eXaDrums is an open source low latency electronic drum system
For apartment-dwelling drummers, electronic drums are really the only option. While inexpensive electronic drum sets are on the market, they're not much more than noise-making toys. High-end sets, on the other hand, cost thousands of dollars. To make high-end hardware and software accessible to DIY enthusiasts, Jeremy Oden has developed an open-source, low-latency electronic drum system called eXaDrums.
Electronic drums consist of three main subsystems: triggers (the drum pads you hit), a trigger board that registers those hits, and a processing unit. The processing unit can either pump the sound itself (by synthesis or sampling), or send a MIDI signal to an external system. The eXaDrums project contains all of this hardware, as well as the software to run it. Oden has carefully developed this software to be operating system independent and to maintain low latency so that there is no audible delay between a beat and the audio output.
The trigger board is a shield for Arduino Nano Every boards. The Nano Every is an affordable board that keeps costs down. It can also read eight analog inputs at very fast speeds, meaning it can support an entire kit's worth of drum pads. This includes seven single-zone pads, plus an additional hi-hat. It can handle 9,000 samples per second, per channel.
The Nano Every then sends MIDI notes via USB to a Raspberry Pi running eXaDrums software. This software interprets incoming MIDI signals and then outputs the sound that the user configures for the corresponding drum pad. All of this, along with a touchscreen interface, fits into a 3D printed case that the user can attach to their electronic drum kit.
For apartment-dwelling drummers, electronic drums are really the only option. While inexpensive electronic drum sets are on the market, they're not much more than noise-making toys. High-end sets, on the other hand, cost thousands of dollars. To make high-end hardware and software accessible to DIY enthusiasts, Jeremy Oden has developed an open-source, low-latency electronic drum system called eXaDrums.
Electronic drums consist of three main subsystems: triggers (the drum pads you hit), a trigger board that registers those hits, and a processing unit. The processing unit can either pump the sound itself (by synthesis or sampling), or send a MIDI signal to an external system. The eXaDrums project contains all of this hardware, as well as the software to run it. Oden has carefully developed this software to be operating system independent and to maintain low latency so that there is no audible delay between a beat and the audio output.
The trigger board is a shield for Arduino Nano Every boards. The Nano Every is an affordable board that keeps costs down. It can also read eight analog inputs at very fast speeds, meaning it can support an entire kit's worth of drum pads. This includes seven single-zone pads, plus an additional hi-hat. It can handle 9,000 samples per second, per channel.
The Nano Every then sends MIDI notes via USB to a Raspberry Pi running eXaDrums software. This software interprets incoming MIDI signals and then outputs the sound that the user configures for the corresponding drum pad. All of this, along with a touchscreen interface, fits into a 3D printed case that the user can attach to their electronic drum kit.
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