The Freedom to Drum

Nov. 11, 2016

Slip some motion-sensitive sensors over a pair of drumsticks and play away.

Some musicians want to bring their instruments wherever they go—in the event they have some spare time to practice. But when you are a drummer, that’s a bit difficult to do. That’s why Freedrum was invented.

It is a virtual drumkit that lets you play anywhere you have access to a smartphone (which is everywhere). Here's how it works: Motion sensors are slipped over drumsticks, including a gyroscope to detect movements and interpret them as hits on a drum. That is then translated into a signal sent via Bluetooth to the connected app, such as Garageband on an iPhone, which then plays the sound via headphones or onboard speakers.

Freedrum, which is still under development and scheduled for shipment in August 2017, is designed to provide a natural, portable drumming experience for musicians. And, it seems like it will deliver on its promise. But I’m wondering if “playing the air” will be as satisfying to those drummers who like to hit the set and the cymbals.

About the Author

Stephanie Neil | Editor-in-Chief, OEM Magazine

Stephanie Neil has been reporting on business and technology for over 25 years and was named Editor-in-Chief of OEM magazine in 2018. She began her journalism career as a beat reporter for eWeek, a technology newspaper, later joining Managing Automation, a monthly B2B manufacturing magazine, as senior editor. During that time, Neil was also a correspondent for The Boston Globe, covering local news. She joined PMMI Media Group in 2015 as a senior editor for Automation World and continues to write for both AW and OEM, covering manufacturing news, technology trends, and workforce issues.

Sponsored Recommendations

Food Production: How SEW-EURODRIVE Drives Excellence

Optimize food production with SEW-EURODRIVE’s hygienic, energy-efficient automation and drive solutions for precision, reliability, and sustainability.

Rock Quarry Implements Ignition to Improve Visibility, Safety & Decision-Making

George Reed, with the help of Factory Technologies, was looking to further automate the processes at its quarries and make Ignition an organization-wide standard.

Water Infrastructure Company Replaces Point-To-Point VPN With MQTT

Goodnight Midstream chose Ignition because it could fulfill several requirements: data mining and business intelligence work on the system backend; powerful Linux-based edge deployments...

The Purdue Model And Ignition

In the automation world, the Purdue Model (also known as the Purdue reference model, Purdue network model, ISA 95, or the Automation Pyramid) is a well-known architectural framework...