drum trigger question

[Guest]

I have an older Roland TD5 electronic kit. I want to send one of the pads to both the brain and an analog synth and have been thinking about using a y cable to do it. My concern is that the voltage is going to be split over this parallel line. Is this the case and would they be the same value?

[Scott from MA]

Voltage is not split in a parallel circuit. Your worst-case scenario is that you may get "noise" in the y-connection which will send false trigger signals. That's pretty unlikely, though, so it's probably worth a try.

 

Good luck to you...

 

Scott

[Guest]

OK so I split the signal with a y cable. One goes to the drum module and the other goes to an analog synth.

If I put a variable resistor in line between the y split and the synth can i control the pitch of the triggered sound? The synth in question is a Moog Rogue.It's an unbalanced line as trigger so i didn't think a pot would work but correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks

[Anderton]

>>If I put a variable resistor in line between the y split and the synth can i control the pitch of the triggered sound? The synth in question is a Moog Rogue.It's an unbalanced line as trigger so i didn't think a pot would work but correct me if I'm wrong.<<

 

It depends. If the trigger is feeding a trigger input jack, then that just fires the envelope(s), and the synth's pitch control should set the oscillator pitch. If it's feeding a pitch input (i.e., control voltage input that sets pitch), then you could use a pot to pad down the voltage and obtain a lower pitch. You'd wire it up as follows:

 

Drum trigger hot = Pot hot terminal

Drum trigger ground = Pot ground terminal

Synth trigger hot = Pot wiper terminal

Synth trigger ground = Pot ground terminal

[Guest]

Right now I'm using it as a trigger but could it be used as keyboard control? What would be the spec I would need to look at to verify this?

 

Also I have a MicroMoog and the trigger input on it is a two prong male plug. What is this and how can I adapt it to a 1/4"?

Thanks

[Anderton]

>>Right now I'm using it as a trigger but could it be used as keyboard control? What would be the spec I would need to look at to verify this?<<

 

I'm on kind of shaky ground here because I don't know the voltage put out by your trigger, nor have I used any of the equipment you describe. Hopefully the trigger voltage is +10V, although +5 might be enough to control the oscillator pitch on some level. I'm also assuming the trigger level doesn't change depending on dynamics, which could be wrong...

 

Anyway, if you have an Oscillator control voltage input, that's the input of interest. If the trigger level is constant, then it would probably just play the highest possible frequency. You would need to see if you could offset this with the synth's frequency (oscillator pitch) controls, or you could use the pot wiring described in a previous post to trim the trigger level to something lower. If the trigger varies with dynamics, then the harder you hit, the higher the pitch. Again, the pot can trim this.

 

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Again, it's been a long time since I took apart vintage synths, but as I recall this may be a trigger that depends on a switch closure rather than a voltage. You will need to get into some fairly esoteric circuitry to make this work, like driving a CMOS bilateral switch (a la 4066) with the trigger pulse, then connecting the CMOS switch terminals to the two trigger connections. This is not complicated to do if you're versed in electronic construction, but if not, then you're out of luck.

 

n.p.: Fila Brazilia, "Fire Lanes"