It is possible to connect more than one pad to an input, thereby (almost) doubling the capacity of the Roland TD-11. However, a standard Y-cable, such as a TRS->2xTS, can’t be used. Instead we need a custom drum splitter cable.
In a previous post, I showed how to create a multitude of cymbal sounds by configuring the edge and bow of the cymbal inputs differently. However, it is also possible to connect more cymbals and pads than the TD-11 is designed for, by using a custom drum splitter cable which connects the head of two pads into one input. This technique works for all recent mid- and high-range modules such as the TD-12, TD-15, and TD-25.
After surfing around a bit, I stubled upon the site Drumsplitter.com, that sells drum splitter cables. However, ordering a single cable from the US, with the additional VAT, Customs and transport fees doesn’t really attract me. Luckily, the cable is quite straightforward to create. I found a Youtube video describing the process. All that is needed:
- One female 1/4″ TRS stereo phone connector
- Two male 1/4″ TS mono phone connectors
- A 100 kOhm resistor connected between the tip and ring of the TRS connector.
- The sleeve of the TRS connector is connected to the sleeve of the two TS connectors.
- The tip of the TRS connector is connected to the tip of one TS connector.
- The other TS connector’s tip is connected to the ring of the TRS connector.
However, a picture is claimed to tell more than a thousand words, so this is a simplified drawing:
Resistor R is 100 kOhm
Anyone with a soldering tool and a multimeter can solder this cable.
So I did.
My soldering skills are really poor, but being careful not to burn the plastic insulation around the copper, and using a multimeter to verify that I didn’t create an unwanted shortcut, I had the cable.
In addition, I got the good feeling of having accomplished something.
If you are new to phone connectors, here are some simple guide lines:
- The connector consist of two (TS) or three (TRS) soldering pins.
- The sleeve pin generally stands out in one or another way, compared to the other pin(s).
- The soldering pin for the sleeve is the pin connected to the surface of the connector if the connector has a metal surface. Otherwize, it is normally the longest pin, or the outermost pin.
- In some stupid cases, the pins are located at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. In that case, the sleeve pin is at 6 o’clock.
- The tip is connected to the other pin (TS) or one of the other pins (TRS).
- The ring of the TRS is connected to the third pin.
After I’ve made the cable, I connected it to the desired input of the TD-11 module. Note that I chose to use a female TRS, rather than a male TRS connector. This allowed me to connect the cable to any input of the TD-11, such as the Tom 1. If I would want to connect it to the Crash 2 input, I would simply use the male-male TRS cable which comes with the TD-11K.
My initial idea was to connect two cymbals to one input using the splitter, but that does not work. The splitter only works with pads. I guess it works with any kind of pads, including the mesh pads, but I haven’t verified that. Of course, you won’t be able to make rim shots on any dual-trigger pad, but for toms, that normally don’t matter.
In order for the cable to work as intended, I – of course – had to disable the LINK feature for the selected input in the Inst menu, just as I wrote about in my previous article Adding a cowbell to the TD-11. After that, I selected two different sounds for the Head and Rim for the desired input. In my case, I connected two single-trigger PD-8A pads to the T1 tom 1 input. I physically located the pads so that the Right pad corresponds to the Rim, and the left pad as the head.
However, I discovered that I had to increase the sensivity of the pads in order to get good triggering.
This is done in the System->Pad Settings->Basic menu, by increasing the Sensitivity value. You might also need to adjust the Threshold value. Go ahead and experiment until you find a good setting.
This worked out well, and since I recently bought an old TD-3K kit for the sole purpose of using its cymbals, so I had a few PD-8 dual-trigger pads to spare. Thus, I made a second cable and attached two double-trigger PD-8 pads to the T2 tom 2 input. This left me with the T3 tom 3 input unused, so I attached a CY8 cymbal directly to it.
Now I had expanded my TD-11K to a reasonable size. Four toms and four cymbals. Quite neat, don’t you think?
Hi can you guys help me at all please?
Im an amputee and wanting to make a simple switch off the kick drum so that i can fasten a tilt switch or similar to my stump on my right leg so i can operate the kick drum for double pedalling.
ive make various circuits using NPN and PNP transistors to mimic the signals through the kick drum wire using the tip as supply ground and mid pin as trigger – it works fine and allows the kick drum to still work as normal as the rim input isnt used on the kick.
