FUNDED: Sensory Percussion, Software + Hardware Sensor That Understands Where And How You Hit The Drum

Developed by music tech company Sunhouse, Sensory Percussion combines a hardware sensor that clamps to the side of drum with software to yield a new instrument that lets you control electronic sounds with your own drumsticks and drums.
The device is now overfunding on Kickstarter after reaching its $80,000 goal, and has raised $80,020 from 244 backers as of this writing. Rewards range from $5 to be put
on the backer-only mailing list, to $524 for 1 SP sensor and Sensory Percussion software, to $4,000 for a deluxe set of four completely-chrome units with a laser engraving of the backer’s choice.
Sunhouse was founded by musician brothers Tlacael and Tenoch Esparza. Sensory Percussion goes beyond the usual whistles and bells of e-drums and triggers, and can:

– Assign sounds to different parts of the drum or even different drum strokes.

– Blend smoothly between two or more samples.

– Apply effects to different parts of the drum.

– Apply effects controls across multiple drums to achieve higher levels of sound control.

– Use smart cross-talk cancellation to maintain high sensitivity in the presence of loud ambient noise (i.e. kick drum vibrating the snare drum).

Sensory Percussion works by using a combination of sensors to directly capture the vibrations of a drum. According to the campaign,

There is one sensor for the head of the drum and one for the rim/shell and volume controls for each on-board. It is designed to isolate your drum from ambient noise so you can use it on stage and in loud environments. Though it has multiple sensors, it operates like a traditional phantom-powered mono microphone and uses standard XLR connectors. Sensory Percussion’s software analyzes the signal from the sensor and can tell where and how you are hitting the drum using our proprietary algorithms. The software supports one to four sensors at a time.

The Sensory Percussion hardware and software are patent pending. Currently, the hardware design is in its final stages, while the core algorithms for the software are still being refined, with the company “currently in the process of building out our own Sunhouse Drum Synth and Sampler engines so that users won’t need any other software.” Team Sunhouse plans to ship to backers in January 2016.