Help us improve drumbeam - an innovative drumpad developed by afk-audio

afk-audio

afk-audio

New Member
Dear Drummerworld community,

I'm Simon, part of afk-audio, and audiotechnology startup from Dresden, Germany.
We're currently in the process of finishing the development of our first device, drumbeam - see next image:


drumbeam_specs.png

drumbeam is a bar-shaped MIDI device which looks great due to its RGB lightguide, offers vast customization opportunities via an app, and a realistic, versatile playing feel due to its innovative continuous sensoring.

As offering great quality and meeting musicians' needs are very important for us as a company, we want to encorporate feedback into the final stages of our development process.

Therfore, it would be amazing if you could take 5-10 minutes to read the info, watch the video and fill out the form I'll post as a comment below.

If you want to stay tuned on all features and know first about the launch date and price, feel free to follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/afk.audio/

And if you have any questions on the survey or on drumbeam, feel free to ask!

Thank you very much in advance!

Cheers,

Simon
 
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Looks cool! But there's no MIDI connection, only USB-C?

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_take a look after several years of development we are delighted to finally reveal the drumming device of the future – drumbeam. our next gen drumming controller will enter the stage by the end of 2024. take a look at what you can expect and keep your eyes open for the final release. minimalist...
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Hey, glad you like it!

There's MIDI via TRS (an in and an out) which you can connect easily to the older DIN MIDI standard via a dedicated cable or adapter.

I somehow can't paste links here, but can send you the link to the survey via a private message if you'd like to help out :)
 
afk-audio said:
Hey, glad you like it!

There's MIDI via TRS (an in and an out) which you can connect easily to the older DIN MIDI standard via a dedicated cable or adapter.

I somehow can't paste links here, but can send you the link to the survey via a private message if you'd like to help out :)
Click to expand...
i've only connected MIDI devices with a MIDI cable. Is it possible to slave your unit to another MIDI device that is sending tempo info?
 
Looks like a brilliant product, if it works as advertised and is priced right. I'd like to test it, as I'm looking to incorporate some electronics to my kit but haven't yet decided whether to go for a midi+laptop solution or a self contained sampling pad.
 
bongoman said:
What distinguishes your pad-sensor technology from other companies?
Click to expand...
While most drum pads currently are just velocity sensitive (sensors recognize how hard a pad is hit), drumbeam's sensors also react to the position on the drumming surface/within a pad.

So you can modulate whichever MIDI value you want to modulate by hitting different positions - say the openness of a hihat, normal snare sound to rimshot, filter cutoff, or reverb. Thus, you can create more versatile and realistic sounds with drumbeam.
 
Skrivarna said:
Looks like a brilliant product, if it works as advertised and is priced right. I'd like to test it, as I'm looking to incorporate some electronics to my kit but haven't yet decided whether to go for a midi+laptop solution or a self contained sampling pad.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for your feedback! We're glad you like it :)
 
cbphoto said:
i've only connected MIDI devices with a MIDI cable. Is it possible to slave your unit to another MIDI device that is sending tempo info?
Click to expand...
You can send MIDI clock information into drumbeam (and out of it through the 3.5 mm TRS MIDI out), but it can't use the info itself. The only use case for MIDI clock info would be to quantize your hits on drumbeam as the first version is coming without a looper or sequencer.
 
Okay I'll say.
I have no idea what this thing is. Even with your (OP's) "brief" explanation.
What does it do?
 
I-P said:
Okay I'll say.
I have no idea what this thing is. Even with your (OP's) "brief" explanation.
What does it do?
Click to expand...
It's a series of drum triggers with a built-in trigger interface that converts sensor signals to MIDI. It's essentially the same (the way it works) as an edrum kit without sound samples. With lamps.
 
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Doraemon said:
It's a series of drum triggers with a built-in trigger interface that converts sensor signals to MIDI. It's essentially the same (the way it works) as an edrum kit without sound samples. With lamps.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
I-P said:
Thank you
Click to expand...

Additionally, you can choose the number of pads (signaled by LEDs) at the click of a button.
You can pick to choose different sizes, colors and behaviors (e. g. velocity sensitivity) for any pad and save these preferences as presets on the device.

Additionally, you can change so-called MIDI CC values with drumbeam which would usually be done by moving a fader or encoder on a synth or drum machine or by using your mouse on the computer. This way you can choose to change virtually any value which can be modified.

In a way, drumbeam's drumming surface replaces the fader or encoder. The position within a pad section from left to right corresponds to a value, for example the Dry/Wet button of a filter (how much of the filter effect is going to be applied to the original signal) from 0 % to 100 %. If you hit the drumming surface more on the left, there's less filtering going on, if you hit it more on the right the filtering effect is stronger.

You can get extremely creative this way and create some exciting sound effects.

I hope this explains this function a bit better, also for people who have no previous knowledge in music production.
 
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