⚠️ NOTE: This guide is for acoustic drums only. For guidance on how to connect electronic drums, see this article. If you're using Melodics on iPhone, see this article.

When you first set up Melodics, you'll be prompted to choose your instrument. Choose Drums > Acoustic Drums.

Or if you're already a Melodics user, you can go to Settings and under "Selected instrument", choose "Acoustic Drums".

Note: on iPhone, your input and output devices will be selected automatically.

Input device: Melodics will listen to your acoustic drums using your microphone. Select which microphone you would like to use by clicking on the "Input device" dropdown menu.

In most cases, "OS default" is the best choice — this will most likely be the built-in microphone on your computer or iPad. If you would like to use a different microphone, make sure it is connected, turned on, and then select it from the dropdown menu.

Output device: Melodics will play audio out of your speakers or headphones. Select which audio output you would like to use by clicking on the "Output device" dropdown menu. For more information on audio output settings, take a look at this guide.

🎧 You must use headphones while playing Melodics. Not only do you protect your ears, it helps Melodics isolate the sound of your drums from the backing track.

Melodics will calibrate to the unique characteristics of your drum-kit. For the best Melodics experience, it's important to calibrate your drums carefully.

💡 Important tip for calibration: Play your drums how you would normally play them. You don't need to play louder, softer, rims, edges. Just hit the center of your drum normally.

Follow these steps in-app:

You can always re-calibrate your kit at any time in settings. Just hit the "Calibrate drum-kit" button.

✋ Tip for left handed drummers: turn on "Left hand drums" in settings to flip your layout for lefties. All content can be learned left or right handed.

Acoustic drums for Melodics isn't perfect. Sometimes Melodics may fail to hear one or two of your notes, and that's normal. We expect at least 90% accuracy for most setups. If you find your drums aren't being heard by Melodics, try re-calibrating and you may wish to consider the following troubleshooting tips.

⬆️ If you find you have to hit your acoustic drums hard for Melodics to hear them, try turning up your microphone sensitivity. (Not applicable to iOS devices.)

⬇️ If you find your acoustic drums are "echoing", or triggering multiple times, try turning down your microphone sensitivity. (Not applicable to iOS devices.)

How to adjust your microphone sensitivity on Mac, Windows, or iPad:

💡 Tip: We recommend setting your microphone sensitivity to about 20% for best results, but every setup is different so it may require trial and error.

Particularly on iOS, you must give the Melodics app permission to use your microphone. Melodics will prompt you to give access the first time you use it, or you may need to set this up manually.

Melodics is designed to work with the internal microphone on your computer or iOS device. But it is possible to use an external microphone by selecting it in the "Input device" menu in Settings.

If you are using an external audio interface to connect your microphone, make sure your microphone is connected to the FIRST audio input on your interface. Melodics defaults to this input. If you are using multiple microphones, you'll need to combine all sources into one channel.