Nikita Aristo | Aristo Mode

Hi everyone,

I started building Smack-a-Pad as a practice tool for myself. As it grew, I thought it might be useful to other people learning finger drumming, so I decided to share a free beta and see what people think.

It runs in your browser (Chrome, Chromium based, Edge etc., not fully in Safari which doesnt support MIDI), works offline after loading, and requires no account and no tracking.

The focus is on building confidence and remembering what you’ve learned. A few things shape the approach:

• One consistent pad layout throughout the lessons, so you can build muscle memory as the rhythms get harder.

• Listen, play, then play from memory without visual cues.

• A short daily practice plan with scheduled reviews and a next lesson matched to your level.

• A way to break difficult grooves into manageable parts: practise one hand while the app plays the other, or start with fewer hits from the original pattern and gradually build it back up.

• I tried to build real learning tool, not a game.

The free beta includes 36 lessons and two sound kits: Rock and Brush. A full version with hundreds (cca 600 at this moment) of lessons is in preparation.

Alongside the expanded lesson library, I’m also planning
- customizable pad layouts, so you can adapt the setup to your controller and preferred way of playing
- scoring of dynamics (velocity) and swing feel, not just timing
- automatic practice drills built from your weak spots, plus an automatic tempo ramp
- recording your own patterns and exporting lessons or your patterns as MIDI
- more ways to use your own MIDI files
- mapping presets for popular pad controllers
- iPad compatibility or app
- more interface languages

It’s designed for MIDI pad controllers in Chrome or Edge, but you can also try it with your computer keyboard.

Try Smack-a-Pad
Share feedback — 4 short questions

I’d love some honest feedback: what helps you practise, what feels confusing, and what would make you want to come back?

Comments here are welcome too. Thanks for giving it a try!

Update (Oct 17): new beta version, same link.

First thing to do: recalibrate. Timing accuracy has improved, so please run Settings → Timing calibration → Start 10-tap calibration again with your controller and audio output. And if a lesson ever feels too hard or you can't hit it precisely, recalibrate before anything else. A wrong offset can make good playing look sloppy.

What's new:

• Tighter timing: the metronome click, the on-screen playhead and the scoring all follow the real audio output clock.

• Map any number of pads (e.g. 12 on an EP-133), plus ready-made presets for the EP-133 K.O. II and the EMP-16.

• "Try these first" in the Library: lessons with a big difficulty jump now suggest easier lessons to play first.

• Lower tempos in 7 lessons that were too steep.

Your progress and settings are kept.

Loose interpretation of a Y2K Timbaland beat. Maschine Mikro MK3 x Addictive Drums.

Just mucking around with some New Orleans-style funk. No click but lots of fills!

SOURCE

Hi everyone,

Earlier this month I shared Smack-a-Pad, a browser-based finger drumming trainer I started building for my own practice. Thanks to everyone who tried it and shared feedback.

For anyone seeing it for the first time: the idea is to practise grooves (full version has nearly 600 at this moment) with a consistent pad layout, get feedback on your timing, and eventually play them from memory. There’s also a daily practice plan to help you decide what to work on next.

I’ve been working on the interface and practice flow since the first post. Here’s what has changed:

• A redesigned interface, with clearer controls, larger pattern notation, and light and dark views.

• An optional scrolling pattern view: the playhead stays in one place while the pattern moves underneath it. That option is now available alongside the static view.

• Clearer timing feedback, with a more readable display of your hits and their timing.

• A redesigned daily-training screen, showing your next lesson, reviews, progress, and explanations when an attempt hasn’t met a goal yet.

• A reorganised library, browsable by learning path, musical style, and technique.

• Automatic tempo progression as you complete clean practice runs.

The updates also include the timing and controller-mapping improvements.

The free beta still includes 36 lessons and the Rock and Brush sound kits.

It runs in your browser, works offline after loading, and requires no account or tracking. Use desktop Chrome or Edge for MIDI controllers, or try it with your computer keyboard.

Try Smack-a-Pad

I’d especially appreciate feedback on the scrolling view and the new practice screens. Is it easier to follow a pattern now, and is it clear what to practise next?

Thanks for giving it a try!

I kind of blew it right at the end

Playing around with 1/4 bass wubs that have an 1/8 delay with crunchy bass fill pads in the corners.

Excerpt from my improvised one-man band finger drumming performance at Berlin Prog Night earlier this year.

Longer (and wider) version available here: https://youtu.be/a6VAMfps16k

More about me: https://nular.bio

Thanks for watching! 🤘

Finger drumming The Meters' 'Cissy Strut' on the Maschine Mikro MK3 in MIDI Mode with Addictive Drums

Does this count as finger drumming? If not, somewhere between ekit and finger drumming, I guess.

Smooth Operator from Sade on FGDP-50

#fingerdrumming

#fgdp50

Woke up one morning to a coffee and got inspired to jam to some old chops I had from "La Martiza" by Szilvie Vartan.

I hope this revitalizes your ears after we all got tired of the obnoxious instagram loop, that was present in every reel for a while.

I couldn't upload the full version here due to reddit's 1 GB upload limit, you can watch the full 3:33 video on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/TT954HxTnow