Mounting an eDRUMin inside a bass drum

[TheJay]

Hello Rob, can you please tell me whether you think it would be possible and unlikely to damage the module if it was mounted to the trigger x bar? How fragile are these modules? There will be a lot of vibrations if mounted there.

[Rob]

I obviously never tested that. It's really hard to say what those vibrations would do. Electronically it should be fine though.

[TheJay]

Thanks for confirming. So what you are saying is that you are confident in the modules working but don't know whether mechanically it would cause damage (for example, crack solder)?

[Rob]

That's correct. I'm not worried about broken solder joints, I'm more concerned about a steady connection in the TRS jacks. Probably should be fine, though.

[TheJay]

Oh, thanks for clarifying.

So you think the TRS jacks might not be able to hold the cable in place or literally don't know even though you are confident that the jack's will stay firm whether the signal will be stable?

[TheJay]

Just checking in with you.

[Rob]

Given the weak strength of the signal at your piezo, it's probably safe to say the vibrations in your drum are pretty weak. I'm going to say there should be no problems. The jacks themselves aren't going anywhere. They are soldered right through the PCB. The only worry would be for the contacts inside the TRS jack. In particular, the contact for the tip connection. You certainly aren't going to damage anything by mounting the eDRUMin on the crossbar. In fact, I think it's very clever.

Rob

[Mylo]

Definitely some thinking outside the box here. I’m curious what advantages there are with this setup? Aren’t you going to have to drill more holes into your bass drum for the inputs and USB cables?

And having taken an eDRUMin apart recently I can verify they are rock solid. A single PCB board with everything solder to it. Nothing is coming loose on these boards.

[Rob]

In an A2E conversation, servicing the kick and toms from one unit mounted inside the bass drum makes for a very tidy setup.

[TheJay]

Thanks for your replies. That is reassuring.

As a reminder to those on vdrums, this is my set up.

Module 1 & 2:
Drums
Top Left/Left Middle PD-8 Pads
Top Right/Right Middle PD-8 Pads
Bottom Left/Left Middle PD-8 Pads
Bottom Right/Right Middle PD-8 Pads
Cymbals
None



Module 3
Drums
Left 10×8/Right 12×9 Rack Tom
22x16 Bass Drum/16×16 Floor Tom with Legs
Cymbals
None

Module 4
Drums
14×5.5 Snare
Cymbals
Cowbell
10 inch Splash
14 inch Hi Hat (I think this has its own dedicated port on the module, does that mean I could save one of the ports for another trigger?)

Module 5
Drums
None
Cymbals
18 inch China
18 inch Crash
20 inch Ride

Total ports: 19 (1 or 2 spare)
20 ports over 5 eDRUMin modules

I wanted a way to conceal as much cabling and components as possible. Initially the idea was to add one module to accommodate the three toms and bass drum itself. That's three holes in and one hole out (four total).

Then I thought, why stop there? I can eliminate all the cable slack and keep everything tidy by having all/most of the modules inside (remember, I have five).

If Dave can make a splitter box for bell, bow and edge (same principle used by Yamaha apparently) then that frees up six module ports of the 12 I would have needed for all my cymbals and cowbell.

This frees up six of eight ports needed for the Roland PD8 pads to use them without splitters giving me back rim and enabling me to use them as triggers for claps, clicks, whistling and other sound effects. I originally got them to use as an alternative to creating electronic/silent rototoms as I love how they sound in Pink Floyd songs and couldn't figure out how to mount them all and also didn't want to use up so much space for something so specialist having read how many people bought them thinking they were cool and then never really used them.

All holes will use chrome hardware and placement will be optimal for keeping things tidy/concealed.

If slightly larger holes can be made, several cables can be fed through one hole. I think there will be several different sized port hole hardware sizes available.

I figure five cables can fit through one hole. That means one hole for five USB cables (others could use a USB hub inside the bass drum meaning only one data cable coming out and four other inputs).

One hole to the left low down for five PD8 pads, one hole to the right low down for three remaining pads (plus two cymbals including hi-hat and crash).

Four smaller individual holes for the three toms and snare (likely using one of those holes for cowbell) placed optimally (two on top, one left mid height and one right mid height) so that when the drums are positioned the cables cross over where drums almost touch.

That's five data cables out one hole, eight pads and two cymbals in two holes, plus toms, snare and cowbell in four holes and one (or two) low down hole(s) depending on location of each cymbal for splash, china and ride. We don't have to worry about the bass drum itself, as that's where it will all be at anyway. Total of 9 holes for 19 inputs and could actually lose several of those holes (if combined more and had less drums).

A second cross bar would be needed to secure slack cabling with cable ties to eliminate any movement inside the bass drum.

I'll get back to Dave and see what he says.