Lighted LED double kick bass pedal???

[moody07747]

OK so I have blue lights for my drums on my kit but now I want to draw some attention to my double bass pedal setup.

I was running though some ideas in my head and am thinking about having a setup so every time the beater hits the pad, 2 or 3 bright blue LED lights flash.

I have no idea how im going to get the lights to trigger though and for LEDs ill use the extra blues I have from the drum lights...I have 3 more left.


ideas and tips are welcome.

BTW here's the double bass pedal setup now

**broken link removed**

 

[moody07747]

An even better idea just came to me.....forget those little LED lights....why not use a strobe.

Its really bright and can charge/discharge really fast.

the idea came to me as i was looking though allelectronics for switches

i was looking at this strobe unit...nice and cheap but 30W is bright enough for me...

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Chauvet-Mini-Flash-Adjustable-Speed-Strobe?sku=803022

if i see a better deal on ebay ill go for that

 

[moody07747]

for a switch, do you guys think a piezo disk could be replaced with a momentary on switch?

 

[Dr.EM]

A piezo can't be replaced directly for a switch as a piezo generates a voltage whereas a switch will drop the resistance between two points, but will not create any voltage.

Your current plans are to use that shop bought strobe? That will make triggering more difficult than using LEDs. A few modifications to the unit and it should be triggerable from an external source. Then, you just need to make a circuit to change the voltage spike produced by the piezo in the bass drum into a clean voltage change to trigger the strobe flash. If you can get the schematic of that strobe unit, it will help a great deal. If nothing else, you can just use the output stage and tube and install this circuit:

**broken link removed**

 

[moody07747]

well instead of buying the strobe i could just make this one

https://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/strobe.htm

which would be easier in the end but it would end up costing more...I could just make a wiring sheet for the other but I probably will just make the one at that link

 

[Blueteeth]

Hi,

I'm sure a peizo pickup will do nicely. A bit of analogue afterwards (opamp) and it'll trigger anything you want...LED, strobe, sound sample ..

I've seen plenty of plans for 'midi' drums, that I'm planning to build myself (no room for a kit). https://tomscarff.tripod.com/8way_drm2/drmpre_ct.gif

Although, for the drum triggers, they usually have a sample/hold circuit to give the controller time to read off the voltages for velocity....you don't need that. I'd say a voltage follower just because the peizo output impedences is in the order of Mohms, and then an opamp or comparator. You might also want a cap so the output pulse is streched a bit (only a few ms). With this you've essentailly got a logic output.

As for the 'pickup' itself....those annoying piezo buzzers can be taken apart easily, readily available, and cheap. I've used these myself to make 'midi' bongo's (pointless project, but its fun for a few minutes).

goodluck. And adding some big leds 'in' the drum would lok cool, especially if you've got a fairly clear bass drum skin.

Blueteeth.

 

[benwied]

hi,
i have been working on something very similar for a while now. can i use a peizo disc on a drum to connect a simple circuit of power, a resistor and an LED?

its kind of what this guy was wanting to do at first except i dont want to do the strobe, and it seems like jsut LEDs would be simpler.
i do already have a drum trigger (peizo transducer as i understand)

feel free to respond on here or by eamil to benwied@gmail.com

thanks!
ben