Digital Drum Tutor

This thesis investigates issues surrounding the design and implementation of a digital drum tutor. People have been developing digital tutors in all fields of study in an attempt to replace or complement human instructors. This drum tutor aims to replace a human instructor in some cases, but mostly to guide a student’s practice sessions, which is where the most improvement occurs. While using the drum tutor, students play predefined patterns, and in order to get the most improvement from the student, the tutor dynamically adjusts the difficulty of the pattern according to how well the student plays. Four people of varying experience tested the software. In testing, students generally found the drum tutor to be helpful in motivating them to practice more and helping them improve their playing. However, the students needed a brief explanation on how the tutor works in order to take full advantage of its capabilities.