Any one else have this problem with Roland cymbals?

ssdaven

Member
Hi all,

So I've got a consistent problem with the cymbals on my Roland TD4KX. As any Roland owners know, the cymbals (crash or ride) have multiple zones that trigger different noises. For example, if you hit the edge of the cymbal it's an edge shot. If you hit a section other than the outer edge, it's a bow shot. The Roland manual does a good job of explaining this with a nice graphic to go along with it.

My problem is that I'm unable to consistently hit the edge shot, or consistently hit the bow shot during the course of my playing. That is, I'll be hitting edge shots consistently and then, unbeknown to me, I accidentally move my stick up a bit and trigger a bow shot, producing an obviously different and out of place sound. When listening to the playback, it's painfully obvious when a bow shot is produced rather than an edge shot, and makes my playing sound undesirable. Sure, if I'm not playing along to a song and I'm only hitting the cymbal as a test, I can focus on making sure I'm hitting the edge - but when I get into playing a song, I'm not able to constantly perform the edge shot.

I'd like to note that I don't understand how the concept of edge and bow shots translate to acoustic drums, as I'm only able to play e-drums in my current living situation. I'm not sure if this is a problem specific to e-drums, or if a similar problem can be encountered playing acoustic? My original thought was that I could simply smash away on the crash cymbal without constantly thinking about where I'm positioning my stick...

Have other Roland users had this problem, or is it just me? I'm not too sure I even want my cymbals to produce two different sounds for bow and edge.. am I crazy?
 
Yes you are crazy : )

Acoustic cymbals with have an infinite variation of tones between the edge and the bow and the bell. Roland translate this into three tones. If your cymbals are old then they are prone to mis-trigger. This is because small fragments of rubber fall off and contact the trigger strip. This can be sorted by folding back the rim of the cymbal and cleaning out inside the rubber sections. You will see the trigger strip and may see fragments along it.

Hope that helps

Davo
 
Another comment I would make is the ride I have set quite low and quite flat. The reason i do this is so that whilst playing the bow you can change this to a crash hit (edge) by dropping the heel of the stick and you do this in a fast action. This is similar to using an acoustic ride and so this should help the transition of one to the other.

I don't tend to worry about the zones of the crash and use this a straight crash.

Davo
 
I'd have to agree with what Davo-London mentioned in terms of the ride cymbal position. If I mount mine a bit higher than normal I noticed that I sometimes inadvertently produce an edge shot when it was not intended.

You may also want to experiment with the trigger levels. I'm not familiar with the TD4KX but on the TD-10x it allows you to tweak levels. One word of advice is to write down the original settings before making any changes.
 
Just got my TD-4K's last week and love'm..but have noticed it being difficult to get a consistent bell shot from the ride.. may get it 9 out of 10 times..also have noticed my crash has not fired at least 2 or 3 times now since getting it after hitting hit... though its always a light hit when it happens..was thinking of taking the crash back for an exchange though not sure if this is "normal" for an occational misfire even on a brand new set.. The sound quality of the set through headphones is unbelievably superb!!!! Going to take it to band practice in a couple weeks and run it thru our PA ...cant wait to hear it there..
 
I also have a problem with my roland>.. the hi hat doesnt wrk anymore anyone kno a good way to clean it maybe?? thanks
 
Basically there are fixes for all these woes. The vdrum forum is the place to search for these and it also depends on your level of bravery. For the ride bell problem you strip off the rubber pad and attach double sided tape along the trigger. There's photos and a detail procedure in the vdrums forum.

As for the hihat no longer working - that's odd - have you tried replacing the cables?

Cheers
Davo
 
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