How it works

Drums inverts most of the normal expectations of drum machines and sequencers. Instead of playing or placing hits manually, you control the direction and feel of its rhythmic streaming engine, steering the groove through gestures on the pad.

When I say "play it like a fighting game", I really do mean it. It rewards combinations of gestures and button mashing far more than it does timid play.

Rhythm

Every hit is driven by a grid derived from the current tempo and time signature, so the kit is always in time with itself, and with your DAW if you send it MIDI clock. See Tempo and time signature.

• Each stick runs one drum. The left stick is the hi-hat, the right stick is the kick. Point a stick to start its rhythm, and centre it to stop.
• Point the sticks to play patterns Each stick has four wedges that control the patterns. Lean the right stick between two directions and the kick blends them. The hi-hat switches over.
• Push a stick to the rim to bring in the snare. It lands on the backbeat, wherever the time signature puts it.
• The rest of the pad adds to what's running. The face buttons each add a kick in a fixed place, the d-pad plays snare patterns, the shoulder buttons adjust the rhythmic feel, and the triggers

Velocity

• Push a stick further to play harder. Every hit on that drum follows how far the stick is pushed while you hold it there, up to the Energy setting at the rim.
• The accents sit above the rest. How far above is the Dynamics setting.
• The buttons and the d-pad play at the Energy setting, however the sticks are placed.

See Changing the character.

Pressure and slide

With Drums channels set to MPE or Multi-channel, each drum gets its own channel, and how far you're pushing the control that plays it goes out on that channel as pressure and slide while you hold it. Map them in your DAW like any MPE control. See Drum notes and channels.