Corners and edges pads are more sensitive. Useful?

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Has anyone noticed that pad sensitivity is much higher near the corners and edges of the pads?

On the Xjam pads, which are already pretty sensitive, I can move my finger around with light enough pressure that I don’t trigger a hit in the middle of the pad. But if I use that same pressure around the edges—pretty much anywhere along the perimeter—I’ll reliably get a very quiet hit.

I’ve noticed the same thing whether the controller is resting on something soft, like my lap, or on a hard surface like a wooden table.

Has anyone else noticed this? My guess is that it has something to do with how force transfers through the pad near the edges before the pad itself deforms or moves, but that’s just speculation.

More importantly, has anyone actually adapted their playing technique to take advantage of this? I can’t quite decide whether deliberately using the edges for very soft hits is a useful technique or a bad habit to build.

Thanks,
David

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[Helps when I don’t accidentally delete my post…]

Thanks for making me take another look at that. I was of the opposite opinion. I have the sensitivity cranked all the way up on my Xjam and still have trouble getting ghost notes to register (with center hits). And if I just catch the edges of pads, like when I cross over with my right and hit the bottom 2 left pads in “Short Stories”, they don’t always register — or at least not loudly enough.

I just tried a few of the playalongs working the edges of pads with my left hand and the ghost notes were more consistent. Of course now the danger is catching the edge of the neighboring pad. But that only happened a few times. It will require more precision, since there already isn’t much real estate on Xjam pads. But hey, practice practice practice.

So thanks again for that! The ghost note thing was getting kind of annoying.

Regards,
al

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Definitely makes a difference, right?

My solution to ghost notes, because they are so important, is to have different pads explicitly mapped to quieter snare hits (pads plural so I can do multiple ghosts with a finger roll). I can explain the details of how I did it with Addictive Drums 2, if you are interested. So I have quiet snare hits, and normal snare hits. I use two xjams, which are symmetrically laid out, so there’s enough pad real estate. The xjams make it feel very similar to the FGDP layout, so it’s not bespoke or anything.

Hope that helps!
-David

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That makes alot of sense. I’d better stick with the constraints of one Xjam for now, though. Narrow the battlefield, so to speak. When I have the skill (and brain power) I’ll look at 2!

al

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To follow up on the last line of your original post – I’m going with useful technique not bad habit. I’ve been playing with it some more and with some practice I can get the light Moeller hits to hit the bottom edge of the pad which is sort of an insurance policy that they sound softer. And of course useful for my non-dominant hand ghost notes. So all in all very helpful for Xjam playing.

Regards,

al

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I’ve also noticed it’s quite reliable for the “ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka” of funk of the 16th note hihat groove that alternates harder and softer hits. This allows one to use the same pressure on both hands, which then allows for playing with different fingers hitting different notes at the same time.

-D

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Btw, I totally hear you on the “narrow the battlefield” point. :slight_smile: But let me make my pitch for two Xjams, because I actually think they make the instrument easier to learn and play, despite looking more complicated.

The key thing is symmetry. With two Xjams laid out next to each other, each hand basically gets its own hand-sized playing surface. You don’t have nearly as much weird crossing over, reaching across the other hand, or approaching the same little pad from different angles. The movements become much more regular.

There’s also a cognitive advantage: rather than one crowded controller where every bit of real estate has to do multiple jobs, you can give important functions dedicated pads. That’s how I handle ghost notes, for example — I don’t have to reliably produce an extremely low velocity on the same snare pad; I have separate pads mapped to quiet snare hits. And because I have enough space, I can even have more than one ghost-note pad so I can roll between fingers.

So although there are twice as many pads sitting in front of you, there are fewer rules. Each hand has a predictable region, the layout can be strongly symmetric, and you can solve things with spatial mapping instead of increasingly precise finger/wrist/arm control.

It also feels quite close to the general logic of the FGDP layout — two hands, roughly symmetric regions, dedicated places for the important sounds — rather than some completely bespoke monster setup. Tailor made for alternating hands, but effortlessly accommodates both independent hands and other techniques, such as Rob’s innovations on rudiments in his Next Level Beats course.

And since Xjams are relatively inexpensive, two of them are still competitive price-wise.

Obviously it’s amazing and awesome to master a single xjam. I just wouldn’t necessarily think of two Xjams as the “advanced, more complicated” version. In my experience it’s absolutely the opposite: more physical surface, but a simpler instrument to operate (no crossing over) and control (e.g. velocity control).

:slight_smile:
-David

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No pitch required, I’m with you on the 2 Xjam thing! That makes a lot of sense for not only pad loudness options but also using more of the many sound options in AD2, without going overboard with one of those 64 pad controllers – I don’t know how anyone remembers what everything is. Price and size are right, and two would just fit on the lap desk I got for my single one.

I’m mostly trying to keep things contained and constrained. I dove into the finger drumming thing because it seemed like a much better solution to adding drums to the songs I want to record. Vs. click here for your kicks, click there for snares, now press the “humanize” button – yuck. It has turned out to be so much fun, though, that I have totally neglected my guitar and bass practice. If I go even further down the Xjam rabbit hole I’ll never get anything done!

But yeah, I can definitely see getting another one for all the expanded possibilities. As well as a backup in case one croaks. I’m still surprised at how well it’s holding up with the thumping I give it.

Thanks for blazing the trail! I’ll definitely check in on your setup when I make the leap.

Regards,

al

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