Drumming without a drumkit!

badrich · #1 05-25-2011, 09:05 PM

Here's a video of a little project I'm working on in my spare time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQA8GZZl1UQ

It's a system that allows you to walk around and play drums with only a pair of sticks. What you are playing is transcribed in drum notation in realtime.

If there is interest in this from drummers I might take it further (by making it completely portable) and release it as free software at some point, so please let me know what you think.

Cheers!

Bradastronaut · #2 05-25-2011, 09:47 PM

This is impressive like!
Im sure game companys like the ones that make rock band would love to get their hands on this :D
and great choice in music, esp the elliott smith song :)

kallium · #3 05-25-2011, 09:56 PM

that shit is bananas.
so cool!

Dr_Watso · #4 05-26-2011, 12:35 AM

I wonder if it could be adapted to "record" the notation of a drummer playing a real kit?

keep it simple · #5 05-26-2011, 01:05 AM

Quite possibly the smartest piece of technology I've seen in a long time. You're a very smart guy indeed. Question (possibly stupid), from a simple drummer, how were you operating the kick drum?

DrumEatDrum · #6 05-26-2011, 01:33 AM

Holy *expletive* that is beyond cool!!!!

There have been many times in life where that would have come in handy.

Pocket-full-of-gold · #7 05-26-2011, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keep it simple

Question (possibly stupid), from a simple drummer, how were you operating the kick drum?

I thought the same thing mate. Until I saw this on the comments below:

In this video the bass drum is set to be played automatically during the songs. It is trivial to track the foot position in an identical way to the sticks but I didn't have it set up when recording this.

What can I say.....what a great idea. Brings a whole new meaning to the term "air drumming." Very cool technology indeed.

Pollyanna · #8 05-26-2011, 09:02 AM

That's pretty weird and very clever. I take it the locations of the kit are based on your belt with the dobbathingies sticking out.

I'd like a reverse engineered version transcription of Steve Gadd with mechanisms that force my hands to move in the way required to play his notes and dynamic :)

Sopranos · #9 05-26-2011, 09:23 AM

Ummm WOW!! Did I even notice dynamic variances?

Buzz rolls could be a problem, eh?

Nuka · #10 05-26-2011, 10:42 AM

That's fantastic!

I love the idea of this, and wish I could sit in to help you on it.

To one of the questions above, I assume it wouldn't be hard at all to make it possible to record notation from live playing on a real set up. You'd just have to set up what drums, cymbals, etc you have where and set it going.

Though a quicker way could just be through using a mic set up and sensors.

Question to this though, how did you set up the readings to where each item that your "hitting" is? Is it set to a distance or just generalised location to where your sticks would end up on a live set up?

Naigewron · #11 05-26-2011, 10:58 AM

I want one! That's amazing!

How is the kick drum and hihat pedal handled, though? I tried to look for foot tapping, but couldn't see any.

c0ok1e · #12 05-26-2011, 11:01 AM

Wow thats like the best invention after the drums!!

Using this, I dont ave to painstakingly write down the transcription of the drum piece. I can be happily playing while the computer makes the transcription for me.

Hope you're giving out free. Even if you sell it, should be good since its your invention, a great one.

badrich · #13 05-26-2011, 12:09 PM

Thanks a lot for the nice comments!

Quote:

How is the kick drum and hihat pedal handled, though? I tried to look for foot tapping, but couldn't see any.

The bass drum (and hi-hit pedal) you hear in the video is actually being played automatically. It is sequenced to be in time with the backing music. This isn't a limitation of the system however, I just didn't have it set up to track my feet on the day I was recording the video. The way the feet are tracked (on a better day) is identical to the way the sticks are tracked, using those little reflective balls you see attached to the sticks. But I'm working on an entirely new approach to tracking the feet and sticks now which will make the system completely portable.

Quote:

Question to this though, how did you set up the readings to where each item that your "hitting" is? Is it set to a distance or just generalised location to where your sticks would end up on a live set up?

There is a mode in my program where you can position the drums. After this it will basically assume that the closest drum to your stick is the one you intended to strike. This allows you to be very sloppy in your accuracy - it would be quite tricky otherwise to hit a drum that you can't see! I was skeptical at first about how well this would work but I was amazed at how natural it felt when I got it working.

