I have an old Alesis SR-16 drum machine. I'm wondering what the advantages might be to upgrade to a BOSS DR-770? Anyone familiar with both that might be able to help me decide?
BOSS DR-770 Dr. Rhythm
- Thread starter Neptune
- Start date
DaveO
New member
I looked at both and decided on the Boss for two main reasons. For one thing it has LOADS more memory, which is important to me since I don't do MIDI, at least not yet. All my songs/patterns are unfortunately stored on the unit itself. I also liked the sound of the instruments better on the Boss.
This is a lesser factor, but I also liked all the editing that was available for individual instruments on the Boss. However, now that I've built a small set of kits that I use for almost all of my programming I don't do much tweaking anymore. But it did let me get the sound I wanted.
I don't rememebr off the top of my head if either had a much larger number of instruments to pick from but the Boss gives you 255. Well, 254 if you don't count "nothing" as an instruement. Yep, that's right, you can have complete silence be one of your percussion instruments. There actually is a reason for this though. I once decided that I didn't want to keep the cowbell I put into a song, so I was able to quickly "remove" it by changing the instrument for that pad from "cobwell" to "nothing".
Of course, the flip side is that the Boss is now almost double the price of the Alesis. Also, since I don't do MIDI I can't comment on how easy it is with the Boss. I've read that the Alesis does it well.
This is a lesser factor, but I also liked all the editing that was available for individual instruments on the Boss. However, now that I've built a small set of kits that I use for almost all of my programming I don't do much tweaking anymore. But it did let me get the sound I wanted.
I don't rememebr off the top of my head if either had a much larger number of instruments to pick from but the Boss gives you 255. Well, 254 if you don't count "nothing" as an instruement. Yep, that's right, you can have complete silence be one of your percussion instruments. There actually is a reason for this though. I once decided that I didn't want to keep the cowbell I put into a song, so I was able to quickly "remove" it by changing the instrument for that pad from "cobwell" to "nothing".
Of course, the flip side is that the Boss is now almost double the price of the Alesis. Also, since I don't do MIDI I can't comment on how easy it is with the Boss. I've read that the Alesis does it well.
I'm interested in the ethnic stuff in the DR-770. What kinds of ethnic sounds does it have? I assume various shakers, handdrums , rattles etc. The SR-16 doesn't really have stuff like that. Seems to me that using ethnic patterns behind acoustic music might add more spice that a regular drum set.
DaveO
New member
I'm at work right now, so I'm going from memory here. I know there are a fair amount of Latin instruments. It also has tablas. Off the top of my head I can't remember anything else.
Your idea about using "non-kit" instruments is a good one. We've done a lot with them on acoustic/jazzier songs - maracas, triangles, congas, bongos, handclaps, etc. On one we're working on now we only use a drum kit for one 16 measure section and the rest is all miscellaneous percussion. For an acoustic-based song it can work well. However, most of of our other material needs a lot more.
Your idea about using "non-kit" instruments is a good one. We've done a lot with them on acoustic/jazzier songs - maracas, triangles, congas, bongos, handclaps, etc. On one we're working on now we only use a drum kit for one 16 measure section and the rest is all miscellaneous percussion. For an acoustic-based song it can work well. However, most of of our other material needs a lot more.
virtual.ray
New member
I've got the DR-770 but I really only use the drum kit sounds for now.It's got a gong sound and the tablas,but aside from that it doesn't really have more perc.sounds than the other stuff on the market.However,you can tune each sound so you can get some variety there I'm sure.You might want to look at some of the older Roland machines like the R-8 'cause they had cards you could put in to increase the library of sounds,although I don't know how much perc.they had either.