DIY Electric Drum Pedals

Electronic drums rely on piezoelectric charges to carry signals.

Electronic drums emulate the sound of real drums without the volume, making them ideal for practice and recording. Each drum contains a piezo element. The piezo converts the impact of the stick, beater or pedal into an impulse, which is sent to a signal processor via an RCA jack. You can make your own electric drum pedal by converting a standard kick drum pedal. Instead of hitting a real drum, the pedal is rigged up to a trigger pad, which sends the electric signal.

Things You'll Need

• Piezo element
• Wire cutters
• Speaker wire
• Heat-shrink tubing
• Hair dryer
• RCA jack
• Soldering iron
• Pocket knife
• Coffee can lid
• Glue
• Kick drum practice pad
• Phillips screwdriver
• Kick drum pedal

Instructions

1. Strip the end of the wires attached to the piezo element to expose approximately 1/2 inch of braided metal.

2. Strip all tips of the speaker wire. Speaker wire is split into three parts: one single end and an end with a positive and negative tip.

3. Solder piezo wires to the single end of the speaker wire.

4. Measure the combined length of the piezo wire and speaker wire. Cut a piece of heat-shrink tubing to this length.

5. Slide the wires into the heat-shrink tubing. Heat the tubing with a hair dryer for approximately three minutes. The heat causes the tubing the shrink, creating an insulation tube for the wires.

6. Solder the positive end of the speaker wire to the ring-mount part of the RCA jack.

7. Solder the negative end of the speaker wire to the panel-mount part of the RCA jack.

8. Make a series of scratches on the underside of the coffee can lid. This helps the glue bond better with the metal surface.

9. Glue the flat side of the piezo element to the underside of the coffee can lid.

10. Unscrew the plastic ring surrounding the kick drum practice pad. Kick drum practice pads are ideal for this application because they are designed to emulate the feel and response of an actual kick drum, without creating the sound.

11. Separate the rubber pad from the backing.

12. Slide the coffee can lid with the piezo element onto the backing, and position it in the center. Replace the rubber pad and screw the plastic ring back on.

13. Position the kick drum practice pad in front of the kick drum pedal beater. Connect the RCA jack to your preferred signal processor, such as the "brain" for your electronic drum kit. Now when you use the pedal, it will send an electronic message rather than making an acoustic sound.

Tips & Warnings

• Solder in a well-ventilated area.

References

• Electronic Drums: Build Your Own