# Keith Mcmillen BopPad



## Jono (Jan 2, 2018)

Apologies if there's a thread....but I just wanted to say I picked up one of these the other day and it's outstanding 

J


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## charlieclouser (Jan 3, 2018)

Can't find any pictures of the mounting system - their website says it mounts on a "cymbal stand". Interested to see / hear about how you're mounting it to a stand or whatever....


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## Jono (Jan 3, 2018)

I'll post a pic shortly....its wafer thin so it actually works quite well/quietly sitting flat on a desk or if playing hand perc type stuff, placed on the knees.

The mount itself is solid and fits on am 8mm thread.


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## sniderman (Jan 3, 2018)

Jono said:


> I'll post a pic shortly....its wafer thin so it actually works quite well/quietly sitting flat on a desk or if playing hand perc type stuff, placed on the knees.
> 
> The mount itself is solid and fits on am 8mm thread.


Very interested in this myself - let us know what you think!


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## Jono (Jan 3, 2018)

The mount fits like a glove and holds it solidly in place. 

I'm very impressed with this bit of kit- it's responsive, sleek, nice to the touch, doesn't have any false triggering and can send cc data.


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## charlieclouser (Jan 3, 2018)

Thanks for the pics. At $199 it seems like a no-brainer. Nice!


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## Garlu (Jan 3, 2018)

What about the mapping possibilities of the pads? Is it coming with a decent Editor for mapping different "notes" for different libraries? 

Thanks!!


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## Jono (Jan 3, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Thanks for the pics. At $199 it seems like a no-brainer. Nice!


Yeah it really is. I just spent 4 hours using it to trigger a synth and it put down patterns that I could never play on keys.

The editor is simple and intuitive. Choose what note you want each quadrant to be and save. Can have all the same if you like. Choose which cc data gets sent in addition to the velocity info.
Only minor gripe is the editor appears not to connect with the pad whilst inside cubase but that's a 2 second work round.


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## Pier (Jan 8, 2018)

I bought one recently and I will finally receive it tomorrow. It took way to long from Thomann!

I will post my impressions in a couple of days. Maybe even record a little video.


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## Jono (Jan 8, 2018)

Update 're my last point straight from KM:

Windows has a problem with connecting MIDI ports and sending to multiple clients simultaneously. It's a known error on their end, but there's nothing we can do about it. They should be updating their OS soon to take advantage of the new multi-client API, but at the moment devices can only connect to 1 piece of software at a time.


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## synthpunk (Jan 8, 2018)

I'm using mine for finger drumming. Works great. Fair price.


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## gregh (Jan 8, 2018)

How is the sensitivity? I have their QuNeo and I find I have to press much harder than I would like to get a response. Beautifully made though


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## Pier (Jan 9, 2018)

So I got my Bop Pad.

Let me start this by saying that I've been playing percussion instruments on and off all my life (djembe, bongo, conga, darbouka, tabla, frame drum, etc). I'm the kind of guy that is using everything around as a percussion instrument. For example I tap little rhythms in the car steering wheel while waiting for the traffic light.

My first impression is that it's less sensitive than I expected for finger drumming. To get to 127 velocity you really need to hit the thing very hard with all your hand so it's almost impossible to do it with a finger. I feel like to get all the velocity range from the pad I have to play as if I was playing a djembe, although I was expecting the bop pad to be more like a frame drum / bodhran.

It's certainly possible to play with your fingers but you only get about 30% of the velocity range and the pad won't trigger lighter touches. It seems very difficult to know which light touches will be triggered so it's just safer to play harder. The editor allows you to set velocity curves and change the sensitivity setting which can alleviate this lack of range but it doesn't change the fact that this is an instrument better played with sticks/mallets.

This is so far my only negative aspect of it and it's not a deal breaker. You can be very expressive playing with your hand instead of your fingers or you can use sticks/mallets. Since the QuNeo is much smaller I suspect this is the reason @gregh is not happy with it.

Radial detection is awesome.

After touch detection (or pressure as they call it) is precise, but unless you keep a firm pressure on the pad it's very easy to retrigger a _note on_ event. The bop pad does not behave like a touch sensitive surface if this is what you are expecting.

Build quality is excellent. The device is light and feels very solid, perfect for playing on your lap. My only minor gripe is that the manufacturer used a micro USB port (probably to keep the device thin) which feels flimsy. I would not feel comfortable using the bop pad for concerts and such.

As for the editor it's a really good piece of software. It's easy to use, everything is customisable, and it runs great in macOS. I can change settings while running Logic and it takes a second or so to upload the configuration to the device.

I will try to upload a video if time permits to show everything I've mentioned here.

Woah this got really long. Don't hesitate to ask questions!


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## creativeforge (Jan 10, 2018)

Thanks Pier, and all, 

I'm interested in knowing if the velocity is enough to play a percussion track and it will eliminate the need to use a real djembe and a mic. 

Can you use vi-libraries from other companies to play and record?

I'm trying to create percussion tracks that will immediately be MIDI without having to do any extra conversion. Could this work?

