Korg Forums

Hello everybody,
this is my first post here .. after 6 years.
I still hit my modded WDs and have fun when drum.

For now I wanna direct your attention to the powerbank thread :
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 432#791432

I hope this is useful info for some of you.

Easy Modification
Clip in and out reversible solution
(though cables still need to be soldered to a jack or another cable - no soldering at the WD ).


My Oriental from the bottom




Google
Micro PH 2.0mm JST 2-Pin Male Female Connector Plug Wires Cables 200mm


find sth. like this
https://www.ebay.de/itm/234025034270?_t ... 101224.m-1


and google
Micro PH 2.0mm JST 3-Pin Male Female Connector Plug Wires Cables 200mm


2 females with a small double male connector

You need "2 pin male and female" and "3 pin male and female"

These cables need to be soldered to 4 x 1/4 " jacks
or to 4 audio cables if you dont want to drill holes.


Mainboard of WD
The 2 pin head connector is at the top right corner (cable leads to the head pizo
The Rim cable leads to the 3pin mainboard connector a bit left and below.
The thick black lead is common ground


so these are the parts that are needed
(from China rather slow delivery maybe better to order more locally)

-to be continued

The "A","B" and "C" mod

The 4 jacks are wired like this




1: unclip the 2pin connector at the mainboard
unclipping is a bit tricky,
you can practise with the male and the female cables - a needle can help.

2. solder your male cable to jack"A"
Black is ground

3.connect piezo cable and jack "A" cable

4a.Solder your female cable to jack"B"
4b.and also solder an audio cable over to jack"C"
Black is ground
maybe you need to make a cable extension

5.clip your female cable into the male mainboard connector

6.mount the jacks
Easy drilling :
Inside the WD you will find the locations for 1 - 4 jacks ... square and narrow
if the drill bit is too short, use a long enough metal needle or similar
heat it up with a lighter and melt a small pilot hole through the center of the square
- from inside to outside
-turn the WD around and drill from outside to inside

This is my"open system", very basic.
if I want to play "normal WD" (usually not), I need to connect "A" and "B" with a short patchcable - for me no prob.
If needed you can can simply solder a switch between "A" and "B"

Easy enough ?
Time for some Music

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ztZI2aLQ9Sw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe>

still its good for not so much, until

A Behringer Bass EQ is placed between "A" and "B"
Some kind of preamp is nececessary, best with a good tone control down to 60 Hz.
It amplifies the signal voltage and also brings enough mA into the game.

(EQ possibly followed by a small looper and/or a stereo ping pong delay
or maybe a wahpedal ... or ...)

Equalaiiis it

Some info to the preamps and the frequencies

Frequency analysis of a Head signal played with fingertips



Frequency analysis of a RIM signal played with a stick



My Equalizer/preamp "BEQ700" 50 Hz 120 400 500 800 4.5kHz 10 kHz

50 HZ and 120Hz faders influence the "bassy Head signal components
400 , 500 800 amplify the "clacky " Rim signal components
4.5 kHZ works a bit on the upper harmonics,
10 kHz has no real effect
I choose the Behringer bc. its only 20 bucks and I can feel and adjust the faders while playing .

A Preamp/EQ for internal installation could be something like this : Artec SE3 or similar.



Signal Paths and Flows inside the WD

This is a Stereo recording of piezo signals from jacks "A" and rim "D" ( 8x head 8x rim hits )
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=ht ... me><div><a href="https://soundcloud.com/waterdrumsounds" title="WaterDrumSounds" target="_blank">WaterDrumSounds</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/waterdrumsounds/ ... -crosstalk" title="Wavedrum Signals Crosstalk" target="_blank">Wavedrum Signals Crosstalk</a></div>



If you listen to this Stereo clip with headfones
you hear the first 8 head hits on one channel only (= head track)

the second 8 Rim "clack" sounds appear on both channels



The Head piezo + the skin actually are a "VERY big membrane" microphone
The Physical Crosstalk of a Rim hit reaches the head piezo through the WD casing and the skin - and thus appears in the head piezo signal.
There is no electronic signal path between head piezo and rim piezo.

The Rim piezo on the other side does not receive X Talk from the head.
Poor Rim Algo , it is only affected by "clack"s and not by "bass" frequency signals and cannot sound like as if it was programmed to the head.

... and so Princess RimAlgoa kept sleeping until
she was kissed by an external Piezo signal coming from a drum , a bassy one ...

External Trigger Modification

The rim houses 2 piezos and uses a 3 pin cable
The thick black lead is common ground, the coloured ones are the signals

1: unclip the 3 pin connector at the mainboard
unclipping is a bit tricky,
you can practise with the male and the female cables - a needle can help.