Regarding the automatic transcription, I should point out that in the video segment where you see the staff being filled in, I have quantization disabled so there is a granularity of 64 divisions of a quarter note. You can set it to quantize to 16-notes or whatever you want to make it produce cleaner transcriptions. Also, I should have been filtering out very quiet hits more aggressively, or better yet, annotate grace and accented hits. Lots of improvements still to be made!

Fishbones · #14 05-26-2011, 12:19 PM

This is incredible. I just showed this to my whole family - really impressive stuff here.

Nuka · #15 05-26-2011, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badrich

This allows you to be very sloppy in your accuracy - it would be quite tricky otherwise to hit a drum that you can't see!

I can play blind anyway, and I think most drummers could once they've played a set up for a few mins...

And even when I air drum to songs, I visualise where certain things are, I guess that helps with your program? Visualisation?

Please do keep us updated, dibs on Beta and Gold testing!

Scopata · #16 05-26-2011, 05:03 PM

That looks so good!

It won't be long till all you need to take to a gig is those two sticks rather then a whole kit!
For once the drummer will be the one set up first.

mondaymorningtango · #17 05-26-2011, 05:34 PM

This is a great thing. I saw the video. Can what is transcribed in real time be saved. Any drummer who buys the product when you put on the market could ca[ture a great performace and we could then be able to read the printed transcripe.

I sell some drum books... would I beable to create my transcriptions, then put them out for others to read. I think yes..

great stuff

#18 05-26-2011, 05:36 PM

As a guy who has written some very basic software, I can see just how incredible this. Is. Hats off to you, this is really great work.

dairyairman · #19 05-26-2011, 06:55 PM

i remember seeing a video of a prototype for a wii game that was similar, but not as sophisticated. in the wii game you hold two of their wands as sticks and air drum that way.

this looks a lot more precise and accurate than that. really cool!

the real time music transcription thing is worth a lot all by itself. i'd love to have that even without the air drumming system. hand transcribing a drum part is a real pain but your software would make that so much easier!

Numberless · #20 05-26-2011, 07:13 PM

Slap me thrice and call me mama! freaking amazing!

spirit4earth · #21 05-26-2011, 07:44 PM

I like it!! Bring it on!

Sopranos · #22 05-26-2011, 09:32 PM

This is a must have for apartment dwellers everywhere. Not to mention, a portable version for waiting at the DMV.

You have to keep us updated.

Bertram · #23 05-26-2011, 09:42 PM

Is this going to be a computer program or a game for a console?
I guess alot of people would like to play some drums on their laptop once in while :D
But well. Seems cool. Would definitely destroy "Guitar Hero"
Maybe you can even develop a whole set of instruments played this way... xD

#24 05-26-2011, 10:02 PM

It's a very similar system to Sony's 'Move' controller, but it's refined. I said it earlier, but I think this is really, really great.

cobamnator · #25 05-27-2011, 12:34 AM

Elliott Smith! I swear I was just listening to the "Figure 8" album minutes before viewing this thread earlier today...

But yes, that is amazing...I don't even know what to say.

LinearDrummer · #26 05-27-2011, 01:24 AM

Crazy stuff!!!
20X20/20=20

jodgey4 · #27 05-27-2011, 01:29 AM

Mind = blown.
20202020

Zickos · #28 05-27-2011, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scopata

That looks so good!

It won't be long till all you need to take to a gig is those two sticks rather then a whole kit!
For once the drummer will be the one set up first.

Can you imagin. Walk into a gig and just start playing!

major_panic · #29 05-27-2011, 02:15 PM

Truly incredible. If you pull this off... you deserve all the money you can get.

badrich · #30 05-29-2011, 06:03 PM

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. At the moment this is just a hobby project so I don't know yet what will come of it. I definitely see a lot of potential here though, especially for the portable version I'm working on now. With a laptop and some small extras you will be able to setup and jam anywhere or play in the middle of the night without making a sound.

I'll post back here when I have another video up, hopefully in a few weeks.

Richard