However the signal give a hi lo effect which give a double kick. i found the Roland td30 set up allows for three inputs before turning off the input. the problem with this is the signal then has to go hi and low before allowing the td30 to allow input signals again. – if this all makes sense.
the fact it works is great and allows the kick drum to still be in play all the time however much to my frustration the double trigger means just that 2 hits of the bass drum and I only want one.
I just wondered if you could help a very frustrated single legged drummer out please?
Im well versed in electronics and happy to build any circuit to get the job done.
In the past ive tried solenoids to activate the drum head and even looked at using stepper motors to drive a single beat of the drum on command but these all mean the use of mechanical intervention which i feel over time isnt going to last, a simple solution to me if i can is to do it electronically. if i have to i can sacrifice and AUX input and mimic the kick drum on that input………a very frustrated amputee.
Cheers guys
Chris
Buenas, desde Perú!
Quisiera saber si funciona este splinter en un roland spd 30 para configurar en la entrada kick dos pedales kt10 y sacar una campana y bombo?
Im not sure google translate got your question right, but I don’t think the kick drum input supports both head and rim input.
Can I connect a cimbals CY5 with a splitter wire to a TOM 1?
No. Cymbals cannot be used with a splitter. Instead, connect TOM1 and TOM2 with a splitter.
Has anyone tried this on a Roland TD-25 ?
I would love to expand my roland td-11k. I already have and alesis single zone cymbal connected through the crash 2 imput. But I would like to add some more cymbals and pads to it, but there is not enough rack space. What do I buy or do to expand the rack?
Well, Thomann.de (if you are in Europe) has a lot of stuff. I guess any rack bars will do. Or any standard cheap cymbal stand.
But if you’re in for it: I found a complete used TD-3 kit for €350 on Blocket (Swedish version of e-bay), which was less than the cost of two cymbal pads and two cymbal rack stands, so I scavanged it for everything useful. That way I got a lot of extra pads, allowing me to connect them using the drum splitter cable. So keep an eye on e-bay!
On my td-11 the trigger cable has ten 3/4 jack connections but only 9 pads or cymbals…. what does tje extra cable do and why can i not get sound out of it…… please help. There are no setup manual on this extra cable
The last cable is the RDB cable which is used to get the bell sound if you connect a CY-13R as a ride.
Do you know if both pads from a split input can be struck simultaneously, such as a Tom 3 and Tom 4 being struck at the same time when they are both split off of one input, being the Tom 3 input in this case?
That is unfortunately not possible. I mitigate that by hitting Tom1+Tom3 or Tom2+Tom4 when I want to make a double hit instead. That sounds good enough for that.
How did you extend your drum rack? It looks like both of your extra pads are on an extenderarm thingy?
Since new new pads came with a used TD-3 kit I bought, I extended my rack with a few pieces I could scavenge from the TD-3 rack.
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Great article!
Does anyone know what cymbal mounts will work on a roland rack. I was looking for an alternative to the expensive rolands maybe a Gibraltar Grabber Cymbal Arm or ??
I can’t vouch for it, but as I recall from Gibraltar’s racks, they have the same diameter as the Roland ones. So I assume the mounts will fit.
Anything from anyone can be used given appropriate adaptors if necessary. I have Yamaha and Pearl cymbal arms on a Roland rack, using Roland tom brackets with the l-arms removed, for example.
Will a virtual instrument program like Superior Drummer 2.0 recognize the extra cymbals/toms after you’ve done this modification?
Basically yes, each sensor will generate different MIDI notes. So, as long as you can program the virtual instrument to generate whatever sound you want for each MIDI note, that’s a no-brainer. Otherwise, the TD-11 allows you to define whatever MIDI note you want to generate for each sensor.
Great Post!
Is it possible to conect via midi a td3 to the td11? And use the imputs of the td3 to conect the extra cymbals?
Thanks
Hi, since the TD11 doesn’t have MIDI in, it’s not possible to connect the two in any useful way. The only way is to connect cymbals to the TD3, and let the TD3 generate the sounds. That’s the way I’ve connected it, so essentially, I’ve got two separate kits mounted on the same stand. To get the sound out, I have connected the drummodules to two separate stereo inputs on a mixer.
Hi! Great post. I have recently buy a TD11K and I think this is going to be very useful to expand it.
What’s the use you give to the kick drum pedal on the right side of the picture?
Thanks!
That one is actually connected to a TD-3 which is outside the picture.
Hey Fredrik,
I can confirm the splitter cable works on mesh pads (PDX-8,PDX-100,PD-124)
Thanks!
I have just bought Roland TD 11KV. I guess I can do the same expansion as you mentioned. If so, I appreciate the information that you share.