About Us
We make edrums more accessible
Our goal has always been to make electronic drums sound exceptionally good at an affordable price.
There are numerous electronic drum kits available on the market, but many of them rely on outdated technologies.
How is it that a budget smartphone can cost just a couple of hundred dollars while boasting gigabytes of RAM, multi-core processors, ample storage, internet connectivity, and a large, vibrant color display, whereas electronic drum modules often don't even have 1 GB of RAM? Not to mention the poor user experience offered by their small, monochrome displays, all while costing thousands of dollars?
Our
Story
DrumPi began its journey in 2011 with Paolo, a guy who simply couldn't afford a proper electronic drum kit. He had been working as a software engineer for years when he had an epiphany: a smartphone could serve as a sound engine for an electronic drum module. This realization ignited his experimentation.
While the computational power was available, the latency was less than ideal. Even when using iOS devices with core audio, they couldn't keep the latency below the 6.5 ms threshold (buffer size + driver's ring buffer + USB polling). The result was decent but not groundbreaking; similar results could be achieved with any decent computer.
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Therefore, in 2015, Paolo changed his approach, abandoning the smartphone and started coding prototypes on a Raspberry Pi 3 to work on a lower level. From a performance standpoint, this change was a success as they reduced the latency from 6.5 ms to 2.5 ms. However, there was a significant drawback: the code was written at such a low level that it made further development a daunting and painful task. It was as if he had built a Ferrari with no seats and no steering wheel.
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He decided to set the project aside for a few years, during which he honed his skills in modern C++. In 2019, he returned to the project with a little help from his friend Max, who joined in.
Paolo completely rewrote the audio engine in modern and flexible C++, while Max took charge of the UI and UX development. They were now capable of incredible things, such as loading presets. They replaced the traditional Linux kernel with the preemptive-rt and profiled all the time executions to ensure the kernel wouldn't interfere. When they found it did, they isolated one core of the quad-core processor to run just one thread—the real-time audio thread.
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They rapidly implemented features and got carried away with it. In approximately 10 months, the audio engine became a DAW in itself, including a 64-channel mixer, effects, MIDI support, multi-layered samples, multi-velocity samples, transients shaper, and the ability to record multitrack audio and MIDI.
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The core part was complete, but what about the instrument's feel? They weren't sure about it. Paolo wasn't a professional drummer and couldn't assess it accurately. So, they reached out to Valerio, an expert, and spent months fine-tuning the actual response and feel of the instrument. Making Valerio happy was no easy feat; he had a keen eye for authenticity. However, given the results, all the effort was completely worthwhile
Software
Our software has been developed entirely from scratch using modern C++ and contemporary frameworks like JUCE and React. It is now compatible with a wide range of hardware platforms, harnessing the capabilities of modern multi-core CPUs and ample RAM, enabling us to perform extensive sampling during the sampling stage. We have successfully captured every nuance of acoustic drum sounds, including multiple round-robin samples.
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Our internal 64-channel mixer offers extensive customization options for sound, allowing you to apply a chain of effects to each microphone used during sampling, replicating the functionality you would find in a traditional DAW.
Hardware
Our software is designed to be hardware-agnostic, allowing us to utilize highly powerful yet cost-effective hardware, making our product accessible to a wide range of users.
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Leveraging modern hardware, we can provide a robust user interface accessible via Wi-Fi from any mobile device or desktop, an essential feature to ensure affordability.
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Moreover, it's worth noting that while the GUI is currently served via Wi-Fi, we plan to release a version with an integrated large color display shortly after this initial release.
Sampling
DrumPi offers extensive sample capabilities: each drum can be meticulously sampled at over 100 different velocities, and every sample can be recorded using as many microphones as you like.
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This enables you to make real-time adjustments and apply effects to each individual microphone through the integrated mixer.
We firmly believe that having a substantial amount of RAM and a multi-core processor is crucial for future products to deliver realistic and convincing sound, along with powerful capabilities such as:​
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internal mixer with effects
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Multi-layered sounds
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Virtually unlimited tracks for recording
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High-quality music tracks for accompaniment
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Recording
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Sharing
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Downloading new sounds
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Downloading didactic material
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Our software runs on Linux with a modified kernel; having an operating system such as Linux under the bonnet enables us to create audio products very quickly and yet products that are very stable.
Our software operates on a Linux-based system with a modified kernel, harnessing the robustness of Linux for quick yet stable audio product development. Additionally, our GUI utilizes web technologies, accelerating our development efforts further.
Not only do web technologies expedite development, but they also enable the implementation of otherwise challenging features, including an interactive music score reader for exercises and songs, the download of didactic materials to enhance your skills, and video recording of your performances for sharing on social media or with your teacher.
Meet
The Team
Paolo
Simonazzi
Hardware Programmer
Software engineer since I can remember, started with GW-BASIC in 1994 not because I enjoyed it but because that was what my 286 could do. Then I enjoyed it, I went from software to firmware but also electronics, I basically tried to frustrate myself as much as possible. Bachelor's degree in computer engineering to complete the struggle.
Massimo
Melina
Keyboard toucher
​I fell in love with computer programming at the age of 14, it was 1992. At about the same time I received my first musical keyboard; those days were all about programming and playing keyboard and that, after 30 years, hasn't changed.
Bachelor's degree in computer science because why not.