Drum machine or sampler?

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topher08

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Hello.
Forgive me for my lack of knowledge....but I need to know what's going to be best for me...a drum machine or a sampler..or something else for that matter.
Basically I want to play live with a drum machine...(think The Kills for example).
I want to be able to press play and let the drums play a whole song from start to finish. I want to be able to programme it so it automatically plays different sections of the song say verse beat, chorus beat, verse beat and so on. Also I want to use my own drum sounds.
If anyone has any info on what would work best, it would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
 
Most samplers, even little ones like Boss Dr.Sample or Zoom Sampletrack have some kind of simple programmable sequencer in them. The sequencer within the box lets you create a drum beat with individual sound samples (like a drum machine would), then "resample" the pattern playback into a single sound you can assign to a pad. I use a Zoom ST-224 for this occasionally when I make beats for friends. You can assign stuff to a pad like a kick or a snare or a bass note, or you can assign a whole pattern you programmed in the sequencer, resampled into one sample sound, so for your instance have "verse beat" on pad 1, "chorus beat" on pad 2 and so on. The Boss DrSample is another low budget sampler that can do this same thing. I think the 'standard' production sampler I have seen the most is the MPC series.

Drum machines are often easier to work with playing "live" stuff like velocity sensitive pads, they can also be programmed to play a pattern you create, or a series of patterns for a "song" program. and they have all the sounds built in, but unless you are using it as a MIDI controller for an external sound bank, you're stuck with what they put in their sounds.

Samplers obviously can do a lot more, as you can always sample drum hits and use them as a drum machine anyway, but you aren't limited to just that. They aren't as easy-no-brainer to use as drum machines though, it takes some work getting all the sounds you want together, levelling them out to each other - unlike a drum machine where that's all done for you right out of the box.
 
Now a days, most "drum machines" and "samplers" are the same thing.. I'll tell you two very cost effective options as compared to let's say an MPC... 1.. Korg PadKontrol ... this is ultimately a drum pad controller, that when used with your computer, acts as a drum machine and can be set up with other software / DAW's to act as a sampler.. one great way is with Reason using Kong drum designer with the PK... a second, and much more extensive option, is Native Instruments "maschine." Maschine uses it's own software and controller to establish a "groove box" type setup.. comes with over 6gb of samples and is a fully featured sampler.. all of the functions of maschine can be controlled by the hardware controller, or within your computer and both are very easy. Basically it is like an MPC only far more capable at the end of the day.. some people who already use mpc's will tell you maschine is not for big boys.. I'd probably be a little bitter too if I had spent thousands of dollars on mpc's and upgrades.. expansions, etc.. only to find a $600 maschine that does it all much cheaper and faster.. more easily. There are some Akai options in the same price range as well, but maschine is my favorite. So as for the short answer.. whatever you choose.. make sure it enables you to do both.. use it as a drum machine, and sample.
 
That "Dual post" problem was mentioned in another thread- apparently it is a glitch in the forum host's software- people are not doubling posting, the system is.

Evil system. Bwhahahahahah!
 
When I think of drum machine I think of stuff like te Alesis SR16/hr16, roland r-5, r-7. boss dr. rhythms or the various groovebox type toys, they dont sample they just have sounds in them and a sequencer, and can control or be controlled through midi. IMO the only advantage of these over just a plain cut and dry sampler (without resoring to external software and computer capabilities that may or may not be available) is that drum machine sounds are designed to change the actual tone with the velocity. A sampler, even with touch sensitive pads, just plays the same exact sound you sampled but quieter if the velocity is lower. Most drum machines have soft, softer, hard, very hard, harder, super-hard type tonal variations to each sound program in them. "Snare 23" or "Open-hi-hat 3" are misleading terms because they aren't just 1 sound it is a few sounds of the same thing being hit at different volume levels, gradually blended together by how it is programmed into that sound setting, the velocity of the hit so a quiet snare drum doesnt just sound like a loud resonating bang but turned down, it sounds like a tappy little hit on the snare drum if you dont hit the pad as hard. Depending on what kind of music you are wanting to make that may no matter at all, but it makes mimicing a real drummer on a real drum set a little less obvious (like if you want a sparse, "live" feeling drum kit sound feel instead of electronic woomps and blurps and god-forbid, the '808 clap' sound ... shiver)
 
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