Training the drums
Now that your drum models are selected and named, it’s time to train Sensory Percussion to recognize each drum and the different ways that each drum can be played. You only have to do this once for each drum you are using with Sensory Percussion. It’s a pretty quick process.
Select track 1 and then click the learn... button in the Pad Visualizer window. Now select the pad you want to train first, like Center.
Train each pad using the following methods:
Center
Play the center of the drum, striking it 50 to 100 times at varying volumes and speeds. Feel free to play the center of the drum musically during this process, because it is helpful for our software to get a real-world representation of your strokes.
Edge
Remain in, or return to learning mode and select the Edge pad and play all around the edge of the drum at varying volumes and speeds. (50 - 100 hits)
Rimshot Center
In learning mode select the Rimshot Center pad and train the system to recognize rimshots by playing them in the center of the drum at varying volumes and speeds. The rimshot has a more predictable timbral response and therefore only requires 20 to 40 hits for training.
Rimshot Edge
Select the Rimshot Edge pad in and train the system to recognize rimshots on the edge of the drumhead by playing them at varying volumes and speeds. (30 - 40 hits)
Rim Tip
Select the Rim Tip pad and train the pad to recognize playing the rim of the drum with the tip of your stick at varying volumes and speeds. (50 - 100 hits)
Rim Shoulder
In learning mode select the Rim Shoulder pad and train the pad to recognize playing the rim of the drum with the shoulder of your stick at varying volumes and speeds. (50 - 100 hits)
Cross Stick
Select the Cross Stick pad and train the pad to recognize playing cross stick hits at varying volumes and speeds. Train the pad with the stick upside down and right side up if you play cross sticks both ways.
Damped Edge
Place one hand flat on the drumhead and play the drum at various volumes, speeds and locations. Train the drum with different amounts of palm pressure for best results (50-100 hits).
Stickshot
Place one stick on the drumhead and strike that stick with your other stick at various volumes, speeds and locations on the stick. Move the striked stick to a few different spots on the drumhead for best results (50-100 hits).
Shell
Play the shell of the drum at various volumes, speeds and locations (30-40 hits).
Kick Closed
Train the "closed" kick drum pad by digging the kick pedal mallet into the head after each strokes (50 - 100 hits).
Kick Open
Let the mallet rebound off of the drumhead after each stroke (50 - 100 hits).
Kick Rim Tip
Play the rim of your kick drum with the tip of your stick at various volumes, speeds and locations (30 - 50 hits).
Kick Rim Shoulder
Play the rim of your kick drum with the shoulder of your stick at various volumes, speeds and locations (30 - 50 hits).
Kick Hardware
Train Sensory Percussion to recognize the hardware of your kick drum by playing it at various volumes and speeds (30 - 50 hits).
Kick Shell
Play the shell of the kick drum with the tip and/or shoulder of your stick, varying volumes and speeds (30 - 50 hits).
Clear Training
If you make a few mistakes while training a drum pad, don’t worry, Sensory Percussion recognizes and removes outlier strokes from training. But if you accidentally train the wrong pad, simply right click the pad (while still in learning mode) and select clear training, and then retrain the pad correctly.
After you have retuned your drums, or if Sensory Percussion has stopped responding well even with over 100 hits on the pads, then it is time to clear training on all pads and retrain your model.
If you notice some false hits (say you hit the rim but it registered as a rimshot), you can go back into learning mode at any time and add more hits to the drum model. This will help increase accuracy.