Finger Druming Pad Layout

What is your drum pad layout for finger drumming? Is it similar to the one listed below? Any finger drummers care to share, their layout? Perhaps this thread can help others, become better FD's

I use the default and adopt but I know this one seems to be quite common



Or


Both seem to be more ergonomic but I hate reassignment so I just go with the expansion default layout

@r4nd0m

Are you making each sound them one shots?
What about velocity pad for each settings?
Have you incorporated, a foot pedal for the kick?
What about open and closed hi hats, do you have them muting each other?


@lampdog thanks for moving this. I could've sworn it was posted in the production forum.

r4nd0m wrote:I use the default and adopt but I know this one seems to be quite common

Yup! Swap the open hat to E1 & the Db1 snare to a rimshot, and that's me.

I had a lot of trouble finger drumming until a tutorial put me onto that layout. I'm not performance nice yet, but I groove.

CharlesRandolph wrote:...

I have a couple of variations similar to this when I need more cymbals & toms, but I haven't gotten used to it yet. It's not as comfortable playing the hats.


And I'm working on a percussion set up, trying to make it as similar to the drums as possible. I'm thinking congas as my kick & snare and filling in from there. Shakers could be hats, bongos & timbales could be toms, etc.

CharlesRandolph wrote:@r4nd0m

Are you making each sound them one shots?
What about velocity pad for each settings?
Have you incorporated, a foot pedal for the kick?
What about open and closed hi hats, do you have them muting each other?

as my mpc arrived yesterday i would also like to know how to start best with finger druming in terms of adjustment, thank you in advance

fourtwenty wrote:as my mpc arrived yesterday i would also like to know how to start best with finger druming in terms of adjustment, thank you in advance

What's your playing level?

CharlesRandolph wrote: What's your playing level?

beginner tbh

As Beginner I suggest.

1. Start with a Kick, Snare, Hi Hat.
2. Play with a 8th note metronome at BPM of 70, 80, 85
3. Do not set the pads at full level.

Work on your timing so you must play as slow as possible. You'll find yourself wanting to play faster, but resist the urge, and focus on going slow. The Key is being on time and learning how hard/slow to strike the pads. Play at 70 bpm for 20 minutes, then 80 bpm for 20 minutes, then 85 bpm for 20 minutes.

Practice this:




Other suggestion practice these videos.

thank you bro, will check them out at the weekends anything else on the default settings of my mpc live?

I'm different from everyone here, most likely driven by my interest in finger drumming starting with performance, especially (2) hand routines. I put most of my effort in on the MIDI Fighter Spectra and 3D, before moving to more standard pad devices and transitioning to finger drumming for production. I typically can follow any format put in front of me, so I don't change defaults, but when building my own, its something like...

1 - Bass Kick
2 - Closed hit
3 - Snare/Clap 1
4 - Cymbal/Ride 1
5 - Alt Kick
6 - Open hit
7 - Snare/Clap alt
8 - Cymbal/Ride alt
9 - Progression 1 / Low Tom
10 - Progression 2 / Mid Tom
11 - Progression 3 / High Tom
12 - Progression 4 / Long Sample/Ride for Scene change alt
13 - Progression alt 1 / FX 1 / alt Low Tom
14 - Progression alt 2 / FX 2 / alt Mid Tom
15 - Progression alt 3 / FX 3 / alt High Tom
16 - Long Sample/Ride for Scene change

My thumb is exclusively for the main kick, my ring finger handles the hats, my pointer and middle finger handle the secondary kick and first 2-3 progressions. If I am rotating to 3-4 progressions, my middle finger slides down to the hats, while my ring finger and pinky handle the 4/8/12/16 buttons.

What's weird is I can finger drum "ok" with my left hand, but using both hands at the same time, I become more "meh". My left hand is great for keeping timing - a la hats, so I do a cross form with my left hand under my right hand, with my right hand focused on the kick and progressions, I keep good timing, but there is nothing dynamic about it.
- Unreall

Hey Gang, I love this post.

I was looking for a guide like this. As far as recommended fingers for each "row" of pads, I would expect what feels right but just curious.

Also on the MPC X is there a quick way to drag around existing assigned samples to other pads?

Thank you.

Rich