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Acoustic triggering experts, your assistance please

Started by geo, August 11, 2014, 11:15:27 AM

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geo

I'm using a ddrum Acoustic Pro kick trigger on my acoustic kit, and it's working a treat with the 2box except for one issue: double triggering, especially when everyone else is at full volume. What's the best technique for muffling the skin to prevent this? The triggers are complimenting the acoustic sound, so stuffing a quilt in there isn't really an option. Everything else (skin feel, trigger sensitivity, etc.) is pretty much perfect, so I want to change just the muffling if possible.

Thanks!

digitalDrummer

Before you resort to muffling, have you tried changing the position of the trigger so that it is as far from the beater as possible?

geo

It's there by default really; the beater is pretty much dead centre, but I will try in other places just in case. Had reasonably good success with a foam silencer pad inside, but only with the bassist (bless his heart) sticking his hand in and holding against the skin. Not exactly a practical solution...

Jman

I've never tried it myself, but have seen some positive comments from people using Remo Muff'l Rings to cut down on vibration for better triggering. http://www.remo.com/portal/products/2/599/607/dh_muffl_ring.html

Have you adjusted your trigger parameters at all? I would assume you should start with AcTr3 as pad type. That is the default pad type for Acoustic Trigger on large drums. Lowering gain, and raising threshold are the other things that usually help.
I could tell you where to stick that piezo! :D ;)
http://stealthdrums.com/

geo

I'm actually using an Evans EMAD which has a ring attached already. However! Had some success with putting a thin strip of fabric under the trigger itself. Still not perfect, but it's a major improvement.

hotchap

Hi, I use the roland RT 7 trigger, on an Evans Emad and it works perfect!

digitalDrummer

#6
The older Roland triggers work better on mylar than on mesh, which suggests they were designed for that. This doesn't appear to be the same for other trigger brands out there in my experience.

mechanevil

Double triggering is the bane of anyone trying to trigger an acoustic drum and it is well-nigh impossible without muffling of some kind, or tightening of the bass drum head. The head will resonate when you strike it, so there's no way to stop it from doing so without something to dampen the vibrations. That's why a lot of "pro" pedals like the Axis or Tricks have their own in-built triggering systems to get around this problem.
You're going to have to find a middle ground between muffling your bass drum/tightening your bass head and triggering if you want to do so. Settings can also make a lot of difference, don't set your trigger threshold so low that it picks up every minute vibration, you need it to only pick up your strokes, which will have a lot more intensity.
Remember, you'll be getting a bass drum sound from your module. Since you're trying to blend that sound with the acoustic drum, find the best setting that lets you do this while eliminating double triggering.

AndyMo

Hi,

I was searching the forum for EMAD as I need to get new heads for my acoustic kit and the Evan EMAD looks ideal for the bass drum.

My concern is that I am also considering triggering my 2box using Triggit or Roland triggers. I was concerned if this would work with the EMAD as it has the muffling ring raised and on the batter side - and therefore the trigger would probably sit and touch the dampening ring portion of the EMAD head.

Looking at the thread above, is that in fact a possible benefit rather than a negative?

Thanks,
Andy

eyerichards

Using a craft knife you should be able to VERY carefully remove a section of the foam so your trigger will sit flat on the head  :)

AndyMo

Thank you. I will give that a try, once the new head and triggers arrive :-)

Cheers,
Andy

hotchap

My Roland RT 7 trigger cone sits over the rubber foam and performs exceptionally well, given the right settings on the 2 box.

:patbat2box:

AndyMo

Excellent - thank you.

Hopefully I can get the 2box triggers to perform as well.

Cheers,
Andy

geo

If anyone's interested, the initial problem increased over time, and was eventually tracked down to one of the piezo wires being damaged at the solder joint. A quick repair and it's good as new. No more triggering issues, and no exotic workarounds needed. (For the cost of the trigger, you'd expect the electronics to be a bit more robust...)

welshsteve

Oh Ddrum and your brilliant, but brittle designs! I have had many many triggers, Ddrum reshot, pro, DDT and Chrome Elite as well as Pintect Trigger perfect and Trigit. And I had the same problem with all of them. The pintech design was the most road sensible as Piezos could be replaced so fast with no soldering needed at all. The downside, the triggered horribly with the 2box module needing massive amount of dampening. Also they didnt sit well on the hoop and worked loose during the gig.
I had some issues with the Trigit ones which Bengt and I spoke lots about. He recognised a fault in the soldering and I hope as since instructed the factory to amend. Basically, the negative wire was soldered too close to the edge so over time and vibration, the piezo would bend slightly breaking the wire off. If soldered closer into the piezo this is drastically reduced. I repaied mine this way and even put a blob of hog glue on it to secure it even more. Since, I haven't had a failure and I put them through their paces.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!