Smartrigger Electronic cymbals User manual

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.6

7/16/2008

Users Guide

Smartrigger Electronic Percussion Products

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2!

Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3!

Smartrigger Cymbal Features .................................................................................................... 4!

Setup .......................................................................................................................................... 5!

Quick Setup ............................................................................................................................ 5!

Connecting the Cable ............................................................................................................. 5!

Proper Cymbal Mounting ........................................................................................................ 6!

Mounting the Hi Hat Cymbals ................................................................................................. 7!

Using a Fixed Hi Hat Arm.................................................................................................... 7!

Using a Standard Hi Hat Stand ........................................................................................... 7!

Hi Hat Clutch Mounting ....................................................................................................... 8!

Installing the Hi Hat Cable................................................................................................... 8!

Triggering the Dual-Zone Crash and Hi Hat Cymbals ............................................................ 9!

Triggering the Dual-Zone Ride.............................................................................................. 10!

Triggering the Triple-Zone Ride ............................................................................................ 11!

Setting Your Trigger Inputs ................................................................................................... 12!

Roland Drum Module Settings .............................................................................................. 13!

Settings for the Roland TD-20 and Roland TD-12 ............................................................ 13!

Settings for the Roland TD-10........................................................................................... 14!

Settings for the Roland TD-8............................................................................................. 15!

Settings for the Roland TD-6/6V ....................................................................................... 17!

Settings for the Roland TD-3............................................................................................. 18!

Settings for the Roland TMC-6.......................................................................................... 19!

Yamaha Drum Modules..................................................................................................... 20!

Alesis Drum Modules ........................................................................................................ 20!

Ddrum Modules ................................................................................................................. 20!

Care and Feeding of your Smartrigger Cymbals ...................................................................... 20!

Transporting Your Cymbals .................................................................................................. 21!

Cleaning your cymbals.......................................................................................................... 21!

Cleaning the Top Surface.................................................................................................. 21!

Cleaning the Bottom Surface ............................................................................................ 21!

Warranty Information ................................................................................................................ 22!

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing Smartrigger Electronic Cymbals – the biggest advance in electronic

drumming since MIDI! Smartrigger cymbals were designed to meet the needs of today’s

electronic drummer, providing the ultimate electronic cymbal triggering, aesthetics, and

playability available anywhere, at any price.

This user’s guide provides simple instructions for getting your new Smartrigger Cymbals

integrated into your electronic drum setup.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Smartrigger Cymbal Features

Smartrigger Electronic Cymbals feature many improvements over previous electronic cymbals

including:

Authentic Playability is accomplished by using real brass alloy metal cymbals. This

means that your sticks respond to the playing surface the exact same way as they do

when using real acoustic cymbals.

Acoustic Dampening – our special patent pending dampening layer provides several

important features:

oVibration dampening to reduce the actual sound of the cymbal by more than

90%.

oWaveform reduction reduces the secondary cymbal vibrations eliminating double

triggering.

oShock buffering from the trigger housing.

Authentic Aesthetics means that your cymbals look like cymbals not pieces of

recycled black rubber tires. The vibration dampening layer on the bottom of the cymbal

is clear! This allows the bottom of the cymbal to look just like a real acoustic cymbal

when mounted on a stand. You audience will never know you are using electronic

cymbals!

Natural Swinging Motion means that your cymbals respond and swing naturally when

struck, allowing you to concentrate on your playing while reducing the negative effects

on the human body which come from hitting stationary objects that have no “give”. The

cymbals absorbs the impact, not your body.

New Dual Piezo Designs - Several of the Smartrigger Cymbals provide a new patent

pending “ring” piezo sensor centrally located under the bell of the cymbal. Mounting

directly under the bell, at the center, allows even edge to edge triggering and authentic

bell playing on a single cymbal surface.

Easier Choke – a wider 180 degree choke switch provides easier crash cymbal choking

on half of the cymbal’s surface.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Setup

Electronic cymbals produce no sound themselves and require the use of external sound

modules in order to be used as musical instruments. Smartrigger Electronic Cymbals are

compatible with many drum modules on the market including those manufactured by Roland,

Yamaha, Alesis, and Ddrum and can also be used to trigger sounds on any MIDI instrument

using a “Trigger to MIDI” interface such as the Roland TMC-6.

Quick Setup

1. Insert the “right angle” plug into the trigger housing on the underside of the cymbal.

2. Place the cymbal onto a cymbal stand.

3. Connect the other end of the cable to your drum module.

4. Set the trigger type specified for your cymbal and module.

5. Adjust the trigger settings to suit your needs.

Connecting the Cable

Each Smartrigger cymbal comes complete with a stereo 1/4” male to male 10 foot cable. One

end of the cable had a “right angle” make plug and the other has a straight male plug. The

“right angle” end should be connected to the trigger housing on the bottom of the Smartrigger

Cymbal and the straight end should be connected to the trigger input on your module.

You can tell a “stereo” cable from a “mono” cable by the number of black rings on the plug. A

stereo cable will have 2 black rings and a mono cable will have only one. Typically, a dual-

zone or dual-piezo cymbal will require a stereo cable. A single zone cymbal can use a stereo

or mono cable. We include stereo cables with all Smartrigger Cymbals so you don’t have to

worry about moving dual-zone cymbal to a different stand only to find out you don ‘t have the

proper cable wired to that stand.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Proper Cymbal Mounting

Smartrigger cymbals are designed to be mounted on any standard cymbal stand or mounting

arm.

