DIY cymbal advice

[MWJT42]

Some details of my build here:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=808

ProjectBeats on YouTube was really helpful: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMG2L1X3A8cscCcvr92Jd_w

He also makes a 3D printed design to enable proper high hats to work with the Goedrum GHC. I found the 'print me a thing' (or something like that) subreddit forum the best place to get it printed. Think I paid £8 for it.

My cymbal piezos are all 27mm, and I used £4 ukulele pickups as I liked the housing. They needed some extra super glue and cable ties to hold them on, and the bell needed some foam tape, as it's not as flat. I replaced all the sockets for stereo ones to accommodate the edge connector, but you can put that off until you're ready to move from single to dual zone.

Piezos are stuck on the rear half of cymbal, and you'll need a solution to stop them spinning to avoid hot spots and so the Myrk edge is towards you. Get the Myrk foam when you buy the edges, and fit the switch on the top, with the connector fed through a drilled hole to the bottom, hidden by the rubber strip.

Once you've done one, they are really easy to do. Get a new sharp blade for cutting the rubber u strip, and make them much smaller than you think. The superglued join is surprisingly strong and if they are loose, the edges flap about.

[thenewdrummer]

Some details of my build here:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=808

ProjectBeats on YouTube was really helpful: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMG2L1X3A8cscCcvr92Jd_w

He also makes a 3D printed design to enable proper high hats to work with the Goedrum GHC. I found the 'print me a thing' (or something like that) subreddit forum the best place to get it printed. Think I paid £8 for it.

My cymbal piezos are all 27mm, and I used £4 ukulele pickups as I liked the housing. They needed some extra super glue and cable ties to hold them on, and the bell needed some foam tape, as it's not as flat. I replaced all the sockets for stereo ones to accommodate the edge connector, but you can put that off until you're ready to move from single to dual zone.

Piezos are stuck on the rear half of cymbal, and you'll need a solution to stop them spinning to avoid hot spots and so the Myrk edge is towards you. Get the Myrk foam when you buy the edges, and fit the switch on the top, with the connector fed through a drilled hole to the bottom, hidden by the rubber strip.

Once you've done one, they are really easy to do. Get a new sharp blade for cutting the rubber u strip, and make them much smaller than you think. The superglued join is surprisingly strong and if they are loose, the edges flap about.

Thanks a lot for all the details. I really appreciate it.

I imagine that your gain is not all the way to 20,isn't it?

I placed mine at the same place than you, with the same size. I wonder why it isn't enough sensitive.

I don't know if my cymbal don't vibrate enough. I dampened my cymbal with this for a test before buying a u trim:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mK2vJIp

What I was wondering is that if it's possible that my cable or my jack connection reduce the signal of the piezo and how to test it.

[Rob]

I wondering how well edrumin's edge sense (and bell sense for the ride) performs with a single piezo, on larger metal 14-18" cymbals as this reduces the cost to about £25..!

Edge sense and bell sense will not work with metal cymbals.

[MWJT42]

Some details of my build here:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=808

ProjectBeats on YouTube was really helpful: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMG2L1X3A8cscCcvr92Jd_w

He also makes a 3D printed design to enable proper high hats to work with the Goedrum GHC. I found the 'print me a thing' (or something like that) subreddit forum the best place to get it printed. Think I paid £8 for it.

My cymbal piezos are all 27mm, and I used £4 ukulele pickups as I liked the housing. They needed some extra super glue and cable ties to hold them on, and the bell needed some foam tape, as it's not as flat. I replaced all the sockets for stereo ones to accommodate the edge connector, but you can put that off until you're ready to move from single to dual zone.

Piezos are stuck on the rear half of cymbal, and you'll need a solution to stop them spinning to avoid hot spots and so the Myrk edge is towards you. Get the Myrk foam when you buy the edges, and fit the switch on the top, with the connector fed through a drilled hole to the bottom, hidden by the rubber strip.

Once you've done one, they are really easy to do. Get a new sharp blade for cutting the rubber u strip, and make them much smaller than you think. The superglued join is surprisingly strong and if they are loose, the edges flap about.

Thanks a lot for all the details. I really appreciate it.

I imagine that your gain is not all the way to 20,isn't it?

I placed mine at the same place than you, with the same size. I wonder why it isn't enough sensitive.

I don't know if my cymbal don't vibrate enough. I dampened my cymbal with this for a test before buying a u trim:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mK2vJIp

What I was wondering is that if it's possible that my cable or my jack connection reduce the signal of the piezo and how to test it.

Jack cable / connection not an issue - as long as your soldering is up to scratch! Consider how long a guitar lead can be with a similar signal.

And there's no way a metal cymbal might not vibrate enough! Usually the problem is trying to either physically reduce it, or mitigating the excess vibration with longer hold and decay times / higher threshold.

My gain is set wherever it needs to be for each trigger, I used the auto calibration. Don't get bogged down with this - if it needs to be high, that's ok! The software and eDRUMin allows for this to accommodate a massive range of inputs, but it does sound like you might have something going on physically.

How is yours fixed to the cymbal? Is there a foam layer between piezo and cymbal? That might be causing an issue.

[MWJT42]

I wondering how well edrumin's edge sense (and bell sense for the ride) performs with a single piezo, on larger metal 14-18" cymbals as this reduces the cost to about £25..!

Edge sense and bell sense will not work with metal cymbals.

Thanks Rob. This is a old thread, I think you already had replied saying this before!

