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How to Make Your Own Rockband Drum Pedal

If you are a fan of the Rock Band video game and are interested in a home project you can get rid of the plastic drum pedal and make one on your own. You can do this with a real kick drum pedal to give the game that extra bit of authenticity. It requires some knowledge of electronics but the project can be completed in less than an hour.

Things You'll Need

Drum pedal
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
6 foot audio cable with 1/8" mono plug on one end
Soldering iron and solder
5-volt reed relay
2 packs of 3/16" earth magnets
Hobby glue

Instructions

- 1
  Purchase a drum pedal for an actual drum kit. These can be purchased from online resources or your local music store.
- 2
  Strip about an inch of sheath off the non plug end off of your 6 foot audio cable if it isn't already. This will expose two wires inside.
- 3
  Solder the wires to the two leads at the end of the 5-volt reed relay switch.
- 4
  Glue the switch near the drum clamp located on the front end of the bottom of the drum pedal.
- 5
  Stack two or three of the circular magnets and glue them together. Glue them to the underside of the pedal on the front end. The best place to glue them here is to the metal bracket that holds the chain. Glue the magnets at a point so that when you press down on the pedal the magnets come within a couple inches of the reed relay switch. Make sure the magnets are glued to a point where the are unobstructed when you press down on the pedal.
- 6
  Plug the remaining end of the audio cable to the input jack on your Rock Band drum kit. When you press down on the drum kit with your foot it will bring the magnets to within range of the relay switch and activate it. This motion creates the kick used in the Rock Band video game.

PlayStation 3