Drum interface - a drum instead of a keyboard for synthesizers

11-20 — elektor november 1982 drum interface a drum instead of a keyboard for synthesizers Why must a synthesizer always have a keyboard? Musicians asked this question of synthesizer manufacturers some time ago. In the meantime there is a considerable number of "controllers" which allow synthesizers to be played without a keyboard. In addition to the ribbon controllers, with which a steel string determines the pitch (similarly to playing a violon), the percussion controllers are amongst the best known: these are drums with internal electronics which convert the pulses of the drumstick into control signals for the synthesizer. The drum interface is the electronic circuitry for this type of percussion controller. As pop music specialists know, such controllers have been frequently used in recent recordings. "Disco drums" would be difficult to imagine without this effect. The most complicated part of a drum controller is the drum itself; the elec- tronic circuitry could almost be a...