NAME

MIDI::Drummer::Tiny::Tutorial::Quickstart

VERSION

version 0.5009

Import the Module

use MIDI::Drummer::Tiny ();

Object Instantiation

Use the defaults

my $d = MIDI::Drummer::Tiny->new;

Attribute configuration

my $d = MIDI::Drummer::Tiny->new(
    file       => 'drums.mid',
    bpm        => 120,
    volume     => 120,
    signature  => '5/4', # OR:
    #beats     => 5,
    #divisions => 4,
    bars       => 8,
    reverb     => 0,
    kick       => 36, # Override default patch
    snare      => 40, # "
    soundfont  => '/Users/you/Music/FluidR3_GM.sf2',
    verbose    => 1,
);

Drum Set Components

Kick and snare-like things

Bass drums ("kicks"):

acoustic_bass & electric_bass (Generic: kick)

Snare-like things:

acoustic_snare & electric_snare (Generic: snare), side_stick, clap

Cymbals

open_hh, closed_hh, pedal_hh

crash1, crash2, splash, china

ride1, ride2, ride_bell

Toms

hi_tom, hi_mid_tom, low_mid_tom, low_tom, hi_floor_tom, low_floor_tom

Miscellaneous

click & bell (i.e. the metronome sounds), tambourine, cowbell, vibraslap, etc.

Handy Duration Aliases

whole, triplet_whole, dotted_whole, double_dotted_whole

half, triplet_half, dotted_half, double_dotted_half

quarter, triplet_quarter, dotted_quarter, double_dotted_quarter

eighth, triplet_eighth, dotted_eighth, double_dotted_eighth, ...

etc. down to double-dotted 128th notes!

Basic Beats

Rock

$d->metronome3;
$d->metronome4;
$d->metronome5;
$d->metronome6;
$d->metronome7;
# OR
$d->metronome44($d->bars, 1); # nb: 1 is an optional flag

Swing

$d->metronome4($d->bars, $d->ride2, $d->eighth, 67);

Viennese Waltz

for my $n (1 .. $d->bars) {
    $d->note($d->quarter, $d->ride1, $d->kick);
    $d->note($d->quarter, $d->ride1, $d->snare);
    $d->note($d->quarter, $d->ride1, $d->snare);
}

Disco

for my $n ( 0 .. $d->bars - 1 ) {
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->closed_hh, $d->kick );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->closed_hh );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->closed_hh );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->open_hh );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->pedal_hh, $d->kick, $d->snare );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->closed_hh );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->closed_hh );
    $d->note( $d->sixteenth, $d->closed_hh );
}

This beat is extra-cheesy.

And Finally...

Either play the score with the built-in timidity++ functionality, plus a defined soundfont:

my $d = MIDI::Drummer::Tiny->new(
  # ...,
  soundfont => '/you/soundfonts/TR808.sf2',
);
# ...
$d->play_with_timidity;

Or write-out the score to a MIDI file:

my $d = MIDI::Drummer::Tiny->new(
  # ...,
  file => 'drums.mid',
);
# ...
$d->write;

And then play the score with timidity (where the cfg file specifies the soundfont to be used):

> timidity -c ~/timidity.cfg -Od drums.mid

You can also use the excellent, cross platform program, VLC.

You can also convert the MIDI file into MP3, or whatever format you like.

AUTHOR

Gene Boggs <gene.boggs@gmail.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2014-2025 by Gene Boggs.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.