Fast and easy drum rolls on an 8x8 pad controller (finger drumming tutorial)

Playing drum rolls as a finger drummer is one of the harder things to do, but with an 8x8 pad controller like the Launchpad X, you can actually make it pretty easy for yourself!
You'll find setup instructions and a preset for the Launchpad X on my website:
questforgroove.com/drum-rolls...
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[@TheQuestforGroove]

You'll find setup instructions and a preset for the Launchpad X on my website: questforgroove.com/drum-rolls-for-finger-drummers/

[@darranhanlon8709]

Yup so what is the sensitivety like?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

It's very good. Like a maschine mk3.

[@danilobirogiachiniferro]

Thank you so much for making the template available. I just got the Launchpad X today thanks to your videos and successfully loaded the template on it but how do I now use it on Ableton Live? Do you have any videos about that? Specifically how to use your templates on Ableton Live? You have so many and they're awesome! Thank you so much!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Haha, thank you!

[@mooganoid]

Wow! That was superb. Looks like I'll need another controller... 😀

[@bastian3182]

I’ve been speechless, open-mouthed. Awesome, as always.

[@cavback2]

one of the best i've ever heard on this pads GEEZ!!!!!!

[@Deejayirie]

Filed under the category: Work smarter, not harder. Dank u!

[@adochshanov]

Amazing! Simply breathtaking! :)

[@gpcgeno]

Love this guy! So helpful.

[@phosphore7991]

Also with FX scratch like a DJ it's really fun for to try you just need to go to launchpad intro and load a set it's a real blast ;)

[@fattigmanskultur]

That was so cool!

[@TheJoyofFingerDrumming]

That is very clever :) thanks for sharing

[@inspector-tech]

Niiice! Yep, I pretty much discovered this within hours of having my launchpad. I have my sounds set up in a non-standard way to allow the kind of playing you just demonstrated. Makes playing intricate grooves so easy especially on an 8x8 grid. In fact I don't even think they should bother making 4x4 grids anymore!!! I swear one day I will make a video to show you :-)

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Looking forward to it!

[@LyroLife]

make a video

[@gregsmithgalaxy]

Super smart! 👏

[@siaseeds8950]

Very creative! I was doing this with the push for harp glissando. This seems like it would work great! Your sir are an innovator in your field!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Thanks! Yeah I guess it should work with the push as well. I dont have one so it's nice to hear this from someone who owns one!

[@siaseeds8950]

@@TheQuestforGroove yeah I'd say the push is only worth it if Ableton is your DAW of choice and if you get it used at a discount. Seems like you are getting by just fine without it.

[@TheQuestforGroove]

@@siaseeds8950 haha yeah. I have a friend living nearby who has a push 2 that I can borough at any time so yeah. I'm good for sure :-)

[@tarjiband9904]

It was smart :D very good info thanks

[@HriishiiOfficial]

Hey u r great 🔥🔥🔥🔥 . Crazy finger drumming

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Thank you so much!

[@haroldasslikas5157]

I like it.Thank you for idea :)

[@naircat]

haha awesome! great idea

[@ChrisFraczkowiak]

Nice thanks for sharing :)

[@Disisions]

Dope 👏

[@glogi-tommi3757]

Love your shirt 😍

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Hahaha

[@Azkold]

Thanks!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

I hope itll help you make great music!

[@phosphore7991]

On superior you can also map directly the drum roll with aftertouch "on" but this is a great tip!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Ah good to know! The korg pad kontrol also has an xy pad that can do this. So multiple options :-) my guess is itll all sound a little different. This one is the most sloppy but therefore also a lot of fun :-)

[@phosphore7991]

@@TheQuestforGroove nop i mean samples are drum roll played by the drummer so you push the pad and when you release the drum roll stop because of the aftertouch and it sound more natural but on superior drum rolls are short so you 're method is good for long drumroll... (sorry for my crappy english)

[@SweetScaleTV]

Damn!! Very impressive Rob!! What are you're thoughts on the pad on the Launchpad X??

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Great pads. Some users report double note triggering but in my controller it's not prominently there.

[@josephsang843]

Very good

[@josephsang843]

I like subscrbes

[@carlos.duarte]

Hit there! I am new to finger drumming, and find excellent advice in your videos and the free course in your website. Thank you so much! Now, regarding the subject of this video, I would shift the right column of snares to the immediate left. The reason? While tapping that column, sometimes I accidentally hit one of the mode switch buttons. Perhaps the previous column could be more suitable. As I said, I am new to this, so I could be wrong in my assessment. Maybe you can give your opinion about it. Thanks again!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Ah yeah thats a good one too! Feel free to make adjustments and hack this thing a bit. It's just a starting point. I personally still change things around regularly but I only share it when I think I really got something long term :-)

[@carlos.duarte]

@@TheQuestforGroove Perhaps if I acquired enough skill, there would be no need to make the changes I suggest :-) Have a great year 2021!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

You too!

