Korg Forums

[Dubmaster]

Hello.

I got my wavedrum yesterday so I'm in learning mode right now and a few issues has become apparent.

I got the remo drumhead from the start after reading some posts in different forums, and i took a good look at the inner workings of the drum when i replaced the skin. My main issue is that the rubbermat in combination with the upper part of the pressure sensor is sticking up in the center of the drumskin making that part dead if you hit it with a stick.

So what i would like to know is if this is different between individual drums. All drums i've seen have this issue out of the box. Can you tune this away? Will the flexible plastic part become softer in time and make this go away? I see this as mainly a problem when using sticks but i have not seen it being mentioned in any reviews or anything. Any ideas?

Apart from this i'm having a blast!

[Arend Groot]

You can try adjusting the pressure sensor at the bottom of the wavedrum with the Allen wrench. It is described at page 29 of the manual. For me it solved a bit of the problem you mentioned. But read carefully. I find this whole tuning thing a bit scary when you read that you can damage the drum....

So I am also wondering if there is a better solution because the sound is much softer in that part in the middle. With sticks I hit above that point for maximum loudness.
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Arend

Oasys 88 #324:EXs 3, LAC1, MOD-7,KARO strings, Granular, 5 Piano set, Assault
WAVEDRUM

[Dubmaster]

Adjusting the height using the Allen key on the bottom only affects the bottom part of the pressure sensor. It is the top part that is in contact with the skin.

I'm going to do some test just removing the rubber mat and see how the drum behaves and depending on how that goes i might consider removing some material from that mat to make it a bit lower.

[Arend Groot]

I also tightened the head a bit and it responded better. But I am interested to read your test. Maybe ask someone from korg what it means to remove the rubber mat..
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Arend

Oasys 88 #324:EXs 3, LAC1, MOD-7,KARO strings, Granular, 5 Piano set, Assault
WAVEDRUM

[WaveDrummer]

I wanted to address this issue, as it directly relates to the thread I just posted about tensioning the drum head.

It is natural to have a slight lift in the center of the head due to the pressure sensor underneath. I am often asked at trade shows if you can "play a roll" on the Wavedrum.
Or sometimes, "Why CAN'T you play a roll on the Wavedrum?"
Or "Why doesn't it feel like a drum?"

To the first question:
Well, personally, I can play a roll on the Wavedrum. But it does require more control and technique than playing on a snare drum. Particularly if you are playing in the middle of the drum. If I need to play more articulate figures, I simply move the sticks away from the center of the head. It is easier to get more bounce and control towards the edge.

To the second question:
The Wavedrum doesn't feel like a drum, because it isn't one...it is a Wavedrum. It is an instrument unto itself and should be looked at as such. I indulged in this topic at length in the "Tensioning (tuning)" thread so no need to repeat it all here.

Considering the vast array of sounds that the Wavedrum is capable of, there is simply no way that one instrument will have the ideal feel for each player and every situation. Some adaptation should be embraced, in my opinion. After all, we are the pioneers of a wonderful new product!

I say that with a all due respect to the actual pioneers, those individuals that embraced the "ORIGINAL," original Wavedrum back in the mid 1990's. You know who you are! And my hat is off to those brave artists.

But the Wavedrum from that era did not emulate real drums the way the current version does. So it is natural for us to expect, or at least want, our Wavedrum to respond and/or feel like a drum in a way that we are used to. I will most likely open a different thread to address the "feel" issue, and the transition from acoustic to electronic percussion, as I have quite a few thoughts on the topic.

Bottom line:
Don't get too frustrated if the Wavedrum feels different from other drums in your setup. I would at least try to adapt one's technique to the Wavedrum before modifying the internal mechanism of the instrument itself.

From a drumkit standpoint: As drummers, we transition from hi-hats, to ride cymbals, to splash cymbals, to snare drums, to high-toms and low-toms. All of these surfaces feel and respond completely different from one another. And yet we can play all those different surfaces, inside of just a few seconds, without thinking twice about it! This didn't happen overnight. The instrument itself evolved over decades, and most of us spent many years developing the amazing abilities just described. None of us grew up playing the Wavedrum so it is something new for all of us.

