DRUM MACHINE SUGGESTIONS PLEASE

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

several of the drum machines mentioned by myself and blu can be had for roughly around 100

[sev]

I've said it before.....I swear by the MPC (the XL to be exact).
It's a chameleon. It's a million drum machines in one.

[Chumley]

MPC500. That will be all.

[stanimal]

ALL OF THESE SUGGESTIONS ARE FANTASTIC.... just want to make that clear, you guys know your shit and that's why i posted that here..... the fact that that rhymes is totally by accident, i swear....

but because i'm a nerb with this drum machine thing (that's right, nerb, a nerd who is new... just coined that, copyright 2010 ST ) i have the following that i am considering..... for me at the moment these are for practice at home only, with the potential to use them to lay down some tracks in the near future on my mac.....

(in no particular order)
Boss DR-770
Zoom MRT3
Alesis SR-16

the other ones listed here are so badass but out of my price range or a little too difficult to locate locally (did i forget to mention that?) BUT if i manage to kick this thing in the teeth and need an upgrade i'll be coming back to this thread real soon....


anyone have experience with any of these...?

[kosta]

Expensive as hell but sick looking:

http://alien-devices.com/circuit-bent-a ... -16-b.html

I wonder if there are similar opportunities with the Alesis you mentioned? Also - if you're just looking for something to do slightly-sexier-than-click-track drums with would Garage Band work?

[stanimal]

yeah of course in the back of my mind i am thinking i could bend the box at some point and that's why i am hesitating to spend more than $150 on something.... because i'm gonna crack that shit open....

my problem with garageband is that i don't have the patience to cut and paste drum tracks to create a actual song..... i figure if i have a machine i can build something easier that way... unless you know how to do that on garageband, help a forumite out....

[jrmy]

I have a DR-770 that I got a few weeks ago... but I haven't even busted it out of the box yet... I do so much work at the computer that drum machines are feeling a little redundant for my uses right now.

[stanimal]

jrmy,
talk to me.... what are you doing with computers? what programs?? curious.......

[kosta]

I know nothing about GB unfortunately, sorry man.

[jrmy]

jrmy,
talk to me.... what are you doing with computers? what programs?? curious.......

Nothing crazy... just Garageband for my own personal stuff. I do use the drum loops it comes with, and used to try to sequence them "normally." Recently I've given up on that (it's often really stiff), and tend to use effects on the loops to make them mine. You can do a lot with the track echo effects - if you tweak them and double them up (since you've got two slots they can be on per instrument), you can get some great Neu-esque repetitive stuff. Layer some percussion (shakers & spacy cymbal hits FTW!) and that's my whole shebang.

For my "real" band, we record in Digital Performer and Logic, but my bandmate handles all the beats there - he's the REAL drum programming guy (and the real drummer). I just nod along and tell him "Yeah, that one. That's cool. Or do that thing with the hi-hat... no, not that thing, the other thing... yeah, THAT thing!"



So I guess my short answer would be that you need my bandmate... but I don't think he wants to commute...

[kosta]

And on a muuuuuuch simpler level:

http://www.hobnox.com/index.1056.en.html

TONS of fun though.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

Expensive as hell but sick looking:

http://alien-devices.com/circuit-bent-a ... -16-b.html

I wonder if there are similar opportunities with the Alesis you mentioned? Also - if you're just looking for something to do slightly-sexier-than-click-track drums with would Garage Band work?

ooohh i just sent my 626 to this guy to get modded....he does sr16 mods in addition to the hr16s.....i think the price is rather fair if you can supply your own drum machine...for example like an hr16 might only cost u like 50-100 bucks, then 125-150 for the mods...not too bad.

..theres also some modded hr16s at bigcitymusic.com which are like 250-350 i believe...still a little up there, but less than the alien devices.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

stanimal....ahh locally, now i see.....what about something for your computer? like a VST type deal (some are free, some are pay) (guru, tatatouie (sp?), ruction,liveslice,DKplus) or any sequencer (reason,acid,live,etc) and some sounds? create drum patterns that way, u could even get some midi pads like an mpd or triggerfinger, padkontrol so u could bang out the durms instead of copy and paste. if u need sounds i'd be happy to send u some of the drums i've compiled over the years...or is your heart set on a hardware drum machine? (i wouldn't blame u if it is, drum machines are )

the advantage of getting something more open ended over (most) drum machines is that you aren't restricted to the sounds on the drum machine itself, which can get stale over time.

[Bellyheart]

Something to look into but I'm sure maintaining it would be awful.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB08leFMRnM[/youtube]

[kosta]

That Monkey Drummer vid is bonkers.

Anybody else see tis crazy wii-mote controlled percussion rig? Seriously sweet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b-tWK6AeLY[/youtube]

Plus - it's called J A Z A R I.