DIY Foot Drum

[jugglindan]

So we are making profiles for all our multiple personalities now? Oh boy, things are going to get crowded in here.

Ig0r isn't a multiple personality. Just multiple people.

[FrankenWashie]

So we are making profiles for all our multiple personalities now? Oh boy, things are going to get crowded in here.

Im sure he’ll limp off back into the shadows of the lab before long. There’s only so much lithping the keyboard can soak up.....

[Sonic Mountain]

I'm surprised he can type, what with the 4 thumbs, 3 index fingers and the repurposed monkey toes.

[jugglindan]

A monkey paw sure helped Bob Log. I wonder if Ig0r can play like that.

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[McCreed]

A monkey paw sure helped Bob Log. I wonder if Ig0r can play like that.

I had to google Bob Log... found some YT videos...

That's eight minutes of my life I'll never get back.

[jugglindan]

I had to google Bob Log... found some YT videos...

That's eight minutes of my life I'll never get back.

I saw him live a couple of times. His shows in person have a certain energetic charm, but I don't listen to his CDs. There's only so much frenetic slide guitar by a man wearing a helmet and singing into an old telephone mic that I can take.

[jugglindan]

Back to the original topic, I did some suck-it-and-see-engineering just now. Stuck a disk piezo transducer to the bottom of a small wooder crate and plugged it into my THR set to the bass amp sim. The output was low (no pre-amp) but the audio quality was apparent. Rather than the satisfying thump I am aiming for, I got something more akin to a tap, or a knock, with just a little bit of click mixed in. I don't even think EQ would help (I maxed the amp bass and adjusted mid and treble) since the low frequencies didn't appear to be there to start with. Maybe a different wooden box would help, or wearing boots instead of socks.

To compare, I then hooked the broken 6" sub driver up as a microphone and gave the cone a light tap. From the amp came the rich resonant thumpa thumpa I was looking for with this project. I tested again with the Sanyo speaker I got for the mini amp project, and again, a nice thump from the amp. It was not as rich as the sub driver, but it was still in the ballpark. The piezo wasn't in the ballpark. It wasn't in the car park. I don't even think it was in the right part of town.

I now understand why many of the DIY foot drum designs I looked at use a speaker as the transducer. In this application, more or less faithful reproduction of the vibrations isn't really the goal.

[JohnH]

Good to know. I have a couple of old speakers kicking around somewhere, maybe I should dig one out before I try playing around on the weekend

[Brendan]

OK - so here's one I built with my brother last time I was in Canberra. Haven't wired it up - hence front cover not sitting properly. Also need to clear coat it and chamfer the edges a little.

[jugglindan]

That looks awesome Brendan. Very close to the sort of thing I am working towards. I know it's not wired up, but what are you using inside as the microphone? Have you tested with temporary wiring? How does it sound?

DC