Making your own electronic drum set

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fools russian

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anyone have experience making your own electronic kit? I've been looking at kits on and off, but am now considering trying to build a set. basically wondering if the cost put into building it will end up getting you a much better sounding kit than something bought for the same price.

was it relatively easy? is it really a big savings?

anyone have experience with the site electronicdrums.com? considering paying the $20 to check it out but don't know anything about it's reputation.

btw, search isn't working for me at all so sorry if this has all been discussed already a while ago.
 
That site sounds highly suspicious. I wouldn't part with my money just to look at their potentially crappy offerings. The design is uber poor which is a clue they suck.

Can't say I can answer your question, but I would rather just buy a kit (and I did..)

The Yamaha DTXplorer, Roland TD-3 and Alesis DM5 are all good choices for low budgets.

You registered in March 2005 but haven't posted til now? :S
 
in all honesty, build yourself some triggers, and get an alesis trigger i/o. you can actually build some really nice mesh-headed triggers for just more than the cost of lugs/rims and your piezo, using a stacked MDF shell method. just get your lugs(el cheapos work) and some 10" or 12" hoops(bigger drums dont trigger as well) and go to town. build a rack from PVC or hang 'em off cymbal stands, and throw together a riser for your kick trigger. make sure your bass drum beater isnt hitting the trigger piece, as it's a very good way to ruin the piezo.
 
yeah it actually cheaper to buy the "brain" and then build the pads/triggers stuff yourself.
 
Dude...avoid any electronic "design" that includes the words "coffee can lid". Come on...crap.
 
Mistral said:
The Yamaha DTXplorer, Roland TD-3 and Alesis DM5 are all good choices for low budgets.

You registered in March 2005 but haven't posted til now? :S
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thanks I'll look into those kits.

and I've just been lurking :o

BlackHawk2029 said:
in all honesty, build yourself some triggers, and get an alesis trigger i/o. you can actually build some really nice mesh-headed triggers for just more than the cost of lugs/rims and your piezo, using a stacked MDF shell method. just get your lugs(el cheapos work) and some 10" or 12" hoops(bigger drums dont trigger as well) and go to town. build a rack from PVC or hang 'em off cymbal stands, and throw together a riser for your kick trigger. make sure your bass drum beater isnt hitting the trigger piece, as it's a very good way to ruin the piezo.
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honestly a lot of that passed right over my head. I'll see if I can figure some of it out. care to elaborate a little? :o

BlackHawk2029 said:
toontrack.com/edrum_for_free.asp here's a link to a bunch of great free designs.
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that's awesome. thanks a lot.
 
A piezo is a pickup, which is basically what a trigger is. But if most of that passed over your head I'd definitely say just get an entry level kit, these things are built to stand up to abuse, a homemade kit would probably fall apart easily if you don't build it right.
 
yeeeeeeaaaahhhhh really electronic kits are basically what drumagog is. takes the signal and when it finds a peak, it plays a sound.
 
Mistral said:
A piezo is a pickup, which is basically what a trigger is. But if most of that passed over your head I'd definitely say just get an entry level kit, these things are built to stand up to abuse, a homemade kit would probably fall apart easily if you don't build it right.
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I understand the basics, a piezo pickup sitting under the pad to pick up the intensity of the hit and translating that to the "brain", which plays the appropriate sample, etc. etc. some of the other terminology you talked about I just don't know.

you're probably right though, I should just buy a kit. but if it was worth it to built it, ie. spend $700 or $800 and get a $1500 equivalent kit or something, I'd be more than happy to go through and learn what is what and how to do it.

thanks though.
 
fools russian said:
but if it was worth it to built it, ie. spend $700 or $800 and get a $1500 equivalent kit or something, I'd be more than happy to go through and learn what is what and how to do it.
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Well, good luck. But just remember that what you're paying for usually is extra worksmanship.
 
I bought a really crappy electronic kit: Session Pro DD505, it's out under the Legacy brand name too so it must be crap. Anyway, the kits in it sound really bad and you have to smash the shit out od the kick to get it to trigger propperly.......

Untill you hook it up to midi!!!

I've been using it to trigger ezdrummer DFH through a cheap EMU 1x1 midi to USB interface and I have to say the responce and overall sound is fantastic. There's not enough of a latency lag for it to be noticable or put you off your playing.

All in all it's cost me less than half the price of a new TD3 to buy the DD505, the emu 1x1 and ezdrummer DFH :eek:
 
oh, come on, some used aren't so expensive.... it's better to buy...
 
I can vouch that the remo practice pad set works....





but doesn't work great. I built one, and it wasn't really that cheap, and I wasn't thrilled with the playability- terrible dynamics etc.

The mesh head do it yourself approach might work better.

Daav
 
Back in the day I built my own E drum kit using PVC piezos an Alesis D4 brain and wood and a tractor innertube.

I know it sucks but just pretend that you have already went though this stage of building your drum kit and buy a nice E drum kit. You will spend more time engineering the perfect trigger than grooving. If you are short on funds buy a used E kit. Be done with it.
 
BlackHawk2029 said:
yeeeeeeaaaahhhhh really electronic kits are basically what drumagog is. takes the signal and when it finds a peak, it plays a sound.
Click to expand...

Absolute misinformation right there. When you have triggers, you have a little thing called "dynamics". I know dynamics aren't important at all when it comes to music, but some sticklers out there like having that completely mundane unimportant thing called "dynamics"......:rolleyes:
 

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Good site that shows how to build your own electronic drums.

diy-e-drums.fish-the-net.com
 
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