BopPad User Manual
Bop-Pad Created by Keith McMillen, Evan Adams, Brent Allen, Noah Ambrose, Evan Bogunia, Dave Criss, Tom Ferguson, Andrej Hronco, Conner Lacy, Kyle Lobedan, Dan McAnulty, Chloe Stamper, Maxime Stinnett, Alex Vittum, Greg Wille, Brian Wright, and Stephen Wright This reference manual was written by Evan Bogunia and designed by Carson Whitley and Evan Bogunia. Version 1.0, May 1, 2017.
T able O f C ontents BopPad 0. WELCOME....................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. BEFORE YOU BEGIN...................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 What’s In The BopPad Box?................................................................................................................. 3 1.
W elcome BopPad Welcome Hello, and welcome to the world of BopPad! Taking the time to read this document is a huge step toward mastering the BopPad. The purpose of this document is to provide a resource containing helpful information regarding the use of the BopPad hardware and software.
Before You Begin
B efore Y ou B egin BopPad 1.1 What’s In The BopPad Box? BopPad For Bopping. Micro-USB Cable For connecting BopPad to a computer, tablet, or MIDI Expander. 1.2 What’s In The MIDI Expander Package? MIDI Expander For expanding. USB Power Supply + Converter Blades +5V DC, 500 mA Includes power converter blades for non-United States AC sockets. USB Cable For connecting the Expander to the USB power supply.
B efore Y ou B egin BopPad 1.3 – System Requirements 1.3.1 – Hardware Mac OS • Mac OS 10.6 (or greater) • Intel Core 2 Duo (or greater) • USB 2.0 (or greater) port Windows • Windows 7, 8, & 10 • USB 2.0 (or greater) port 1.3.2 – Software Mac OS • Mac OS 10.9 or later • Intel Core 2 Duo (or greater) • USB 2.0 (or greater) port • 100 MB free hard disk space Windows • Windows 7, 8, & 10 • 64 bit • 2.5 GHz processor (or greater) • 4 GB RAM (or greater) • USB 2.
Getting Started
G etting S tarted BopPad 2 - Getting Started This section covers information that will help you get started with the BopPad. We will introduce the BopPad hardware, discuss how to connect your BopPad to the world, and go over basic operation of the device and the editor. More in-depth information is available in the BopPad Hardware and BopPad Editor sections. 2.1 The BopPad Hardware The BopPad hardware is pretty straight forward.
Features Overview
F eatures O verview BopPad 3 - Features Overview The BopPad is a versatile percussion instrument capable of sending accurate, and highly nuanced MIDI data to your computer. We should all know how to interact with the device - you hit it! You can use drumsticks, your hands, or pretty much any other object to play the BopPad. 3.1 Multi-Dimensional Control The BopPad can send a variety of different MIDI Data. Notes You can send up to 6 MIDI notes from each of the four quadrants.
BopPad Hardware
B op P ad H ardware BopPad 4 - BopPad Hardware The BopPad hardware consists of the playing surface, the USB port and the USB Guard. The Playing Surface The playing surface consists of four distinct quadrants. Striking the quadrants with your preferred object (hands, sticks, mallets, spoons, whatever!) will send out MIDI data corresponding to the preset currently in use, as defined in the Editor.