[thenewdrummer]

Some details of my build here:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=808

ProjectBeats on YouTube was really helpful: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMG2L1X3A8cscCcvr92Jd_w

He also makes a 3D printed design to enable proper high hats to work with the Goedrum GHC. I found the 'print me a thing' (or something like that) subreddit forum the best place to get it printed. Think I paid £8 for it.

My cymbal piezos are all 27mm, and I used £4 ukulele pickups as I liked the housing. They needed some extra super glue and cable ties to hold them on, and the bell needed some foam tape, as it's not as flat. I replaced all the sockets for stereo ones to accommodate the edge connector, but you can put that off until you're ready to move from single to dual zone.

Piezos are stuck on the rear half of cymbal, and you'll need a solution to stop them spinning to avoid hot spots and so the Myrk edge is towards you. Get the Myrk foam when you buy the edges, and fit the switch on the top, with the connector fed through a drilled hole to the bottom, hidden by the rubber strip.

Once you've done one, they are really easy to do. Get a new sharp blade for cutting the rubber u strip, and make them much smaller than you think. The superglued join is surprisingly strong and if they are loose, the edges flap about.

Thanks a lot for all the details. I really appreciate it.

I imagine that your gain is not all the way to 20,isn't it?

I placed mine at the same place than you, with the same size. I wonder why it isn't enough sensitive.

I don't know if my cymbal don't vibrate enough. I dampened my cymbal with this for a test before buying a u trim:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mK2vJIp

What I was wondering is that if it's possible that my cable or my jack connection reduce the signal of the piezo and how to test it.

Jack cable / connection not an issue - as long as your soldering is up to scratch! Consider how long a guitar lead can be with a similar signal.

And there's no way a metal cymbal might not vibrate enough! Usually the problem is trying to either physically reduce it, or mitigating the excess vibration with longer hold and decay times / higher threshold.

My gain is set wherever it needs to be for each trigger, I used the auto calibration. Don't get bogged down with this - if it needs to be high, that's ok! The software and eDRUMin allows for this to accommodate a massive range of inputs, but it does sound like you might have something going on physically.

How is yours fixed to the cymbal? Is there a foam layer between piezo and cymbal? That might be causing an issue.

Ohhh I just found out the problem. I was following the metal cymbal wiring in the eDRUMin manual. But after looking at it for another 1000th time I saw that it's the wiring for the bell of the ride. I had to follow the Roland switch pad instead.

Now it's working. Did you calibrated until there's only one dot in the eDRUMin for played notes? I see that there's many so probably double triggering but I don't really hear them.

[thenewdrummer]

I just did like you said and played with hold and decay (I'm not sure I understand what decay is) but now it's triggering perfectly. It was king of easy with the eDRUMin.

Thanks a lot for your help.

One last question, for the ride did you place the trigger at the same place for the bow?

[MWJT42]

I just did like you said and played with hold and decay (I'm not sure I understand what decay is) but now it's triggering perfectly. It was king of easy with the eDRUMin.

Thanks a lot for your help.

One last question, for the ride did you place the trigger at the same place for the bow?

Yeah, piezo at the rear (away from me), so less likely to hotspot.

Now, if you find a way to stop the cymbals spinning, let me know!

[Dewaaachner]

I think, my brain is blocked. I've read through several posts, but I'm still not clear on the how-to

If I want to build a 3-zone ride, would it work with one TRS Jack cable, placing a piezo under the bow, a second under the bell and a myrk membrane on the edge?

I use LV cymbals but also saw Rob's comment "bell sense doesn't work for metal cymbals".

@MWJT42: Would you mind Posting a Detail pic of your 3-zone build?

Cheers, Frank

[MWJT42]

I think, my brain is blocked. I've read through several posts, but I'm still not clear on the how-to

If I want to build a 3-zone ride, would it work with one TRS Jack cable, placing a piezo under the bow, a second under the bell and a myrk membrane on the edge?

I use LV cymbals but also saw Rob's comment "bell sense doesn't work for metal cymbals".

@MWJT42: Would you mind Posting a Detail pic of your 3-zone build?

Cheers, Frank

Hi Frank.

For a DIY 3 zone metal cymbal, you have 2 options:

Yamaha wiring or Roland wiring.

Yamaha wiring, can operate on single stereo jack cable, using a piezo bow, edge switch (myrk or similar) and a switch bell on a resistor. See wiring diagram in the manual. Note, the bell switch must be mounted on the top.

Pros, one jack. Cons, ugly build IMO as the bell switch is on top.

Roland wiring, needs 2 stereo jack cables and uses 2 inputs.

Stereo jack cable one, piezo bow and edge switch
Stereo jack cable two, blank and piezo bell. (Rob has recently made a change so you can make use of the blank side with another single trigger input)

Pros, neater stealth build. Cons, requires half an input more than Yamaha wiring. Note, you link the bell input trigger to the ride in the eDRUMin software (I think it has to be the next one). This allows for the bell to work instead of the bow, rather than the same time, and the edge switch can then also choke the bell (in SD3 at least).

My ride build is here, using Roland wiring (bell piezo is wired to the right side of a separate jack cable):

PXL_20201120_133217874~2.jpg (1.85 MiB) Viewed 1359 times

I thoroughly recommend you watch the Project Beats videos:
https://youtu.be/UKfHCBNN2Kc

- Rob's comment regarding bell and edge sense, isn't relevant here for either wiring schemes. They are special eDRUMin functions that allow bell / edges to be recognised using a single piezo! They apparently well only on branded rubber cymbals, although some users have reported some success using metal cymbals, but you'll need to set the input to rubber to enable bell/edge sensing.