General introduction

The Drum is an electronic music instrument developed by Dato Musical Instruments with a strong focus on accessibility, collaboration and play.

Similar to the Duo (Dato’s synthesiser), the Drum is designed “for children and beginners aged 3-99 and beyond” but also offers plenty for more experienced music makers.

The Dato Drum focuses on rhythm and beat-making. It offers four layers of 8-step circular beat sequencing (similar to the Groove pizza approach). Rhythm patters and sounds can be changed instantly. When connected to a computer, you can even add your own sounds.

Basic operation

Musical interaction is immediate: pressing a pad produces sound without the need for complex menus or setup. Moving the sliders and turning the knobs affects the sound instantly.

you can trigger drum sounds by pressing the red, blue, yellow or green square pads, and change drum sounds by pressing the small triangle buttons next to the pads (the colours will change as well). The Drum offers eight sounds per voice (layer).

Pressing and holding a trigger pad will repeat the note of the selected drum sound. Pressing harder will repeat the notes faster. Each pad triggers a different sound, and simple pattern-based sequencing allows you to create repeating rhythms.

Varying pressure works on all buttons and pads on the drum — a nice treat for further sound exploration.

Pedagogical use

Use Dato Drum, for example, for the following learning objectives:

• Exploring rhythmic sequences
• Making music collaboratively through listening, turn-taking and shared decision-making
• Creating musical structures using repetition, contrast and simple variation
• Experiencing electronic music making in an accessible DAW-less or hybrid approach

---

Some ideas for how Dato’s Drum can be used in meaningful musical contexts that connect play, creativity and musical understanding:

Early years and lower primary education

• Let up to four pupils express their creativity and musicality by exploring the Dato Drum
• Let them learn about contrasts in music and sound, such as tempo, pitch and timbre, and express these contrasts through movement or gestures
• Let them create their own rhythms to dance and sing to. Then record it and share with your pupils’ parents or caretakers

Upper primary education

• Create rhythms collaboratively. Up to four players can operate the Dato Drum
• Design a short rhythmical groove to support a dance, movement sequence or school performance
• Create contrasting rhythms to represent different scenes or ideas
• Reflect on how collaboration influences musical outcomes
• Create a “living sequencer” by standing in a circle and taking turns to make a percussive sound. Let one pupil “operate” the living sequencer by muting steps in the sequence or replacing a step with a different sound. Experiment with changes in tempo, timbre, or by adding an effect.

And beyond …

• Recreate rhythmic patterns of different musical styles and genres
• Connect the Drum to your DAW to use the Drum as a MIDI controller or use its sounds in arrangements created in your DAW
• Integrate the Drum into a modular or DAW-less setup

---