drum machine for recording...

R

RoOkiE85

New member
i need a good sound quality that almost sounds real but at an affordable price range drum machine/synthesiser.... not looking into the electric drum sets but more like the drum key pads...
 
Hey, Rookie. You might want to offer some more information if you want some good responses. Which models have you already found online? Which ones could you afford? What types of music do you play? For live or studio use? What do you mean by "key pads"? And maybe the biggest question of all: what have you already found after searching this forum, using the search function above? Good solid questions usually receive much better results here.

Good luck,
J.
 
Define "affordable" and "real."

I have a Roland TD-8 module, they sell for $700 new, and it does not sound particularly "real" to my ears. The TD-20 is much better, at about $1800.

The Drumkit From Hell Superior does sound "real" but the sound library itself costs $600, and will require some sort of sequencer to use, along with a fast computer, with a ton of RAM. So, depending on what you already have, DKFHS would be from $600-$6000.

Do you want to trigger it live from the drum pad dealie, or create a sequence step-wise?

Search for "drum module" on the web, and then find samples of the units in your price range. They may or may not be acceptable quality to you.
 
Well, what is your price range? I would recommend the BOSS units like the DR-770. I think they have by far the most control and adjustability. They can probably be had fairly cheap these days. I have also used the Zoom RT-123 and it was a pretty good unit as well. Both had pretty good sounds, but the realism would be largely up to the programmer. Alot of people would probably also recommend an Alesis SR-16, although I haven't used one personally, I hear they are good.
 
ermghoti said:
The Drumkit From Hell Superior does sound "real" but the sound library itself costs $600, and will require some sort of sequencer to use, along with a fast computer, with a ton of RAM. So, depending on what you already have, DKFHS would be from $600-$6000.
.
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Actually, DFHS is only $299 complete and will work with just about any MIDI sequencer. (I use it with Sonar) and yes, it will render ANY hardware drum machine completely useless. Although you have to be willing to program MIDI for your drums or perform them with a MIDI controller. Also of note is that the newest version of DFHS can actually run on significantly lesser computer than it used to due to new software developments. I can run it and only tie up about 135 Mb of memory and just a couple % points of my CPU power (2.4 GHz Athlon). For reference, it formerly used about 700 or 800 Mb's to run, more if you used all the options.
 
For the price, you will not find a more realistic drum solution than the one that metalhead28 and ermghoti mentioned - specifcally, using DFHS with a MIDI sequencer. I know you have Cakewalk from answering the very similar question you asked two weeks ago. Well, Cakewalk can be used as the MIDI sequencer, so all you would need is DFHS.

If $299 is too much, than I refer you to the answer I gave two weeks ago:

amonte said:
Unless you intend to use the drum machine for other purposes (like live performance, for instance), I think you will be much better off with a software based sequencer program. It will be a LOT more flexible and you'll have many more options in terms of sounds. It's not the best one out there by any means, but I'm using FruityLoops 4.1 right now, and it gets the job done.
Click to expand...

Once you have a sequencer program, you can use any samples you want to produce the drum sounds. You can try these out for FREE:

http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/ns_kit7freedownload.html

and you can download the FruityLoops demo and try it out for yourself. Here's the link:

http://www.tucows.com/get/209204_87241

Again, I don't think something like this would be better than DFHS, but if you're on a budget, and you want to "try it before you buy it", I say give it a shot first. You've got nothing to lose.
 
$600. LOL

Good catch. I, for some reason, was adding a few of the upgrades to DKFS.

BTW, this guy sells pakages of tweaked TD-8 kits. If I understand, there is no software change to the module, so, with time, you could duplicate these sounds on your own.

Edit: http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/ns_kit7freedownload.html

For free, those demo clips sound pretty darn good.

Double Edit: Oops. I assume the demos are from the full version, not the freebie.
 
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I use a TD-8 & Hart Dynamics kit to trigger DHF C&V samples. I record them "live" ( 8 channels + MIDI) just as if I were using "real" drums. This combination of using a "human-in-the-loop offers the most realistic sounding sampled drums you will ever get. Once I have the initial 8 track recorded, I use the MIDI track to record another 2 tracks for the ambience. Most of my drum tracks have been a min of 10 tracks.

I can tell you that this has not been inexpensive (DFH C&V cost + high end PC w/delta 1010) and I could have just as easily miced up my old slingerlands. However, with the lack of good qualitiy rooms in most home studios, why bother. Playing live and triggering the C&V samples will give you great results every time...it's a no brainer. You will be amazed at how good they do sound in the mix.
 
I'm not real "tech savvy" with this stuff...I have the SR 16 and it works OK. The samples are kinda shitty though, being only 16 bit. I wind up using all the dry samples and adding my own reverb. (the samples with reverb are pretty awful.) The crash cymbals are really bad too.They sound like a cross between a garbage can lid and a tamburine. I bought a cheap crash cymbal and dub it in live. The ride and hi-hats are ok. It's real easy to program too once you get the hang of it.
As much as I've "dissed" this thing i gotta say it works pretty well for as much as I need it for. I just do this for my own fun. Although when I play my stuff for my musician friends, they usually ask...."Who played the drums ?"
So it can't be all that bad... and I only paid $100.00 for it (used).
 
Simman, you wouldn't happen to have any finished samples, would you? I'd love to hear how the C&V kits sit in a mix.
 
I think the SPD-20 are on their way out.

Decent sounding drums and a great MIDI interface for $600US.

The bass drums push hella air through my monitors!
 
definitely the zoom rt-123 for a low-end purchase. anybody not knowing what this guy is looking for is being overly nitpicky. if a budget of $200-$300 is possible, one of the higher end zoom units would be perfect.

-mike
 
amonte said:
Simman, you wouldn't happen to have any finished samples, would you? I'd love to hear how the C&V kits sit in a mix.
Click to expand...

The smaple is a Paul McCartney tune (Every night) that was done quick & dirty. Vocals get real pitchy and not much time spent on the mix but hopefully it is sufficient to give you the idea.

EveryNight
 
Simman, you sold me. Those drums sound GREAT!

Does DFH allow you send drums to seperate channels? In other words, can you isolate the snare to one track so that you can add eq/compression/etc. through VST plugins?
 
DFHS will create a seperate audio track for each "mic" on the kit. All in all 14 different mics. So yeah, you can process each drum individually.
 
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