2. solder together 2 signal ends of your 2 (internet) cables

3. the other 2 signal cable-ends meet at the TIP of jack "D"
4. the 2 ground cable ends meet at the ground of jack "D"

5. connect your male 3 pin cable to the piezo cable coming from the rim
if you use the small double male adapter, secure it with a small drop of glue
and maybe use some shrinking tube

6. clip the second (internet) cable to the mainboard

7. mount the jack
Inside the WD you will find the locations for 1 - 4 jacks ... square and narrow
Easy drilling :
if the drill bit is too short
use a long enough metal needle or similar
heat it up with a lighter and melt a small pilot hole
through the center of the square - from inside to outside
turn the WD around and drill from outside to inside


What is it good for ?
Feed the Rim with
-naked piezo signals .... OK
-preamped and equalized signals MUCH BETTER
-audio signals (mobile fone or sth.) "much better" quality
-preamped microphone ... better than a piezo
-microphone the WD head and give it to the rim

-instead of a mic preamp
monacor ma 100-15 or similar

this converter can connect a mic to guitar pedals
(think mic---converter---BassEQ---Rim "D" )


No external piezo ? Connect jacks "C" and "D" with a patchcable
and use your bassy head signals ... SURPRISE guaranteed .
You need an EQ between "A" and "B" or you loose about 6 dB when you split the signal



Jack "C"


1."C" is meant to be the link over from the head to the Rim
2.it can be used as an input for External triggering of the Head Algo as well
- sound quality , read above
- preamped piezo only
- preamped mic possible

setups with Bass EQ between"A" and"B"

Use a Volume rocker pedal between "C" and "D" to blend the rim sound in and out while you play,
or a fader pot in a box, velcroed to the WD bottom

A Wah pedal is an interesting effect between "C" and "D"

Now lets say 1 pair of congas with a preamped piezo for each
No1 goes to the Rim "D"and No2 goes to the Head jack "C"
The 2 sounds at the WD line out are absolutely independent instruments
and can be positioned in the Stereo panorama at the WD line outs

3.5mm to 2x 1/4 inch ---> 1 to the head, 1 to the rim


The programs need to be edited, esp. the Sample volumes and velocity curves
Some of the presets sound as if they were programmed for the "C"-"D" connection

Between "A" and "B"

The looper
"A"---BEQ---Looper---"B"

Record a loop
Play the loop and listen to all the programs, switch from one to the next ... nice.
Play the loop and edit the program with 2 hands, fully concentrated and in a rhythmical context.
Play the loop and connect "C" and "D"

A Wah pedal acts as a moving filter to balance between the bassy and the clacky sounds.
A spezial Bass wah is best.

An old Guitar Multi FX, best with a rocker pedal is good to experiment with.
A Stereo Ping pong delay, one output to the head algo, one to the rim.

My approach to looper assissted editing
vol rim = 2x 0
select my headsample
vol of sample = 0 or low
concentrate on the ALGO, it has only 8 parameters in edit2
Algo ok? sample volume up, then tune if necessary (some algos "finetune" in edit2 as well)

What can the RIM add to the sound? (without "C"-"D" the looper doesnt reach the rim)

head volumes = 2x = 0
rim sample vol = 0
pressure effects like wind, water, sitar melody ... ... ??
some ALGOs are good for the rim, others less, or not really
(with a "C"-"D" connection all of them are good)
edit rim ALGO
rim sample vol up and adjust rim volumes
then
"All (4) together now" volumes up and tune, maybe finetune in edit2
adjust the volumes , the decays, pressure, reverb, delay and the rest

Thats about it, not that difficult.

Expression Pedal

EXP affects anything pressure related
Tune up or down
Mute the sound
Introduce wind and water
Play the sitar ( not easy )
And what else ? ....

1.Solder 2 wires to the solder spots (blue and brown) at the pressure sensor in the center of the WD


2.Solder to jack
Most Expression pedals use „TRS“ jacks,
Inside is a potentiometer with 3 contact points
Only 2 contacts of the TRS are connected
There is no „Standard“ pinout, check out the 3 combinations yourself.
I dare say that any EXP pedal will work ( more or less ) and is worth to be tested.
My Yamaha FC7 has 50 kOhm and does the job.
The pressure effects at the WD seem to come in at 25kOhm.
Fine tuning is possible with a resistor in series at the jack to limit the maximum pressure.
A parallel resistor modifies the taper.

https://www.harmonycentral.com/forums/t ... ot-values/

I hope I could refurbish this thread well enough.
Many pics are lost and cant be reposted. Now all is good again ...

