keven walter
This drum trigger uses a laser vibrometer to detect drum hits, turning off the microphones when they are not being used. Without crosstalk and false triggers, mixing is much easier for the sound engineer, and recordings are much cleaner.
The goal is to let the quiet intentional hits through, while keeping the loud, unintentional hits out. Setting the gate low often results in false triggers and bleed across microphone channels.
By using the laser signal to trigger the microphones, there is significantly more separation between intentional and bled drum hits, making it much easier to set the threshold on the gate.
The precise angle of the laser (emitter) and photodiode (detector) keep the light from the laser positioned at the same spot on the photodiode as the drum head is displaced.
As the drum vibrates, the light travels at varying distances, creating the recognizable wave form signal based on the amount of photons detected by the photodiode, triggering the microphone to turn on.
The mechanical design of the mounting system allows for the clip to be mounted at any angle relative to the drum head, with the ability to calibrate the laser freely.
Functional prototype.
The full kit will include four tom/snare microphones, and one for the kick drum.
