Newbie

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keefdabass
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:21 pm
Location: Nr Slough, Berkshire, UK

Newbie

Post by keefdabass » Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:49 pm

Hello Aeroworld,
I've had a proper rubbish year so far - no details to bore you with, but trust me, it's been pants.
About a week or so ago I was browsing on eBay (oops) and saw a set (kit? box? whatever..) of Aerodrums for sale. Ooh, I thought...they look like fun.
Been a bass player for 30 odd years, tinker with guitar & Chapman Stick, but in my yoof I was a DRUMMER, and I've wanted another kit for years. Never had the space, the money, or the patience to find one I liked. Spirits raised when electronic kits started to become mainstream, but I've tried loads over the years and without a second mortgage (I can't afford the first one) you can't get a good kit.
So, I 'watched the set on eBay, intending to bid - the price went up...and up...and up...sold eventually for £154!! Which was more than the limit I'd set myself. Boo. But I'd been on the Aerodrums website, read everything, and seen the notes about slight delay in dispatch but offering a 10% discount. Wednesday evening, after a particularly rubbish day at work, I thought, sod it, I'm going to cheer meself up. Put an order in about 8pm.
Instant confirming email, followed by delivery notification with tracking link through Amazon. THEY ARRIVED TODAY (FRIDAY) AT 3PM!!!
Flippin 'eck guys, top job.
I was at work when they arrived, but when I checked my phone at 5, the courier had left me a message: 'Hi, tried to deliver but since you're out I've left them in the recycling bin in your front garden.'
My local council collect the recycling on fridays........AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH :o !
I may have broken a few speed limits on the way home. Parked up, only to discover I had a puncture. Unbelievable.
Kicked the car, then legged it to the front garden.......

keefdabass
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:21 pm
Location: Nr Slough, Berkshire, UK

Re: Newbie

Post by keefdabass » Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:10 pm

......and they were still there, nestling between the flat cornflake boxes and empty wine....er....I mean milk bottles.
Thanks to the puncture I wasn't going anywhere that evening, so I set to with a will. The software download took a while, but came through cleanly and the install was straightforward. And now I finally have a drum kit!
The responsiveness, especially with snare ghosts, is amazing. Have to get my positioning with the camera sorted, and drum placing needs some work, but this is gonna be fun! I'll be experimenting with the midi side of things in due course & I'll post any progress...and probably lots of 'help, I'm stuck' questions. But in the meantime, thank you Aerodrums for cheering me up!
Now, where did I put that cowbell?........

slavedave
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:16 pm

Re: Newbie

Post by slavedave » Tue Mar 08, 2016 3:52 pm

Best introductory post to date!
Double kudos for managing to get the word "pants" in there early on too.

keefdabass
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:21 pm
Location: Nr Slough, Berkshire, UK

Re: Newbie

Post by keefdabass » Wed Mar 09, 2016 8:27 pm

Thanks Slavedave, y'can't have too many pants!
So, a few evenings later (and a couple of blisters....are you listening Knopfler?) I'm really getting into this. Starting to get the hang of the grip required and stroke technique (..er, we are talking about drumming,right?). I think it may be an advantage having not played drums in anger for years - no major muscle memory to reprogram.
The one thing I'm struggling with (still haven't gone into MIDI yet....) is drum placement. It seems that the virtual diameter of the drums is quite large, i.e. you can make a stroke over a wide area and still trigger the sound. This is good in one sense - you don't have to be super accurate - but it can lead to accidental triggering (like a snare hit when you want a tom). I'm also having trouble with cymbals - when placing them I'm striking fairly high, tho not too high otherwise the camera can't see it. Once placed, the cymbals can be quite unresponsive - some hits register, others don't.
Anyone have any tips on placement? I've got the camera at the recommended height and distance from my seat, but I don't seem to get the same experience as, for example, the drummers at NAMM on the YouTube vids who seem to hit everything they aim at!
Any advice/suggestions gratefully received. Now, I must remember to eat something this evening......

Richard
Posts: 1014
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:45 am

Re: Newbie

Post by Richard » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:28 pm

What you say is correct. The reason Aerodrums works so well is that you can be very imprecise in where you're hitting a drum and still hit it. We do plan to introduce a feature that will prevent hits being triggered when the stick is too far from a drum. We have a prototype of this and it helps a lot so expect it in a future software update.

I understand what you mean with the cymbals. If they are placed too high, they either risk being out of view of the camera or the sticks don't have sufficient movement in the vertical direction for us to register hits reliably. I suggest you just lower the height at which you place the cymbals, as in the preset drum kits. This should help a lot.

Also, I'm sure it's not your case but it's always worth a reminder - one thing that slips quite a few people up is the field of view setting on the Playstation Eye camera. This can have a drastic effect on your ability to hit the drums so make sure the camera lens is fully rotated clockwise when facing towards you.

keefdabass
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:21 pm
Location: Nr Slough, Berkshire, UK

Re: Newbie

Post by keefdabass » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:53 pm

Excellent, thanks Richard. I'll give those tips a go now, & look forward to the update when it's ready.
I did make sure I had the camera on the 'blue dot' from the word go...but also made the obvious mistake of trying to start with a Simon Phillips size kit. Scaled that back pretty quickly (!) but I'll go back to the preset default kits and work out my placement from there. More blisters coming up!
Thanks for such a rapid response too - great to know you take such an active interest in the forums - so many companies don't.
Onwards and, er, down a bit.....

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