I would really love if some modders chimed in ...
Experiences, new tricks, interesting ALGO combinations in "C"-"D" mode, the internal preamp
a pic maybe or even a clip ?

WaterDrum wrote:"All kinds of lovely useful things"

Hello there.


It's kind of criminal this hasn't had some responses so I figured I would chime in!

I am on a mission to mod my WD similar to this and your last few posts have been invaluable in figuring out what i need to put together to do so.


My goal is to be able to hook up my 14" piccolo to the WD and have a dedicated "luxury snare pad" for a low volume setup.



Said LV setup....don't ever let them tell you it wont fit kids!


I figure doing it your way also gives me a backup second snare drum in the form of the wavedrum itself.

With the extra added bonus that I could switch to a more exotic program and do more "wavedrum" type stuff with them when the mood takes. (who dosen't want an optional set of timpanis or Taikos on their kit right?)


If it helps anyone randomly happening across this post, you can tune the WD head pretty tight and not loose responsivity, but you have to heavily dampen the area around the head piezo.



As you can see here I've added a gel pad and a bit of foam to help tame the vibrations. There is also a foam pad under the head just Infront of the sensor to try and act as a bit of a vibration dam/breakwater. (I also have some cloth pads very gently resting under the head to stop the body of the WD ringing too much)

It seems like the WD doesn't really like too many overtones and resonance? Almost like it gives it too muddy of a signal?

I could never get mine to sound as good without the rubber pressure pad part inside dampening the head down. Likewise, anything much past finger tight on the head would mute the dynamics and complexity of sounds it produces.

This is a real problem if you are trying to get some rebound out of it for sticks, because even if you remove the pressure plate, there is only so tight you can crank the head before it feels like you are close to breaking a lug or cracking the shell. (and I have no interest in breaking my WD finding out where the limits are)

The way I have this one right now is pretty good. if you stick to playing a little off Centre you can comfortably play propper rudimental stuff on it.

But there's room for improvement and I have this piccolo sitting around doing nothing right now....

I know for a fact I can crank that thing into next week!

More to come on that front once I have a working prototype...


For now I have a couple of questions:

The wiring around "C" and "D" seems a little unclear to me.


The Rim piezos (3 wire) connect directly to jack "D", Tip and Shaft?

Jack "C" connects (2x tip and 1x shaft) to the 3 pin input on the Mainboard?

Do I have this right? (the exact same principle as how A and B are wired, just with more wires?)


And then Jack "C" has an additional internal X-talk connection (Tip and shaft) over to Jack "B"? (which syphons off some of the head Piezo signal to trigger the rim? hence the -6db signal loss on the head?)[/img]


Am I missing anything there? I just need a second EQ pedal and I can hook the rim up to it the exact same way as with the head sensor? One EQ between A and B? and one between C and D?

And if i wanted to add even more inputs, I just plug them into the EQ's with splitter cables?

Including mic's provided they are pre-amped up to line level?


.....have you tried running a guitar or keyboard through the WD inputs yet?

....I do have a bass guitar sitting around....the possibilities there are making my private parts tingle a little....

Hi Wiz
You will have a lot of fun when experimenting. Maybe dont think it over too much before, it will develop by itself.
I try to answer your questions:

The Rim piezos (3 wire) connect directly to jack "D", Tip and Shaft?

Ground runs over the jack ("cables meet at the jack")
ONE of the signals runs over the jack ("cables meet at the jack")
The second trigger signal goes directly to the mainboard.
So the jack is in parallel to one of the Rim piezos.

Jack "C" connects (2x tip and 1x shaft) to the 3 pin input on the Mainboard?

Jack "B" connects to the mainboard Head trigger Input
Jack "C" is only a clone of "B" connected to "B" in parallel (with some extra cable)

And then Jack "C" has an additional internal X-talk connection (Tip and shaft) over to Jack "B"? (which syphons off some of the head Piezo signal to trigger the rim? hence the -6db signal loss on the head?

I would not call it "Cross Talk" , maybe confusing.But yes.

Am I missing anything there? I just need a second EQ pedal and I can hook the rim up to it the exact same way as with the head sensor? One EQ between A and B? and one between C and D?

If you use an EQ between "A" and "B"
you dont need an EQ between "C" and "D"
(useful between "C"and "D": wah pedal , Volume pedal , pitch shifter , looper )

And if i wanted to add even more inputs, I just plug them into the EQ's with splitter cables?

yes , quick and dirty

Including mic's provided they are pre-amped up to line level?

yes

.....have you tried running a guitar or keyboard through the WD inputs yet?

yes , longer signals give you a machine gun triggering effect for the samples but can be good for algorithms

A few thoughts for your setup


Snare piezo---Bass EQ -----ABY pedal ----
---A to the Rim "D"
---B to the Head "C"
---Y to both

Have fun and keep us updated.