Most stock cymbal stands come with a 6mm or 8m threaded mounting rod, a series of washers

and a wing-nut. You Smartrigger cymbal should be mounted between the two felt washers that

come with almost all cymbals stands. If you need additional cymbal hardware, any drum shop

or music store will have these in stock as they are considered replacement accessories and

should be replaced when they are worn out.

Gibraltar cymbal arms are very good for acoustic and Smartrigger electronic cymbals as they

come standard with a nice ‘T’ shaped black plastic cymbal sleeve. Alternatively, you can

always use Aquarian Cymbal Springs or other mounting systems with a standard 1/2” bore.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Note that you CAN NOT use a cymbal sleeve with the Ride cymbal as it already has a built-in

sleeve. Make sure to use felt washers on the top and bottom of the ride.

Mounting the Hi Hat Cymbals

The Smartrigger hi hat cymbals offer the best of both worlds and are designed to be mounted

on a fixed hi hat arm or standard hi hat stand. Your choice of mounting will depend on what

type of hi hat controller you are using and how much hardware you want to lug around. The

Smartrigger hi hat is only the trigger. The controller is responsible for the changing of

sound between open and closed.

Using a Fixed Hi Hat Arm

If you are using a typical hi hat controller pedal such as the Roland FD-7 or FD-8, you’ll want to

mount your Smartrigger hi hats on a fixed hi hat arm. These are manufactured by most drum

hardware companies and are available from your favorite drum shop. This is the most popular

mounting method if you are using a Roland drum modules.

Fixed Hi Hat Arm w/ Roland FD-7 Pedal

Standard Hi Hat stand w/ Visu-Lite RHC-100

Using a Standard Hi Hat Stand

Advanced users can mount your Smartrigger hi hats onto a standard hi hat stand only if you

are using the appropriate controller (like the VisuLite RHC-100, Pintech Full Range HH10CV

Hi Hat Controller, or Hart Epedal II). These controllers attach to your stand’s pedal and provide

the electronics to create the variable positions between the open and closed hi hat sounds.

These controllers are available from specialty electronic drum shops like Drumbalaya

http://www.drumbalaya.com.

Note that these controllers do not provide the foot pressure feature that the Roland VH-12 Hi

Hat system provides when using a Roland TD-20 module.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Hi Hat Clutch Mounting

Regardless of which type of hi hat stand you choose, you will mount the top hi hat cymbal onto

your hi hat clutch. Almost all hi hat arms and stands come with a clutch. You can use any

clutch you like including a “drop clutch”.

Clutch with Standard Felt Washers

Installing the Hi Hat Cable

The included stereo cable with one straight ends and one right angle end should be used for

the hi hat connection to your drum module. Follow these steps to install the hi hat cable:

1. Place the hi hat bottom cymbal on your hi hat stand or hi hat arm.

2. Install your hi hat top cymbal and clutch.

3. Connect one end of the included 5 foot cable to the hi hat input on your module.

4. Pass the cable through one of the holes in the bottom hi hat cymbal.

5. Plug the other end into to the trigger housing of the top cymbal. The offset jack on

the trigger housing should leave enough clearance for the cable to pass by the hi

hat’s mounting rod.

6. Carefully place the top hi hat with installed clutch onto your hi hat stand.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Triggering the Dual-Zone Crash and Hi Hat Cymbals

The Smartrigger crash and hi hat cymbals use what is commonly called a “Head/Rim” or

“Piezo/Rim-switch” type of triggering system. This means that the first “zone” or sound can be

triggered by activating the piezo trigger (which is mounted inside the small black housing

underneath the cymbal) and the second “zone” or sound can be triggered by activating the

piezo trigger and the rim-switch at the same time. The “rim-switch” is the 180 degree gold

colored band under the cymbal. This is also the “choke” switch that causes a ringing cymbal

sound to be “choked” off or stopped, by striking the cymbal then grabbing the choke switch.

To trigger the Head sound, strike the cymbal’s surface with the tip of the stick.

To trigger the Rim sound, strike the cymbal’s edge with a glancing blow

To choke the crash cymbal sound, strike the cymbal then grab the edge of the cymbal.

SMARTRIGGER USERS GUIDE

Version 1.4

7/16/2008

Triggering the Dual-Zone Ride

The Smartrigger ride cymbals use a dual-piezo design where the main piezo is mounted under

the bow of the cymbal in the trigger housing and a second piezo is mounted directly under the

bell of the cymbal. The main piezo is triggered when you play o the bow of the cymbal while

the second piezo is triggered when you play the bell of the cymbal.

Smartrigger’s patent-pending design allows you to play the ride cymbal just as you would play

an acoustic cymbal. Light bell strokes are now possible by playing the bell of the cymbal with

the tip of your stick. You no longer have to “whack” the bell of the cymbal to reproduce a bell

sound from your drum module.

Because the ride cymbal uses a dual-piezo design, you will have to use a dual-piezo input on

your drum module or split the two piezo triggers into two single inputs using an optional Y

adapter. Settings and specifics for each module are provided below.

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