Alesis SR 16

F

fenderdude

New member
Hello to all,
I have a Alesis SR 16, it is a very cool machine but I have two questions. Can anyone recommend a good footswitch for it? I have an old reverb switch that works with it but you have to click it twice. Also, I am interested in building my own drum tracks, any good resources that can walk me through that???
Thanks in advance
Fenderdude... :)
 
I used to have a Roland foot pedal that would stop and start the machine. I forget the model # but it's just a start stop foot pedal. There can't be too many of them.

As for building Drum tracks... First you have to make patterns and fills then arrange them in a song. The manual tells you how to do all of this. It's a time consuming process. I haven't found an easier way to build them than to get bag of pretzels and a soda, kick back on the couch with the SR-16 and some headphones and get comfortable cause it could take a while getting it all exactly right. It's nice when it's all done though.
 
I just always make my own. The presets are not that great. With todays music, it's all very dynamic and sometimes a couple of patterns playing in a loop won't cut it. That's why it takes so long to program the SR16. My plans are to use the SR16 until I can afford a good acoustic kit and some good mics and then ask/pay one of my friends who can play drums (better than me) to help me out. Then my SR16 becomes a glorified metronome.

Chris
 
Regarding the footswitch, sounds like you might have a push on/push off switch (commonly used for guitar amps). The SR-16 needs a momentary-contact switch (i.e. makes contact when you push it, then breaks contact when you take your foot off). I just picked up a couple of cheap "sustain footswitches" in the keyboard section of my local Guitar Center.

Here's a couple of links to similar switches (mine was a no-name, el-cheapo brand):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/151551/
http://www.music123.com/search/?src=sustain+footswitch

Basically, you're looking for a "momentary" or "non-latching" footswitch.
 
bgonderi said:
Regarding the footswitch, sounds like you might have a push on/push off switch (commonly used for guitar amps). The SR-16 needs a momentary-contact switch (i.e. makes contact when you push it, then breaks contact when you take your foot off). I just picked up a couple of cheap "sustain footswitches" in the keyboard section of my local Guitar Center.

Here's a couple of links to similar switches (mine was a no-name, el-cheapo brand):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/151551/
http://www.music123.com/search/?src=sustain+footswitch

Basically, you're looking for a "momentary" or "non-latching" footswitch.
Click to expand...
Does that mean you have to keep your foot on it the whole time to keep it playing? Or do you click it once to turn it on and once to turn it off?
 
Yeah, you click it once to turn on and again to turn off. I got a cheap one like this at Radio Shack... I use it for punch-in on my 4 track. It would do the same for you though. Don't remember what I paid for it , but it was pretty cheap. It's just plastic , but I haven't managed to break it yet.
 
Yeah, the ones I have are plastic too (if you want metal, it looks like Boss has a momentary switch - their stompboxes seem to be fairly well-constructed). Didn't think to check RS:

Sustain Switch

Tape recorder footswitch
1/8" to 1/4" adapter

The second switch looks similar to the first (the picture on the web site anyway), but has the wrong connecter. You still come out ahead $$$-wise if you get the adapter, but then you'll have a fairly long, solid, plug coming out of your SR-16 (which might not be a good thing - easier for stuff to get broken that way).

To answer your question about holding the switch down, no, you don't have to hold it down continuously. There are two switch inputs on the back of the SR-16 - one is for Start/Stop, and has a similar function to the PLAY/STOP buttons. If stopped, push switch to PLAY. If playing, push switch to STOP. The second jack is labeled Count/A/B/Fill and functions a lot like the Fill switch on the SR-16 (in fact, it duplicates this button when playing patterns). You can also use it to tap to set the tempo.

Not sure if you're aware, but you can download the manual for the SR-16 from Alesis' web site. Scroll down to "Drums" on the right, and you can download three files - the full reference manual, a Getting Started guide (which covers the footswitches on page 9, and also basic pattern and song-writing), and a program chart.

I agree with chris-from-ky - I thought that some of the built-in patterns were interesting to listen to, but there really wasn't anything there that I wanted to use, so I made my own. I'm fairly new to the device, so I haven't done any songs yet - only patterns. The quantize feature is good for keeping you on track.

You can also use the SR-16 as a sound module and control it from your PC using MIDI. I don't think you can program patterns or songs this way, but you can write the songs on your PC using a MIDI-capable program, and then use the SR-16 to generate the drum/percussion sounds.
 
Thanks guys, also, bgonderi, so your saying you can get another swtich and use that one to control the fills etc?
 
AHHh, checked out the getting started guide, for some reason I don't think that came with my machine, very helpful!
 
bgonderi,
Hey, just wanted to say thanks, I picked up one of those foot switches and it works like a charm! Just what I needed. Let me know if you have any other tips! I was looking at the quick start guide, am I correct that you can tap a tempo and the SR16 will match the tempo? Does this apply to presets as well?
Thanks
Fenderdude
 
Yup - there are two switch inputs on the back of the SR-16. One for start/stop, and one for A/B/Fill (so you'll need two footswitches to use them both simultaneously - of course, you can use just one at a time too).

I'm on the road right now, so I don't have my SR-16 in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that if you tap them tempo on the keypads or the footswitch, it'll set the tempo for the current item, which would work for both your own stuff and the built-in patterns (not 100% sure on the built-in stuff, but easy enough to try).
 
Tap tempo can be achieved via the stop key on the SR16 or the start/stop footswitch.

In my experience, it's good if you can see the tempo as you tap it because our lack of precision in tapping exact bps can throw the machine into thinking your wanting a different tempo than the one you want.

Or maybe I just stink at tapping the correct tempo, but I rest easier when I can see the screen of the SR16 and know it's not getting anything other than what I'm sending.

Chris
 
Small correction to chris's post. You can tap tempo on the stop key or on the a/b/fill footswitch, when the machine is stopped. (If you tap the stop/start footswitch, it will start - or stop!)

Orc
 
The pedal I used to use is a Roland/Boss DP-2. DP means damper pedal and it's a momentary switch type of pedal. Their cheap too.
 
I've been using this machine, and i have one major issue with the tap tempo setting. The algorithm it uses to determine your BPM takes too long to give the correct output!
Other metronomes simply measure the time between your last tap and the previous tap. This machine seems to average it over time. Which sounds ok at first, until you try to go from a fast song to a slow song. In that instance it can take up to 16 taps for the AR16 to correctly determine the BPM!
Is there any way to change this?
 
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