Thanks!


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## Pier (Jan 10, 2018)

creativeforge said:


> Can you use vi-libraries from other companies to play and record?



Yes, you can use any virtual instrument since the bop pad outputs midi notes.

I'll try to record a video if time permits this weekend.


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## Pier (Jan 13, 2018)

I really need to get my new iMac... I've found I cannot record screen + webcam + run logic at the same time without audio dropouts.

Anyway, I opened the preferences in the BopPad editor and found there is a *global sensitivity* setting and it was set super low at 16! I moved it up to about 30 and it's perfect now for finger drumming.

Another thing I found is that running the BopBap from a USB hub is not a good idea since it introduces audible latency. This is not so evident when playing keys from a midi controller piano, but when playing percussion instruments it felt weird.

The last tip I can give is to edit the *strike density* to "low". By default it's set at "high" which produced double notes and inconsistent behaviour.

I'm loving my BopPad and I would really recommend it to anyone that is looking for a way to play cinematic, orchestral, or any other kind of percussion.


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## Straight2Vinyl (Mar 7, 2018)

Pier Bover said:


> So I got my Bop Pad.
> 
> Let me start this by saying that I've been playing percussion instruments on and off all my life (djembe, bongo, conga, darbouka, tabla, frame drum, etc). I'm the kind of guy that is using everything around as a percussion instrument. For example I tap little rhythms in the car steering wheel while waiting for the traffic light.
> 
> ...


I just started looking into getting a new drum controller to play parts unquantized. I was thinking of the BopPad, but not sure it's the best way to go. Thank you for your review as it's the only one I've read that was of any use. Knowing it's not quite sensitive enough for finger playing is a big minus. Still useable, but I wasn't planning on using sticks or mallets. 
For now, maybe I'll just get an MPD218 or something in that price range and in a year possibly upgrade to something needing sticks like the Alesis Performance Pad Pro. 

Thanks again for your review, it was very helpful.


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## shomynik (Nov 20, 2019)

I just got a BopPad and I have a problem with double notes (crosstalk I guess) on higher general sensitivity. As I'm finger drumming, default general sensitivity is too low for me, but at 30 top left quadrant is "leaking" while hitting any other quadrant. Does your devices have/had a similar problem? I'm struggling to find a solution to it.


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## stixman (Nov 20, 2019)

Not the easiest to set up, trial and error only...and it is super annoying disconnecting the device after every change of settings but i still like it.


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## Pier (Nov 20, 2019)

shomynik said:


> I just got a BopPad and I have a problem with double notes (crosstalk I guess) on higher general sensitivity. As I'm finger drumming, default general sensitivity is too low for me, but at 30 top left quadrant is "leaking" while hitting any other quadrant. Does your devices have/had a similar problem? I'm struggling to find a solution to it.



I haven't had this issue myself.

Have you tried changing the strike density setting?


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## shomynik (Nov 20, 2019)

Pier Bover said:


> I haven't had this issue myself.
> 
> Have you tried changing the strike density setting?



Yes, low density was default. Now I tried high and I'am getting the same results.

I'll probably try and exchange the unit for another, if support doesn't help.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Nov 16, 2021)

I just picked one of these up and had my first play around tonight and it was nice. It seems to pair pretty easily with software such as Addictive Drums 2. 

I have yet to dive into the midi editor so out of the box it didn’t pair well with most of my Kontakt libraries. I’m just wondering, aside from assigning the proper midi notes and messing with the sensitivity, does anyone have any good tips for getting the most out of this with virtual instruments?

For instance, any good tips for more in-depth editing such as assigning ccs or using aftertouch? I feel like if I’m only assigning a midi note per quandrant, I’m not going to really be getting the most out of this thing, but I couldn’t find much online in the way of tutorials or templates. 

Thanks for any help you can provide.


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## Pier (Nov 16, 2021)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I just picked one of these up and had my first play around tonight and it was nice. It seems to pair pretty easily with software such as Addictive Drums 2.
> 
> I have yet to dive into the midi editor so out of the box it didn’t pair well with most of my Kontakt libraries. I’m just wondering, aside from assigning the proper midi notes and messing with the sensitivity, does anyone have any good tips for getting the most out of this with virtual instruments?
> 
> ...


After a couple of years of experimenting with the BopPad I'm a bit disappointed by it.

Initially I bought it to play with my fingers, but it isn't sensitive enough and the quadrants are too big to be useful. Also, the rubbery surface doesn't feel great.

I then got a Novation Launchpad X which IMO was the definitive solution for playing percussive sounds with the fingers at an affordable price. More pads than you'll ever use with great sensitivity and precision. There are lots of people doing finger drumming with it.




There are other solutions in the market for finger drumming but are much more expensive like the JamKat or the Jambé.

Then I got into playing drums and used the BopPad with sticks. It made a lot more sense. With sticks you can get the full velocity range. You can even do rebounds although it's not the greatest surface for that. I feel like a drum set made of multiple BopPads would be good, but for the price it would be better to just get a dedicated electronic drum set.

