[sdiy] Electronic drums - Kraftwerk style metal drumsticks....

[john mahoney]

> What are the pros and cons of using metal sticks and pads to trigger
> drums? I've seen this done by [Kraftwerk], but I imagine it lacks a
> realistic drum 'feel'.

I guess it would have a different feel than a normal drum, but metal sticks
can be springy if they are the right size and material, so you'd still get
that all-important "bounce" off the pads. Knitting needles, for an extreme
example, have lots of bounce. Sticks that work well on one surface may or
may not work so well on another. To paraphrase, "different sticks for
different kits."

Anyway, the pad material doesn't matter too much if you are only generating
trigger signals. On the other hand, if you are processing the *audio* signal
from a drum pad (using a contact mike), then the pad construction makes a
huge difference. Metal will usually have a slower decay than a rubberized
pad. More likely to get feedback too, which is good or bad depending...
(reference John Cage).


> Could this be improved with conductive rubber?

Why conductive? Are you thinking that it could generate a signal like a
piezo? Umm...

Rubber, of course, is used for drum pads all the time.


> Does anyone have any experience with this method of triggering, how
> are different sounds triggered?

Not with triggering, but I've tapped on and with a lot of things. :-)
--
john