Snare sounds suck on Alesis SR-16!! What now?

[brianh]

I bought the Alesis Sr-16 for light home recording demos. But every single snare sound on here sounds horrible! It's either a wet paper bag hitting a wall, or a rock hitting a can. No plain old dry snare sound.

Are the snare sounds on the Yamaha DD-55 better? A bit more realistic with less drenching of reverb?

I just want a decent high hat, snare, and kick.

[travelin travis]

Use the SR-16 to trigger some soft sampler sounds, like the Natural Studio samples. You can get a free software sampler and the Natural Studio samples are free. I am assuming you have a sound card with MIDI in to be able to do this.

[EdWonbass]

You can also try stacking sounds. I like to mix a little timbale in with the snare to give it more tone. Also two snares tunes different time will give you a fatter sound.

[jeffree]

A few of the snare sounds on the Yamaha dd55 are excellent, IMO. (I'm currently using sample #27.) After a few weeks of recording with the 55, I've really become a huge fan of this $200 machine. But it's hard to recommend in some ways because the user-audience is so special...

* You need to be able to play the drums reasonably well and prefer drumming to programming.
* You need to have no space for a full set of any kind.
* You need to be willing to learn to play this unique machine, which is certainly different than a regular set. Trying to use it without a lot of practice, even by a pro drummer, would be a disaster.
* Above all, you need to get over the snob factor and understand that it might be a great toy for beginners, but that it can work very well in a home studio. The stereo-sampled sounds are surprisingly good, in some ways better than any drum machine I auditioned recently before buying (although I liked the pricey Boss 880 a lot). For very little money, this thing allows me to play drum tracks, with sticks and pedals, that have most of the improvisation and nuance of the real thing. But then again, those above considerations describe me well but may not do the same for you.

I'm finally putting together a website later this summer, and I'll post some of my first recordings with the 55. I have lots of gripes (small pads and pedals, not enough cymbal sustain, etc.), but for the piddly money, I'm having a ball and getting solid recording results. My rhythm tracks are now something I look forward to with enthusiasm, something I never felt while working with loops.

But I really can't recommend the 55 for anyone else unless you're in the same boat as me. It's a unique machine with a unique audience, which explains why some folks love it to pieces and others hate it.

J.

[brianh]

Jeffree, do you have any sounds samples of it in action? I'm looking for just some basic, dry, drums sounds for soft acoustic music.

[brianh]

You know, I'm using a Roland BR-8 to record with, and it only has RCA/1/4"/Midi out. Can I connect something like the DD-55 to the BR-8? I'm a total recording newb, just looking for the easiest means to put down some decent demos.

thanks

[jeffree]

Yo' Brian, I'll have my webpage up within a few weeks and will put a sample song there. I'll let you know if I can remember (summer brain drain). Better yet, try to find a place where you can audition the machine. I think it's really important to test a product, if possible, before buying--especially something as unusual as the dd55.

The DD55 has a standard 1/4" stereo out, so an appropriate y-cord can connect it to any type of recorder. It also has both midi-in and -out, which probably doesn't concern you now.

Good luck,
J.

[raab]

I hate the sr 16 more than any other drum machine i've ever heard. I have used the boss dr groove drum machine, a million times better tones and a million more editing options for each drum tone. i like the alesis HR 16, old school, no effects on those sampes at all.

again, i HAAAAAAAAAAATE the sr 16

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by brianh

You know, I'm using a Roland BR-8 to record with, and it only has RCA/1/4"/Midi out. Can I connect something like the DD-55 to the BR-8? I'm a total recording newb, just looking for the easiest means to put down some decent demos.

thanks

Wait a minute, doesn't the BR-8 have a MIDI drum machine built in? If that is the one I think it is - the drumsounds are WAY better than on the Alesis.


Tim

[EdWonbass]

Originally Posted by raab

I hate the sr 16 more than any other drum machine i've ever heard. I have used the boss dr groove drum machine, a million times better tones and a million more editing options for each drum tone. i like the alesis HR 16, old school, no effects on those sampes at all.

again, i HAAAAAAAAAAATE the sr 16

I have the old HR-16. I still use it. I think the sounds are pretty basic so you can almost treat them like real drums.