The TAIKO-1 uses a mesh surface rather than hard rubber to recreate the flexible feel of a drum’s skin without the loud noises. Each side of the drum has two zones that trigger different sounds — the center produces deep staccato hits while the edges create long, higher-pitched notes. And as with most electronic drums, the velocity of a hit determines the volume and pitch of the resulting sound. A sample library of traditional taiko drums comes with the TAIKO-1, but you can add your own lossless audio samples, too. The drum will help you tighten up your rhythm with plenty of on-board backing accompaniments and timing practice tracks.

The TAIKO-1 will be out in July and will cost $1,500. That sounds like a lot, but a traditional taiko drum of the same size and style — even when made and shipped from within the US — can cost more than double that. For those who don’t play taiko, the instrument could seem like a one-trick-pony. But for enthusiasts, this digital version of the traditional instrument is probably an exciting proposition.

In order to train the AI system, Sony’s researchers compiled data from 665 different songs from a wide range of genres including pop, rock and electronica. The songs all feature ryhthm instruments, bass, kick and snares that were available as separate 44.1kHZ audio tracks. With the contexual signals of those tracks, the researchers created drum kicks by setting a drum samples at all amplitude peaks. The AI system conditionally generates the kickdrum patterns based on the characteristics of the other material that it is placed around, regardless of the song’s tempo and changes in speed or duration.

Sony isn’t the only company that has toyed around with AI-assisted music. Facebook has used artificial intelligence to convert music of one genre to any number of other styles. Google likewise has experimented with AI’s ability to create art, building a project called Magenta that is tasked with generating musical and visual creations. Others have managed to use machine learning to create endless guitar riffs and complete musicals, though the results are pretty questionable in terms of quality.