Advice on a decent drum machine for older music genres?

[samurai]

Aha!
Is that a 4 track O.R. as in four in four out like my Teac A3440?

BTW, I hope you are handy with a solder iron? You are going to need a LOT of leads (8 j2? just for tape!) some of which might be specials.

Dave.

Sadly Dave, it's not a model like the A3440....I was going to purchase one of those back when I was on the road but then gave everything up ! They fetch enormous prices now... if only....

No, mine is just a regular 4 track DS series Akai... you can put a few tracks on tracks but eventually even though it has low S to N, it still falls off after 4 or 5 tracks but it's good for practice.

I wasn't too bad with soldering iron at one time and once built a small desk mixer for use with recording deck and few mic and other boosters for stage use so I'm not scared of wires LOL.

I think perhaps the attraction of the Alesis AI is the familiarity of looks of the machine for me....I need to do a bit more research before I plump for one that will suit me and my needs!

Tony

 

[DebErney]

I'm an older musician, just got back into it 2 years ago. I had a boss 670? Drum machine for a few years and never liked it. The beats were to abstract for my taste. I sold it on eBay and got an Alesia's sr16. It's an older based drum machine, perfect for those of us playing 50s, 60s, and 70s. The beats are of an older genre, very easy to use and program, especially compared to the Boss. I was worried about the sound quality but it hasn't been a problem recording or performing. I've been really happy with it. As an older musician, I'm a bit skeptical of using computer based systems live. Something always goes out when I'm performing, not to mention having to go through screens and programs to locate what I'm looking for. I've always had problems with latency on computer based recording just when I've gotten to a good place with a recording, latency starts bogging the system down. I record with standalone recorder then mix on the computer. I tried an rc-30 looper but it's just a bit much to do on the fly while performing live. Selling it on eBay. Recently started using an ipad for a songbook and just now getting into the performing aspects of it. But for now, I'm sticking with the tried and true drum machine.

 

[Knuckle47]

Looks like we're coming out of the woodwork, as they say. All of these guys that used to be... Tony, it's as if we are leading the same life. But my story is that after 8 years with Cubase and many upgrades within I know I can never know enough about it to utilize it ...but it has given me some great recordings I hope to leave behind some day hopefully 40 or more years from now.

I still have a TR-505. Drum machine and a 1967 FuzzTone . The choices recommended here are all great ones. I might imagine your greatest challenge is the time to learn what you eventually choose. My interface , a MOTU 896HD, is now 9 years old but has performed flawlessly as a sound card and ASIO device within Cubase. As for the dance music drums I have here, they hurt my head. I've yet to find the music I know best but I keep plugin' away! Best of luck....

 

[samurai]

I'm an older musician, just got back into it 2 years ago. I had a boss 670? Drum machine for a few years and never liked it. The beats were to abstract for my taste. I sold it on eBay and got an Alesia's sr16. It's an older based drum machine, perfect for those of us playing 50s, 60s, and 70s. The beats are of an older genre, very easy to use and program, especially compared to the Boss. I was worried about the sound quality but it hasn't been a problem recording or performing. I've been really happy with it. As an older musician, I'm a bit skeptical of using computer based systems live. Something always goes out when I'm performing, not to mention having to go through screens and programs to locate what I'm looking for. I've always had problems with latency on computer based recording just when I've gotten to a good place with a recording, latency starts bogging the system down. I record with standalone recorder then mix on the computer. I tried an rc-30 looper but it's just a bit much to do on the fly while performing live. Selling it on eBay. Recently started using an ipad for a songbook and just now getting into the performing aspects of it. But for now, I'm sticking with the tried and true drum machine.

Thanks for the input!
I don't intend to do live shows again... I had enough of that when I was pro for 13 years... I just want to do a bit of recording for pleasure to see if I still have anything left in me! .
I'll definitely go down the road of digital BUT what you've just shown me is that it might just be the kind of drum machine I'm looking for! I've had a glance at a couple of YouTube clips and it sounds good... I particularly want to reproduce some of the old 50's R&R backbeats.... can it do that?

