Essentially, finger drumming is the art of playing a pad controller with your fingers in a rhythmic way. Finger drummers use electronic musical instruments called pad controllers, which are outfitted with grids of square buttons (usually 16, but sometimes up to 64 buttons).

Finger drumming has seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years, having harbored in the depths of obscurity just a few decades ago. It can be traced back to when hip-hop producers began experimenting with drum machines like the iconic Roland TR-808. As can be seen within hip-hop's entire ethos, necessity truly is the mother of invention; musicians were not constrained by any boundaries, allowing their creativity to truly flourish. Whilst the turntable remains a classic illustration of this sentiment, finger drumming has most certainly eclipsed it in the realm of instrumental innovation.

Tim Kroker is a professional drummer (e.g. Front 242) and finger drummer, who in the last few years has become interested in the question of whether a controller (e.g. Native Instruments Maschine, Akai MPC) can be regarded as a proper musical instrument. In this context, he seeks to transfer exercises and methods from the realm of already existing musical instruments to pad controllers. Moreover, he is investigating the many options that this new instrument may offer. At Sample Music Festival 2015, he provided insights into his work and presented a music notation system for pad controllers.