Drum trigger pickup mp3s

boonefiddler · #1 07-31-2008, 05:50 PM

I read a post on this site from seamonkey about using a Pulse Percussion Red Hots DR-1 Drum Trigger for an upright bass pickup. I purchased one for $9.99 from MF

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ger?sku=444035

and I glued a small piece of pine on the top of it so that it fit snugly in the E string bridge wing. See pics below.

I then recorded a couple of short scales 5 different ways:

1) One Nady large condenser mic 2 feet in front of the bridge, no pickup.
http://www.swensongs.com/basspickupr...gs/miconly.mp3

2) One Nady large condenser mic 2 feet in front of the Carvin PB 100 combo amp. The bass was 6 feet behind the mic, facing the other direction so that minimal acoustic sound would be picked up. The Carvin has a 10 inch speaker and a 100 watts. I hooked an additional speaker up to the extension jack (an old KLH subwoofer with the amp removed.)
http://www.swensongs.com/basspickupr...s/miconamp.mp3

3) Bass pickup into Behringer BDI 21 with all controls at 12 O'clock.
http://www.swensongs.com/basspickupr...gs/BDI21on.mp3

4) Bass pickup into Behringer BDI 21 but with the effects disengaged, like a direct box.
http://www.swensongs.com/basspickupr...s/BDI21off.mp3

5) 1/4 inch cable directly from the bass pickup into the mixer.
http://www.swensongs.com/basspickupr...pickuponly.mp3

All of these were recorded directly to my computer through a small Behringer mixer, using Audacity software.

Let me know what you think of the recordings. Thanks!

thesneakyjesus · #2 07-31-2008, 07:07 PM

honestly,

great idea. cool project.

I think it sounds awful.
I just think that a better acoustic instrument + a better set of strings witha good mic would work better for you.

It it's just an expirement, that was a cool project.
I never knew drum triggers were that cheap.

bolo · #3 07-31-2008, 10:07 PM

Out of the bunch #2 and #3 are the most even sounding to me. I think #1 would sound better maybe if the mic were in closer to the bass, or picking up more of the fingerboard, or especially if you were digging in harder. But that's just me.

MingusAmongUs · #4 07-31-2008, 10:18 PM

I'm on board with thesneakyjesus on this one:
Good for you for trying, good project. Terrible sound.

A great demonstration of "you get what you pay for."

My first bass came with a Barcus Berry bridge w/ a pickup built in. It sounded kinda like that. I never used it.

pjleo · #5 07-31-2008, 10:41 PM

I bought one of those triggers.........
did not seem to work so well for me.
I thought you had an ok sound on # 3 for 10 bucks..
It may sound a little better with an EQ tweek
I would be interested to hear another name brand pick up along with the pulse trigger in your experiment.....thanx

BusterDog · #6 08-01-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjleo

I would be interested to hear another name brand pick up along with the pulse trigger in your experiment.....thanx

+1
Thanks for sharing.
I don't know what is so terrible about the recording. It sounded decent to me. Maybe with my little computer speakers, I'm just not hearing what the other guys did?

I ordered one of those earlier this week. It should be here any day now.

BusterDog · #7 08-01-2008, 08:20 AM

Just a few random thoughts...
It would be interesting to see if it would make a difference if the wood were on the leg side of the bridge wing. Also if the wood block were wider for more contact area.

Anonymous75966 · #8 08-01-2008, 10:55 AM

FWIW I did the same thing and posted about it here.

I thought the sound was useable in a lo-fi, twanky kind of way - much like your clips sound - but I killed the piezo leads in about a week through handling and fiddling. Beware ...

JoeyNaeger · #9 08-01-2008, 12:50 PM

Are you running the mixer into your sound card's microphone input? If you really want to get a decent recorded tone, a usb or firewire interface would yield much better results.

seamonkey · #10 08-01-2008, 03:06 PM

I'll listen to your recordings later. It's really up to you if you like how it sounds. It makes a big difference who you're playing with and how it sits in the mix. I have a lot of sample libs for horns and strings. And by themselves - ick - but mixed it's an entirely different story.

I found that varying the amount of pressure on the piezo makes a difference in the sound. I used back to back wedges. Squeezing them together will shift response to a lower register. And you can vary the pressure to use like a tone control.

boonefiddler · #11 08-03-2008, 08:28 AM

Thanks to all for listening and your comments. I think that pjleo is right, that #3 was about the best and could use an eq adjustment. I might try an ADI21 instead of the BDI21, to eq the mid range better. I just left them at 12 o'clock for the recording. BusterDog - I have tried turning it upside down and moving it around, and the sound does change quite a bit as you move it. I tried using felt and tape on both sides, and that worked OK, too. I may experiment more with that. JoeyNaeger, I recorded it from the mixer into the input jack on my iMac. I have gotten OK results this way before on other instruments and it works OK, but a USB interface might improve the sound quality. And finally, seamonkey, who I got the idea from in the first place; you are very right about how something sounds by itself compared to in context. I read an article where someone was able to solo Flea's EB sound in a Red Hot Chili Pepper recording, and it was very noisy, edgy, almost ugly sound. But when they brought the mix up, it sounded just right with the drums. I do know that when I am standing in the room playing the bass with the amp on, it is a punchy, loud sound that sounds much like the bass without the pickup, only louder. I used it in a Dixieland combo with drums, banjo, and 4 LOUD horn players, and I was able to finally make my part cut through. I was set up before the others got there, and had my bass in front of the amp, (Carvin combo only, no sub) so they didn't notice I was using it. I had only played the bass acoustically with them before. The drummer told me when we got done with the set that the room we were in must have had a good resonance for the bass because he could hear me so much better. I told him I was using an amp right behind the bass, and he was surprised, because he felt like the sound was coming from my bass. I don't use the instrument this way very much, more for my son and myself to play orchestrally with a bow, so this was a cheap and effective solution for me. Sometimes people only hear what they see, and if they see a $10 drum trigger crudely stuck on a bass, they will only be able to hear a $10 drum trigger crudely stuck on a bass, so I usually try not to show them what I'm using until after they have heard it.

Thanks again,
Boonefiddler

Gearhead43 · #12 08-03-2008, 02:29 PM

I think the recordings sounded good, considering the context of your little experiment. It's not like you recorded in a professional studio or something.

The drum trigger actually reproduces the sound of your bass far better than you'd expect for a cheap 10 dollar piezo. I also tried one of those out on my bass and was surprised at the sound I could get with the right pressure, and some carefull EQing.

The drawback and reason why they don't work for me, is that they are fragile and feedback far too easily for the volume level I need.

Thanks for the interesting listen.