For Drummers. For Creators.
DrumStrum opens up chromatic musical choices to drummers in flexible, spontaneous ways. Run it standalone or alongside Ableton Live or any DAW.
Free trial · Mac & Windows · Teensy firmware
What is DrumStrum?
DrumStrum transforms incoming MIDI from drum controllers into chord and scale-driven note streams. A keyboard or sequencer defines the chord; your drum pads trigger individual chord notes rhythmically — like a guitarist's fretting hand and strumming hand working together. The result is spontaneous, musical, and entirely yours.
DrumStrum was built by programmer and musician Bill Wolf (aka RoundingError). It comes from a 25+ year obsession with allowing drums to trigger melodic notes in expressive ways — not just canned sequences, but real-time harmonic choices driven by how you play.
Not bound to pre-programmed sequences. Every note can be a live decision driven by your playing.
The overarching design goal is to allow spontaneous playing, in ways that don't steal your attention away from doing what drummers love, which is largely banging on things with sticks!
MIDI hardware and software agnostic. Works with whatever controllers and interfaces you already own.
DrumStrum is a tiny Windows or Mac applet that connects to your MIDI sources or DAW. Depending on how you configure it, it combines and transforms your playing and sends the modified MIDI back to your HW or SW synths.
Run standalone or in parallel with Ableton Live, Logic, or any DAW of your choice.
Also, since Drumstrum started its life as an Arduino project, the core strumming and transformation engine works in pure hardware. Stay tuned for more details soon.
See it in action
Watch DrumStrum being played live — spontaneous, expressive, and wide open.
More on my DrumStrum playlist.
Share your creations and tag them #drumstrum — we'd love to hear what you make!
Get DrumStrum
Download DrumStrum and try it free — no time limit, no commitment. Unlock premium features and support for cheap. Our eternal gratitude included!
We've got you
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