Rockdudes MegaDrum attempt (Build log)

[rockdude]

Keep 'em coming Rockdude. I think this thread may help others out that have the same questions as you. I fumbled my way through it when I did all that stuff to mine. Please keep posting pictures, because people are a lot more apt to read a post if there are pretty pics!

Thanks. That's one of the reasons I'm writing this build log
I'm doing it to show my progress, get help and influences by others and to create something that can help others in the same situation as me.
More pictures will follow! Detailed, basic and useful pictures...and more of my stupid questions of course

I'm especially thankful for the time you(jman) and Firelord has spend trying to answer my questions...and I hope you'll continue to do so

[jman 31]

No problem brother. I don't think your questions have been stupid at all. I just happen to have enough experience in electronics to bash my way through, but there are a lot of folks that have the same questions as you and haven't taken the time to put it all in a nice combined thread like you have.

I am interested to see what you do for an enclosure.

Jman

[rockdude]

Enclosure under development for MegaDrum:


Below you can see my first beta of the back panel with holes for the inputs. I'm not fully satisfied with it and might consider using some kind of plastic for the front and back panel and leave the rest in wood. I found a cutting board at the supermarket that might do the trick

[ASH]

Hey rockdude!
This is my first message on the forum and I haven't been reading for so long so sorry if I ask stupid/easy to look up-questions

I'm in Sweden as well and have plans to build a digital drumset from scratch.
I don't have a trig module yet so I'm thinking about ordering the megadrum.
I was down at my local 4sound the other day to buy an Alesis trigger I/O, but they were out and said they probably wouldn't get any for a few months.

So I have a few questions for you:

1. Do you think building a megadrum for developing a diy drumset is a good idea? I mean it might be hard to know where to tweak if the drums haven't been tested with a "real" module?

2. How much did you spend on the essential parts of the megadrum in SEK?

3. Not sure if allowed to ask here but: are you interested in selling your trigger I/O? or you still have use for it?

Thanks and great thread btw!

[rockdude]

Hi Ash,

sorry if I ask stupid/easy to look up-questions

Stop there! That's my trademark...don't try to steal it from me!

1. Do you think building a megadrum for developing a diy drumset is a good idea? I mean it might be hard to know where to tweak if the drums haven't been tested with a "real" module?

I think it's a great idea to build a MegaDrum. Your entire setup will be DIY that way!
MegaDrum is a real module when completed and you will tweak it to fit your drums as you would with any other module. MegaDrum will in fact offer a lot more features and settings to tweak than Alesis Trigger IO.

2. How much did you spend on the essential parts of the megadrum in SEK?

Essential parts:
I bought Synthex Kit 56i v3.1 and Kit 56i Inputs = 159 euro
I'm building my enclosure in wood, approximately 5 euro
Total: 164 euro = 1672 SEK
(You might have to spend some money on tools to build the MegaDrum and cables to connect the inputs from the input board if you don't have any.)

3. Not sure if allowed to ask here but: are you interested in selling your trigger I/O? or you still have use for it?

At the moment I'm using Alesis Trigger IO since I'm still building the enclosure for my MegaDrum. The Trigger IO is a pretty good unit so I might keep it even after my MegaDrum is ready for action (I think the two would make a good couple ). Trigger IO's flaws is it's limited inputs and that it lacks features and settings. It has "reversed" cc-data and strange chick note triggering for variable hihats etc. If that doesn't bother you, Alesis Trigger IO is great value for the money compared to other commercial modules. You can buy it cheap from Thomann.

Thanks and great thread btw!

Thanks! I do my best to keep it simple and easy to follow.

[rockdude]

I found a better wood material for my panels. It's some kind of fiberboard that doesn't flake on the back side when drilling holes.

Does anyone know if heat is a factor to worry about when making an enclosure for MegaDrum?
Do I have to make "air holes" to make it breath more easily?
I'll probably finish my backpanel tomorrow and start working on the front panel. I'll post pictures of my progress tomorrow.

[Firelord]

Does anyone know if heat is a factor to worry about when making an enclosure for MegaDrum?

Absolutely not.

[rockdude]

My plan was to post pictures of my progress yesterday, but i accidentally damaged my back panel while cutting the holes for midi in out and usb. I had to redo it, but now it's finally done (My third attempt ) .
Ladies and gentlemen, here's the pictures I promised before. Nothing special yet, but later on when they are pimped with color and some extras I have in mind they will be ridiculously good looking

It's really important to secure the panel when drilling holes. And make sure to have another piece of wood under it to prevent the panel to flake or break on the back side:


I pre drilled a few holes where the midi in/out and usb is supposed to be and then fine tuned with my knife.


It's pretty hard to drill the holes in such a good manner that they fit all the inputs (even though I measured them carefully), but I finally managed. The Midi in/out and usb challenged me too.
This is how the back panel looks right now:


Cutting the front panel:


This is how the front panel looks so far:


I'm still waiting for those darn rotary encoders I ordered from conrad.com, so I haven't drilled any holes for them yet.
I bought spray varnish color to spray all the parts of my enclosure with when it's ready to get pimped (Not really there yet, but hey I can dream).
I've also been thinking of how to put some nice text on my enclosure. I've ordered some stuff to experiment with (also from conrad.com). I'll post links to that later. That's all for now. Over and out!

[rockdude]

Using kitchen-door magnets in the megadrum enclosure to be able to open and close the top...good or bad?

[Firelord]

If your wooden boards are thick enough why not use screws?

Otherwise, you're free to experiment with it as long as you stay comfortable with your decisions. I'm not really sure whether magnets are going to be any trouble, you need to test it and see for yourself.