Can`t make my Megadrum work

[Theblackcat]

Hey

Been struggling a lot with my megadrum, actually never made it work.

SETUP DETAILS!
First of all I had Dmitri build me a 56 input version. Im running a Mac pro 1.1 flashed to a 1.2 running osx 10.9.5. I`m running 2 x 3Ghz Quad core processors, 32GB ram and a 500GB SSD hard drive.
My kit is a converted acoustic kit with eBridge triggers from UFODrums build into them. All toms and snare are dual piezo setup and they`re all set up with 27mm piezos for the head trigger and 35mm for the rim. All drums are set up with Jobeky tri-ply mesh heads. For cymbals I`ve got Yamaha PCY-135 for crashes and Yamaha PCY-155 for ride, for HiHat I`ve got the Roland VH-11. Firmware in the Megadrum is 20170413 and the Megadrum manager is the 20170416.

PROBLEM
I plug the megadrum into a usb port on my mac, power up my mac and then the megadrum. I start up Megadrum manager.

I plug the cable that came with my PCY-155 into the yamaha cymbal on one end and into (from the left, top row fourth input) the Megadrum. The VU`s on the Megadrum tells me that signal in flowing from the cymbal and into the Megadrum. I set the input in Megadrum manager to usb midi port 1. I push the Open MIDI button and midi starts flowing into the Megadrum manager.
I then go to the pads setting and set the input for 6 Ride B/7Ride E (I assume that works so that the inputs I can choose from lines up with the inputs on the back of the Megadrum - 1 Kick = first input from top left on the back of the Megadrum, 2 HiHat B/HiHat E = second input from top left and so forth!?) At this point, when I remove the cable from the input in the Megadrum the flow of midi into Megadrum manager stops.

I then start copying all the settings to the rest of the tracks - Note disbld, threshold 0 though and type - Dual or 3way Yamaha.
I then do a "send all”
The visual midi changes colour from yellow to green.
I the set Note on the Head/Bow to 8 = G#-1, Note on Rim/Edge to 10 = A#-1 and Note on 3rd Zone to12 = C0 (The flow of midi changes colour to green and blue. I then start adjusting threshold on Head Bow until the blue notes on the midi log disappear.
I then try and do the same for Rim/edge, but even though I end up with threshold 127 the green notes still keep flowing in the midi log.
I therefor set Rim/Edge threshold back to 0 and try and adjust the 3rd Zone threshold - the threshold can`t directly be adjusted, but I can see that the values change when I adjust the Midpoint slider - nothing changes regarding the flow of the green midi notes in Midi Log though.

Oki, now I had a couple days off from the Megadrum, and now the threshold situation is working! Sort of??
Threshold Head/Bow set for 28 and Threshold on the Rim/Edge is set for 20.
Now there`s 3 problems!
There`s still flowing midi into Megadrum, and looking at Raw Midi it`s C -1 which I haven`t set anything up for.
The megadrum don`t register any hits on the cymbal no matter what the threshold value is.
And even though I disconnect the cable for the cymbal, midi just keeps flowing…. This isn’t the case when I start up the Megadrum, but as soon as I do a “send all” from Megadrum manager the megadrum keeps sending wether or not there`s something connected to the device…..??
Sincerely hope that there`s someone out there who can help me out!!!

Best regards from Reno

[anwe79]

Hi,
I think the spurious notes (C-1) you are getting may be one of the other inputs.
Even though note zero (=C-1 depending on octave shift) reads disabled in MDM,
that is not always the real truth. (I forget in which cases)
Try setting all the notes on your ride to something that is non-zero, and see if the spurious notes change note number.
When you see the note changing, you will know where the spurious notes are coming from, and can change the threshold there.
(set them back to zero or disabled once you found the problem)

If none of the ride notes are the culprit, check the other ones as well.
You might as well setup a basic pad mapping to match your virtual instrument at this stage,
it will help troubleshooting if you can see where any spurious notes come from.

Also check if auto-level is off on other inputs, I've noticed that auto-level can have some weird effects until all the inputs are configured.
Some of the spurious notes i got didn't seem to make sense until I shut off auto-level on any other inputs than the one i was currently working on

Did you set type to switch on the edge input of the ride, or is it on piezo (the default)?
That might explain the strange threshold behavior on the edge I think.
Also make sure the gain on the edge input is the same or similar to the bow, they share the same piezo for the level
(threshold is another story though).

