Is my pad silent, or do I simply need to hit harder?
Plug your kit in
Don’t guess, measure. The kit check is open to everyone and needs no account.
Check my kitAfter a few strokes with no response, it is tempting to conclude that a pad is dead. A very high threshold can produce the same silence on light playing. The difference shows when a protocol raises the force in distinct stages.
The guided eDrumWork diagnostic separates D01 (soft strokes lost) from D13 (no note across all confirmed phases).
One series is not enough
A silent phase of soft strokes only shows that no Note On came out of the module under that condition. Continue with medium, then controlled strong strokes. As soon as a stable response appears, total silence is ruled out and the detection threshold can be examined.
A three-level protocol
- Confirm that other pads reach the selected MIDI input.
- Play the soft series and confirm any strokes that were not received.
- Play a medium series on the same zone.
- If it remains silent, finish with several controlled strong strokes.
- Conclude D13 only when absence persists and every phase is confirmed.
The test does not need an exact force measurement. It asks a simpler question: does hitting clearly harder eventually produce a note?
- Response only at medium or strong force: D01.
- Response at all levels but unusually low values: D04.
- Isolated strokes get through but notes in a burst disappear: D06.
- No response in any confirmed phase: D13.
D13 describes missing MIDI; it does not name the cause. eDrumWork cannot inspect a cable, connector or sensor. It keeps the instructions and your confirmations, so the silence becomes documented evidence instead of an empty table.