coldbrightsunlight wrote:I found the Volca Sample to be a much more fun drum machine for me than the Beats, because of some of the other features, and there are plenty of good drum samples in it plus I added some cool ones of my own.
But depending what flavour you're after, I'd recommend either!
I think most people agree that the Beats ((mostly) analogue drum machine) sucks. Most people seem to judge it completely useless unless you at the very least mod the snare. And even then, it isn't great-sounding. (Personally, I do like the kick sound.) You either get the Sample (sample sequencer) or the Drums (drum synthesiser and sequencer). Personally, I'm enamoured by the latter.
The DrumBrute is more expensive than the Volcas (where I'm at, it'd be a difference of more than $100). I haven't tried it myself, but I think it looks cool. I kind of want one! Not to hi-jack the thread, but can you synchronise that easily with Volca synths? I.e. can I set 176 bpm and hit play on my NuBass and Keys, and have the DrumBrute just work?
Deltaphoenix wrote:The sampler and the app recommendations are both solid alternatives for drums/percussion/boom noises. I would imagine out of the more normal drum machines mentioned, the Arturia has the most range in regards to being able to sculpt the sound, I am sure it can make great and noisy textures too.
Not sure if you use Apple stuff but you can do a ton with Patterning, even on the iPhone version. It has a great interface, is easily set-up for unique poly-meter/poly-rhythms. It has a massive library of great sounds that are organized into kits (user community provided samples/kits, tons of cool stuff sampled), you can make your own kits with the individual samples, etc.. I would start there and decide if you need/want anything else. You can go a long way with just Patterning as it has a lot of great parameters (for the sample, for effects built-in, for the sequencer).
I own quite a bit of synth/drum machine hardware - this app is a badass.
I do use Apple stuff, but my phone's an SE and so pretty hard to get anything serious done on it. That being said, I just got the free version of Patterning, and holy crap that's a lot of fun.
Also, the Drumbrute doesn't have a sampler, does it?
the Circuit is a lot of fun & super intuitive.
it does not sample on its own, but the four drum parts is a sample player
the two synth parts are presets with modulation macros on the knobs
there is a lot you can do with it as it comes
but if you really want to get into it, sounddesign
you need to hook it up to a computer and use the editor
ProCarsteNation wrote:the Circuit is a lot of fun & super intuitive. it does not sample on its own, but the four drum parts is a sample player
the two synth parts are presets with modulation macros on the knobs
there is a lot you can do with it as it comes
but if you really want to get into it, sounddesign
you need to hook it up to a computer and use the editor
Do you mean that it does not actually record samples, but samples can be loaded onto (into?) it?
And I'm presuming that once you edit shit on the computer you can then save that shit to the unit itself and then go play with it, right?
Mono Station is an analog synth, it’s basically a sequencer version of the Bass Station — it’s a “parasynth” so you can sequence notes for both oscillators, but they run through the same ADSR & VCA (idk my synth terms, think that’s right). You can *technically* use it as a drum machine with the software update that lets you “patch flip,” but it’s a PITA to use it that way imo.
I love the machine tho, but for drum sounds, I’ve got more use out of creating bass drum sounds on it and loading those into a sampler.
I have an Electribe ES-1 and Model:Samples — I’m really happy with both, probably either would work for you. M:S took me a fair bit of time to get used to menu diving, but it’s quite tweakable and has randomness features and other ways to make beats more humanistic. Don’t discount the ES-1 just bc it’s old and has the audio fidelity of old mp3s! It’s a great instrument, much easier to pick up and play, can sample live or without a computer.. Obviously it has limitations, but it’s fun. From what I understand no one was very impressed with the Electribe 2 reboot. Also there’s a hacked & improved OS for the ER-1 out there, so I’ve been thinking of getting one of those
coldbrightsunlight wrote:I found the Volca Sample to be a much more fun drum machine for me than the Beats, because of some of the other features, and there are plenty of good drum samples in it plus I added some cool ones of my own.
But depending what flavour you're after, I'd recommend either!
I think most people agree that the Beats ((mostly) analogue drum machine) sucks. Most people seem to judge it completely useless unless you at the very least mod the snare. And even then, it isn't great-sounding. (Personally, I do like the kick sound.) You either get the Sample (sample sequencer) or the Drums (drum synthesiser and sequencer). Personally, I'm enamoured by the latter.
The DrumBrute is more expensive than the Volcas (where I'm at, it'd be a difference of more than $100). I haven't tried it myself, but I think it looks cool. I kind of want one! Not to hi-jack the thread, but can you synchronise that easily with Volca synths? I.e. can I set 176 bpm and hit play on my NuBass and Keys, and have the DrumBrute just work?
Oh yeah I forgot the Volca Drums even existed and just read "beats" dangerous to post while tired.
Volcas can be sync'd to external gear yeah using MIDI or DIN sync (I had Beats which worked great and Sample which hated being sync'd and I could never do it right - I think Sample is the only one that's funny like this). As the DrumBrute seems to have both MIDI and DIN out you ought to be able to use it to clock your Keys and NuBass, yeah (using DIN clock for one and MIDI for the other, if it outputs both at once, which it should do?). I would need to look further into the manuals to be totally sure but on the face of it it looks possible.
coldbrightsunlight wrote:I found the Volca Sample to be a much more fun drum machine for me than the Beats, because of some of the other features, and there are plenty of good drum samples in it plus I added some cool ones of my own.
But depending what flavour you're after, I'd recommend either!
I think most people agree that the Beats ((mostly) analogue drum machine) sucks. Most people seem to judge it completely useless unless you at the very least mod the snare. And even then, it isn't great-sounding. (Personally, I do like the kick sound.) You either get the Sample (sample sequencer) or the Drums (drum synthesiser and sequencer). Personally, I'm enamoured by the latter.
The DrumBrute is more expensive than the Volcas (where I'm at, it'd be a difference of more than $100). I haven't tried it myself, but I think it looks cool. I kind of want one! Not to hi-jack the thread, but can you synchronise that easily with Volca synths? I.e. can I set 176 bpm and hit play on my NuBass and Keys, and have the DrumBrute just work?
Oh yeah I forgot the Volca Drums even existed and just read "beats" dangerous to post while tired.
Volcas can be sync'd to external gear yeah using MIDI or DIN sync (I had Beats which worked great and Sample which hated being sync'd and I could never do it right - I think Sample is the only one that's funny like this). As the DrumBrute seems to have both MIDI and DIN out you ought to be able to use it to clock your Keys and NuBass, yeah (using DIN clock for one and MIDI for the other, if it outputs both at once, which it should do?). I would need to look further into the manuals to be totally sure but on the face of it it looks possible.
Thanks for the input. That's encouraging. I'm going to buy a drum thing sometime this year, so now I have to consider the DrumBrute as well. (By the way, you only need to synch to one Volca. You can then synch from that one to the next one. It is pretty precise/clever, so it works well. I guess maybe it adjusts for lag? Or maybe the lag is imperceptibly little.)
dangerous to post while tired.