Don't think of any changes you might have to make to your playing as "compromise," rather, think of it as "evolution."
We are Wavedrummers, after all. Masters of our universe!

[Panason]

Ok, so the drum head is dampened by the pressure sensor in the centre, which means that techniques that require hands or sticks bouncing off the head's vibration won't quite work.

Can the pressure sensor be lowered enough so that it doesn't actually touch the head in the centre, for playing with a more natural feel at the cost of losing pressure sensitivity in the centre?

Or can those techniques be done well on the wavedrum using rubber mallets?

[Bertotti]

From what I can tell the pressure sensor needs to be pre loaded a bit, hence the hump in the middle. The big mistake I made at first was trying to tune the head like a regular snare drum, big no no. Practice a bit and you'll lay it fine, I got my right hand owkring it out but my left is being a bit difficult in the center of the WD.

[winged EEL]

owkring ???

[Bertotti]

Owkring a new special drum technique baffles millions! And Dazzles millions more!




Oops! Bit of dyslexia slipping in! Working is the proper way to spell it! Let me tell you Grade school was a B%$^&!

[winged EEL]

Oh, that special drum technique.

[Panason]

Judging by the videos, seems that the most expressive way to owrk, or play, the Wavedrum is to use a stick in one hand and use the other hand for different things, slapping, damping, pitch bending, etc. . .

Since the head doesn't vibrate like a real drum, I reckon that practice sticks with rubber tips may work quite well to get the bounce you'd get from a real drum head. I'll order a pair of these with mine, they 'll probably be good for playing with headphones when I don't want to make too much noise.

It sounds like the head is dampened by both the sensor in the centre and another near the rim?

[Bertotti]

I don't think so. I think the one near the rim is close but the skin doesn't actually touch it. I think the reason we have that little bit below the controls is to protect the sensor from being impacted physically or by to many spl's. My guess but it looks that when when I had it apart.

[WaveAxis]

Do you think it is possible to take out the pressure sensor and make it as a pedal? will this affect the tuning of the whole iinstrument? because i woul d like to tighten the head after removal of pressure sensor. thank u guys

[Gizmo1300]

Like your thinking
Have a look at the thread on the Bodhran in this forum. It talks about adding a fishing line extension to the pressure sensor. This means you have the advantage of the pressure sensor still being in place and using your feet. I have yet to modify mine but will be doing so in the near future.
Just a thought

cheers
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Gizmo
For the fun of it

[WaveAxis]

It is very good idea... first i was thinking abou making a special stand for the wavedrum and connect a fishing line to a pedal mechanism on the bottom of the stand. But I dont like the idea of a fishing line coming out of the instrument... it is not fool proof .Anything can happen and damage your very expensive instrument... I am planning to add the trigger jacks which are very good idea if you want to control a drumbrain... But this idea of audio jacks in the bottom inspire me to add one more jack for the expression pedal with the pressure sensor... I think better than the mechanical solution. I want this in my live performance setup... I took an old Korg nanopad and cut of the drumpads. Disassembled the pads and soldered contacts to a connector. Took the pad sensors and mounted to homemade drumpads between layers of cork(got in the kitchen accesories store) and pertinax. made a connection to the connectors on the nanopad PCB and VOILA: I HAVE A MIDI DRUMKIT with 2ms latency and connected only via USB for the price of the (shitty) nanopad. With addition of the wavedrum I have a very good setup. For me it is very good solution. When I play with sticks i could control the pressure with pedal next to my hihat pedal... and it would also be good for me when I play with hands because wavedrum would give more bounce to fingers like the djembe drum, so more natural feel. But still waiting until my warranty voids an the i will make the mod... maybe i wil try to get a radioshack FSR and solder instead osthe FSR in the wavedrum. maybe this will not void the waranty what do you think? But still dont know how much i can tighten the head. to act more like the snare drum... I still find the head too loose. and when I check the tabla preset(best for tuning the wavedrum) it is not the same sound like the default tuning.