When this project was pitched, my head immediately went to a finger pad drum board that some of my favorite artists use in their performances. Particularly, Fred Again, who uses these loop-type pad style machines to create beats and rhythms. So that’s what I attempted here. The instrument uses 20 capacitive touch sensors as the buttons, 6 potentiometer knobs for control change parameters, and a 4x4 conductive button pad. Originally, I had wanted the entire board to be like the silicone conductive button pad, however that piece was ordered separately and the buttons turned out to be much smaller than I anticipated, so I moved to capacitive sensors and ditched the tactile response of a rubber button.
Aside from figuring out the hardware, deciding how to proceed with the software was another challenge in and of itself. I wanted to be able to alter the sound profile of the notes and samples I was playing, which couldn’t be done in GarageBand. So, I decided to learn how to use Max for this greater flexibility.
| Item | Qty | Total Price |
|---|---|---|
| Potentiometer Box | 1x | 11.99 |
| Capacitive Touch Sensor | 20x | 16.98 |
| Adafruit Trellis Board | 1x | 12.50 |
| Black Acrylic Sheet 3mm | 2x | 32 |
| Clear Acrylic Sheet 1.5mm | 1x | 12 |
| Jumper Cables | 50x | 5 |
| Raspberry Pi Pico W | 1x | 6 |
In this video, I demonstrate one of the drum pad buttons that plays a snare. Each button is customizable for what can be played by tap or by holding. I demo’d the bass knob which increases and applies a filter for the low frequencies.