Paradiddle November Update: Vive Tracker Integration, Cymbal Animations, MIDI Hi-Hat Improvements
The November update is out (a couple of days late because of some last minute testing), with lots of fixes, improvements and a few exciting new features! Since the previous update never left beta due to a few bugs that were still in that version, you might also want to take another look at the previous update's notes in case you had not been using the beta over the past couple of months.
Before going over the changes in this update, I quickly wanted to add a link to the latest Whiplash Drum Cover I recorded in October in order to showcase some of the more advanced features in Paradiddle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKheiV1n4c
It was performed using electronic drum hi-hat and kick pedals, playing audio out from Superior Drummer 3 through the live MIDI integration, and recorded in mixed reality via LIV (http://liv.tv), which Paradiddle fully supports. The video description on YouTube has further details on how everything was set up, but let me know if you have any questions about recording similar content, and I’ll be happy to help out.
Paradiddle was also in the news recently, in a one-on-one interview with VRScout on the future of audio production and drumming in VR & AR! Make sure to check out the article if you’re interested in hearing a bit more about how Paradiddle came to be and some of the design choices behind it: https://vrscout.com/news/paradiddle-learn-drum-vr/
On to the updates!
I’m super excited to announce that Vive Trackers are finally supported in Paradiddle as foot or pedal trackers! They can currently be used to either trigger the kick or control the hi-hat. Here’s what you need to know about setting them up:
Make sure your Vive tracker is connected before you launch the app, as currently Paradiddle can’t detect it if the tracker is connected after the app starts. As long as it’s connected, you should see a little white sphere pop up where your tracker is with some options floating above it. The options are:
All of the calibration and threshold values are saved automatically when you exit the app, so no need to worry about re-calibrating or resetting those values! The app also supports as many Vive trackers as can be connected, and will keep track of these values for each tracker.
Quick note: This feature is still in development and this is just a big first step, so if you have a Vive tracker, I’d really appreciate it if you could test this out and let me know if you have any comments or further suggestions. The UI will most likely be improved further in future releases as well, I just wanted to get an initial usable version out so that people with Vive trackers could finally use them in Paradiddle.
All cymbals now have the option to toggle cymbal animations on, similar to the ones seen in the Whiplash cover video! My hope is that this’ll make playing on the cymbals a little more fun, while making it feel like real thing even more. The animations are on by default for the ride and crash cymbals, and can be toggled on/off in the newly added “Drum” tab of the drum options menu. I’m curious to hear about your experiences with it and whether you prefer to keep it on or off while drumming, so let me know if you have any thoughts.
For those of you with electronic drum hi-hat pedals, Paradiddle now supports Change Control (CC) messages sent through hi-hat pedals to open and close the hi hat. Keep in mind that MIDI In still has to be enabled for the hi-hat drum for this to work. You can see how this works in the Whiplash cover video, as I was using an e-drum hi-hat pedal.
In addition, Change Control hi-hat messages are also supported through MIDI out. So if you connect Paradiddle to a Digital Audio Workstation(DAW) like Superior Drummer, you can open/close the hi-hat in the app, and have it send the relevant hi-hat open/close messages to the DAW. This allows for effects such as hi-hat choking in DAWs, where the sound of an open hi-hat sound will be choked as the pedal is pushed down and the hi-hat closes. Note that you don’t need an e-drum hi-hat pedal for this - if you do have one, Paradiddle will just forward the messages to your DAW, but if you don’t, then it’ll still send the relevant messages when the hi-hat opens or closes as a result a button press, a USB pedal press, etc.
As always, more changes are on the way, and your feedback can help! Feel free to reach out to me through any of the channels below, or the Steam Discussion Forums, and I’ll consider your suggestions and try to resolve your issues right away. Some of the features and changes I’m looking at for the next release are: stick calibration (repositioning the sticks relative to the controllers), driving pedal support, UI improvements/rework, cymbal choking, and a couple more smaller changes.