WaterDrum wrote:
Ground runs over the jack ("cables meet at the jack")
ONE of the signals runs over the jack ("cables meet at the jack")
The second trigger signal goes directly to the mainboard.
So the jack is in parallel to one of the Rim piezos.

Ok, so like this?




This all makes a lot more sense now thankyou.

I will no doubt have more questions later, but this has been super helpful for now!

I already have the wavedrum running through a Yamaha EAD10, which has brought reverb, flangers, phasers and compressors and such into play.

I can only imagine the insane sounds looping all this back through itself via a delay pedal or somesuch could achieve.


I think I'm going to try 3.5mm jacks. The smaller cables seem more manageable and I could tuck everything away inside the recess where the pressure sensor lives. (making it easy to convert back to a lap friendly config)

I don't think signal noise will be a problem....I'll have to get back to you on that one....


Thanks again!

Drum Module + MIDI ... back and forth

A drum module (in my case a Handsonic Hpd15)
can work in both directions

1. Module TO the Wavedrum
Module Line OUT to Wavedrum "C" and/or "D"

triggers the WD with various instruments
have fun with demo mode
a MIDI file from outside into module into WD

2. FROM the Wavedrum to the module
"C" and "D" to trigger inputs 1 and 2 of the drum mod .
"D" Rim trigger to trigger input 1
the "D" connection directly with nothing between

"C" head trigger --- EQ --- module trigger input 2
the "C" connection contains both signals from head AND rim
and needs an equalizer to filter the rim contents off the "C" line ... or not.

And wasnt there this small Stereo mixer with a 3 band EQ somewhere
to mix these "C" and "D" lines together ?

Hej!

Rewarming an important thread in the cold weather.

Hopefully some of the WD Mod masteminds are still active.
I just bought a WD Global that I'm now in the middle of modding.

-Powerpack
-SD Card Extension
-External Expression Pedal/FSR (for Bodhran Style playing)
-Head Sensor Out
-2 Head In's (thanks for the inspiration @WaterDrum)
-2 separate Ins/Outs for Left and Right Rim Trigger

Some Ins/Outs switchable for, at least, electrical disconnection when needed.

I'm now waiting on a few parts.

I'll try to post a few pics of the upcoming work if I can manage to.
Never really posted in a forum before.

I can’t finish what am planning here till I can afford a few more parts, so no demonstrations for now.

But I’ve done some experimenting and exchanged a few DM’s with Waterdrum and I now have some alternative wiring suggestions for anyone attempting a project like this themselves.


1. Provided we use a switched TR/TRS socket at one end (A), we can eliminate the need for an external patch cable, or physical switch.

I discovered this after accidentally creating an external ground loop between “A” and “B” (there is a lot of electrical noise in my room). The obvious solution to fixing that lead me to an even better idea.



As you can see here, when there is no jack in the socket there is a metal tab creates continuity with one of the pins. (It’s meant for switching speakers, or led’s and such when a jack is connected)

I wanted to link the grounds between “A” and “B” anyway to eliminate this noisy external loop. But if the ground pins are already being bridged…..then an addition bridge between the switch of pin of jack "A" and the "tip" pin of jack "B" would make it all a closed loop!

When a jack is placed into "A", that loop gets broken and the positive signal gets redirected via the external wire.

Result: The head should just switch itself between internal and external loops depending on whether you have connected one.

No patch cables needed. It will just work like a normal WD till you connect something to “A”.


2. We can also eliminate one of the jacks by combining “B” and “C” into a single stereo input. (we can then use a 2x female mono to 1x male stereo Y splitter cable to maintain separate input channels)



“C” is just piggybacking off “B” anyway. The “Tip” and “ring” on a stereo jack can carry the exact same pair of input signals as having two separate mono inputs.

(If you are not electrically minded, ground signals don’t really give much of a toss about what route they take to get back home, just so long as they have one.)


3. We can then use the now spare jack “C” for a dedicated expression pedal input.

Given there are only 4 neat spots to put a 1/4 jack on the bottom of the WD, this helps keep everything tidy without loosing any inputs.


4. A stereo input for "D" would work the same as using a stereo jack for "B".

i.e. the 2nd "rim" piezo can just hook up to the "ring" pin on the jack. Result, two "rim" inputs.

absynti wrote:Hej!

Rewarming an important thread in the cold weather.

Hopefully some of the WD Mod masteminds are still active.
I just bought a WD Global that I'm now in the middle of modding.

