DRUMMER CAFE - Community Forum

For live gigs I've started triggering my new Yamaha Hip Gig with DDrum triggers (kick and snare), patched to a Roland SPD-20, and routed to the PA.

The main problem I'm having is that the PA is only registering about 2/3s of the notes I'm playing. It's very frustrating in that it seems random. Playing even, consistent notes will either register the sample, or it won't. I've got the trigger sensitivity set to max on the SPD-20, the cables are high grade...

I know that any number of things can go wrong with a chain like this (lack of adequate vibration from the head to the trigger, bad triggers, cable problems, improper programming on the brain, faulty triggering implementation of the brain, etc). So I'm wondering what I can try to get the system to register every note I play. Any ideas?

Also, the Yamaha kit isn't the best match for the DDrum triggers I've got. They don't seem to fit properly on the rims of the drums. Any other brands anyone can recommend I try?

Thanks...

That is why I'm going retro!  I go to the point where I was spending so much time programming as opposed to making music.

Chalk it up for early 21st century technology.

I've had triggering problems as well; it sure can eat up a lot of your time trying to fix them too!

I've been using TriggerPerfect triggers for some time now. If I'm triggering sounds from a drum module, I don't seem to have a problem, but using my sampler is another story.

I don't know about the Roland SPD-20, so I don't know what kind of flexibility it has in the way of fine tuning the triggers.

I personally use the drumKAT Turbo which has a LOT of nuance adjustments. I've been very happy with it, that's for sure. I can train each trigger to respond the way I want it to, as well as adjusting for cross-fade issues, gating, etc.

One issue that may be happening is that you are triggering from a kit that has no isolation between the drums. Everything is connected; all mounted on the kick drum. For triggering ... this is a real no-no. The vibrations from each drum will set off the triggers on other drums. The best thing I ever did was get a rack and mount everything off that. There seems to be enough isolation to keep the false triggering down.

Another thing to look at is your tuning. You may have to tune your drums a little differently to eliminate the false/double triggering.

Hope you are able to smooth out these issues!

Bart... Great point about the vibrations from the whole kit, since the Hip Gig is essentially a one-piece kit. Hmm...

I found a great price on Pulse Red Hot triggers. 70 percent off at Musician's Friend.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=020408211109064167254094319053/search/g=perc/detail/base_id/54669 (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=020408211109064167254094319053/search/g=perc/detail/base_id/54669)

There's also models by Fishman and Pintech. But both are the stick-on kind, instead of the ones that fasten to the rim like TriggerPerfect and DDrum. I wonder if this might be better since the Hip Gig has such small rims. But I've never used the stick-on types before. Anyone know how these work exactly? What technology makes them stick to the head, and how durable are they? The Pulse ones, at $30 for 5 triggers, isn't much of a gamble. Maybe I should give 'em a shot?

The technology that holds them on the head?
Double sided, padded tape! You know the kind. You can find it at any convenience type store. The pad or foam is very, very thin ... and the stick adhesive is NOT permanent ... which you wouldn't want anyway.

It's also been suggested that you put a piece of duct tape over the trigger once you put it on the head. You may be better results with this type of trigger, and like you said, for the money ... it's worth the experiment.

Let us know what you find out.

I do know that you have to becareful with these triggers as they will shatter if you strike them directly with your stick. You can also overdrive them with too much vibration from the head, but that's where the padded, double sided tape comes in.