If you're enjoying your VR jam sessions in Paradiddle and excited about upcoming features and improvements, I would really appreciate it if you wrote a review on Steam. It doesn't have to be long - any review helps in showing that Paradiddle is trying to be the most flexible, responsive and user-friendly VR drumming app out there. The more we can get the word out, the more support I'll be able to get in realizing that goal. A huge thank you to everyone who's already written a review!
- Emre
[email protected]
Join us on Discord!: https://discordapp.com/invite/wjHnTVr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParadidleVR
Paradiddle drum covers Youtube playlist (your cover could be on here too!)
Official Paradiddle website: http://paradiddleapp.com
FAQ: http://paradiddleapp.com/faq
Reddit: http://reddit.com/r/paradiddle
Whiplash Cover and Paradiddle in the News
Before going over the changes in this update, I quickly wanted to add a link to the latest Whiplash Drum Cover I recorded in October in order to showcase some of the more advanced features in Paradiddle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKheiV1n4c
It was performed using electronic drum hi-hat and kick pedals, playing audio out from Superior Drummer 3 through the live MIDI integration, and recorded in mixed reality via LIV (http://liv.tv), which Paradiddle fully supports. The video description on YouTube has further details on how everything was set up, but let me know if you have any questions about recording similar content, and I’ll be happy to help out.
Paradiddle was also in the news recently, in a one-on-one interview with VRScout on the future of audio production and drumming in VR & AR! Make sure to check out the article if you’re interested in hearing a bit more about how Paradiddle came to be and some of the design choices behind it: https://vrscout.com/news/paradiddle-learn-drum-vr/
On to the updates!
Vive Tracker Support for Pedal and Foot Tracking
I’m super excited to announce that Vive Trackers are finally supported in Paradiddle as foot or pedal trackers! They can currently be used to either trigger the kick or control the hi-hat. Here’s what you need to know about setting them up:
Make sure your Vive tracker is connected before you launch the app, as currently Paradiddle can’t detect it if the tracker is connected after the app starts. As long as it’s connected, you should see a little white sphere pop up where your tracker is with some options floating above it. The options are:
- Kick or Hi-Hat Pedal: Use these to select what functionality you want your tracker to perform. The kick mode currently triggers the kick at one specific velocity, but in further updates I’m hoping to add some velocity sensitivity to this that’s based on how hard the tracker is pressed down.
- Calibrate: The tracker might just work by default if you’re using it as a foot tracker, but it’s highly recommended to calibrate it on first use. Simply press the Calibrate button, press down on your pedal or your foot down on the ground as the instructions direct you, and pull the trigger to complete your calibration. This value will be automatically saved and loaded, so you won’t have to worry about doing it again each time.
- Down and Up Threshold: The down threshold determines how close the tracker needs to get to the calibration height before the pedal is triggered. The up threshold is how far it needs to go back up before the pedal is reset to an “up” state. You can also refer to this picture which illustrates how the thresholds work. The thresholds were set to default values where you ideally shouldn’t have to tweak them at all, but you’re free to do so if you want finer control over the tracker movement and how it triggers the kick/hi-hat.
- Reset Defaults: Resets the tracker mode, threshold values and calibration values to default.
All of the calibration and threshold values are saved automatically when you exit the app, so no need to worry about re-calibrating or resetting those values! The app also supports as many Vive trackers as can be connected, and will keep track of these values for each tracker.
Quick note: This feature is still in development and this is just a big first step, so if you have a Vive tracker, I’d really appreciate it if you could test this out and let me know if you have any comments or further suggestions. The UI will most likely be improved further in future releases as well, I just wanted to get an initial usable version out so that people with Vive trackers could finally use them in Paradiddle.
Physics-Based Cymbal Animations
All cymbals now have the option to toggle cymbal animations on, similar to the ones seen in the Whiplash cover video! My hope is that this’ll make playing on the cymbals a little more fun, while making it feel like real thing even more. The animations are on by default for the ride and crash cymbals, and can be toggled on/off in the newly added “Drum” tab of the drum options menu. I’m curious to hear about your experiences with it and whether you prefer to keep it on or off while drumming, so let me know if you have any thoughts.