I think you'll get there, it seem like you've got a fairly good start. Once you have one or two pads working, the rest should come a lot easier.

(In some cases I've found I needed to restart my MD to get it out of some weird state.
It's possible that my overly long USB cable may the issue there, but it may be worth a try if it's acting up.
Also save your setup as file when you have a pad reasonably set up, and make a new copy for the next one.
In case you get something wrong and can't figure out what happened, you can either just go back to a known good state,
or you can compare the save files, they are basically just text.)

/Andreas

[Theblackcat]

I`ve only connected that one cymbal, been running over all of the other channels - everything has been set for Disabled, I`ve set the Highlevel Auto for off, and it`s still the same! What I don`t understand is, that since the ride cymbal is the only thing connected, the flow of midi coming from the Megadrum is (when I`ve done a Send All) unaffected of wether the cymbal is plugged in or not....?? And no matter what I set the threshold for, it won't register any hits on the cymbal?

Thanks a lot for your time!!

[airflamesred]

Just to confirm - You can have nothing plugged in and MD is rumble triggering?

[Theblackcat]

That`s what I`m experiencing!! I can`t see how that should be possible?

Thanks for your time!!

[airflamesred]

That`s what I`m experiencing!! I can`t see how that should be possible?

Thanks for your time!!

Nor I, over to Dmitri.

[dmitri]

I'm confused. In one place you said you've plugged something into MegaDrum, and in another you said you have nothing plugged.
Please confirm the following.
1. Nothing, not even a single cable (even if nothing connected to it on the other end) is plugged into MegaDrum.
2. MegaDrum starts with default settings (AutoloadConf set to No)
3. You start getting MIDI messages from MegaDrum the moment you power it on - MIDI led is flashing and you see activity on some inputs on the screen.

If all the above is true, please:
1. Take a screenshot of MIDI Log from MDM.
2. Take a photo of the LCD screen.

[Theblackcat]

When i start out I have one cable plugged in. The problem as I see it is that after I do some changes to the setting in MD manager and do a send all, then when I remove the cable the keeps flowing in?

But to answer your questions
1. Now nothings plugged into the Megadrum besides the USB cable.
2. Not really sure how to set up MD for that? But on the screen of the MD is says config:1
3. I get no midi when I haven`t connected anything. But if there`s a cable connected to a pad, yes I get midi!!

[dmitri]

3. I get no midi when I haven`t connected anything. But if there`s a cable connected to a pad, yes I get midi!!

1. An empty cable connected to an input will serve as an antenna picking up electromagnetic noise and producing false triggering. Either disable inputs which have empty cables connected or disconnect them.
2. A single zone pad/cymbal connected to an input with default configuration using a stereo cable will serve as an antenna on the rim/edge input picking up electromagnetic noise and producing false triggering. Either use a mono cable or disable the rim/edge input
3. A dual zone piezo/switch pad/cymbal connected to an input with default configuration will server as an antenna on the rim/edge input which by default is configured as piezo input but have a switch connected. Configure the pad/cymbal as a "Dual or 3way Yamaha" zone piezo/switch pad/cymbal.

I fill like it needs to be added to FAQ.

[anwe79]

Edit: Dmitri beat me too it My post below is mostly similar info worded differently.

Hi,
This is probably not the issue here, I just wanted to come back and clarify what I meant about a 0 note not always meaning disabled, since it was quite vague:

If you use neither pressroll nor alternating notes then you must set them equal to the main Note to disable them. Setting them to 0 will just send MIDI Note 0 on pressrolls or alternating hits.

(from viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3094)

Checking the disabled box beside the altnote/pressroll does just that I think, so if you've disabled them, they should not be the issue.

Back on topic:

Connected cables alone can act as antennas, pick up noise and cause "rumble" notes.
If you truly have nothing connected, the jacks have internal switches that ground the inputs when there is no plug inserted, and prevent noise to trigger notes.
(at least my jacks are wired this way, YMMV)
Connected pads with low threshold and/or high gain settings may also cause rumble notes, provided that they are not completely disabled.
Combined with the case above with a configured note and alt or pressroll configured to 0, they may possibly be the issue.
Noise could trigger the input very fast and produce all pressrolls = zero notes in the log.
(I'm not sure exactly what happens if the main note is 0 as well as the pressroll and alt note. Likely disabled, but Dmitri will know)

This is just general info though, so please continue on with Dmitri's investigation procedure,
it may be something entirely different, I hope this post doesn't sidetrack the investigation.

/Andreas