Hasta La Gadget!

The traditional drum set is one of the least portable musical instruments, which is why beginners are usually left with practice pads while their bandmates are out wooing tone deaf chicks just by showing up with a guitar and unwashed clothes. This portable drum set could change all that if it became a real product.

Industrial designer Kevin Depape is the one who came up with the set, which he calls the Y-Drum. It consists of 9 pads, 2 cymbals, a Bluetooth module and a companion app, either mobile or desktop. Just lay out the pads, link them to the app, select a drum kit and you’re ready to practice. All of the hardware is stored in a box that doubles as an amplifier.

I like how the drumsticks are used as the handle of the box. Clever.

It sounds like it would be a blast to own, but Yanko Design commenter the great vashhhnu points out a possible flaw: the user can’t just play it on any surface, not unless they’re okay with shoulder pains. It may not be much of an issue if you’re just going to whack on one of the pads for 15 minutes, but for extended sessions, the great – and helpful – vashhhnu suggests either including pedestals for the Y-Drum or requiring the user to find a knee-high surface for the pads to minimize pain and the risk of injury.

You can read more a bit more about the Y-Drum on page 25 of Kevin’s Issuu portfolio.

[via Yanko Design & Kevin Depape]

Whenever we hear the words Portable Drums, we think of the traditional drum kit with its stand and heavy drum-sets  Kevin Depape (seen on Yanko Design) goes one step further into the world of electronic drum sets. He introduces a portable yet very high tech drum kit called the Y-Drum portable drums. These drums are designed to be for everyone, starting from beginners to folks with good drumming skills. In fact just about anyone who wants to have more fun with percussion drumming should be able to enjoy the Y-Drum portable drum – at least, that’s the idea.

In theory, you simply build your own set with the pads available in the kit virtually anywhere you feel like drumming. Or for a conventional setup, follow the instructions included in the box pack (if it was an actual product). Also included in the case is a charger and cordless headphones. Hook up your favorite computer or smartphone that needs to have the Roland’s application installed on it and connect via Bluetooth to the Y-Drum kit (the main “box”), which is itself connected to the laptop via USB. This functionality is quite handy as you do not have to deal with wires getting in your way while playing. Simply start playing your favorite drum tunes and say good bye to air drumming.  At this point, this is just a concept, but would you like it to become a product? How would you use it?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC Infographic Hints At Audio Quality Improvements, Sonos Playbar Available For Pre-Order For $700,

We’re no stranger to robot drummers – or robot musicians for that matter – but StickBoy stands out for a couple of reasons. Make that four reasons. The rock and roll robot makes up for its seemingly immobile hips by having four arms.

Frank Barnes of Robocross built StickBoy back in 2007. The robot’s arms, two legs and awesome metal mohawk head are powered by compressed air. He uses a 14-piece Pearl drum set with double bass pedals. According to the Robocross website, StickBoy can rock out to 8 songs, including AC/DC’s TNT, Rage Against the Machine’s Bullet in the Head and the song used below, the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop.

Was that punk, metal or robot rock?

[Robocross via You Bent My Wookie]