news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4637203.stm
Printable version Nanotech gives drumkits a makeover By Dr Marina Murphy Drum barrel The new pickup lines the inside of the drum A new plastic material will change the way drummers mike up their kits. The material has been used to make a pickup - a device that acts as a det ector and captures mechanical vibrations - which can be permanently inst alled on drums allowing drummers to plug in and play just like guitar pl ayers. The pickups, the first on the market for drums, will be launched in the U K this summer by Finnish company B-Band. Pickups detect mechanical vibrations and convert them into an electronic signal that can be amplified and recorded. Traditional pickups, which ar e made of sensitive crystals, are not suitable for drums. They sound great and they're a real time saver Janne Vuori, sound engineer Miking up a drum kit is complicated and time consuming, as each drum must be miked separately. The microphones must be positioned so that each picks up the sound from t he drum to which it is assigned, with the minimum possible bleed from ad jacent drums, and where they are not likely to be hit by a stray drumsti ck. Easy set-up The new pickups are permanently attached to the drums. After one installa tion, there is no further set-up required, no stands to set up and no mi crophones to position. And they only pick up the sound of the drum to wh ich they are attached. "Microphones take the sound from the air," says Heikki Raisanen, CEO of B -band. "The pickups take the sound directly from the body of the drum, s olving the problem of leakage from the other drums. "The sound is more natural than that obtained using microphones." Pickups detect mechanical vibration The secret is in the elastic polymer film with tiny gas bubbles trapped i nside The pickups are based on a very thin, elastic polymer film with tiny gas bubbles trapped inside. The film is made of polypropylene, a plastic used in everything from chai rs to plastic cups. The polypropylene is treated with a high-pressure ga s to introduce the microscopic lens-type bubbles. The film is charged and covered in electrodes and any change in the thick ness of the film creates an electrical charge that can be measured. Hitt ing the drum produces vibrations that compress the tiny air bubbles, gen erating a current. "Because it only picks up the sound of the drum it is on, it's simple to dial in a great sound quickly," according to Janne Vuori, a sound engine er for the heavy metal band 69 Eyes, who is testing the pickups. They sound great and the y're a real time saver," he said. But Rory Horan, a sound engineer based in London said: "I would be concer ned that the pickups may not be able to faithfully reproduce the sound o f the metal wires on the snare drums. Conventional mics may still be the best option for those."
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