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Getting DrumPi

To start using DrumPi, you need to be part of the beta testers' group, as we are not yet releasing it to the public.

To join the testers' group, please join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/trbPaD7CNv.

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Once you're in the server, you can request to join the testers' group, which is hidden and operates by invitation only. In this group, you'll receive the URL and credentials to download a Raspberry Pi image.

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To participate in the testers' group, you’ll need to purchase some hardware yourself:

  • Raspberry Pi 5 (minimum 4GB)

  • IQaudio DAC Pro

  • SD card of your choice

  • A case to hold all the components

  • Power supply

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However, the software will be provided for free.

You can purchase these components from Amazon or any hardware store.

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Check the bill of materials for reference.

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The final setup will look something like this:

drumpi-case-open.jpg

Getting started

The first step is to take the image file you downloaded and write it to the SD card.

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I recommend using the Raspberry Pi Imager tool, which is cross-platform and designed for this purpose: https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/.

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When selecting the operating system (second button), scroll down to "Use Custom" and select the DrumPi .img file.

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On the first boot, which may take a bit longer, DrumPi will create its own Wi-Fi network. You can connect to this network either to use DrumPi as it is or to configure your own Wi-Fi. The default password is: drumpi1234.

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Next, open a browser of your choice and type http://drumpi.local/ or simply drumpi.local in the address bar. If drumpi.local isn't recognized, it may be due to inconsistent mDNS support across platforms. In that case, you can enter the IP address directly: 11.42.0.1.

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If everything goes well, you should see DrumPi's user interface

Screenshot from 2024-10-18 17-08-27.png

You may want to connect DrumPi to your home or studio Wi-Fi, so you don’t need to switch networks to operate DrumPi’s interface. To do this, go to the Settings tab, then navigate to the WiFi sub-tab, and select your Wi-Fi connection.

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DrumPi will then disable its own Wi-Fi and connect to the one you selected instead.

Screenshot from 2024-10-18 17-17-52.png

​Connect your drum unit or MIDI controller via USB, and a notification should appear in your browser, letting you know which device has been connected.

Drumpi is a headless device, meaning, its user interface is only provided via network, either on your computer or on your mobile device, connecting screens to its hdmi port won't display anything.

Audio Device

DrumPi requires an audio device to function and produce sound.

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If you're using an I2S DAC board, you need to install the appropriate audio driver. To do this, go to Settings and navigate to the Audio sub-tab.

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Select your audio device driver from the first dropdown menu. You will be prompted to reboot DrumPi to complete the installation.

Screenshot from 2024-10-19 11-39-15.png

The output latency is calculated based on the internal buffers used in the device driver, along with DrumPi's internal buffers. However, this is not the total latency. It doesn’t account for the DAC's intrinsic latency in converting samples to analog signals, the USB polling time required to receive MIDI messages from your drum unit, or the kernel scheduling. To estimate the overall DrumPi latency, roughly add 1 ms.

Once rebooted, your DAC board will be available in the second menu below. Select the option that mentions "Direct hardware device without any conversions" as it provides the lowest latency.

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Keep the buffer size set to 16 and ALSA periods to 2 to maintain low latency. Click "Apply," and you should hear a beep, indicating that the audio device has successfully opened.

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In this panel, you can also experiment with other audio cards, such as USB audio cards. Every USB audio device connected to DrumPi will appear in the audio device list.

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Keep in mind that using a USB audio card will result in higher latency, and you may need to tweak the buffer size and ALSA periods to get it working properly.

MidiPads

Playing any sound with Drumpi requires associating a MIDI note with a drum sound by configuring a "MidiPad."

Screenshot from 2024-10-17 18-31-19.png

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To open the MidiPad configuration panel, you can either click on the gear icon (which appears when hovering the mouse over the MidiPad) or, if you’re on mobile, press and hold the MidiPad.

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A MidiPad is a virtual representation of a real physical pad that you hit while playing. A MidiPad can have more than one note configured; for example, a snare has one note for the center hit, one note for the rimshot, and one note for the cross stick. This scenario can be represented by one pad with three notes configured.

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When you click on the gear button, the configuration panel will appear:

midipad-panel-highlighted.png

The "Velocity Curve Gain" setting modifies how the pads respond dynamically.

 

​A value of 2 is the standard, and this curve is represented in green.

​However, you can adjust the gain from 1 to 3, depending on your gear or personal preference. The blue plot shows how these adjustments affect the response.

Use the "+" and "-" buttons to associate additional MIDI notes or to remove previous associations.

For every note associated with a sound, a new tab will be created where you can click to open the corresponding settings.

​In this snare scenario, we have associated two notes:

  • 38 for the center hit.

  • 40 for the rimshot.

HiHat

Things become a bit more complex when configuring the hi-hat. In addition to having two notes associated with the bow and edge, the MidiPad must also produce different sounds based on the pedal position.

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For Roland-compatible drum units, a total of 5 MIDI note numbers will be used:

  • when pedal is extra tight:

    • 42 for bow​

    • 22 for edge

  • When the pedal is slightly released and moving:

    • 46 for bow​

    • 26 for edge

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In this case, instead of simply associating a MIDI note with a sound, we will associate a pedal position range with a sound. For example, when the pedal position is between 0-15, the first hi-hat sound will be triggered, and so on.

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To activate this special behavior, click the "hi-hat mode" button.

hihat-highlighted.png

Now, the number of notes present in this MidiPad is higher due to the greater number of sounds associated with it.

Enabling HiHat mode

The first control here allows you to manage each pedal opening and associate each opening with a sound.

 

Next to it, you'll find the "+" and "-" buttons to add or remove openings.

In this specific case, we're using 3 openings, but this will be expanded in the future.

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It’s very important to specify the "Max value," which represents the maximum value your pedal controller can send. This value is used to calculate each opening accurately.

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To summarize this panel, the notes involved are as follows:

  • #1: 42 Associated with an extra tight hi-hat sound (bow section)

  • #2: 22 Associated with an extra tight hi-hat sound (edge section)

  • #3: 46 Associated with three ranges of pedal openings (bow section)

  • #4 26 Associated with three ranges of pedal openings (edge section)

  • #5 44 Associated with the chick hi-hat sound

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Bill of materials

List of components for a complete DrumPi setup. These are Amazon links, but you can purchase the same components from any store you prefer:

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