iDAF-drum: Supporting Practice of Drumstick Control by Exploiting Insignificantly Delayed Auditory Feedback

To achieve excellent drum performances, sufficient use of the extensor muscles of the wrists is important. However, it is actually very difficult and there have been no efficient methods and tools to train them. This paper proposes iDAF-drum, which is a novel training system of the extensor muscles in everyday drum practice. “iDAF” is an acronym of “insignificantly delayed auditory feedback” and usual people cannot perceive such a very slight delay. We found an interesting phenomenon that drummers raise the drumsticks higher than usual by inserting the unperceivable delay between impact and sound. By exploiting this phenomenon, iDAF-drum can efficiently train the drummers’ extensor muscles without giving them any unusual feeling. We demonstrate the efficiency of iDAF-drum based on user studies.