I've just taken receipt of an unused, brand new Aerodrums kit and stand. So far I'm enjoying setting up and triggering EZDrummer. My ancient M-Audio 2496 PCI card is giving a rock solid performance with around 5ms latency (I'm using the excellent loopMIDI as my virtual internal MIDI bridge).
I've also become rather obsessed with the idea of using IR light and have sourced almost all of the components necessary to make a prototype rig. However, after messing around with IR lamps, and an old PS3 camera that I got for peanuts, it occured to me that I could flip the components around and have drumsticks with LEDs on the end, and simple bicycle-type LEDs for my feet.
So far, I've been absolutely blown away by the results. With the bog standard PS3 camera (no lens or filter mods), no LED array pointing at me, and regular indoor lighting, the system is still snappy and responsive.
I've found that 8mm LEDs powered by a 3V coin battery (CR2023) for each of the four points appears to work best (I also tried green, blue and white). The LEDs are superglued to the top of a cut-off drumstick in addition to lots of electrical tape. The cables run down the stick to a combined battery holder and switch. For a rechargable drumstick option, I was looking at somehow incorporating the OLight Mini2 (I already have one of these and it's superb, with a huge battery life).
In my trials, I also discovered that the stock PS3 camera (SLEH-00448) picks up my IR light ring without any modifications (36 LEDs, 12V, 1A) at all, yet it's totally invisible to the naked eye. I'm intending to buy another camera to experiment with replacing the stock lens with a 1.8mm IR lens much the same as the excellent project started by Evgeny.
In the meantime, I'm going to continue with the set-up I've got - LEDs at the end of the drumsticks and on my feet.
Cheers!
LED Light Alternative
Re: LED Light Alternative
Update: I've now dumped the ridiculous lights-on-the-end-of-drumsticks shenanigans and have made myself an infrared set-up using a new 1.8mm lens, lens mount, and a high-powered 12v IR LED array (circular). I didn't add any type of filter to block visible light, and the existing stock reflectors are very responsive.
As I already had some of the same reflective material from a hi-viz vest, I also knocked up some adjustable velcro footstraps - it's essentially just a piece of plastic bent at 45°, but can be attached in any position on the foot (or elsewhere if I wanted to trigger with arms, legs, the cat etc.).
If anyone needs a materials list, just leave a message. I used a combination of Amazon and Temu (not Aliexpress), so it's a little more expensive.
Onwards and upwards!
As I already had some of the same reflective material from a hi-viz vest, I also knocked up some adjustable velcro footstraps - it's essentially just a piece of plastic bent at 45°, but can be attached in any position on the foot (or elsewhere if I wanted to trigger with arms, legs, the cat etc.).
If anyone needs a materials list, just leave a message. I used a combination of Amazon and Temu (not Aliexpress), so it's a little more expensive.
Onwards and upwards!