Tony

 

[DM60]

For the money and if you're going to stay digital, you probably would have more options and after using what was provided, a VSTi would serve you the best and easiest. You should at least give them a look. I know SD has most of the grooves already to go and can be put into your arrangement so much easier.

I understand if you want to go a more comfortable path, but it may not be the most comfortable in the long run. You should look into it.

 

[samurai]

Looks like we're coming out of the woodwork, as they say. All of these guys that used to be... Tony, it's as if we are leading the same life. But my story is that after 8 years with Cubase and many upgrades within I know I can never know enough about it to utilize it ...but it has given me some great recordings I hope to leave behind some day hopefully 40 or more years from now.

I still have a TR-505. Drum machine and a 1967 FuzzTone . The choices recommended here are all great ones. I might imagine your greatest challenge is the time to learn what you eventually choose. My interface , a MOTU 896HD, is now 9 years old but has performed flawlessly as a sound card and ASIO device within Cubase. As for the dance music drums I have here, they hurt my head. I've yet to find the music I know best but I keep plugin' away! Best of luck....

It's good to hear from older musicians and how they did it in their day!

I was never in it for fame although I did very well out of it - I was rather mercenary and in it for money and by the ripe old age of 22 I was the proud owner of 2 fully paid for by cash, but derelict houses which I bought from my endeavours and spent most of my earnings over the next 3 years lovingly restoring them and as a result have never had a mortgage on any subsequent home I have owned. It set me up for life and I was able to to university later in life whilst still looking after my wife and kids but by then music was no longer a feature of my life.
I often missed the touring days and the big cars and all those other things that are best not mentioned D ) but I've still enjoyed my life very much

Now I'm a bit longer in the tooth but I can take as much time off as I wish and getting back into music will hopefully bring back a bit of something that has always been lacking for me!
Once I've got my kit sorted...I should be OK... I'll build a separate computer for my kit and I have a spare room to set it all up in so that's not a problem..and I'm sure if they could send men to the moon, I can learn to use Cubase et al !

Tony

 

[samurai]

For the money and if you're going to stay digital, you probably would have more options and after using what was provided, a VSTi would serve you the best and easiest. You should at least give them a look. I know SD has most of the grooves already to go and can be put into your arrangement so much easier.

I understand if you want to go a more comfortable path, but it may not be the most comfortable in the long run. You should look into it.

No doubt it will give me a bit of a headache at first but I reckon I'll grasp it David... if I get stuck, this forum looks just the ticket to help me through the pain so I'm not too worried about trying new technology... back in the 80's I learned to program computers in Pascal and other languages so I guess a bit of computer music construction/recording won't harm me... it's just learning new techniques... music hasn't changed that much!

 

[DM60]

No doubt it will give me a bit of a headache at first but I reckon I'll grasp it David... if I get stuck, this forum looks just the ticket to help me through the pain so I'm not too worried about trying new technology... back in the 80's I learned to program computers in Pascal and other languages so I guess a bit of computer music construction/recording won't harm me... it's just learning new techniques... music hasn't changed that much!

Yes, and probably with your talents, you don't want to be limited. I can guarantee it is easier the Pascal I would guess within a day, maybe less, once you get it, see how it is arranged (I don't call it programing, using Pascal is programming), understand how to loop, copy (for variation) you will be giving us tips and tricks.

If you do go down the MIDI drum VSTi, don't forget velocity. Just as in the real world, velocity will be the difference in a good drum beat and bad.

Looking forward to hearing your recordings in your revived endeavor.

 

[dervish riff]

TR-505 is a deceptive little beast, the sounds aren't that great, but you can do some crazy things with the sequencer. Just work out your patterns and feed them into a modern AU or VSTi.