jpstanley
04-04-2008, 12:46 AM
So I've been waiting for a few days for the replacement bass pedal to show up... after the first one snapped in half during "Detroit Rock City". Anyhow, I checked the contacts with my multimeter and found the pedal is nothing but a switch, so I figured I could replace it with just about anything. And I thought of just the thing.
I have an old soft DDR pad where three of the four arrow sensors are thrashed beyond repair. But the "Select" button still works... so I cut it off, right off the corner of the pad. Inside the pad I found a perforated piece of foam in between two plastic sheets with metal tracks printed on them. I attempted to solder wires to the metal tracks - and found it didn't work at all, just melted the plastic. So I trashed the plastic circuit things and just stuck a sheet of aluminum foil on either side of the perforated foam, soldered wires to those, and ran them to a 1/8" mono connector, plugged that into the drum set, and it works!
It does tend to wander around on the floor--I missed a bunch of notes until I stuck the edge of the sensor under the drum set base to hold it in place. It also needs a bit more pressure than is comfortable to register reliably--understandable since the dance pad expects the user to be putting their weight on it (I was hoping it would be easier on the foot not to have to push against a spring, but this DDR pad sensor isn't any easier - although I have not given up on the concept just yet). This design is also possible to play with your heel--in early attempts I have not done well this way, but it may be worth some practice.
What I think would be really nice is a switch with good clicky feedback that could be strapped to your shoe.
I have an old soft DDR pad where three of the four arrow sensors are thrashed beyond repair. But the "Select" button still works... so I cut it off, right off the corner of the pad. Inside the pad I found a perforated piece of foam in between two plastic sheets with metal tracks printed on them. I attempted to solder wires to the metal tracks - and found it didn't work at all, just melted the plastic. So I trashed the plastic circuit things and just stuck a sheet of aluminum foil on either side of the perforated foam, soldered wires to those, and ran them to a 1/8" mono connector, plugged that into the drum set, and it works!
It does tend to wander around on the floor--I missed a bunch of notes until I stuck the edge of the sensor under the drum set base to hold it in place. It also needs a bit more pressure than is comfortable to register reliably--understandable since the dance pad expects the user to be putting their weight on it (I was hoping it would be easier on the foot not to have to push against a spring, but this DDR pad sensor isn't any easier - although I have not given up on the concept just yet). This design is also possible to play with your heel--in early attempts I have not done well this way, but it may be worth some practice.
What I think would be really nice is a switch with good clicky feedback that could be strapped to your shoe.
