Splitter For Cymbal Inputs On the Alesis Strike Module*

*I think this will work on other modules that use dual zone cymbals with choke, but I cannot guarantee it.

Different diode values may be necessary on other modules, or it may not work at all!

Disclaimer:

If you decide to make one of these you are on your own. You could hurt yourself or damage your property. I'm putting this information out there to show what I did, but that doesn't mean you should do it too. I am neither a professional nor an expert. Any attempts to reproduce this are at your own risk.

People have been splitting dual zone tom inputs on drum modules to add more drum and cymbal pads for a while (probably since the first dual zone edrums). It is pretty straightforward to use a splitter that separates the left and right channels of a "stereo" input into separate left input and right input. Cymbal inputs? Not so much.

From what I can tell, the cymbal inputs (on the Alesis Strike at least) use 2 signal wires to achieve 3 functions via a TRS jack. A signal on the tip of the input makes the bow sound, and a signal on the ring may actuate the choke. But, to get the edge sound the module wants to see a signal on both the tip and ring together. I assume this is because grabbing or "choking" the edge of the cymbal actuates only the pressure switch, while hitting the edge switch activates both the switch and the piezo, and the module uses this combination of signals to determine whether the cymbal was hit or choked. I could be wrong about this, but if you use a "normal" splitter on a crash cymbal input and connect two pads, hitting one will trigger the bow sound, hitting the other will trigger nothing (or a VERY faint edge sound), and hitting both at exactly the same time will trigger the edge sound.

If the above makes any sense, then hopefully this will as well. Normal splitters won't work because they completely separate the tip signal from the ring signal. I needed a splitter where one side of the split triggers only the tip, while the other side triggers both the tip and the ring. Any direct short between the tip and ring causes both sides of the splitter to trigger the rim sound, so just using a jumper between the two won't work.

The solution that I came up with is to use a 1N4148 diode to connect the ring to the tip (anode-ring/cathode-tip), which allows the ring signal to also pass through to the tip, but does not let the tip signal pass back through to the ring. A second diode (1N5822 anode towards the trigger) on the tip side keeps the ring signal from traveling all the way back to the piezo on the tip. It also reduces the forward voltage of the tip signal so that it doesn't overpower the 1N4148 and act as a short. The values chosen were through pure trial and error with a box of random diodes I bought on amazon. If I didn't mention before, I am not an electrician. I have a meter, and a soldering iron, and just enough electronics knowledge to be dangerous. I picked the resistor values I used because this was the only combination I had on hand that worked.

It is not absolutely mandatory to change any trigger settings in the module for this to work, but when adding a tom on a cymbal input I did change my cymbal trigger settings to match my tom trigger settings so it would respond like my other toms. I used 3 TRS (stereo) female jacks, 2 diodes, and some wire I had on hand which is really bigger than necessary for the application. Both diodes together cost less than $1, and the whole assembly is probably under $10.