A drum kit learning experience that removes life's barriers, so anyone can start playing whenever they're ready.
Boxboom
Degree Project
2026
Drums are widely known as loud, bulky, and space-demanding, making them one of the most inaccessible instruments for beginners. Most people's living conditions do not accommodate a drum kit at home, and the cost of entry is high enough to discourage anyone who is not yet certain about the hobby. The existing market offers little for true beginners: high-end electronic kits come closest to replicating the feel of an acoustic drum, yet remain expensive, technically limited in technique feedback, and too significant an investment for someone still exploring. As a result, drumming has long remained a luxury hobby rather than an open invitation. BOXBOOM aims to change that by lowering the threshold to start drumming through a rental-based, portable learning experience built around the needs of the first-time player.
Method
The project began with field research at Umeå Music School and Toontrack, a leading drum sound engine company, to understand how beginners experience rhythm and what it takes for a drum kit to genuinely support early learning. Through hands-on material experiments, structural explorations from 1:10 scale models to full 1:1 prototypes, and iterative testing of folding logic and setup sequences, the design was developed and validated at a physical level. In parallel, an interaction concept was explored around a central question: how can the drum kit itself teach you to play?
Result
BOXBOOM is a rental-based, foldable electronic drum kit learning experience that delivers the pitch accuracy and sound variety of high-end market kits, in a form that fits any living situation. The product unfolds from a compact box into a fully functional configuration, with modular joints enabling quick setup, flexible arrangement, and straightforward part replacement for long-term serviceability. A three-sided service ecosystem connects users, rental shops, and drum training institutions through an online booking and delivery system, removing ownership as a barrier to entry.
To support genuine technique development, BOXBOOM introduces replaceable haptic feedback modules with integrated IMU motion sensors into the sticks and pedal, allowing beginners to sense and correct their playing technique through physical response while unlocking a richer and more expressive range of tonal output. The system separates consumable components from high-value durable parts, making it possible to scale up piezoelectric sensor coverage for precise strike detection across the kit while keeping rental costs controlled through targeted replacement of only the parts that wear.
At the core is an interaction concept that lets the drum kit guide the learner, introducing rhythm intuitively through progressive levels of engagement. BOXBOOM empowers anyone to start playing, grow at their own pace, and experience the joy of drumming without the constraints of cost, space, or prior experience.
UID26 | Xiaoyu Yu – Grad project presentation
The service connects users, rental shops, and drum training institutions through an online booking and delivery system, a three-sided ecosystem built around shared rhythm.
Storage structure explorations ranged from 1:10 scale sketches to full 1:1 models, testing how the kit folds into itself.
1:1 mock-ups were used to validate the folding sequence and confirm that the folding logic holds in practice.
The main Hub in detail, integrating a phone holder, power panel, and teaching stick storage dock into a single arm.
Three joint button types, each with its own adjustment logic, enabling quick setup and confident reconfiguration.
The full set-up sequence, from box to kit, unfolding, connecting, and ready to play.
Multiple configurations supported, with a modular structure designed for part replacement and ongoing serviceability.
Field research at Umeå Music School (Kulturskolan i Umea) and Toontrack, alongside experiments exploring how a drum kit can talk to you and teach you to play.
An interactive concept video demonstrating how the kit teaches you to play, letting the drums guide beginners through their very first steps.
