Hubcap Handpan

[BJG145]

I went for a 'real' mini Hand Pan a couple of years ago, and have been really pleased with it. Its maker Phil runs our local Djembe drum circle (to which I also belong), and his drums are made about 3 miles away from me in Camelford here in North Cornwall:

http://www.tonguedrum.co.uk/



I went for a 'gold' finished D pentatonic scale.

Martin

Wow! Very nice.

[Wonks]

I went for a 'gold' finished D pentatonic scale.

Martin

Did you go for D because it matches the letter on your hat?

[Martin Walker]

Is that a 'pointed' remark Wonks?

[Wonks]

You’ve got me ‘cornered’.

[Folderol]

... or possibly corny - ed

[MOF]

The BopPad has quarter divisions doesn't it? I'm sure it's great but it's not a Hubpan.

It’s got pressure and zone response though.

[BJG145]

I was thinking this could look wicked with translucent pads and NeoPixels. A bit tricky though. An easier option would be some kind of latex/rubber pads with piezos stuck to the underside, and then reverse filled with insulation foam.

For percussive instruments it's usually piezo or FSR (Force Sensitive Resistor). Piezo is simpler but more liable to crosstalk. I expect there are some Arduino libraries to help with that though, so for this cheap and cheerful edition I'll probably go with piezo.

[ManFromGlass]

I’ve had issues with the BopPad not sending note offs either in time or at all. (been awhile since I checked that) This is fine for triggering percussion and short samples but not great for multiple hits on the same note.
I do like the Drumkat’s FSR pads for playing chords and melodies where sustain is required.
as for colour choice? Hot rod colours would look great!! (personal bias!)

[BJG145]

...just came across this pic of an early Lumen protoype made out of a salad bowl.

After some tinkering, the capacitive sensors were thrown out entirely and replaced with piezo elements. The shell was modified to allow for independent and dampened vibration of the new sensors.

It looks like the pads here are separated from the instrument body by springs.

The discontinued Oval seems to have used multiple FSRs or similar per pad.





Instead of piezo/FSR, the KMI BopPad apparently uses a type of smart fabric. (Kudos to Keith McMillen; their instruments are always innovative. The Eviola was partly inspired by his K-Bow.)

(The Lumen, not yet released, will have a built-in speaker and sounds created by Soniccouture; would be nice to get this working with their Handpan library.)

https://www.soniccouture.com/en/product ... pan-drums/
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/sample-cds-test-8

[BJG145]

The hubcap turned up; I've hosed it down and I think this should work OK for the lid. I'll probably spray it black.





After browsing eBay for a suitable base, I thought I'd try this 45cm garden saucer which will hopefully be a good fit.



I was wondering about trying some 3mm flexible polyurethane for illuminated pad covers...



...but I think I'm going to use 3mm flexible plywood. (The holes have a narrow 'shelf' round the edge that it can sit on.)



I'm imagining getting this laser cut into pieces that can be neatly glued into the gaps, laser-engraved with central runes which are cut out in an oval shape for the pads. These can have a piezo mounted on the back and be fitted back into the holes with some kind of slightly springy separation.

The 5cm central circle can be fitted with a Bela Trill ring.

Trill Ring is designed to fit within a Neopixels ring, and fits an arcade button in the central hole.

This could be used for things like volume/transposition.

There's a local company which offers various kinds of laser cutting and engraving work on their HPC LS1290...



...but they mainly arrange stuff for weddings (they use it for custom craftwork/design accessories), and they're pretty busy with that at the mo. But they said to call back in October and they'll help with the hubcap.

[resistorman]

This all looks good! Thanks for the link to Trill, I didn't know they existed!

[Martin Walker]

Wow BJG145, I wish I had half of your energy and determination with new projects. Really looking forward to seeing/hearing the end result in due course.

[BJG145]

Just came across a wooden handpan called the Hamgam.



https://majiddrums.com/hamgam/?lang=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i7JKJPif3U

I like that a lot. The shape is much easier; a doddle with a laser cutter. And it has two little boxes that go "clack".

Notably, all 7 pads are tuneable through magnets, providing limitless sound variations.

I'm curious about this. Can't really imagine how you can tune a drum surface with a magnet.

MIDI handpan roundup:

Oval (discontinued)
Lumen
Wavepan
Neotone

...and the pocket-sized Wing Drum

I'd thought of a funkier name for a handpan made out of a hubcap...the Wheeldrum. I identified a simpler hubcap design that would be easier to work with...



...and got together a design for a set of playing pads that spell Wheeldrum in the Elder Futhark.



But this Hamgam has got me thinking.

[N i g e l]

Part of the problem with multi pad percussion is the cross talk between pads.
Simmons got round this with a LEARN mode.
Basically the output from each pad is the pad electrics soloed minus the electrics from the other pads summed.

This is probably a function built in to modern drum brain, pad to MIDI, units.

[BJG145]

Interesting idea, I'll look that up.

I've been wondering about either FSRs or piezos. FSRs don't have the crosstalk problem, but piezos are cheaper. I expect most commercial MIDI handpans use FSRs; eg the Lumen does. Apparently the Octapad started as a piezo device and then went to FSRs. I think some systems use a combination of both.

There's this stuff called Velostat which can be used for making inexpensive DIY pressure sensors but I haven't got round to trying it yet.

My only experience with FSRs so far has been cheap rubbish like this...



I need to experiment with some proper ones from Sensitronics or somewhere. (They invented the things, and their sensors are used in instruments like the Malletkat.)

[Wonks]

Part of the problem with multi pad percussion is the cross talk between pads.

Indeed. My Alesis Performance Pad was about the 6th one I either bought and returned or then tried out in the store to find one that played just the pad that was hit or played another pad even louder than the one hit.

[N i g e l]

The Simmons porta kit used FSRs. The spares loook expensive compared to std 50p piezos.
My modern cheap E-kit uses piezos & the drum brain takes care of everything. Although the pads are spaced out, I guess there is interaction through the aluminium frame work.

Simmons pics :

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/simm ... takit/2292

[BJG145]

My Alesis Performance Pad was about the 6th one I either bought and returned or then tried out in the store to find one that played just the pad that was hit or played another pad even louder than the one hit.

That's piezos for you. You can see them here.

https://youtu.be/-wu6Oapx2gw?t=164

[BJG145]

The Simmons porta kit used FSRs.

I don't think that would have had crosstalk problems then...?

The appropriate apocalyptic terminology for the hardware in the pads is Force Sensing Film Technology, and I'm assured it completely eliminates crosstalk. I can well believe it.

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/simm ... takit/2292

Six external inputs, coupled with Simmons unique learn facility enable you to cleanly trigger MIDI devices from Simmons pads, tape signals or even acoustic drum microphones.

https://www.matrixsynth.com/2016/11/sim ... -midi.html

Maybe the learn mode was to solve other problems?

Anyway, that's good enough for me. The HamGamMidi will def use FSRs and not those things for lighting gas ovens.

[Wonks]

A carefully thrown match?