Is every piezo element suitable as trigger?

[Rovalo]

I just received my full kit from Dmtri and after some struggle with my PC to get it to work with MDM, it seems to work fine. I have no triggers connected yet, I'm working on that.

Besides for my drumkit I also want to use MD for a midi mallet controller to simulate a Glockenspiel. The keys will be 20 mm wide so I selected a 15 mm piezo element https://www.conrad.nl/nl/piezo-signaalgever-690635.html, I need 40 pcs. The specs show 1500 Ohm resistance and I'm in doubt if that matters for MD, since other piezo elements show also lower resistance values.

I searched for an answer on this forum but that failed. What is your opinion, will MD handle this (any) piezo element?

[airflamesred]

Welcome,
I see no reason why they wouldn't work. The construction of the bars wil be of more significance in how well it triggers.

[Rovalo]

Thank you!

And your answer about piezo type is good news, I will order this type. Yes, I will have to do some testing with the key construction.

[airflamesred]

My suggestion would be to order 2 of each size (15, 20, 35mm) and experiment before ordering 40 of them. The good thing about piezos is that they are cheap.

[Rovalo]

No matter how small the order, shipment costs are rather high. I found an overview of piezo elements with varying diameter and frequency.

http://www.produktinfo.conrad.com/datenblaetter/700000-724999/710385-an-01-en-PIEZOELEMENT_EPZ_20MS64W.pdf

In general the resistance for bigger piezo's (27-35 mm are mostly used for triggers) is 200-400E. The one I selected has 1500E, quite a difference. I guess I better pick one with resistance < 500E in order to avoid bad triggering.

[airflamesred]

In general the resistance for bigger piezo's (27-35 mm are mostly used for triggers) is 200-400E. The one I selected has 1500E, quite a difference. I guess I better pick one with resistance < 500E in order to avoid bad triggering.

To honest Rob I haven;t looked into the stats on them (thanks for the link btw, interesting stuff) but as far as triggering is concerned I've used 20mm and 35mm and theres not a big difference.

Ignotus might chime in on this point but I think it's easier to tame a higher signal and the relevance of the resistance values.

[ignotus]

I don't think the resistance will be an issue. When you use resistors or voltage dividers to cool piezos down they are usually in the order of several kOhm, so I don't think a 1k difference will matter much. I've used 15 mm piezos before and they were fine.

[Rovalo]

Thanks for your replies, I decided for the 20 mm version with lower resistance, should be fine. Already received them, now Im first figuring out how I want the MD inputs configured in break-out boxes for various purposes to use the MD.

[airflamesred]

Are you planning on incorporating MD in with the bars structure?

[Rovalo]

No, I just posted a new thread with some questions. In that thread I explain what I plan to do with MD. Can you advice?