The word ‘hybrid’ has become increasingly familiar with drummers over the last decade, and where combining electronics with acoustic drum setups used to be a complex and sometimes intimidating process with limited results, in 2023 things are much easier.
Rather than being limited to simple one-dimensional samples, a world of percussion, electronic and acoustic drum sounds, and entire melodic and harmonic soundscapes are placed at the strike of a stick
The EVANS Hybrid Sensory Percussion Sound System not only delivers an entirely different approach to hybrid drum setups, but it unlocks a whole new level of creativity, flexibility and power - turning the acoustic drums that you’re familiar with into a complete hybrid controller.
Far from the traditional trigger and brain system, Sensory Percussion’s innovative sensors, hardware and AI-driven software allow you to create up to 10 separate, playable zones for creating various different sounds from a single drum.
This means that rather than being limited to simple one-dimensional samples, a world of percussion, electronic and acoustic drum sounds, and entire melodic and harmonic soundscapes are placed at the strike of a stick. But how does it work? Let’s find out a bit more.
The Sensory Percussion concept
Sensory Percussion is powered by technology originally conceived by Sunhouse. In 2023, EVANS partnered with Sunhouse to bring its innovative sensor/software to a wider audience, complete with an overhauled sensor design, the all-new Portal interface and redesigned Sensory Percussion software.
It starts at the drum: Sensory Percussion can work with either regular acoustic drum heads, as well as mesh heads. A small metal pickup element is stuck to the surface of the drum head, and Sensory Percussion’s sensors attach to the rim of the drum, precisely reading the vibrations from the drum head via the sensor element, meaning you can capture the nuances of your drumming in unprecedented detail
From here, the sensor is connected to the Portal interface which — as well as being a fully-stocked audio interface equipped with mic and line inputs, analogue and digital outputs, MIDI and more — features seven sensor inputs.
The Portal interface plugs into a Mac or PC running the included Sensory Percussion 2 software, and it’s here that all of your sounds are generated. Sensory Percussion 2 comes with over 100 presets and thousands of raw sounds, and the modular design of the software means you can mix-and-match any sound (including your own custom samples), and apply it to any zone of your connected sensors.
But that’s just the start, as Sensory Percussion 2’s processing and manipulation tools place sophisticated tools such as sequencers, controllers and studio-level effects processing at the click of a button.
Playable melodic phrases and full chord sequences are made possible by simply striking a drum head or rim, cycling through your progression with every hit. Meanwhile, the software opens up assignable, dynamic control of nearly every parameter. Want to change the pitch of a drum across the plane of the head? How about increasing the level of effects based on how hard you strike the drum? Or maybe you want to turn your drum shell into an electronic switch for loops and phrases. All of this — plus much, much more — is possible with Sensory Percussion.
What’s included?
Every EVANS Hybrid Sensory Percussion System bundle comes with three sensors, the EVANS Portal interface and a code to access your Sensory Percussion 2 software. Also in the box are 12 pickup elements, three sensor cables, USB cable and power supply, plus a pair of limited edition ProMark drumsticks. EVANS also includes an adaptor for users who have an EVANS EMAD head fitted to their bass drum.
Drum Zone Training
Thanks to Sensory Percussion’s machine-learning algorithm, it’s possible to create up to 10 zones per-drum from a connected sensor. Training is easy - you tell Sensory Percussion the type and size drum you’re using, and what kind of head you have fitted. Next, the software walks you through three levels of training, where it learns each zone you have assigned to your drum and sensor along with your playing dynamics.
Available playable zones include the head centre, edge, rim (including cross-sticking), shell and more, and Sensory Percussion 2 even knows whether you’re hitting the rim with the tip or shoulder of your stick, or an open or buried bass drum beater strike! When you’re finished, you can save your sensor training and zone settings forever.
Play, Edit, Mix…
The Sensory Percussion software is designed to deliver a user-friendly experience so that you spend more time playing, and less time at the computer. It’s divided into three main screens: Play, Edit and Mix, with the Play screen giving you lightning-fast access to your kits (Sets) and Sessions (a collection of Sets).
Every Set is loaded with a clean, graphical layout complete with an explanation of where sounds are mapped and how you can manipulate them by playing in various zones, or by playing style (velocity, speed etc.)
Here, you can also make quick tweaks to the sound on-the-fly thanks to the dedicated and user-definable macro controls and volume sliders.
If you want to get under the hood of your Set with detailed sound editing, control and effects processing, the Edit screen is home to sound selection, mapping and control. It’s a great place to gain inspiration on how to apply Sensory Percussion’s uncapped potential when creating your own Sets.
Finally, the mix screen gives you a cleanly-designed virtual mixer where individual levels, panning and master effects can be applied to your Set with ease.
See it in action
Drummer and composer, Ian Chang demonstrates Sensory Percussion’s ability to dynamically play and manipulate sounds from a four-piece acoustic drum kit.
Find out more…
