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External Triggering: Chapter 6
DM5 Reference Manual 41
This chart represents three signals which are “seen” by the DM5. Signal 1 is a
legitimate hit from the snare pad. Signal 2 is the Tom 1 pad, but it is not a hit. It is
the pad being triggered by stand vibrations from the first snare hit. Signal 3 is a
second "real" hit from the snare pad.
As you can see the Xtalk threshold is set at a value of 30 (represented by the
dotted line). The two snare hits (signals 1 and 3) both register well above the
Xtalk threshold. However, the tom (signal 2) registers too soft (at 20), and is
correctly ignored by the DM5.
If the Xtalk level had been set at an
improper
value (in this case lower than 20),
signal 2 would exceed the Xtalk threshold, and the DM5 would have triggered
the sound. This illustrates how proper adjustment of the Xtalk parameter will
result in the elimination of this “interaction” between the pads.
• Decay. This parameter represents the signal decay time, or the amount of time
between once a pad has been struck and triggers, to when it will trigger again
from another hit. This is one of the more tricky issues of triggering. Here’s why:
When hits are spaced 2 or more seconds apart, the first signal has plenty of time to
decay completely, making it easy to determine the second signal as an actual hit.
However, when playing quick, repetitive hits it is much more difficult to deter-
mine where one hit ends and the next one begins. To further complicate things,
some drum sounds (especially acoustic drums) take a long time to decay. During
this period, part of the decay can be interpreted as another closely-spaced hit.
This is where the Decay control comes in. The Decay control adjusts the time and
threshold of the signal decay making it possible for the DM5 to correctly
determine whether closely spaced signals are “real” hits or just decay. Selecting a
higher Decay value (long decay times) will allow for the most reliable triggering
but may miss quickly repeated hits. Lower Decay values (shorter times) will
respond to quickly repeated hits but may be more prone to false triggering.
Experimentation with these levels is necessary to achieve the proper results.