Roland PD-125 Snare Triggering "Edge" (33) When Cone Hit Directly

[metrosuperstar]

Hi, I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced this but I’m using a Roland PD-125 snare (on a TD-20) and I’ve setup the 3 zones as described in the manual. At first I was unable to “stretch the zones” properly and was hardly ever triggering the Mid Center 125 properly.

After much research, I learned that the mesh head on the PD-125 has to be VERY tight in order for positional sensing to work well. Lo and behold, this solved my issue of not having 3 zones. HOWEVER, new problem:  if I hit the snare dead center – like on the cone – rather than trigger the “Center” (38), it triggers the “Edge” (33).

Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t know how to fix this… I don’t think I can tighten the head anymore than it is…. I don’t think my PD-125 is faulty as the 38 Midi NOTE still registers in the Analyzer. But it definitely isn’t triggering the right thing when hit dead center!

• This topic was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by metrosuperstar.

Topic

[Henrik]

metrosuperstar wrote:

Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t know how to fix this… I don’t think I can tighten the head anymore than it is…. I don’t think my PD-125 is faulty as the 38 Midi NOTE still registers in the Analyzer. But it definitely isn’t triggering the right thing when hit dead center!

Check the analyzer in the bottom left corner of Settings / MIDI In/E-drums and hit the snare in the center, and see what CC value it sends.

Hit the other zones too, to see how the CC is sent from them.

Henrik Ekblom - User Experience Designer
Toontrack

• This post was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Henrik.

[metrosuperstar]

Hi – I’ve already tried this. That’s how I came to report in my initial post that the Note 38 incoming is correct but that sometimes hitting the dead center maps it to 33 (Edge).  I think I may have to start over the tightening of the mesh head. It couldn’t be any tighter but maybe it’s not evenly spread.. somehow. I can’t think of any other reason why the center would sometimes trigger being mapped to 33 or 125 instead of 38.

[Henrik]

Yes, it sounds like some kind of cross talk (when you hit one thing on the e-kit but something else registers a hit).

Henrik Ekblom - User Experience Designer
Toontrack

[metrosuperstar]

Yes sounds likely. I decided to play with the bolts WHILE SD3 was on. I noticed that sometimes a hit was registered if my drum key knocked the rim. I don’t know if I need to adjust cross talk in the module but for now, I can say that playing with the lugs tension WHILE watching the Analyzer, I was able to solve the problem. Dead center no longer remaps to 33 Edge, and the areas have some room to breathe.

Quick question though… I don’t understand the number values used on the Zone Sizes graphic (showing the pad and the 3 areas). My Snare Edge dot is moved all the way to the top (which I guess means 127), and my Snare Center dot is almost all the way at the bottom, sitting at a value of 8.

I don’t understand what these values mean, and if the way I’ve laid it out (the dots almost fully at end of spectrums) makes any sense. Seems to play well…

Further adding to my confusion is the 2nd screen, called “Snare Zone Control” where there is a range of Center – Mid Center – Edge, and again 2 dots that can be moved around. On this screen, I’ve got Edge at 111. I don’t know if it makes a difference or how it relates to the other screen.

Can you please clarify?

• This post was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by metrosuperstar.

[Andreas]

metrosuperstar wrote:

 Quick question though… I don’t understand the number values used on the Zone Sizes graphic (showing the pad and the 3 areas). My Snare Edge dot is moved all the way to the top (which I guess means 127), and my Snare Center dot is almost all the way at the bottom, sitting at a value of 8.

I don’t understand what these values mean, and if the way I’ve laid it out (the dots almost fully at end of spectrums) makes any sense. Seems to play well…

The value tells SD3 where you hit the drum/pad.

If you are using three zones and the topmost dot is placed at 127 (in the Mapping tab) the articulation assigned to zone 1 will be triggered only at 127. The articulation assigned to zone 2 will be triggered by any value between the dots and the zone 3 articulation will be triggered by any value lower than the bottom dot.

metrosuperstar wrote:

Further adding to my confusion is the 2nd screen, called “Snare Zone Control” where there is a range of Center – Mid Center – Edge, and again 2 dots that can be moved around. On this screen, I’ve got Edge at 111. I don’t know if it makes a difference or how it relates to the other screen.

Can you please clarify?

Many snares are mapped to the Snare Zone Trigger articulation by default. The Snare Zone Trigger triggers different articulations depending on where the snare is hit,  this can be tweaked from the Snare Zone Control tab. If the snare is mapped to another articulation and custom zones are added in the Mapping tab, then the Mapping tab (and not the Snare Zone Control) should be used to tweak the snare zone response.

Hope this helped!

//Andreas

 

Andreas Walfridsson - Toontrack
UX Designer

[metrosuperstar]

OK so the values 0 to 127 relate to positional sensing?  How confusing that it had to be the same value range as velocity!

You wrote ” If the snare is mapped to another articulation and custom zones are added in the Mapping tab, then the Mapping tab (and not the Snare Zone Control) should be used to tweak the snare zone response.”

So in the case of a standard PD-125 snare where Edge, Mid-Center, and Center articulations are assigned, should one be using the Snare Zone Control tab at all? I’m assuming that having activated zones 2 and 3 qualifies as having added custom zones in the Mapping tab and therefore is the only tab I need to concern myself with?

And that if I had to add these additional zones manually, it is because the PD-125 is not one of those snares that are mapped to the Snare Zone Trigger articulation by default?

[Author]

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