Drum Triggers

[daninflag]

Im wondering what triggers will work best with real drum heads. Most work great with mesh heads, but with real drum heads? I have a Pearl r.e.d. box, and have tried the ddrum pro triggers. Using them on the toms is tough, they sense vibrations from the head and can be heard from the trigger as a vibration sound. Was thinking of trying the older Roland triggers that are made for real drum heads. Any suggestions? Thanx!

[hairmetal-81]

The DDrum Pro triggers, while some of the best that are out there, are known to not work very well with acoustic-heads.
The vibrations caused by acoustic-heads causes unwanted re-triggering, that can be difficult to come by with just the modules threshold-settings.

You may want to experiment with tuning of the heads, and/or double-ply heads. Also you will likely have to dampen them, almost too heavily to be useful for a good acoustic tone.

A solution that just sprang to my mind:
If they are available to you, try Aquarian InHeads. They're mylar-heads with built-in triggering, especially made for the purpose of blending the acoustic-tone with the electronics.

http://www.aquariandrumheads.com/products/inhead

HTH

[allanjohn]

Roland external triggers apparently work well with mylar heads.

[daninflag]

I used to have some of the old Roland round Tom triggers, I sold em because they didn't work with mesh heads. I wish I had em now to try out! Allenjohn, are you referring to the older ones? Thanx!

[Roving Drummer]

I have the roland rt10k and s triggers. The kick trigger works awesome on an acoustic head. The snare trigger sits in a drawer. I tried it on my snare and both toms. It would be fine if I just played whole notes. But I don't. It's just too hit or miss for anything that's dynamic. I really wanted it to work and tried different heads and settings. I even convinced myself it was good at one point. It wasn't. But the kick does do what I expected.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Have you considered Aquarian inHeads? http://www.aquariandrumheads.com/products/inhead

[hairmetal-81]

We both think in the same direction...

Now I know for certain, that my suggestion cannot be *that* wrong, if you mention them too...

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

yep...though I'm not an acoustic drummer....this would be the direction I would go if I were to start.....because I'll never give up E's...so integrating the FSR heads seems like the best solution for triggering E's acoustically IMHO.

[allanjohn]

One thing to note about inHeads is that they are not permanent. I have yet to see any long-term durability reports, but given that the FSRs are "inked" onto the head and take a beating, I'm sure they won't last too long under constant and heavy use.

[hairmetal-81]

One thing to note about inHeads is that they are not permanent. I have yet to see any long-term durability reports, but given that the FSRs are "inked" onto the head and take a beating, I'm sure they won't last too long under constant and heavy use.

True, I'd like to see a durability-test too.
I guess, as long as this doesn't happen, we are back to 'normal' rim triggers & mylar-heads.

[DougM]

I have the roland rt10k and s triggers. The kick trigger works awesome on an acoustic head. The snare trigger sits in a drawer. I tried it on my snare and both toms. It would be fine if I just played whole notes. But I don't. It's just too hit or miss for anything that's dynamic. I really wanted it to work and tried different heads and settings. I even convinced myself it was good at one point. It wasn't. But the kick does do what I expected.

I had a similar experience with the Roland RT-10S trigger on an acoustic snare with a conventional head. Despite experimenting with different settings on my TD-12, I was never happy with the dynamics compared to a dedicated electronic snare pad. The rim response, however, was quite good but I ended up returning it for a refund. I had a similar experience with the ddrum Pro Trigger but that was a long time ago and may be due in part to limitations of the module (Alesis D4) I was triggering at that time.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

One thing to note about inHeads is that they are not permanent. I have yet to see any long-term durability reports, but given that the FSRs are "inked" onto the head and take a beating, I'm sure they won't last too long under constant and heavy use.

Actually I had this discussion with an individual and he said that he had well over 200 hours on his not including gig time. So this could be quite promising. Also what do mean by "inked"? I was under the impression that these were traditional FSR sensors sandwiched between 2 layers of mylar.

[allanjohn]

Also what do mean by "inked"? I was under the impression that these were traditional FSR sensors sandwiched between 2 layers of mylar.

The FSR is actually ink-based, according to its developer. It's 'printed' onto the mylar.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

The FSR is actually ink-based, according to its developer. It's 'printed' onto the mylar.

OK...that's cool....but between two layers...right. I'm pretty sure that one of the explanations on one of the promo vids(NAMM maybe?) specifically mentioned that the FSR was between the two layers and the pressure of the down force helped facilitate the activation of the FSR in the"sandwich". Maybe it's actually printed on the inside(or topside as it were) of the second layer. This would make sense to protect the "ink". Do you suppose you could verify this hypothesis through one of your contacts? Printing directly on top seems...well...counterproductive for any kind of reliable longevity given how sticks wear and mar printing on heads even after a few hours of moderate play.

[hairmetal-81]

Can you imagine what run the local 'Office World' will have, if they start selling 5-gallon cans of FSR 'refill ink'....
Hehehe....

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

imbeds this technology into a multi-ply headhttp://www.aquariandrumheads.com/pro...re-bundle-pack

[hairmetal-81]

Hmmm, interesting point! So, inHead is either a 2-ply with ink on the bottom ply, or, an actual 3-ply head. with the FSR-ink between the layers, firmly in the middle, on it's own, separate ply?

'Multi-ply' is a bit of a squishy term, that's rather open to interpretation..... ;-)