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I've decided to flip my electribe because it felt super tedious to use. I want to replace it with a fun drum machine, and a fun sequencer. I need presets, lots of knobs, the ability to be synced to other things, but above all it has to be fun.

What do you folks use? What's the funnest drum machine? I kind of want to get but the volca sample again, it was super duper flexible and awesome. But I'm also curious about the akai rhythm wolf/cat and the Drumbrute? The drumbrute looks like it's a little too complicated to be able to sit down and make fun time beats in a few minutes?

Also, bonus points for opinions on how fun the beatstep pro is.

the drumbrute is super intuitive and easy to use. you'll get a beat going as soon as you hit record I've tried a bunch and think it's the funnest so far. no menu diving. sequencer and random feature rules. I wouldn't mind having one again..., but I got behndy'd. I would like to try a beatstep pro with a sampler next.

Dunno if this is applicable, but I've recently seen machines like the Roland MC-303 and Yamaha RM-1X go for stupid low prices. The MC has CR78, 606, 808 and 909 samples, and the RM-1x supposedly doubles a quite the capable sequencer. Also, being sample based, they have a wider palette ON TAP, though with less options of tweaking the actual sounds

SR-16 + pedals

Although it would be nice to apply FX separately, not to the entire mix.

Which electribe do you have? Newer one?

I didn't like the new ones and went back to the trusty EMX1 and ESX1. Much more user friendly IMO. But that could be because I have used 'em for so long. The EMX is awesome and super flexible. I've had good look with my friends drumbrute too.

I have 2 of these, but they don't rly fit your description other than FUN/good sounds:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SelLHekjFcU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFirVdIPV9Q[/youtube]

I like sample based drums I've realized. Volca sample is hella fun

Brandsmannen wrote:I like sample based drums I've realized. Volca sample is hella fun

Sample is great, I love mine.
But I got a chance to hear it side by the side the Beats yesterday, and the Beats really seems to have a much bigger sound.

Both are real fun machines though.
If fun is the imperative thing.

An option that doesn't check most of your boxes but is all the fun:
Organelle.
Absolutely the most fun I ever have programming drums, and also real versatile.

Fun.

Don't the Volca Sample sound just about exactly as "big" as the sounds you sample?

actualidiot wrote:Don't the Volca Sample sound just about exactly as "big" as the sounds you sample?

The sample memory is real small and there's unavoidable compression loss when transferring new samples.
I loaded some acoustic jazz drums a couple weeks ago, and they didn't sound the same by the time they arrived.

The storage capacity is 4mb.
For everything.

But I'm not saying it's whimpy.
It's a great drum machine and a fun device overall.
It's just something to be mindful of before buying one.

Right on. Hadn't even read the specifications, I just assumed it sampled at like 44.1/24-bit, but it's 31.25/16-bit. Dunno if that necessarily make things sound "smaller" though.

I'm lovin' the acoustic drum samples on the microGranny I just got. Sooo dirty.

resincum wrote:the drumbrute is super intuitive and easy to use. you'll get a beat going as soon as you hit record I've tried a bunch and think it's the funnest so far. no menu diving. sequencer and random feature rules. I wouldn't mind having one again..., but I got behndy'd. I would like to try a beatstep pro with a sampler next.

hmmm.... That sounds very promising! I gotta go see if I can find one to try out.


....those grooveboxes look cool, but that's kind of what I'm trying to get away from. I don't want a box that requires lots of menu-diving and button combos to make lots of changes.

Antlerface wrote:Which electribe do you have? Newer one?

Yeah, I've got the ES2. It's super capable, but I'm really frustrated at how much menu diving there is. It feels like everything I want to do requires menu-diving. By the time I'm ready to make music I've lost interest. The workflow isn't fun I thought it was going to be like using a Volca on steroids.



.....that ED10 has some cool sounds. But I am really bad at playing things like that. If I end up getting a beatstep pro this could be a fun thing to add, though

Brandsmannen wrote:I like sample based drums I've realized. Volca sample is hella fun

I loved the one I had before. The sound quality's not perfect but it doesn't really matter after it's been sliced and looped and pitched down three octaves. The big downsides for me were the limited presets and the weird workaround to load samples onto it. This one's high on the list, but I don't want to re buy this if there's a better option.

askashrub wrote: An option that doesn't check most of your boxes but is all the fun:
Organelle.
Absolutely the most fun I ever have programming drums, and also real versatile.

Fun.

I am REALLY tempted by this box of potentially infinite sounds and possibilities. But I think I want to restrict my computer programming to work (outside of the axoloti looper).

blakestree wrote:I'm lovin' the acoustic drum samples on the microGranny I just got. Sooo dirty.

This just plays samples and you can apply effects to them? It looks fun for making weird noises, but I didn't think it could be used as a drum machine without some kind of external sequencing or inherent rhythm skills?

tremolo3 wrote:SR-16 + pedals

Although it would be nice to apply FX separately, not to the entire mix.

I bought a SR-18 recently and it has not been any fun at all so far. I'm not really sure if it's because the machine itself is hard to use or that I should have already learned to play a real drum set before buying it and trying to program it. Seems like I should have. I'm not a good enough musician to always know what time sig I'm playing in.

Yeah, I'm new to drum machines...

Bloodhammer wrote:
I bought a SR-18 recently and it has not been any fun at all so far. I'm not really sure if it's because the machine itself is hard to use or that I should have already learned to play a real drum set before buying it and trying to program it. Seems like I should have. I'm not a good enough musician to always know what time sig I'm playing in.

Yeah, I'm new to drum machines...

I felt like that when I got serious into guitar, I played it like if I were playing drums... it was fucking frustrating, but now I use pedals =]