BeBop Sensors, the leader in smart fabric sensor technology, announced today the world’s most responsive smart drum pad: BopPad. Created in collaboration with BeBop Sensors and Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) musical instrument company, BopPad smart drum pad employs the world’s largest smart fabric sensor to create a uniquely expressive and accurate electronic drum pad for drummers, percussionists, and producers. BopPad interprets any style of percussion playing, providing accurate hit detection, velocity, continuous radius and pressure at a speed of 2.4 milliseconds with 4 independently programmable zones that output MIDI notes: velocity, pitch bend, pressure and location for the world’s most responsive and accurate drum pad.
Detects All Styles of Drumming, from Delicate Finger Strikes to Full Mallet Assaults. Most people think that drums are all the same, but the world of drumming includes many styles, including timpani, tabla, trap set, tubular bells, and more. Prior to BopPad, drum pads for controlling synthesis were limited to sensing a simple stick hit. BopPad has an extremely wide dynamic range, sensing all styles and pressures of drumming, from delicate finger strikes to full-on aggressive mallet assaults. BopPad’s robust tuned elastomer surface covers a 10” circle of BeBop Sensors’ patented Smart Sensor fabric, giving drummers a traditional feel combined with a whole new dimension of expressiveness for more dynamic drumming in performances and recordings.
BopPad uses a continuous piece of smart fabric divided into multiple zones that are responsive to continuous pressure and location, making BopPad expressive as well as affordable. With a list price of $199, BopPad costs much less than the drums it replaces and is an easy and affordable way to add an electronic element to your kit without the mechanical and lifeless drum sounds that often accompany electronic music.
“You can only play a drum a few ways, but BopPad allows you to take that skill set and play drums in a way you’ve never played before,” said Alex Swain (drummer, Deltron 3030) and Dan the Automator (producer, Deltron 3030, Gorillaz).
BeBop Sensors CEO Keith McMillen said, “BeBop needed a way to test its Generation 8 Smart Sensor Fabric in a large format and satisfying the needs of percussionists while surviving the repetitive hits seemed like a great product idea.”
KMI President Evan Adams says, “KMI is known for our ultra-expressive synthesizer controllers. Many artists complain that electronic music is mechanical and lifeless, but that is due to the interface between the musician and computer. If the synth controller can only turn a sound off and on, it will never sound natural. BopPad solves this problem.”
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