Drum machine for amateur wind orchestra

[RecNewbie]

Hi,
please don't flame me, I'm perfectly aware of what this entails on the musical level (ugly sound of loops & stuff).

I'm conducting a small youth wind orchestra: we all work for free, just for the heck of it, but we always have trouble finding a drummer.
I kinda like the sound of a wind orchestra without drums, but some pieces just don't work that way, and I don't always have the time to re-arrange them.
I was thinking about having a drum machine, but the problem with youth orchestras is that the tempo isn't always that steady: the drummer would need to follow.
Is there a way to seamlessly adjust the tempo (e.g. by clicking on something at a certain tempo, triggering the pre-defined samples at that rate) and switch between sections?
That way we would only need a person to click on a button for the tempo and on another in order to switch between different sections/pieces.

Is that even possible?
Would that require additional hardware in addition to, say, a laptop, a good sound card and some (powerful) monitors?
Thanks in advance.

 

[witzendoz]

Unfortunately with a drummer or drum machine the orchestra should be following the drummer. If you are saying is that different parts of the arrangement are at different tempos you will need to have the whole arrangement written into a sequencer program of some kind that plays the drum samples.

Alan.

 

[ecc83]

For hardware check out Cash Generator and charity shops for a "Portasound" style keyboard. I bought a Yamaha PSS-790 several years ago for £50 ($75?) and it has 8 assignable pads on the front and a built in sequencer so you can program in any pattern of any sound in the keyboard.
That only has headphone out but would drive a PA/mixer. Other units might have line outputs.

Yes, you would need to drive an amp, if cash is tight try the same shops for a bass guitar amp, something 100watts and up with a 15" drive unit should cope unless the band is VERY noisy!

And yes, the band WILL have to learn to keep time with the drummer but at least "he" will never get tired, drunk or hurt them!

Dave.

 

[Armistice]

And yes, the band WILL have to learn to keep time with the drummer but at least "he" will never get tired, drunk or hurt them!

Dave.

Ah, but if you had a person playing this keyboard with the 8 assignable sounds in real time, and they were half decent at it and it was actually possible to mimic a realistic drum beat via this means, then yes, they could speed up and slow down as required....

 

[ecc83]

Ah, but if you had a person playing this keyboard with the 8 assignable sounds in real time, and they were half decent at it and it was actually possible to mimic a realistic drum beat via this means, then yes, they could speed up and slow down as required....

Okay yes (ffs!) But the OP wanted a drum MACHINE! Presumably because he cannot get an extra bod to play drum sounds?

In any case, I was only a lowly bass player years ago but I would think any drummer worth his ale would be more used to SETTING the tempo than following it?
(Guitarists have to do it. I well remember watching Son "tracking" a well pissed singer through several time sigs' of Danny Boy and over about 3 keys!)

Dave.

 

[Armistice]

Okay yes (ffs!) But the OP wanted a drum MACHINE! Presumably because he cannot get an extra bod to play drum sounds?

In any case, I was only a lowly bass player years ago but I would think any drummer worth his ale would be more used to SETTING the tempo than following it?
(Guitarists have to do it. I well remember watching Son "tracking" a well pissed singer through several time sigs' of Danny Boy and over about 3 keys!)

Dave.

LOL - since when did we trust OPs to know what they actually want? Lots of the time they only think they do, and we head them down a different, better path. Just a suggestion, is all...

Agree that everyone involved needs to learn to follow the beat, however... Kind of a musical basic, I reckon.

 

[witzendoz]

LOL - since when did we trust OPs to know what they actually want? Lots of the time they only think they do, and we head them down a different, better path. Just a suggestion, is all...

Agree that everyone involved needs to learn to follow the beat, however... Kind of a musical basic, I reckon.

No comments along the way from the OP? More information?

Alan.

 

[RecNewbie]

No comments along the way from the OP? More information?

Alan.

Sorry, work & internet access problems...

LOL - since when did we trust OPs to know what they actually want? Lots of the time they only think they do, and we head them down a different, better path. Just a suggestion, is all...

The OP (yours truly ;-) ) is a classical musician by trade, but he just started delving into all things recording, MIDI & live audio a couple of months ago...
I've read "Home Recording for Dummies" and I'm more than halfway through "Modern Recording Techniques", but those are just primer books in my opinion, not much delving deep into the single subjects (that's not their goal).

