Drums
A beat from two sticks
Drums is MIDIpad's weirder side. It isn't a finger-drumming surface: the two sticks stream the groove - the left stick keeps time on the hi-hat, the right stick drives the kick, and the snare backbeat joins when you push for it - while the face buttons land individual hits over the top, the d-pad plays figures around the beat, and the triggers hold the dynamics. Tilt a stick and the beat plays; the further round it points, the busier the subdivision; let go and it stops.
MIDIpad plays the kit itself from a set of samples, and sends on the MIDIpad Drums port at the same time. Out of the box it sends standard General MIDI percussion, so any GM-mapped drum kit works unconfigured. See Set up your DAW.
At a glance
The left thumb keeps time, the right thumb drives the low end, and the bumpers reshape the feel. Nothing plays until a stick tilts, and everything stops when you let go.
A closed hi-hat stream; direction picks the subdivision.
The timekeeper's mirror, voiced as the kick.
Push all the way out and the snare joins on 2 and 4.
Hold to double the hi-hat stream's rate.
Hold to double the kick stream's rate.
Hold and every stream stretches; the backbeat moves to the 3.
Hold and only the snare doubles.
Kick, snare, closed hat, open hat.
Hold a direction and the hi-hat plays around the beat - offbeats, pickups, and their corners.
Squeeze and the whole machine plays harder; release and it sits back down.
Squeeze and the snare rolls, thickening with depth.
Switch to Chords
The other instrument, one press away.
Every drum here can be pointed at a different note and channel with a licence. See Kits and voice mapping.
Two things to know before you start:
- The sticks are streams, not drums. Direction chooses the subdivision, and the beat holds itself steady for as long as you hold the stick.
- The backbeat is a push, not a button. It arrives when a stick reaches the rim and leaves when you ease off.