BopPad Editor
B op P ad E ditor BopPad 5 - BopPad Editor This section covers the BopPad Editor. It will cover the basic operation and features of the Editor, along with any differences between the desktop and web editors. 5.1 The Editor The BopPad Editor is where you define what data your BopPad will send, how it will send the data, and how that data is controlled by the different sources. 5.1.1 The Preset Section The Preset section allows you to save, recall, and send presets to the BopPad.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad The Quadrant section allows you to select and edit the notes for a particular quadrant. Select a quadrant by clicking the corresponding portion of the BopPad icon. You can also select quadrants by pressing shift + z, x, c or v. The BopPad icon also provides useful information on connection status, and firmware updates. Each quadrant can send up to 6 notes at a time. You can type these into the boxes, or use the keyboard to enter them graphically.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad Source The source menu defines what data from the BopPad will be used to trigger this modline. Choices include: • Off - no data will be sent. • Velocity - velocity data (based on how hard you hit the surface) will be used. • Pressure - how hard you press on the surface after striking will be used. • Initial Radius - where you initially strike the surface will be used. • Radius - the position of where you are pressing onto the surface.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad • Dynamic - soft hits are normalized and medium and hard hits have a logarithmic curve applied. • User - use a user defined curve to shape the data. Min Set a minimum value for the data. Max Set a maximum value for the data. Solo Only sends the data from the corresponding modline. Useful for MIDI mapping in DAWs and other music software. This is set to off on power cycle, or a preset load. Live Value The real-time value of the source.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad 5.1.6 Preferences The Preferences pane contains some additional options for fine tuning your BopPad that are device wide and apply to all presets. You can access the preferences pane by clicking the ‘Preferences’ button in the Web Editor, or by selecting ‘Preferences from the BopPad Editor menu (or by hitting cmd + ,). • Global Sensitivity - Controls the sensitivity of the BopPad. Use this to adjust the response of the BopPad to fit your playing style and environment.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad The Presets menu - allows for importing and exporting of BopPad presets and exposes User Tables. The Hardware menu - update/reload the firmware onto the connected device. The Help menu - open the documentation, and toggle tooltips on or off. 5.2.2 User Tables User tables can be edited by navigating to the User Tables item from the Presets Menu, accessible in the menu bar. You can store up to 4 user tables in the BopPad.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad 5.4 Factory Presets Overview The Editor comes with four factory presets to get you started quickly. Preset 1 - Universal This preset will be on your BopPad when you power it on for the first time, and was designed with compatibility with a variety of MIDI software/hardware in mind. • Quadrants output some standard General MIDI notes.
B op P ad E ditor BopPad Preset 3 - Sticks This preset is tuned for use with sticks, and is multi-channel • Quadrants output some standard General MIDI notes. Starting from quadrant 1, the notes are 42/F#1 (Hi Hat), 36/C1 (Kick),38/D1 (Snare),47/B1 (Low Tom) • Each quadrant sends on a unique MIDI channel • All Quadrants have sensitivity of 10. • All Quadrants have a gain of 1.
Troubleshooting
T roubleshooting BopPad Try a new USB cable One of the first (yet most often overlooked) things to try is a different USB cable, preferably one that is known to work well. When a cable goes bad it can lead to all sorts of odd behavior(flaky connections, dropped messages), or no behavior at all (won’t even power on). Try plugging into a different USB port It’s possible that trying a different USB port on the computer may lead to a proper connection.
F.A.Q.
F.A.Q. BopPad Do I need a computer to use my BopPad? No! With the optional MIDI Expander you can send MIDI data to any device that use a 5 pin MIDI connection. Keep in mind that the BopPad only has one USB port, so communication is limited to the computer, OR 5 pin MIDI devices. What can I use to interact with my BopPad? The BopPad is comfortable with drum sticks, mallets, your bare hands, and many other objects! My BopPad just sends a constant note.
Safety Precautions
S afety P recautions BopPad Medical Devices BopPad may emit electromagnetic fields. These electromagnetic fields may interfere with pacemakers or other medical devices. If you wear a pacemaker, maintain at least 6 inches (approximately 15cm) of separation between your pacemaker and BopPad. If you suspect BopPad is interfering with your pacemaker or any other medical device, stop using BopPad and consult your physician for information specific to your medical device.
Kickstarter Backers
BopPad K ickstarter B ackers Kickstarter Backers We would like to thank all of our backers that helped make BopPad a reality! Alan Nguyen,Alexander von Schlinke, Andrew Traverse, Ben Kamen, Ben Woodruff, Brian K Cannon, Casey Neiditch, Chara Peisach, Daniel Silberstein, Dave Muhich, Dennis Talavera, Douglas Shagam, Elliot K.
