Help please with setting up VH-11 (Superior Drummer 2)

[Thurston]

I just purchased a used VH-11 last night and I'm very excited about setting it up through Megadrum to control SD 2.0 in Ableton Live. I've played around with some DIY drums before, but this is the first real effort I've made at properly setting a drum up.

So far, to get things started I have input the settings used by mightygorgon in the sticky at the top of this forum:


He states that he is using BFD, not SD 2.0, so this may or may not be part of the problem I'm having. I have 2 problems.

First, the sounds being produced are very quiet. Using the mouse to trigger sounds in the SD 2.0 interface, the the sound produced is very loud, however when I try to splash or "chick" using the hihat foot pedal, the sound is very quiet in comparison.

Secondly, The hihat cymbal trigger itself is going a bit crazy. When I plug in the cable, the megadrum display shows a constant, light hit on the second indicator (left to right), on both the top and bottom rows (I assume this corresponds to the bell and edge triggers) and SD produces a rapid rattling roll.

[dmitri]

1. As far as I know VH-11 is a high impedance HiHat pedal.
2. You didn't describe how you come up to your HiHat pedal settings.
3. When a HiHat pedal is properly configure you should see the HiHat Vu-meter go all the way down and up when you press/depress it.
4. You might not have connected your VH-11 correctly to MegaDrum.
5. You didn't describe how come up to youe HiHat settings and most likely Threshold is not set correctly.

This should help: http://www.megadrum.info/content/megadrum-configuration

[Thurston]

1. As far as I know VH-11 is a high impedance HiHat pedal.

Interesting, if this is true, then the AltIn should be set to "Yes", correct?

2. You didn't describe how you come up to your HiHat pedal settings.

I think I did describe this above by saying "I have input the settings used by mightygorgon in the sticky at the top of this forum". But to clarify further, I used to the megadrum, not MCT, to enter these settings.

3. When a HiHat pedal is properly configure you should see the HiHat Vu-meter go all the way down and up when you press/depress it.

Using the Big VU Meter on the MD display, the meter goes all the way down when I pres the pedal (and not before) and and quite all the way up when I depress. When it is all the way up, the top end of the meter wavers quickly, as if I am very lightly and very quickly pressing and depressing near the top. Something else worth mentioning: as I slowly press the pedal, I sometimes get a hihat trigger (maybe splash or chick sound) as I pass the halfway point.

4. You might not have connected your VH-11 correctly to MegaDrum.

This is always possible. It has been a while since I built the megadrum and in looking through the printouts and notes I made during construction, I'm having trouble tracing jacks to the board through the ribbon cable. I have built to Synthex v2.8. I will sort through this and let you know what I find.

5. You didn't describe how come up to youe HiHat settings and most likely Threshold is not set correctly.

I think this is partially a repeat of your statement "1." above. Are you also saying that the threshold could have something to do withe the rapid false triggering?

This should help: http://www.megadrum.info/content/megadrum-configuration

I have read through this a couple times and will continue to do so.

Thanks for your responses dimitri (as always)

[Thurston]

4. You might not have connected your VH-11 correctly to MegaDrum.

This is always possible. It has been a while since I built the megadrum and in looking through the printouts and notes I made during construction, I'm having trouble tracing jacks to the board through the ribbon cable. I have built to Synthex v2.8. I will sort through this and let you know what I find.

More information regarding my VH-11 Connection to megadrum

The pinout I have is from here:
http://www.megadrum.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=456

specifically this attachment:

PCB v2.8 Quick Manual v2.pdf

My wiring is the same as shown on the attachment, except I do not have the wire from pin 2 (HiHat controller High impedance input) connected. I think this had to do with the setup I planned to use at the time, which included a DIY HiHat. Here's how the VH-11 jacks are connected to the megadrum:

Jack 1 (Hihat position on VH-11):
Pin 1 (GND) - Sleeve
Pin 2 (HiHat controller High impedance input) - NC
Pin 3 (HiHat controller Power source) - Ring
Pin 4 (HiHat controller Low Impedence) - 1 Tip

Also
Jack 2 (Hihat bow/edge on VH-11):
Pin 7 (HiHat Bow) to Jack 2 - Tip
Pin 8 (HiHat Edge) to Jack 2 - Ring
Pin 21 (GND) - Sleeve

Does this look ok?

[Thurston]

OK I've gotten the rattling from the bow sensor to stop by increasing the threshold as you recommended. I hadn't realized at first that the pad settings section of your configuration manual applies to all drums, cymbals and the hihat. I think with some more tweaking, I can get it where I want it. Thanks again for this advice.

I think I'm getting somewhere here...

[dmitri]

My wiring is the same as shown on the attachment, except I do not have the wire from pin 2 (HiHat controller High impedance input) connected.

Unless you connect VH-11 to the high impedance pedal input (and set AltIn to Yes), it will not work.

[dmitri]

2. You didn't describe how you come up to your HiHat pedal settings.

I think I did describe this above by saying "I have input the settings used by mightygorgon in the sticky at the top of this forum". But to clarify further, I used to the megadrum, not MCT, to enter these settings.

Do you suggest me to use a Search function of this forum to find mightygorgon's post, then guess how you applied it to your setup and then try to help you to configure your HiHat?

[Thurston]

2. You didn't describe how you come up to your HiHat pedal settings.

I think I did describe this above by saying "I have input the settings used by mightygorgon in the sticky at the top of this forum". But to clarify further, I used to the megadrum, not MCT, to enter these settings.

Do you suggest me to use a Search function of this forum to find mightygorgon's post, then guess how you applied it to your setup and then try to help you to configure your HiHat?

Why would you need to do that? I don't understand your need for more information about his post. I posted the image of the settings he used above. Did it not show up?

I don't think I understand what you mean by " guess how you applied it to your setup". What is there to guess? I duplicated his settings in my megadrum as a starting point, that is all. I thought I made that clear? He also used VH-11 so I figured it would be a good place to start tweaking.

Are you certain the VH-11 is high impedance?

[Thurston]

According to this post:
http://www.megadrum.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=462&p=7420&hilit=High+impedance+vh11#p7420

the VH-11 is low impedance.

[dmitri]

Are you certain the VH-11 is high impedance?

I'm not certain.