Auxiliary Hi Hat/Ride Cymbal - WOW!!!

[Lee E. Nelson]

I came across an interesting concept last night while do some "programming" of my TD-10/TDW-1 module.

If you assign the same hi hat "instrument/number" to your ride pad/trigger (for example), the hi hat pedal WILL control the ride pad/trigger too!!! Keep in mind, it has to be the same hi hat sound as your primary hi hat pad/trigger...(how many people thought the hi hat pedal ONLY controlled the hi hat trigger input #3...???)

With this technique, you can use your ride cymbal as an auxiliary hi hat if you have it placed on the opposite side of your kit("normal" position for most people). This would allow you to play "open handed"...And, it avoids having to buy another pad, mount and use another trigger input!!!

Check it out...

[acidbran]

Hmmm,.......... I wonder if it is the same on the TD-8?

[Lee E. Nelson]

A couple of points of clarification:

First of all, I was incorrect by saying "trigger input #3" for the hi hat...it's really input #7.

Anyway, this technique appears to work with ANY pad/trigger on the kit...I've tried it with several pads and had the same results. For example, you could use another pad on the right side of your kit and "free-up" your ride as, well...a ride!!!

I consulted the TDW-1 owner's manual...and what do you know, it says that the FD-7 pedal can be used as a pitch bender for sounds assigned to any pad - head or rim (pg. 18). So, it obviously is connected within the module to all 12 inputs...

Have Fun!!!

[Arriguy]

Originally posted by Lee E. Nelson:
Keep in mind, it has to be the same hi hat sound as your primary hi hat pad/trigger...

This statement is also incorrect. You can use any hihat....hell you could have a kit with nothing but a bunch of different hats if you wanted to.

[Lee E. Nelson]

Arriguy...perhaps you didn't follow my "logic" with regard to using the FD-7 pedal to "control" the aux trigger/pad...you have to use the SAME hi hat sound as used on your primary hi hat (trigger #7). I realize you can program any hi hat sound on any trigger/pad...however, you can only control the one (sound) assigned to the #7 input. If you use a different sound (a closed hat, for example...) you will not be able to control that pad with the FD-7...you'll only get that closed hat sound when striking the pad.

Let me know if you want an example using specific instrument sounds/numbers!

[Shep2112]

On my non-expanded TD-10, I can assign a remote hat sound to my rim on the ride input (different sound that my main hihat sound) and the pedal controls both.. Kinda nice on double bass stuff to not cross-over, and have a sloshy hat sound, like a 15" on the right, and then a 13 or 14 on the left.. I think that's the way I did it.. I like the 15's sound, but not all the time.. Now that I have officially a gazillion pads and inputs, I suppose I can have one of those 6" or 8" hihats like Bozzio and Portnoy use..

[tc]

Closed Hihat sound w/o using foot controler

Is there a way to, when striking the Hihat pad, get a "closed hihat" sound without having your foot pushed down on the hihat pedal.

Im working on grooves using my left foot for cowbell, and need a closed hihat sound all the time.

Using a V-pro kit with an un-expanded TD-10 module

Thanks
Tommy

[Shep2112]

Good question there.. here's an idea:

Use a non-sounding sound.. I think it's called 'Off'? The highest sound you have, on your aux cymbal pad.. Then assign a midi note # to it up high or down low.. Run your midi out to your midi in (NOTE: turn soft echo or soft thru, whatever they call it, to OFF or this will instantly sound horrible and could blow your speakers or headphones or ears depending how loud you have it).. Then go to the percussion group and with midi chase turned on, when you hit the pad, you should see the incoming midi note highlighted, along with the instrumetent assigned to it. Assign that to a closed-sounding hihat and voila'!

This should work, but I can't test it at the moment.. just make sure you have the echo/thru thing turned off first.. in midi settings, maybe global (it's a global thing anyway, should be in global)..

The beauty of this is that it will ignore the hihat pedal completely.. You just need to pick a sound that appears closed or mostly closed already.. you can't control it, so you need it to be as much of the way closed as you can find. I don't know of any way to do this and control the sound, but you could chop the decay of the sound I guess, which would make it quicker? Might help.. or try a shaker sound or something, and pitch and decay it til it seems more hihat-like..
-Eric

[Fabster]

FYI. If you want to, you could use a Y-cable splitter to connect two pads to a single input. This way you can have your high-hat near your ride and you don't have to take up an extra input. I am planning on using this to add another floor tom to the left of my high-hat a la Larry Mullen of U2.

fab

[Shep2112]

Fabster, cool idea on the floor tom.. I sometimes do that on my acoustic kit, but i like to have a lower pitched drum on the left.. Then I can do a ruff between my hands and right foot.. Like Floor Tom, Lower Tom, Kick.. Bonham style or whatever.. It's a lot easier with another tom on the left and playing open handed that way.. HiHat makes sense too.. Sometimes I put a hihat on the rim of the ride pad, then I can alternate between hihat and ride by just angling my wrist slightly..

[jimbo]

The Orchestra kit, #12, I think, on the TD-8, is preset for the FD-7 to be used like a timpani pedal for the tom pads (which are timpani for this kit.)

[Shep2112]

TC, there's a site I've seen several times.. It's mentioned on this site a few times.. I don't recall the url, but it's an AOL user's site. Has tips for making your own electronic gear, etc.. There's a box on there that adjusts the amount of pedal-pushed-down-ness, for lack of a better word. It goes between the FD-7 and your [drum] brain. It has a potentiometer (knob) on it, and you turn it to adjust how far it sounds like the pedal is pushed down. It's independent of the pedal being pushed. So it can work like a drop clutch (acoustic drum thing for lowering the top hihat cymbal independent of the foot pedal).. With an A/B switch and this box, you could toggle it on and off.. I think there's instructions for doing exactly that on there..

So you set your no-foot-on-pedal thing with the knob, and then switch between that and normal with a little button on a box, like the Electro-Harmonix guitar effects pedals of the 70's, or the clean/dirty channel switch that comes with some guitar amps.. That way you could do a hihat on each side, with a separate sound on each, but using the system's single hihat pedal, you can have it 'permanently' closed, or controllable the usual way, with the pedal..

Does anyone remember this site's address?

[Shep2112]

Yep, that's the one I had in mind.. Seems simple enough to make.. Though I think I would build it into a larger/heavier box.. I bet you could find one of those Guitar amp footswitches, even a dual footswitch one, in a used bin at a music store or electronics store or pawn shop or something.. I'd replace the left switch with the potentiometer and wire the right switch as the A/B toggle. For a right-handed kit, this would allow putting it to the left of the hihat and having the button close by, without stepping on the knob in the process..

[Shep2112]

Here's a mirror of that site, little better design and should be more permanent:
http://www.derksens.com/Beatnik_mirror.htm

[damagedrummer]

I came across an interesting concept last night while do some "programming" of my TD-10/TDW-1 module.

If you assign the same hi hat "instrument/number" to your ride pad/trigger (for example), the hi hat pedal WILL control the ride pad/trigger too!!! Keep in mind, it has to be the same hi hat sound as your primary hi hat pad/trigger...(how many people thought the hi hat pedal ONLY controlled the hi hat trigger input #3...???)

With this technique, you can use your ride cymbal as an auxiliary hi hat if you have it placed on the opposite side of your kit("normal" position for most people). This would allow you to play "open handed"...And, it avoids having to buy another pad, mount and use another trigger input!!!

Check it out...

Yeah, i came across that, awhile ago, and it's pretty cool and all, but if you want to use you ridepad as an aux-hihat, you still lose your ride... so you'd still have to buy another pad to act as a ridecymbal.