Wronka Easytrigger

Wronkadrum’s latest Easy3Trigger is an internal drum trigger, made to convert acoustic drum shells into electronic drum pads. It is a dual zone (head & rim) trigger that can be used as a snare, tom or bass drum sensor. You can simply mount it into an acoustic drum shell through its lug screws and set the height through the long slotted hole.

The Easytrigger can be, unlike other internal trigger systems, mounted into steel shells too. The slotted sideward holes are made to slide the trigger head towards the center of the shell. Without this feature, it would not be possible to even mount it in a steel snare.

The casing is made out of painted steel. Head and rim piezo are soldered to a good quality stereo jack plug. Wronka used the head trigger unit from DDT Drums. Their DDT C.V.A.M-Sensor  unit is usually applied to an external trigger. But instead of touching the mesh head from above, Wronka’s Easytrigger senses the hits from the bottom side.

The whole system is well engineered and build in a high standard which is typical for German products.

Mounting the trigger is like its name: Easy! 2 lug-screws have to be removed and are used to apply the trigger inside the shell. The upper trigger part has to be taken off completely in certain situations, to reach the upper lug screw.

3 Tools are needed to install the system:

• Cross recess screwdriver
• 8 mm socket wrench
• 3 mm Inbus

I removed the top part after setting the height of the trigger via the lower lug screw. There is a second height adjustment option through the small slotted holes of the top part, for the fine tuning. The instruction suggests the trigger top to overtop the bearing edge at 1-2mm.

The most important fact when installing this trigger is, however the position where you install it. Clearly described in the instructions, you will have to install the trigger pointing towards you, to not hit it directly. Having this trigger installed in this position is the only way to ensure to not destroy it accidentally. The piezo is on top of the foam and could break if hitting it. The stick angle and Wronka’s additional high rim noise eliminators make it impossible to hit it at this spot.

All internal triggers need to be connected to a cable that has to pass the closed shell. There are 5 different options of leading the cable from the outside to the inside of the shell:

• Wronka’s reso-heads with integrated jack plug
• Air vent cable: DIY or from Wronka
• Cutting a hole into an old acoustic resonant head
• The R-RUMS Plughead
• Using an open shell

The trigger can be used with a 1- or 2 ply mesh heads. The module I was using is a Roland TD-9.

Setting up the trigger as snare can take a while, as triggers who pick up the signal near the rim, need a lot of adjustment in the module and at the pad itself. No matter if they are external or internal. Setting it up as dual tom- and bass drum trigger was quiet easy. Since the toms provide only a rim click besides the head signal. The bass drum does only need one zone and is not a problem at all.

However, setting up the snare is the part that takes time. A Roland snare delivers 3 different signals:

• Head
• Rim
• Side stick (X-Stick)

A good trigger result at the snare depends on:

• Mesh head tension
• Trigger height
• Pad size
• Sensitivity
• Rim Gain
• Head Rim Adjustment
• Threshold
• Retrigger Channel

All these parameters have to be set to get a very good result. And this is the part that takes time. But this is typically for triggers mounted near the rim. No matter if Roland HR-30 or 2 Box Triggerit, triggers that are not center mounted, do ALL need a lot of setup time, especially with Roland modules. The bigger the shell the harder it becomes.

As soon as the setup is done, the trigger delivers a quiet good result and every spot of the mesh head is covered. There are no dead spots. Positional sensing is not possible with not centered triggers, but therefore there aren’t any hot spots.

Pros:

• Price of only 34€
• Well designed with good materials
• Flexible for installation
• Easy to install
• Can be used for snare, tom and kick drums of all sizes
• Manual (only in German, but the pictures describe it well)

Cons:

• Does not support positional sensing
• Trigger result not 100% as good as centered trigger systems
• 3 tools can be needed to install the system.

Conclusion:

The Wronka Easytrigger is a great solution for people on a budget, who still want to convert an acoustic kit. It is possible to modify a whole kit with these triggers, however, I would recommend them mostly for the toms, as you are always better off with a centered mounted snare trigger.