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theflash0000
Gear Modder
Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 38
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 Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:53 am Post subject: DIY Magnetic Hi-Hat Switch Mod |
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I know there are about a billion DIY HH switches out there, but I have not yet seen one using this method, so I thought I'd post it.
So, I took the plunge and bought an Alesis DM5 for a great price on eBay. While waiting for it to be delivered, I was trying to figure out how to use my acoustic HH stand as the HH pedal switch with that brain.
As many of you know, the DM5 uses a momentary footswitch for HH control. So I was searching for a switch that I could attach to my HH stand and I came across this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2419298
Its the sort of magnetic switch used for alarm systems. That got the wheels turning. I figured there must be a ton of ways to mount this on the HH stand and use it with the "natural" movement of the stand.
So I got one and here is the result:
Please excuse the ghetto-ness of its current state. I temporarily attached one side of the switch to the end of the pedal with zip-ties in case I needed to make adjustments. The project box housing the 1/4" mono jack is attached by the screw/spike thingy on the HH stand.
Here it is with the pedal held down (with law school books):
It works PERFECTLY. The best thing about it is that the magnets are actually very "forgiving". By that I mean that they don't have to be perfectly positioned next to each other for the switch to work.
In fact, on my set up, nothing on the pedal touches any part of the other side of the switch. Therefore, there are no parts to wear out. Theoretically, you can mash away on the HH pedal and the only limitation is the strength of your HH stand.
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SirPuttsAlot
E-Drum Specialist
Joined: 07 Dec 2008
Posts: 653
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| Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:21 am Post subject: |
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tut seals
Hardcore Band Member
Joined: 11 Dec 2008
Posts: 152
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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Very impressive  |
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theflash0000
Gear Modder
Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 38
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| Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:43 am Post subject: |
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Thanks I got a chance to play with it for a while last night. Adding the left foot is extremely awesome, and also extremely hard. I think it was Doc who said is another post somewhere that if you stick with it, its very rewarding playing the song in the "musically-correct" way.
I had the most fun playing Moonage Daydream and Brass in Pocket.
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davidshek
Resident Drum Guru
Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 2160
Location: Raleigh, NC
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| Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:34 am Post subject: |
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| theflash0000 wrote: | | I had the most fun playing Moonage Daydream and Brass in Pocket. |
We discussed this in another thread, but be aware that all those Blue notes in Brass in Pocket (you know, the ones all over the place where it's R/B together) are NOT open hi-hat. They're mid-tom.
There are some open HH notes in that song, but they're actually not charted to blue, they're all yellow.
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theflash0000
Gear Modder
Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 38
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| Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| davidshek wrote: | | theflash0000 wrote: | | I had the most fun playing Moonage Daydream and Brass in Pocket. |
We discussed this in another thread, but be aware that all those Blue notes in Brass in Pocket (you know, the ones all over the place where it's R/B together) are NOT open hi-hat. They're mid-tom.
There are some open HH notes in that song, but they're actually not charted to blue, they're all yellow. |
WHOOPS. Oh well. Still fun and I think its a good one for at least practicing the technique (i.e. getting your brain working right with the left foot).
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Doc_SoCal
N.O.M.F.I.C.
Joined: 30 Nov 2008
Posts: 3195
Location: One Step Ahead Of You....
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| Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Nice work Flash!
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Wesker316
Band Member
Joined: 26 Jan 2009
Posts: 34
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:18 am Post subject: |
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| I'm thinking of buying a Hi-Hat stand to do this Mod to replace my original drum rocker pedal. Would a Pintech PC10" cymbal work well mounted on a hi-hat stand ? |
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davidshek
Resident Drum Guru
Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 2160
Location: Raleigh, NC
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:43 am Post subject: |
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| Wesker316 wrote: | | I'm thinking of buying a Hi-Hat stand to do this Mod to replace my original drum rocker pedal. Would a Pintech PC10" cymbal work well mounted on a hi-hat stand ? |
Hmmm, I'd say no. On a real hi-hat stand, you're going to want something bigger than 10". Go with at 14", that's the standard size for hi-hat cymbals.
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Wesker316
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Joined: 26 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:15 am Post subject: |
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David, could you elaborate a bit ?
I was under the impression that if I am currently comfortable with the PC10 as a hi-hat cymbal on a cymbal arm, that it would be the same on a hi-hat stand.
Would it just look silly on a hi-hat stand or be physically less playable?
Thanks for your input |
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davidshek
Resident Drum Guru
Joined: 27 Dec 2008
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Location: Raleigh, NC
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| Wesker316 wrote: | David, could you elaborate a bit ?
I was under the impression that if I am currently comfortable with the PC10 as a hi-hat cymbal on a cymbal arm, that it would be the same on a hi-hat stand.