MIDI Hi-Hat Change Control Message Support
For those of you with electronic drum hi-hat pedals, Paradiddle now supports Change Control (CC) messages sent through hi-hat pedals to open and close the hi hat. Keep in mind that MIDI In still has to be enabled for the hi-hat drum for this to work. You can see how this works in the Whiplash cover video, as I was using an e-drum hi-hat pedal.
In addition, Change Control hi-hat messages are also supported through MIDI out. So if you connect Paradiddle to a Digital Audio Workstation(DAW) like Superior Drummer, you can open/close the hi-hat in the app, and have it send the relevant hi-hat open/close messages to the DAW. This allows for effects such as hi-hat choking in DAWs, where the sound of an open hi-hat sound will be choked as the pedal is pushed down and the hi-hat closes. Note that you don’t need an e-drum hi-hat pedal for this - if you do have one, Paradiddle will just forward the messages to your DAW, but if you don’t, then it’ll still send the relevant messages when the hi-hat opens or closes as a result a button press, a USB pedal press, etc.
Other Changes and Fixes
- The tutorial messages are now always oriented towards users, to accommodate the app being launched from any spot within the play area.
- MIDI: Fixed a MIDI bug where the channel of sent MIDI messages didn’t match up with the MIDI channel selected on the drum. Paradiddle was always sending the message out of the channel+1, but now the MIDI message channel should exactly match up with what’s shown in the drum options.
- MIDI: Shortened the duration between Note On and Note Off messages sent out of Paradiddle, in other words the MIDI note length, from 2.5 seconds to 250 milliseconds. This was done to ensure Paradiddle worked better with certain drumming games/apps, but let me know if this duration is too short or still too long, or if you’d rather have the option of tweaking this value. I’m considering turning that into a slider that can easily be adjusted.
- Fixed a bug with the previous (beta) release where saved drum sets were missing a name.
- The default window size of Paradiddle was changed back to 1280x720 (720p). If you have specific needs to scale the window size up or down, or any preferences when it comes to this, let me know. I might consider making the window size a configurable option in the Graphics menu.
- The mouse cursor is no longer “captured” and hidden by the Paradiddle window, and no longer bounded by the window boundaries. This should make it easier to move the Paradiddle window around or do other things on your desktop while Paradiddle was open. Note that you’ll still need to make sure Paradiddle is in focus and the active window if you’re using the Space/Ctrl keys to trigger the drums, because Unreal Engine only accepts keyboard input while an app is in focus.
- Fixed a drum set loading bug that had to do with backwards compatibility. Some older drum set files didn’t load properly, which led to broken values for MIDI notes on drums that had more than one MIDI note, such as the ride cymbals, but this is now fully resolved.
- Disabled a debug functionality that triggered on a specific key press that displayed additional information when a drum was hit. It wasn’t meant to be enabled for everyone and was just for my own testing.
As always, more changes are on the way, and your feedback can help! Feel free to reach out to me through any of the channels below, or the Steam Discussion Forums, and I’ll consider your suggestions and try to resolve your issues right away. Some of the features and changes I’m looking at for the next release are: stick calibration (repositioning the sticks relative to the controllers), driving pedal support, UI improvements/rework, cymbal choking, and a couple more smaller changes.
If you're enjoying your VR jam sessions in Paradiddle and excited about upcoming features and improvements, I would really appreciate it if you wrote a review on Steam. It doesn't have to be long - any review helps in showing that Paradiddle is trying to be the most flexible, responsive and user-friendly VR drumming app out there. The more we can get the word out, the more support I'll be able to get in realizing that goal. A huge thank you to everyone who's already written a review!
- Emre
[email protected]
Join us on Discord!: https://discordapp.com/invite/wjHnTVr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParadidleVR
Paradiddle drum covers Youtube playlist (your cover could be on here too!)
Official Paradiddle website: http://paradiddleapp.com
FAQ: http://paradiddleapp.com/faq
Reddit: http://reddit.com/r/paradiddle