......

Some Ins/Outs switchable for, at least, electrical disconnection when needed.

Hi there. You are very welcome and I'm happy to try and help wherever I can.


Some thoughts Re: your plans.

In theory only the internal Head sensor needs any form of switching. And if you follow the method in the post I made just before this one, even that shouldn't need a separate switch.

Jack "A": TS + switch pin. (= A single Head output, that loops internally when not connected)

Jack "B": TRS ("Ring" just wires in series with "Tip". = Two separate head inputs/return loops. The signal gain only splits in strength if both are connected)

Jack "C": TS (Just a straight parallel loop to connect an external FSR)

Jack "D": TRS (All three rim wires just return via the Jack pins. i.e. ground to "sleeve", Rim 1 sensor to "tip", rim 2 to "ring". And then from those three jack pins, back to the WD 3pin JST socket)


All this =

1 head output.
2 head inputs.
2 Rim inputs/outputs.
1 FSR/Pedal input.


The following is just a hypothesis and might be dead wrong

Wired this way the two "rim" channels on jack "D" should function as inputs OR outputs depending what you connected them to? Just not both at the same time (unless you just really like the sound of feedback).

i.e. if you took Rim sensor 1's signal, which is on the "Tip" of jack "D", and connected that to another devices input, it should read that signal and pull it "out" of the WD's internal loop.
If you instead connected it to another devices output, that output signal would be instead injected into the loop between Rim 1 and the WD mainboard.

Given Rim 1 and 2 are on separate wires, I would hypothesize that you should be able to run one as an output and one as an input. (or both or neither depending what you plug in to "D")

If the internal circuitry of the WD merges these signals before it reads them, then it might just create a mess of feedback instead. But in theory you can have 2 in/out channels on jack "D" alone. (I will attempt this myself soon when I get the time to test it)


Hope that all makes some sense?

TheWizardOfWoo wrote:
Hi there. You are very welcome and I'm happy to try and help wherever I can.


Some thoughts Re: your plans.

Jack "A": TS + switch pin. (= A single Head output, that loops internally when not connected)

Jack "B": TRS ("Ring" just wires in series with "Tip". = Two separate head inputs/return loops. The signal gain only splits in strength if both are connected)

......

Hi, Wizard, thanks for the welcome!

Yes, very elegant solution for the A to B/C connection.

I was thinking about switchable sockets too, but I'm still on the fence how exactly I will put in the IO.


Maybe I should elaborate a bit further.

There are going to be 2 "Playing-Modes"


Mode 1 is "Bodhran Style":

-mostly standing with WD upright in left hand, right hand holds the tipper (stick).
-FSR for pressure input fixed, temporarily, to the back of the WD to be pressed with the palm of the left hand. Internal FSR will be switchable to take it out of the loop if needed, depending on the algorithm
-will be played over wireless system, so powerpack
-maybe 1 Rim sensor in, just in case, for clip-ons etc.

that means max. 1-2 sockets on WD


Mode 2 is "sit down" mode:

-for everything else
-rest of IO (4-5 sockets) will probably be on a breakout box over cat45


Now to the switching:

-the internal/external FSR I already described

-head sensor:
here the switchable sockets make perfect sense. but putting in more dip switches is also not an issue

TheWizardOfWoo wrote:
Wired this way the two "rim" channels on jack "D" should function as inputs OR outputs depending what you connected them to? Just not both at the same time (unless you just really like the sound of feedback).

i.e. if you took Rim sensor 1's signal, which is on the "Tip" of jack "D", and connected that to another devices input, it should read that signal and pull it "out" of the WD's internal loop.
If you instead connected it to another devices output, that output signal would be instead injected into the loop between Rim 1 and the WD mainboard.

Given Rim 1 and 2 are on separate wires, I would hypothesize that you should be able to run one as an output and one as an input. (or both or neither depending what you plug in to "D")

If the internal circuitry of the WD merges these signals before it reads them, then it might just create a mess of feedback instead. But in theory you can have 2 in/out channels on jack "D" alone. (I will attempt this myself soon when I get the time to test it)

I hypothesize with you. I think you got it right.
And it needs experimentation.


I'm thinking on a bit of a different usecase


-rim sensors:
the piezos will be switchable and taken completely out of the loop (going just the socket, ground will also be disconnected) before they merge on the little circuit board, in case I want to trigger an external signal with as little as possible interference from and to the other piezo.
I mean in the end they are still physically connected over the rim.
I want to do this on right and the left independently.


I hope all of this makes sense so far.


About hum and feedback issues:
Can't have a wrong connection if everything is switchable.