[@stefankallberg5104]

Awesome! Which sample kit are you using for this demo?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Addictive Drums 2, Black Oyster kit

[@darranhanlon8709]

You keep coming up with gold,, ha ha well done What are the pads like on novation?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Very nice! Some people who have the launchpad x have some problems with sou led more triggering but mine has great sensitive pads and the double note triggering is not so prominently there that it's annoying. Every pad controller has this in one way or another. So, if you have the launchpad x that I have here, for $200 it's a steal!

[@darranhanlon8709]

@@TheQuestforGroove sorry silly me did t read your reply properly

[@eviltroops]

hi.. i have quesion. which one is best for touch sensitive between launchpad x or maschine mk3? and upload pls for this comparison :'(

[@TheQuestforGroove]

They're basically the same. The launchpad x has some more accidental double note triggering. But I think for $200 it's the best value for money!

[@shitmandood]

I recently bought the Soniccouture Moonkits Kontakt drum instrument & was going to give it the "Quest for Groove" finger drumming treatment, but then I found out that it doesn't have the MIDI mapping feature that NI's Studio Drummer kits have. I have a Mikro Mk2, but I noticed that all of the Moonkits have different keyboard mappings. So far it seems whatever decision I make, it's going to require a lot of prep-time to setup the drums with the Mikro. I've even wondered if I should capture samples & create a DAW-based sample instrument instead. Have you checked out the Moonkits? What do you do if the drum sample kit you want to use doesn't have an easy way to MIDI map to the drum controller?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

I haven't checked out the kits but you can use the free note mapper plugin (just google that and itll show up at the top) and with that plugin you can map any note to any sound in any plugin!

[@shitmandood]

@@TheQuestforGroove Nice!! Let me give that a try. Thanks!

[@beaustine6093]

Hello! First wanted to say thank you for the amazing tutorial. :) I'm trying to set up my snares on the left and right of my Launch Pad Pro MK3, and i'm having a little trouble. I am working with Abelton, and I can't figure out to assign the snares. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[@TheQuestforGroove]

I don't know much about Ableton but there was a conversation on the message boards on how to use the drum rack in Ableton for finger drumming. questforgroove.discourse.group/t/ableton-drum-effects-rack-for-finger-drumming/182

[@beaustine6093]

@@TheQuestforGroove Amazing! Thank youf or the quick response!

[@jaredholton3145]

Robert, I'vee heard you speak very highly of the Korg Padkontrol (white) so I happened across one and got it. It seems to be working great but I do have one pad that doesn't allow me to do 3 finger rolls on it. The rest of the pads seem to allow for this, but I'm just curious if there is anything that can be done about this? Just curious if this would be a deal breaker for you and take it back or if that is something that can be manipulated to get a better playing surface.

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Well, my korg pad kontrol had one pad that's also a bit of a 'dud' but it was in the lower right corner and therefore the least used sound. I guess if it was the hihat pad it would be a dealbreaker, but with that position it was not :-) I did manage to make it better by opening up the device and cleaning some dirt and dust of the pad sensor sheet. Didn't bring it 100% up to par with the rest but made it a lot better! So.. if you dare that's what I'd try!

[@jaredholton3145]

It is my left lower trigger so like you it is a more acceptable spot to have some issues. Also, I’ve noticed that it is the only pad to trigger due to vibrations playing the other pads. So, a little internal cleaning may be in order for mine as well. Great controller though over all!! Pads and sensitivity is miles better than the akai 218 I tried! Pretty neat that you can’t set different scene presets, I made one a drum kit setup similar to yours and the other a two octave C scale. I did have issues getting the Padkontrol software to work though. I’m on Mac and it doesn’t seem to load on 10.15, we’re you able to get that to work? Great recommendation though for the price I think! Thank you for all your time spent making the videos and passing on knowledge!!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

@@jaredholton3145 hey my pleasure. I only configure the pad kontrol on the device itself. At least for the past couple if years :-) try running the software as administrator. That sometimes works!