Would it just look silly on a hi-hat stand or be physically less playable? |
You're currently using a PC10 on a cymbal boom arm. A hi-hat stand is a totally different animal. For starters, the base on which the cymbal rests is much larger. Second, it's not really built to handle a cymbal sitting the way one does on a boom arm. It's built to have one upside-down, and then another on top of it. So I'm not even sure if you could use just one effectively.
So yes, it would be physically less playable, possibly damaging to your cymbal, and look silly all at the same time.
Tell ya what, since it's kinda hard to describe over text, when I get home from work later today, I'll put a PC10 on my real hi-hat stand and take some pictures to show you what I'm talking about. That way you'll be able to see if that's really the way you want to do it.
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Wesker316
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Joined: 26 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:56 am Post subject: |
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Wow, thanks for the very detailed response.
Looking forward to you pictures to potentially see what kind of disaster you've made me avoid  |
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rmessier
Band Member
Joined: 08 Dec 2008
Posts: 48
Location: Folsom
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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What I wish is that they'd at least publish the sheet music to the songs so that we could look it over, sucks trying to figure out where blue is mapped mid-song on a sight read! Some songs its the mid tom, some its the ride, others its the bell of the ride, some its the open hi-hat! To make matters worse, I got the Hal Leonard Rock Band play-along books and was studyng some of the songs, and as I suspected some of those yellow notes are not even hi-hat notes (with stick) but actually foot splashes, which makes perfect sense. So, while I am attempting 100% realism, I have begun to realize it is not going to be possible without a lot of mods and the sheet music charted out!
Just remember, the way Harmonix charts everything drums is, and this is a partial list only:
1. No left foot bass kicks are charted, its all right foot (so, a double pedal is not needed, and actually would probably make it harder in the long run to transition to a doubler).
2. No stick crossovers are ever charted in RB (GH does I think), and crossover sticking is a very basic drumming skill that you learn very early when you take lessons (after you learn the rudiments and stuff).
3. Ghost notes are not charted, neither are flams, or ruffs or rim shots or bell or foot splashes. All of these techniques are widely used by professional drummers to juice up the beat. Look at anyone playing (look at David's video's for instance) and you will see the hat bouncing to the beat during song parts.
4. Dotted notes, triplets, and funky beat timings are very difficult to see based on a colored gem moving down a fret board, so, you have to listen to the song. A good example is in Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd, there is a close grouping of red+yellow that happens in that song, sometimes its a triplet 'feel' other times its a quarter note feel.
These are only the things I have noticed so far, and they sort of are keeping me from doing the yellow/blue switch trick since I will not gain any of the above by doing that. |
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v0lum3
Band Member
Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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| rmessier wrote: |
1. No left foot bass kicks are charted, its all right foot (so, a double pedal is not needed, and actually would probably make it harder in the long run to transition to a doubler).
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I'm pretty sure that all the Disturbed DLC has the double bass charted.
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davidshek
Resident Drum Guru
Joined: 27 Dec 2008
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Location: Raleigh, NC
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| Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| rmessier wrote: | | 1. No left foot bass kicks are charted, its all right foot (so, a double pedal is not needed, and actually would probably make it harder in the long run to transition to a doubler). |
Not necessarily true. Especially in some stuff like the Dream Theater songs, there are clearly double bass notes charted in some of Portnoy's fills.
| rmessier wrote: | | 3. Ghost notes are not charted, neither are flams, or ruffs or rim shots or bell or foot splashes. All of these techniques are widely used by professional drummers to juice up the beat. Look at anyone playing (look at David's video's for instance) and you will see the hat bouncing to the beat during song parts. |
Actually, ghost notes are often charted, especially on the snare. And snare flams are usually charted RY because obviously RR wouldn't make sense. Some of the other stuff you mentioned, like bell hits and rim shots, are impossible to perform with this game/equipment anyway, so that's a moot point. Foot splashes are sometimes charted, but not always. Look at War Pigs.
| rmessier wrote: | | 4. Dotted notes, triplets, and funky beat timings are very difficult to see based on a colored gem moving down a fret board, so, you have to listen to the song. |
Agreed, but that's a limitation of the game again, and without a massive redesign, there's no way around that.
| v0lum3 wrote: | | I'm pretty sure that all the Disturbed DLC has the double bass charted. |
Actually, we don't really know that. We don't know whether he played that with one or two feet in the studio. I can tell you, however, that on the masters, all of the kick notes are on one track. But even knowing that, he could have played it with a double pedal like mine on one drum, or with one foot. We just don't know.
Every hit during the chorus on the kick sounds exactly the same too, and you just can't achieve that with 2 kick drums, and often even with 2 pedals. Here's a sample...
(I've moved the kick to the center, and everything else has been split into Right and Left, so if you have 5.1 speakers, the kick track will be nice and loud in your center speaker. Toms, cymbals, guitar, vocals were all taken down -18 dB and I completely took out snare and bass guitar.)
http://www.drowningsun.com/david/indest_kick.mp3
Judging by what I'm hearing here, my vote is going with 1 foot on 1 drum in the studio.
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