Drum Machines

[Whyte Ice]

How many of you use drum machines on recordings? Do you like it better than real drums?

Today I had my first taste with a drum machine, I've heard it being used by others but I've never really sat down and actually tried it myself and all I can say is that I love this thing. It is my friends Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-770 and its great. Its got so many different sounds and its alot more convienent and easier to record with than with my drum set.

I may be interested in getting my own drum machine for playing around with. What drum machines are recommended? What drum machines can produce a more realistic drum sound? I know nothing can compete with a real drummer but this is something I could hook up when i'm lazy to set up my drums, mics, & stands.

[Gidge]

I use Fruity loops software....

[blakel]

i use Fruity loops also
its all i need
just find some nice samples
im 99.99% content with the ones i got
took me a while but its worth it
me drums sound real as can be

[Sonic Misfit]

I picked up a Roland Dr-5 and use it for a lot of the drum recording. Sometimes I midi it to the drum kits on my Korg X5 to give me some additional kits.

The thing I like about the drum machine is the ability to set up programs that will be consistent. The problem with live drummers is that they don't always hit the snare with consistency.

The problem with most drum machines is that the cymbals sound really weak. To fix that I run a track with sampled cymbals from Acid.

[mikeh]

You don't indicate what your budget is, but the Alesis SR16 is a good sounding, affordable machine. The Roland DR5 isn't bad either.

What you need to decide is - Do you want a machine with a lot of built in grooves? Do you want to program your own grooves? Do you want to play the "buttons" on the machine vs. connecting pads to the machine? Do you want to use software a with drum sampes?

All these factors will determine what you get and how much you spend.

[Gargamel]

The sr16 is doo doo.............look on ebay for a Boss DR-5, DR770 or 660....even the MKII by Boss (bottom of the line) blows the SR16 away. They should change the name of the SR16 to SRS16.........SRS16 (sounds real shitty 16)

[Seanmorse79]

I've tried a whole mess of them, including the Alesis SR-16, the Boss Dr Rhytem Section, and PC based ones, and I swear by the Zoom 234. The drums sounds are incredibly realistic, and it's very easy to work with (except when you're using it as a MIDI sound generator ....see my posted question). If you take your time and program a decent track, it's very hard to tell that it's a drum machine. I've had people ask me how I mic'd the drums to get them to sound so good (g).

[Gargamel]

If you are using a midi sequencer with your drum machine there are a couple of tricks you can do in order to make drum machines sterile performance sound more like a human........

1. Set up a tempo map at certain points in the song (speed up the tempo by a few bpm's at the choruses of the song)

2. Record the midi track and edit the velocity of certain drum hits.

***************************************************
Get ACID and buy the DRUM TOOLS CD. i use this exclusively for my drum tracks

[Crash]

What about the big players like the Roland TR series or Akai MPC line? Do these add value that make them worth the price?

I'm planning on using Digidesign's recording software and pulling loops from places like multiloops.com. I'd like an external programmable drum source too but am very confused on whether to go software of hardware. It's a necessity that it be both realtime and software programmable.

Any suggestion?

Thanks in advance!!

[Gargamel]

Roland TR Series???? hmmmmm, I'm a Roland Whore. I never heard of the TR series.

[Atwork]

Roland TR808 and TR909. I'm sure you've heard of them. They're more famous than most of the people who use them.

[Atwork]

Also the TR606, TR707 and TR626, which aren't as famous.

[Gargamel]

Duh.....that TR series....I was thinking new (not Old)

[Badger]

Personally, I liked the Sr-16, and wish I hadn't sold mine. I have a zoom now, and It sounds great. The midi kinda sucks, but other than that...

[GT]

I have a SR-16, got Zoom 123. The Zoom sounds and plays much better.

I really don't know why the SR-16 is still around.

[Dimmi]

You guys are true heroes...I must say.

I've been sequencing drums in Cakewalk all my life (that's your another drum machine) and got pretty good at it, but, the longer I did it, the more frustration it took me to compose a drum track for each song. I must add to what was said before by others...

At last, I came to the realization that, even though you CAN make a programmed drum track sound really good, it takes TOO MUCH time. So much time, that in the long run, it is not even worth it, at least, not for me.

Sure, you can always start with a looped measure, copy it over the whole song. And then record the song, and add variety to the drums later. That's what I used to do. But one problem with that is that your song will always end up having a DEAD feeling to it. Because as musicans record their parts, they hear a dead drum track, and consequently, tend to perform in a lifeless manner.

Though it seems theoretically possible, when working on a project this way, there is no practical way to get a breathing, energetic track. You can spend lots of time with a drum machine, composing a track, but in this case you run the risk of losing your inspiration for the whole song before you are even done with drums.

That's why I have ordered a Roland V-Club e-drum set yesterday. Whoof. I am thankful to my destiny that my music, from this point on, won't be bound by this curse...this source of limitless frustration ... PROGRAMMED DRUMS

Look guys, this is where programmed drums got me...

http://mp3.com/dimmi

Only so far.

[GT]

Dimmi,

You nailed it. I usually just use presets, programing is a pain. I would rather play my guitar.

They should make a drum machine with a thousand random fills, that were footswitch activated, now that would be cool.

[Dimmi]

I've been pondering on an idea also a while ago.

I was going to try to write a "virtual drummer" program. A program that would listen to you play guitar through a mic (any mic connected to a computer would do), and by picking up the dynamics of your playing would figure out the tempo/where the fills should be/etc. and drum along with you.

Now, that would be cool. It's too bad that lately I got lazy and hesitated to get into how to interpret digital audio data. I am sure it would not be impossible to implement at all. The program would just use the high peaks as your tempo, and where dynamics radically go up, there is chorus... Of course, all that would be with "human" mistakes, imperfect tempo, delayed/early snares/cymbals...

Allright, back into our world...

[bubinski]

Drum machines ?
I been through 3 SR16's in the last 10 years playin in duo's. Just got a new one last week. I have about 300 songs programmed in song mode on backup tape. It is the best unit to use in a live performing situation.
I got sick of hearing the same sounds about a year ago and got a DR 770. It sounds great and has more sounds and memory than the SR16, but it don't work well in a live situation, on the fly, than the SR16. It doe's work way better for programming songs and useing for recording.
I would suggest the SR16 for live playing in a duo, and the DR770 for programming songs for recording.
I play Bass and run the SR16 in a duo and it is great. I live in S.W. Montana and there are lots of guys with drums, but there are no drummers. Therefore, I love my SR16.
Know the difference between a drummer and a drum machine ?
You only have to punch the information into a drum machine once.
And it won't try to f#*k your girlfriend. and it don't get drunk and fall off the stool.
Bubinski.