NaderGator - PROJECTS :
I had a (Harmonix) Rockband drumset handed down to me and didn't know what to do with it, I didn't want to throw it in the garbage since I'm not a big fan of these silly games & their toys (rockband2, guitar hero, bandhero .. etc) , I prefer playing the real thing, not some plastic junk .. so anyway, I figured why not turn it into an electronic DrumMachine simulator (eDrums) on the PC ?
I knew that these drums are nothing but a trimmed-down XBOX360 game controller, and I have done some work on controllers before, this wasn't going to be an exception...
first, I had to test the controller and all the inputs available for usage to make sure everything works as expected. I had to download the XBOX360 driver directly from Microsoft website. I think it was called "XBOX360Eng_32bit" or something , they come in two versions, 32 & 64-bits, next installed the driver and tested all inputs working on the drum pad.
RockBand drumset mod :
Date of this mod: 3/18/2010
I noticed that the pads are only using buttons "X-Y-A-B" , and there are extra buttons that can be utilized like "D-PAD" , "Back" and "Start" , and since this was a "Rockband1" drumset, it didn't have any cymbals attached, nor you can attach any to it, since it wasn't designed for cymbals expansion. They wanted you to buy "Rockband2" drumset if you wanted to do that .. Who cares, we're customizing this set Anyway ...
The D-pad and the other buttons, gave us a total of 6 extra digital inputs that we can work with, so why not mimic a real drumset and add 3 cymbals and another pedal for "HiHat-closed" for a real drumset feel .. I found a used 3 Cymbal set on eBay for $9
Next, we will examine the wiring of these cymbals, apparently those are for Rockband2 drumset and have stereo jacks that plug directly into the main-pad .. but ours doesn't have that capability .. so we are going to add the inputs to the D-pad. I opened up one of the cymbals to see how the circuit works, and apparently it's a "Piezo switch" that corresponds to the vibration of the cymbal when hit , so it converts it to a digital output (on/off), the switch on the back (RB2/GH) is for pulsated button presses. (Rapid-fire switch anyone ???) ... MAYBE IN ANOTHER PROJECT
After testing the cymbals with the driver, I didn't like their responsiveness, so I replaced the Piezo element with new ones from Radioshack for a better and more realistic feel when hit.
Now, it's time to rewire the Pad. I added the three cymbals to the D-Pad inputs. The three red wires are the positive side, and the right side of the "Back" button is the common for all the inputs. The addition of a second "HiHat" pedal is in the same way (not shown here). See photo :
we are done here, so let's re-assemble the controller ...
That's it, let's put it all together ...
Ok, so we have converted a "Rockband" drumset to a "Rockband2" .. well, sorta .. big deal ! , now comes the interesting part, as I've mentioned before, the object of this project was to have a "REAL Electronic Drum simulator on the PC" to play real sampled drum sounds !!!... to do that, we need two pieces of software : WinPdrums & Xpadder.
"WinPdrums" is a free drum-machine for the PC with excellent synthesized sounds, and "Xpadder" is an simulator for your keyboard and mouse using your "gamepad". with both programs combined, you will be able to map the controller buttons to the corresponding sounds of the drum simulator...
If you find this all too confusing, there is simpler alternative. There is program floating on the internet called "DrumMachine" by Andrew Rudson :
http://andrewrudson.com/drummachine/main.php
It's a nice program, but I have found it to be a little laggy .., so I prefer to use the other method. And if you don't like neither programs, you can write your own drum machine software using VB or VC++ , it's relatively easy, all you need to do is have the drum samples wave files ready, and then "code" your own "keypresses or Joystick port mapping" to play the sampled sound files!
wanna take it to the next level ?! ................... add another drumset !
<<< Piezo element from RadioShack for $1.99
Do this project at your own risk. As with any electronic project, you may risk damaging your motherboard or controller. I will not be responsible for it.
Happy Drummi'n ...................