Getting set up

What you need to play

An iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or later, and something to hit. An electronic kit needs one cable, and this page tells you which.

• Electronic kit One cable from the drum module to your phone, or Bluetooth if the kit has it. Badum hears every pad exactly, and how hard you hit it. Which cable
• Acoustic kit or practice pad Nothing to buy. Badum listens through the phone's microphone. It counts you in, then goes quiet so it hears only you; with headphones you can hear the band and the click as you play.
• No drums yet Tap the drums on the screen. The first lesson starts there, and it's enough to learn how the path works before your kit or pad arrives.

The cable for an electronic kit

If your kit came with a USB cable, it was most likely made for a computer and won't fit a phone. The one you need costs a few dollars from any electronics shop or online.

The cable runs from the square USB TO HOST port on the back of the module to the phone. The headphones stay in the module.

Your phone or iPad	What to buy
USB-CiPhone 15 and later, and recent iPads	A USB-C to USB-B cable, often sold as a printer cable. One cable, nothing else.
LightningiPhone 14 and earlier	Apple's Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter and a USB-A to USB-B cable. The adapter has a charging port, so the phone can charge while you play.

Before you buy

• Check the port on the module. Most have the square USB-B port, labelled USB TO HOST or just USB. If yours has a different USB socket, buy a cable that ends in that plug instead.
• Get one that carries data. Charge-only cables look the same and don't work. A printer cable always carries data.
• Get it long enough. 1.5 to 2 metres reaches from the module to a phone on a music stand or the floor tom.
• No USB port at all? A module with only the round MIDI sockets needs a USB MIDI interface in between. Write to us and we'll help you pick one.
• Somewhere to put the phone. A music stand, or a tablet clamp on a cymbal stand, at eye height, so the track is easy to read while you play.

Plugging in

1. Plug the cable into the module and the phone, and switch the module on.
2. If the iPhone asks whether you're connecting headphones, choose Other Device. Either answer works.
3. Open Badum. It finds the kit by itself. If you were playing on something else, it offers the kit: tap Use it. Or tap the chip at the top right of any screen, the one that says what you play on, and choose Electronic kit.
4. To check the pads, go to You, then Kit & sound, then Test each pad, and hit each one once. If a pad shows up as the wrong drum, open Pads and layout, tap that pad and choose what it counts as, or teach it by hitting it.

A Bluetooth kit

Some kits and modules send MIDI over Bluetooth. Pair them inside Badum, not in the iPhone's Settings: choose Electronic kit, then My kit uses Bluetooth (or You, then Kit & sound, then Pair a Bluetooth kit), and pick your kit from the list. Badum asks once to use Bluetooth, only to find and connect the kit you pick.

Badum is built and tested on a Yamaha DTX452. Any kit that a computer sees without installing a driver should work the same, including Roland, Alesis and other Yamaha kits. If yours doesn't, tell us which one.

An acoustic kit or a practice pad

Choose Acoustic kit or Practice pad from the chip at the top right of any screen. Badum asks once to use the microphone, which it uses on the phone to time your hits; nothing is recorded.

• On its own, the microphone checks your timing. On an acoustic kit, go to You, then Kit & sound, then Teach Badum your drums: four hits each on the kick, snare and hi-hat, about a minute, and it tells them apart.
• On a practice pad your hands are checked; your foot keeps time but isn't heard.
• Put the phone near the kit, on a stand, with nothing covering the microphone.
• Through the phone's speaker Badum counts you in and then stays quiet in the bars it judges, so it hears only you. Turn its drums back on and the take is a play-along, not checked.

Headphones

With an electronic kit, plug your headphones into the drum module as usual. You hear your kit and Badum's count-in together.

With an acoustic kit, a pad or the screen, wired headphones in the phone work best. Bluetooth headphones work too, but everything reaches them a little late. The first time you play with new Bluetooth or USB headphones, Badum offers a short check that times them, so your hits are judged against what you heard.

If good hits are still marked late, go to You, then Kit & sound, then Timing check.

iPhone and iPad

Badum runs on any iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or later. On an iPad the track is taller and the screen's pads are big enough to play with your fingers.

New kit? Got an e-kit? Do this first · Playing on a pad? How to practise drums on a pad