Senstroke – Connected Sensors for Drummers
£185/$260
“Perfect for drummers with a lack of space and unsympathetic neighbours”
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO PLAY
drums but, like so many others, are hamstrung by a lack of space and unsympathetic neighbours? Then get ready to rock because Senstroke is the ideal solution – a virtual drum kit comprising of Bluetooth sensors that you attach to your sticks and your feet to allow you to play anywhere, on anything.
Keith Moon
Senstroke is available in three different sets: the Essential Box (comprising of two sensors, one pair of sticks, one foot strap and one practice pad), the Standard Box (comprising of four sensors, two foot straps and one bass pedal adaptor) and the Ultimate Box (comprising of four sensors, one pair of sticks, two foot straps, one practice pad and a carry case). All sets come with a USB charge cable. We’re covering the Standard Box here – so how does it work exactly? You need to attach a sensor to each drumstick (they attach securely to the middle) and then, using the foot straps, attach the other two to each foot then, after downloading the free Senstroke IOS app and turning on the sensors, you embark on a configuration process. This is where the experience gets tainted slightly because the setup process feels unnecessarily clunky.
After turning the sensors on they pair easily with the app to distinguish your left and right stick and corresponding feet, and you must then define your playing surface and align your sticks with each bit of kit in your virtual onscreen drum setup. However, a prompt appears on the screen to tell you what to do, which you must then close in order to perform the action itself – not the easiest on an iphone screen when you are holding drumsticks (which you may then unwittingly mess up the order of). Had the configuration been
designed to occur as one fluid sequence, setting up each piece of kit in turn, then it would have made more sense. This is no reflection on the physical kit itself, just a minor gripe that could be easily fixed with an app update.
Ginger Baker
We have to applaud the technology behind this system, which we found to work flawlessly. Each stick stroke is registered to perfection, allowing you to tap out quite complex rhythms without hint of a MIDI note being lost. And you can use anything as a makeshift playing surface – cushions, boxes, your leg, anything.
The app also comes with some added bells and whistles to help amateur drummers improve and keep experts ticking over. These include a neat, Guitar
Hero-style learning mode in which you have to tap out the beat of the scrolling notes on the screen, and the option to record your sessions – perfect for when you come up with the next great melody. You can also choose from a variety of kits, from beginner setups to more complex arrangements, and you can customise the sounds that they produce. We had great fun thumping away and beating out all of our self-isolation frustrations with this awesome piece of kit.