Okay yes (ffs!) But the OP wanted a drum MACHINE! Presumably because he cannot get an extra bod to play drum sounds?

I could maybe get one, but maybe he'll not be a pianist, so the least buttons he has to mash, the better.

In any case, I was only a lowly bass player years ago but I would think any drummer worth his ale would be more used to SETTING the tempo than following it?
(Guitarists have to do it. I well remember watching Son "tracking" a well pissed singer through several time sigs' of Danny Boy and over about 3 keys!)

Dave.

Agree that everyone involved needs to learn to follow the beat, however... Kind of a musical basic, I reckon.

Yep, but they also need to be able to adapt when (and if) everything is on the brink of going arse over teakettle... I'm working with amateurs, remember, and sometimes they just lose all their bearings.
When I can get a drummer who knows his business I only need a single gesture to make him jump where I want him to be and rejoin the rest of the ensemble.
That's a thing a pre-recorded or sequenced track can't do (it would need a camera and some motion detecting stuff like those Wii videogames ).

I can tempo-map a recording and add MIDI percussions that closely match all the minute tempo variations (I guess everybody here knows how to do that, and more), but I suppose there isn't such thing as a reliable beat detector that can analyze an audio input in real time and infer precisely non only the tempo, but also the position in the piece...
That's why I believe I need a button masher...

 

[witzendoz]

This is quite a task for someone to program and operate, you will need someone that is very program savvy. The tempo thing could be had by a tap tempo button that the operator can tap along to a few bars to adjust the tempo of the playback. The trouble with any system of detecting tempo is that it needs a constant in the sound to lock too, and the type of music and instrument sounds that the orchestra makes is hard for it to pick up, also if the tempo is always moving the tempo reader can't get a lock.

You know the easier way is to give everyone a metronome to practice to at home so that they can stay in time with the drums LOL.

Alan.

 

[RecNewbie]

You know the easier way is to give everyone a metronome to practice to at home so that they can stay in time with the drums LOL.

Alan.

Yeah, that's what I'm always telling them! :-D
Thanks everybody for the input.
(rep+ to those I could give it to)

 

[ecc83]

Yeah, that's what I'm always telling them! :-D
Thanks everybody for the input.
(rep+ to those I could give it to)

Metronome Software. Free Download for Musicians

^ Don't even need to buy one. I have just dldd the above, steer round the Google taskbar and Chrome boxes, and save the app and run it.
Probably best to save it then distribute it to the students.

That was the second metronome progg' I found in one minute. No doubt there are many others but you have to be wary of accompanying crap. NCH are a bit of a nuisance but safe I have found.

Dave.

 

[RecNewbie]

Metronome Software. Free Download for Musicians

^ Don't even need to buy one. I have just dldd the above, steer round the Google taskbar and Chrome boxes, and save the app and run it.
Probably best to save it then distribute it to the students.

That was the second metronome progg' I found in one minute. No doubt there are many others but you have to be wary of accompanying crap. NCH are a bit of a nuisance but safe I have found.

Dave.

Nope you didn't get it... ;-)
They are young and hyper- (if not over-) "techified", every single one of them has a tuner & a metronome on their smartphone.
They're just too lazy to use it, is all... :-D

 

[ecc83]

Nope you didn't get it... ;-)
They are young and hyper- (if not over-) "techified", every single one of them has a tuner & a metronome on their smartphone.
They're just too lazy to use it, is all... :-D

Oh! we get a LOT of THOSE here!

"my recordings don'tsound like the cmercialstuff* (buzz-buzz,busy,busy..) what do i need to buy(buzz-buzz, redbull, busy-busy) sothat it sounds gd an nt crp dnt wnt to spnd mre thn 10$ need it right yestrdy"

*NEVER give a song's name or sample!

Actually quite hard to type that badly and in "txt spk"!

Dave.

 

[RecNewbie]

Oh! we get a LOT of THOSE here!

"my recordings don'tsound like the cmercialstuff* (buzz-buzz,busy,busy..) what do i need to buy(buzz-buzz, redbull, busy-busy) sothat it sounds gd an nt crp dnt wnt to spnd mre thn 10$ need it right yestrdy"

*NEVER give a song's name or sample!

Actually quite hard to type that badly and in "txt spk"!

Dave.

:-D Hahaha!
Guess we'll just have to live with it and try to change things slowly, one little step at a time...



oh & btw thx 4 th halp, cya round ;-)