Honestly, if you just want to trigger percussion sounds with sticks I'd get something like the Alesis SamplePad 4. It's cheaper than the BopPad and the surface seems better for rebounds.









Or maybe a Nord Drum 3P. It's more expensive but it would allow you to use 2 pedals and it includes a drum synth. Also the pads seem a lot better than the BopPad for rebounds.





IMO the sweet spot of the BopPad would be an application where you're taking full advantage of its capabilities.

The problem is that percussion sample libraries typically only use velocity and round robins. You'd need to create custom sample libraries (or synth patches) that would react to the radial position and pressure CCs. Maybe with Kontakt, or Falcon which would allow you to mix samples with synth stuff.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Nov 16, 2021)

Pier said:


> After a couple of years of experimenting with the BopPad I'm a bit disappointed by it.
> 
> Initially I bought it to play with my fingers, but it isn't sensitive enough and the quadrants are too big to be useful. Also, the rubbery surface doesn't feel great.
> 
> ...



Thanks very much. I’ll just experiment with it and see how I get along.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Nov 16, 2021)

It looks like I need to mess around with the zones app this weekend as well as the editor. 









BopPad 101: Multiple notes per Quadrant with the BopPad Zones app | Keith McMillen Instruments
 

One of the most often requested features for the BopPad is the ability to send out multiple notes per quadrant. In a previous article we discussed setting this up in Ableton Live, but what if you don’t have Ableton Live? I’ve coded up a Max application (mac only for the time being) that can...




www.keithmcmillen.com


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Nov 20, 2021)

Ok, so I’ve been having a bit of a play with the BopPad and I actually quite like it so far. 

At the moment I’m experimenting with using it with Addictive Drums 2, and tonight I was assigning different articulations for an individual kit piece to each of the four quadrants, like four ride articulations, or four snare articulations. It’s super easy to set that up in AD2 and sounds great. This way I’m not just getting round robins, but also different parts of the ride, for instance. I was thinking that I could do a rough sketch of the drum beat first and then go back and retrack each of the individual pieces with the BopPad to add more realism. 

The one question I have is this. I found a video of a guy using a BopPad with a foot controller for the bass drum. I was wondering if anyone knows a good, inexpensive foot controller that would connect over USB that I could use in conjunction with the BopPad to use with AD2? Ideally I’d like two pedals, one that could do open and closed high hat and one that could do a kick drum, but I’d settle for just a kick drum controller at the moment. 

Here’s the video that gave me the idea.


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## Pier (Nov 20, 2021)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Ok, so I’ve been having a bit of a play with the BopPad and I actually quite like it so far.
> 
> At the moment I’m experimenting with using it with Addictive Drums 2, and tonight I was assigning different articulations for an individual kit piece to each of the four quadrants, like four ride articulations, or four snare articulations. It’s super easy to set that up in AD2 and sounds great. This way I’m not just getting round robins, but also different parts of the ride, for instance. I was thinking that I could do a rough sketch of the drum beat first and then go back and retrack each of the individual pieces with the BopPad to add more realism.
> 
> ...



Gongrats!

This is the simplest way I've found to hook up a pedal via USB. You still need the pedal of course.






MIDI Expression







www.audiofront.net





I never bought one because shipping outside the US is more expensive than the products themselves. Shipping here to Mexico costs $80 + import taxes. A bit ridiculous... Unfortunately, it's not available through Amazon US.

But the software is fantastic. You can hook up any pedal (expression, kick, switch, etc) and configure it in any way you want.

The alternative would be buying something that has a kick pedal input like an electronic drums brain (which are more expensive) or maybe the Alesis controller with pads I shared earlier.

This KAT controller also has pedal inputs for kick and hihat. Better get the Audio Front products though if you're only interested in adding pedals to your setup (and live in the US).




Edit:

On second thought, I'm not sure AudioFront are located in the US. They offer free shipping to the US but also to some European countries.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Nov 20, 2021)

Pier said:


> Gongrats!
> 
> This is the simplest way I've found to hook up a pedal via USB. You still need the pedal of course.
> 
> ...



Thanks very much @Pier. That’s very helpful!

Adding pedals looks a bit more pricey/complicated than I’d hoped so I’m going to just enjoy the BopPad for now and revisit it a bit later when I know more about how the BopPad works out longer term. 

I seriously appreciate you taking all the time to write this up and it will give me something to think about as I experiment with the BopPad!


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## mozart999uk (Dec 9, 2021)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Thanks very much @Pier. That’s very helpful!
> 
> Adding pedals looks a bit more pricey/complicated than I’d hoped so I’m going to just enjoy the BopPad for now and revisit it a bit later when I know more about how the BopPad works out longer term.
> 
> I seriously appreciate you taking all the time to write this up and it will give me something to think about as I experiment with the BopPad!


So glad I found this thread. I'm thinking about buying one. How are you getting on? Have you had any more time to map the CC's a pressure to VI's?


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