that type of thing =(

And this project is completely off the topic of math, but where else will my students see something like this, AND try it? Probably nowhere, not in school, not out of school.

But once you jam out on your own diy kit, and with the sound and configurability of today's vsti's (I use XLN Addictive), the kids will freak out when they play and hear them.

I have made my own diy kit completely out of wood for the frame, cookie tins, window screen, and embroidery hoops for the pads, and pvc pipe sections with pieces of peanut butter jar for cymbals. I'll try to post a pic for you.

I plan on showing the students all of this.

It is so cool being able to create from common materials like this, and when you get to jam some metal with the finished product, WHOA!

[sumpm1]

...I'll try to post a pic for you.

And the original high quality pics:

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/9540/img0027pq.jpg
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5828/img0028sj.jpg

[ignotus]

Nice kit! 100% DIY!

This is good news. So building on a breadboard is a good idea for a first try?

Hmm, unless you're very confident about doing it on breadboard and have experience, there is a very real risk of a problem cropping up down the line and finding it really hard to pinpoint it. If I were to start again, I'd definitely get a pcb done, but that's just me. My breadboard build miraculously worked ok after the first attempt, but it soon developed hairline cracks in solder joints that took me ages to find and caused me quite a lot of frustration - it got very close to being flattened under a hammer. If I'd had students anxiously waiting to see the DIY megadrum miracle, they'd have run a mile...

As a side note... have you considered building something that isn't strictly a drumkit? Maybe not all your students want to be drummers, and some might be motivated by another type of instrument. You could build something like a xylophone, a Zendrum, a Trapkat or any instrument that involves hitting something to produce sound (might be harder to find samples for some instruments, but I'm sure they're out there), and that way you might be able to keep costs and labour down even more while showing them the potential of what can be done with a midi device like Megadrum. You could always show them your own kit so they can see how a drumkit is done. Just a thought.

[sumpm1]

Nice kit! 100% DIY!

Thank you. Yes diy and making from common materials is what makes the project "fun" or "worth it" for me.

Hmm, unless you're very confident about doing it on breadboard and have experience, there is a very real risk of a problem cropping up down the line and finding it really hard to pinpoint it. If I were to start again, I'd definitely get a pcb done.

I will not spend time or money on breadboard or stripboard then. Thanks for that.

As a side note... have you considered building something that isn't strictly a drumkit? Maybe not all your students want to be drummers, and some might be motivated by another type of instrument. You could build something like a xylophone, a Zendrum, a Trapkat...

Yes, I also have plans for a Zendrum made with milk jug caps. And a desktop drumset made of peanut butter jars. I could melt their face with some metal on the "peanut butter drum set." How could you not like that?

You could always show them your own kit so they can see how a drumkit is done. Just a thought.

Oh definitely, I have showed it to my students the last 2 years. Some kids were so interested, they insisted I showed them where I learned how to make it. Others said they would trade me their acoustic kit for this one.

A final product is cool, but learning all of these unknown concepts without JUST thinking of one final concept is cool too. Most kids have no idea what a microcontroller, pcb, schematic, trigger, piezo, mesh head... are. So each of those is an interesting topic on its own I think.