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Zen Drum

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Submitted By: Keith Baxter

Elevator Pitch

Zen Drum

MIDI drums can suffer from perceptible lag with slow software synths. The Zen drum anticipates the beat to provide correcting negative latency.

Product Description

Zen Drum

The Zen drum uses outwardly facing photo rangefinders to detect the beat milliseconds before physical contact advancing the MIDI signal to make up for lags in downstream software syths and in particular standard software drivers.

How It’s Innovative

The Zen Drum provides a MIDI output signal for computer based synths that may have some latency problems, making for a more response musical experience. The smooth metal dome is a satisfying and ergonomic tactile surface. Internal accelerometers provide velocity control according to how hard the instrument is hit.

See MIDI Innovation In Action

Most Inspiring Use Cases

I like to think non-keyboard MIDI interfaces help make musical performance available to a wider range of individuals. The layout of the Zen Drum mirrors common hand pans and hang drums used in intuitive musical experiences.

Expansion Plans

I would love to see this device picked up by a scale manufacturer or other boutique builders.

Commercialization

I have a small boutique instrument web business at www.museelectronicinstruments.com where I plan on selling this in kit form and fully assembled. The hardware is Arduino compatible and the software open source to encourage experimentation.

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