As a guitar player and gear hobbyist, I always felt that singing and playing guitar on its own was unsatisfying. Without percussion, performances seemed empty. Collaborating with drummers was always the ideal, however, scheduling practice times and agreeing on projects was a herculean task. Having limited success with human drummers, I purchased a drum machine. On one project, I programmed an entire original album into it. I went as far as programming subtle mistakes, to make it sound more human. After one long and excruciating project, I decided to retire my drum machine.

 

For recording purposes, I eventually advanced to an electronic drum kit. With a kit and enough drumming skills to get through a song, I was able to more easily create recordings. One day, while experimenting with my kit’s pad assignment features, I set up the physical hi-hat pedal so that it would trigger a snare sample when stepped on. I kept the kick drum pedal as intended, but added a hi-hat sample to it, to trigger at the same time. With this setup, I was able to sit, trigger the kick drum/hi-hat samples with one foot and the snare sample with the other. I picked up my guitar and instantly became an underwhelming, unimpressive one-man-band.

 

Eventually, I found that using one foot, as we do when we drive a car, was a better solution. I also found that standing up, rather than sitting, added an interesting dimension. Standing takes a little more balance than sitting, but it looks impressive and is more fun.

 

Over the next several years, I developed the mechanics of oneDRUMS, turning it into a new percussion instrument that stands on its own merits. Although, oneDRUMS works equally well with electronic drums as it does with analog drums, I switched exclusively to analog drums. There is a certain visceral impact that analog drums project, which cannot be duplicated with sound samples.

After developing the mechanics of oneDRUMS, I still had to develop my playing technique. Over time, I created a number of beat patterns and fills to go along with the songs I play; singing and playing guitar. All of my songs are original, so I didn’t have to change drum patterns that were already established. Today, when playing within a one-man-band style, the feeling is nothing short of thrilling. It’s a thrill to play and a spectacle for spectators. oneDRUMS plays and sounds 100% like a live band because it is a live band. The music experience that oneDRUMS can bring to musicians and music lovers is nothing short of amazing.