Getting Started

Got a new drum and want to start playing?

TIGHTEN YOUR SNARE MESH!!

The single most critical component to making sure your drum plays well is to have the mesh head tightened fully.  At the end of the day, DruML is using analog signals from physical strikes, so the acoustics DO matter.  Snares like to be tight, with symmetrical pressure.  Triggering is all about getting discreet vibrations.  You should not hear any sort of resonance and the stick should not be able to push the mesh more than ~20mm down when struck.  If your mesh head is too loose, your stick can even strike and damage the touch sensor beneath the head.

If you end up at a loss and need some help doing some more surgical adjustments, feel free to reach out and we'll help you get it playing great. 

Plug your device into your computer, and using Google Chrome, visit the device configuration tool

Windows MIDI is finicky, and we're actively working on a mobile app for configuration to ease this process.  If you're having issues connecting, make sure to refresh the page, confirm Chrome permissions, and ensure that any other apps (particularly on Windows) that use MIDI are closed.

Selecting the MIDI preset for your VST

The first and most important software setting to select is the MIDI preset.  There are currently only two presets available, but they should cover the vast majority of VST software.  If you find something that doesn't work well, please let us know so we can add it!

Superior Drummer mode utilizes CC positional sensing.  This means that a value between 0-127 is sent to your VST/module representing how far off-center your strike is.  If your drum module treats off-center and center as the same MIDI note, this is what you probably want.

Steven Slate drums has discreet notes for center vs off-center. Select this preset if you want off-center to be its own note.

Configure the positional sensing gain (CC position gain) to control off-center triggering

The positional sensing gain is a simple way to control how easy it is to register off-center hits.  The lower the value, the harder it will be to trigger off-center.  If set too high, you may register too many off-center strikes.  

The optimal spot is subjective based on your VST / playing preferences / tuning of the drum.  Change it any time to adjust this behavior.  

Most people will stop here and want to just play the drum.  If you want optimize more, keep reading

You can always restore defaults and start over if you end up in a spot where the drum plays poorly.

Configure the volume gain(s) 

Volume on DruML is calculated using multiple sensors at varying weights.  This gives a more realistic dynamic response with the volume, but also means that there are more knobs to turn.  

The rim volume gain is the most common volume gain to change.  If you want cross-stick or rim hits to be louder, you can increase this value.

The outer array volume gain relative to the center volume gain will control how much of the mesh strike volume calculation is done by the 4 outer sensors vs the center.  Adjust to fit your preferences.

Configure the volume nonlinearity

By default, the volume response is fully linear and no adjustment is made.  If you want to make this non-linear (e.g make your softer hits louder and louder hits softer).  Higher values will make the lower end less sensitive.  

Adjust confidences

If you want to control the confidence threshold for the model to predict a given strike type, you can make it as high or low as you want.  If you find yourself registering too many rimshots, you can go ahead and raise the confidence threshold.