Aerodrums. Is this the coolest invention ever?

[4140]

http://aerodrums.com/aerodrums-product-page/

It just blows my mind. I don't consider myself a drummer but there are times when I want to lay down a simple beat without programming Midi. The guy uses reaper in one if the videos, who knows, maybe he's a member here.

I can see the possibilities, imagine if they took this technology to other instruments, like bass or guitar, where u wear some kind of gloves and some sensor read your movements..... This guy broke some ground in my opinion, what do u think?

[BenK-msx]

it is pretty cool yes, i have had them for approaching 2 years now.
i normally use them in this sort of configuration - air/surface hybrid.

https://youtu.be/Pa_BvfZHrlY

so that i can overcome the main limitation of stock aerodrums which is that you cant hit anything real for fear of damage to reflectors, but it turned out simply moving them a few centimetres down the shaft 'atop' the stick, means the software cares not and it works just as well. i use a mesh head to hit.

problems it has solved for me:
previously i had a spaghetti junction of wires and pads edrum set sprawling in my room which couldn't fit in the little studio space i had at the time, result>not much drumming.
now i can pop the camera out, grab my pedal 'board' and play in a tiny space. and therefore get better.

drumming is also like heading to the gym to work on your 'rythym' - when you play guitar or keys or sing, you notice your rythymical aspects are improved. a big win even if you suck at the drumming objectively.

downsides: staring at a bright light
the lamps are not super robust one of mine is beginning to flake.

not much in the way of updates, less cockos.. more 'everyone else'.
but the ones there have been have been useful, easier midi adjustments etc.

with my rme interface and decent daw the latency is pretty damn good 8 or so ms? - better than many ekits

[EvilDragon]

8 ms... probably not that good for REALLY fast playing.

[HugoRibeiroDotCom]

I've seen it like a year or two ago. Never tried it. Must be fun although I think it would be weird for me hearing the sound without feeling the physical impact.

cheers

[BenK-msx]

E D - i think the limitation is the ps eye camera frame rate of 125fps to detect a hit, but fits me fine. imagine using 8ft long drumsticks on a real kit! HA

i'll find a clip of proper drummers having a go (for first time), does pretty well imo and the key thing for me is having more tracks with real drummer instinct and variation without days of programming!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CavlglPYVvQ

edit: @hugo as in my first post i solved the hitting things issue, so can bounce away.

[EvilDragon]

125 FPS is pretty damn cool - but there's still additional latency to actually process all those frames. In any case, seems really a cool innovation. Definitely the LEAST space necessary for a drumkit, but it's devoid of actual impact on a drum head. I bet a lot of drummers would feel weird


BTW... what about snare sidestick, hitting cymbals with the shaft instead of tip?

[BenK-msx]

you'd have to debate processing frames with the programmers.. i just remember reading info from them in that ballpark and it plays better than ekits i've tried.

can you not read old boy?!

i HIT a mesh head and get all the feel and bounce i need with a simple modification to the sticks. (see the vid in my first post which was done after having them a day or so , i sucked.)

sidestick is by default positioned in its own zone to the left of snare, this works better than it sounds in reality, a v easy adjustment for anyone - even a drummer...
no shaft or tip on one cymbal, but the ride has a bell zone which works well,
you can add as many pieces as you can fit / hit accurately so could have a shaft sound cymbal next to a tip sound cymbal.

if i want extra variation i'll reluctantly open a midi editor & move a few midi notes..

anyway i sound like an advert, but yes my lamp is flaky.

[4140]

Originally Posted by EvilDragon

8 ms... probably not that good for REALLY fast playing.

I don't know exactly how long 8ms is but even for death metal drums, the guy on the website was pretty much doing a blast beat and it sounded incredible. I can't believe how affordable it is, $200 is way less than a decent e drum kit, I think u can load your own samples too... Idk, there's got to be a catch heh

[msundh]

For me it didn't work.
You have this strong light, so you have to wear shades. Your room cannot be light.
I have a small room and that didn't work.
A big NO from me. Waste of money.
There's a couple of kickstarter projects using a gyro that you put on the drum sticks, that would be a better way.
Hers's one https://www.freedrum.rocks/

[BenK-msx]

Found bit more accurate info from developer about the latency as I was curious re midi as I get practicing again (as well as voice, guitar, keys, brass.. yawn) to record something hopefully wonderful in a couple of weeks.

Quote:
"The sending of MIDI events (up to when your DAW can process them) assuming you use a virtual MIDI cable (e.g. IAC on Mac) is 1ms using Aerodrums' event scheduler and less if using the option to send events straight away.
It is harder to measure the latency between your intended hits and when Aerodrums detects them. 8ms is the worst case scenario here, but we think in practice it is closer to 4ms."

---
So in the range <5ms to <9ms plus your output latency presumably. (Right? )
For me at the mo can have that 0.7ms

So maybe more like 5/6 ft drumsticks!

Just dropping this off here as relevant.


Edit msundh: have used in a normally lit small room for yrs now. The light isn't great to stare at but am too busy drumming.. getting the cam in a good position is a pain needs a camara attachement thread or something. once sorted been fine.

[morgon]

Originally Posted by 4140

It just blows my mind. I don't consider myself a drummer but there are times when I want to lay down a simple beat without programming Midi.

There's options. You can for example *sing* the drumtrack. Make the kick and snare two distinct vocal pitches for easy realignment to the appropriate MIDI keys afterwards, not too much bother imo. A very direct way to get the idea down.

Works for other insts too, obviously not chords except for power chords etc.

I find it's also a good way to resolve timimg issues between multiple tracks where it's not really obvious which tracks are at fault and when. 'Beatbox' [vocalise] a new recorded track with the rhythm and align the MIDI tracks with the waveform of that audio track. Better than trying to think your way through it which usually ends up like bad plastic surgery anyway.