Beamtreetaker's issues Part II

[Beamtreetaker]

Hi Megadrummers,
the last days I finished working on my drumset (apart from the cymbals which unfortunately still didn't arrive). Here's how my kit looks like right now:

drumkit1.jpg

Everything is quite okay at this state. Not really playable - esp. because of these two major flaws:
1.) Overspilling. This is really annoying, especially when I play fast tom rolls with lots of energy. To solve it I already tried:
- moving the cone farer away from the drum heads: did better the problem but not solve it. Now it's in the maximum distance position (when I push the cone 1nm further away slight hits won't be recognized).
- inserting resistors next to the cone. I started with 6,8kOhm and sequentially put more 4,8kOhm resistors in series until in the end I had ~25kOhm total, which still didn't solve the issue. Here's how I did the wiring:

oversp_wiring.gif

The problem is still there. With some hard hits the surrounding channels will also light up. Any suggestions?
2.) HiHat. I use a Yamaha HH65 controller which seems to work well... I didn't manipulate it and also didn't use any further resisosters- and hey: the small LED block on the display shows me that I am able to get the most open and closed positions (5 substeps total)..=) okay! But unfortunately the chick doesn't work, at least not all the time. This is sick because when I play an open hihat note and then close the hihat (= press down the controller to the fullest) the sound of the open hat will still be there. BTW this is not a software problem, my sampler (addictive drums) handles this correctly if the right notes appear. Is there anything special I need to do to achieve the chick? I tried hitting the pedal harder, faster,.. didn't help.

I am looking forward to your help! Have a nice rest of the weekend!


BTW if you're planning to buy some practice cymbals here http://en.guitar-palace.eu/STAGG-14-Zoll-Uebungsbecken-aus-Kunststoff::12324.html better think about that twice, as they're the slowest online shop I've ever seen with a really weak service...

[Synthex]

Very nice drum kit !!

1.) Overspilling.

Do you use 74HC4851 ?

2.) HiHat.

How do you connect your Yamaha HH65 controller to MegaDrum ?

[dmitri]

Hi Megadrummers,
1.) Overspilling. This is really annoying, especially when I play fast tom rolls with lots of energy. To solve it I already tried:
- moving the cone farer away from the drum heads: did better the problem but not solve it. Now it's in the maximum distance position (when I push the cone 1nm further away slight hits won't be recognized).
- inserting resistors next to the cone. I started with 6,8kOhm and sequentially put more 4,8kOhm resistors in series until in the end I had ~25kOhm total, which still didn't solve the issue. Here's how I did the wiring:
The problem is still there. With some hard hits the surrounding channels will also light up. Any suggestions?

I understand you're using 74HC4851 or MAX4558. Just for the purpose of testing try connecting your pad to MegaDrum over a potentiometer of 10k-47k - ends of the potentiometer go to piezo and the wiper with one of the ends go to MegaDrum.

2.) HiHat. I use a Yamaha HH65 controller which seems to work well... I didn't manipulate it and also didn't use any further resisosters- and hey: the small LED block on the display shows me that I am able to get the most open and closed positions (5 substeps total)..=) okay! But unfortunately the chick doesn't work, at least not all the time. This is sick because when I play an open hihat note and then close the hihat (= press down the controller to the fullest) the sound of the open hat will still be there. BTW this is not a software problem, my sampler (addictive drums) handles this correctly if the right notes appear. Is there anything special I need to do to achieve the chick? I tried hitting the pedal harder, faster,.. didn't help.

Did you try setting AutoLevel for the pedal to 'No' and setting pedal levels manually?
Can you make a screenshot in MIDI-OX when you do a chick and splash?

[Beamtreetaker]

Very nice drum kit !!
Do you use 74HC4851 ?

No I use the MAX4558 you sent me. I don't want to change them as overspilling might be a good indicator that I'm suffering dynamic range =).

How do you connect your Yamaha HH65 controller to MegaDrum ?

Like this:

[Beamtreetaker]

Just for the purpose of testing try connecting your pad to MegaDrum over a potentiometer of 10k-47k - ends of the potentiometer go to piezo and the wiper with one of the ends go to MegaDrum.

Okay, I will do this soon.

Did you try setting AutoLevel for the pedal to 'No' and setting pedal levels manually?
Can you make a screenshot in MIDI-OX when you do a chick and splash?

I set AutoLevel to No (using range 16-432) as with AutoLevel engaged I could only use half of the controller spectrum. In normal playing hihat works fine. Just the chick doesn't work. (and to be honest, I don't know how to splash - I think it's when you play the bow closed and immediately release the pedal..? Right now I'm just using the edge channel.)
When analyzing with Midi-Ox I saw the following:
- When controller type is set to F.Contr. then the LED glows all the time and Midi Events are sent all the time although I don't touch the pedal.

oxhhcontrol.gif

When I fully press down the pedal this event flow stops.
When I set controller type to Pot. no events are sent even when I change pedal position. I noticed that I receive the chick sound only when I hit the pad right before pressing the pedal...

[dmitri]

1. Set pedal type to Pot
2. Do a chick (quickly pressing a pedal)
3. Do a splash (quickly pressing and releasing pedal)

Post a screen shot of MIDI-OX while doing chick and splash.

[dmitri]

Your problem with a pedal made me find a bug with setting pedal notes. I just posted a firmware where this bug was fixed. But it is unrelated to your problem. I'm guessing HiLevel for your pedal is set too high.

[Beamtreetaker]

Thanks, dmitri! Yes, it was the Hi and Lo level that were not set correctly. The Autoset function didn't work for me, so I now changed the value while at the same time pressing the pedal up and down repeatedly, until it started to work. Shame on me, that was really quite obvius! I just had no exact idea of how the chick/splah worked beforehand. Tomorrow I'll buy a pot and try to fight the overspill.

[Beamtreetaker]

So, today I bought a pot and inserted it into the piezo circuit. When I dial in the maximum resistance (~50kO) the only effect is that very slight hits are not recognized - the overspill is still there. The HiLevel value in the menu shows 1003 (with AutoLevel set to yes), so my piezo (35mm btw) still seems too hot, even with resistor damping. Next thing I'll try is detaching the piezos from the cone (they came fixed to each other) and inserting one piece of foam in between. Any other suggestions?

PS: I even got the feeling that overspill effects will appear earlier when a resistor is added.....which doesn't seem to make any sense..?

[dmitri]

Can you check with a tester resistance between ground and each of pins 37,38,39,40 of Atmega?