[@jaredholton3145]

@@TheQuestforGroove I started looking through the manual and got it a configured and now all the pads are working great! There are a lot of settings to change the velocity pattern for each pad. There are also some settings it looks like to change the actual input detection but I didn't mess with that at this point. Super solid controller! Excellent recommendation!

[@TheQuestforGroove]

@@jaredholton3145 very happy to read this! Have fun!

[@sprb4725]

Any way to get this on a 4x4 such as maschine or are you just working on launchpad? Do you find launchpad better for finger drumming?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Theres not enough pads on a 4x4 to do this. I do however prefer the larger pads of a 4x4 for playing most grooves. Its jusf nice that you can hit the thing without having to be super duper accurate in where you hit. So... I dont think 8x8 is definitively better than 4x4 no. But an 8x8 has cool tricks up its sleeve. My idea for a cool setup is to hook up a maschine mikro mk3 4x4 for the main drumkit and have the launchpad x next to it and fill that thing with rolls and stuff :-)

[@sprb4725]

The Quest for Groove that’s a cool idea, thanks for the quick reply

[@Knife-rr2cs]

Can it be do in launchpad pro and mk2

[@TheQuestforGroove]

It might be possible but you cannot create a custom layout on those devices so it will not be 100% the same. Also for the launchpad mk2 I suspect the pads aren't sensitive enough. The pro might be able to do something like this.

[@chirantanchakraborty8460]

can we do this with the launchpad mini mk3 ?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Well yes and no. You can set up custom modes but you wing gave velocity sensitivity. So the best will sound different and less organic.

[@goatcastschannel]

What if instead of using that for the snare, you use a double bass kick??

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Yeah good idea!

[@mechasartre3694]

Bahhhh not sure how’s I feel about this, been practicing rolls for absolutely months and now you’ve made it all semi pointless XD cheers brother XD

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Controlled rolls are still very useful in your playing! A 6 stroke roll sounds totally different from a random roll like this. So it wasn't for nothing!

[@mechasartre3694]

The Quest for Groove yeah been practicing six and eight stroke rolls but need to get myself to stop doing a double left stroke on the last hits or learn to fiddle/paradiddle better!

[@amitbar6371]

For a begginer, would you recommend the maschine mikro mk3 or the launchpad x?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

I think the mikro mk3. Lager pads are way easier to play.

[@felix9671]

Hi ! I’m not a finger drumming , I’m just looking for best sensitivity pads even if they are a bit smaller ! Which one for that ? Mk3 or launchpad x ? Thank you very much

[@TheQuestforGroove]

@@felix9671 launchpad x then!

[@felix9671]

The Quest for Groove thanks a lot you are the best in this

[@alfianbanjaransari4096]

Hi Rob! Thoughts on the Launchpad mini mk3? Thanks

[@TheQuestforGroove]

It's not velocity sensitive. They're more like clicky buttons instead of pads. So in a way it's not the smae ting as the X or the Pro mk3.

[@alfianbanjaransari4096]

@@TheQuestforGroove wow Rob thanks for the fast reply! Will the mk2 cut it? Or do you think it's outdated

[@TheQuestforGroove]

@@alfianbanjaransari4096 The launchpad pro mk3 is a lot less sensitive than the mk3 or the launchpad X for that matter. So I would try the X first to be honest. Or do you mean maschine mk2? Maschine mk2 I havent played myself but from what I hear it does have pretty good pads.

[@alfianbanjaransari4096]

@@TheQuestforGroove i meant the older version of the Novation Launchkey. I'm also eyeing on a second hand Akai MPD 218 but a bit worried since you pointed out the pad consistency issues. Decisions decision 😅😅😅

[@TheQuestforGroove]

@@alfianbanjaransari4096 Yeah, unfortunately there is no 100% succes guarantee for any controller at the moment. I hope you hit the jackpot though!

[@oienu]

That is so stupid but so genius XD I can't stop laugh Launchpad X is really fun because allow that kind of unlimited custom settings I got it because somes kits have many samples for the same drum, so I put that togeter and wen I fail the "right pad" (because they are really small to play fast), I just get a sound variation and gives more realistic sound, that little variation give a better sensation of hit on another spot instead a perfect repeat.

[@TheQuestforGroove]

haha, yeah that kind of stuff is so awesome about having 64 pads!

[@musiciankh]

What is Drumkit?

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Addictive Drums 2

[@alanharrison6555]

awesome - SANTA please can I have .............

[@TheQuestforGroove]

I'll put this comment through to Santa for you!

[@Dripht]

Is this impostor from amogus?

[@bgdy4ever]

amogus

[@belisario-dos]

sus if you ask me