Drum Machine?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Duff
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Duff

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Sorry if this is the wrong forum to be asking this in...

Background:
I bought my first synth several months ago; it was a used roland XP-30. It's great; I highly recommend it to anyone who's just starting out. However, the drum sounds provided on it are very lacking. I suppose this is to be expected with a keyboard, so I've decided to make my second purchase.


I know very little about drum machines, I just know that I need one to expand my percussive freedom. What should I be looking for in one, and what are some recommended budget models? Any links are appreciated, as I like to read and learn a lot before making a purchase -- I'm just not sure where to start. What are some things one should look for in a drum machine, aside from its assortment of sounds?
 
Yo Duff:

The Boss 880 just came on the market; I have the 770 and am leaning, after the first of the year, to get the new model.

The preset patches are very good. If you want to sit with the manual and learn to program your own drums, it's not that hard but it does take time.

You can get an Alesis SR16 for less money; however, it is, logically, not as good as either Boss boxes.

You can do many things with the presets, from Rock to Reggae and Jazz; and, after you do a couple of tracks, you can add a few more drum splashes of this or that if you choose.

Check out the Boss boxes.
Green Hornet :D :cool:
 
Hey, thanks for your advice... But after looking at that and some other models, I'm wondering if drum machine isn't the term for what I'm looking for... I don't need something with sequencing capabilities, or programming or whatever... I just want something with sounds built into it, that I can use in my sequencing through cubasis. I'd rather not pay extra for a feature I'm not going to be using (on board sequencer). Or do they all come with on board sequencers?



EDIT: Or would it be more logical for me to do this software-side? What are people using for their drum sounds nowadays, software samples or hardware synths?
 
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Two soft options for you to consider/sniff out:

Native Instruments Battery and Steinberg LM-4.

But Cubasis is unable to host VST instruments.

A midi+audio sequencer that does host both VST fx and VSTi's is Tracktion. Try it here for free.
 
Thanks, battery looks sweet. I'll definitely check it out.

Is that what people are using nowadays for drum sounds, software and samples? If there's a viable hardware option, I'd like to check that out too.
 
You DID understand what I said about Cubasis being unable to host VST instruments like Battery, right?

Give Tracktion a look. It's free now and does host VSTi's.

http://www.musicplayer.com/
 
And most people that I know are going to all-software setups, but hardware options would include everything from the MPC 4000 to the Zoom 123.
 
Roland MV 8000 is what you're looking for. Way better than the MPC4000 and it has built in sounds. It's a drum machine, sampler, synth, and sequencer all in one. It's main piece of my arsenal right now, and it's amazing.
 
Yes ssscientist, I understood. I'll look into which sequencer I need elsewhere, thank you though.

EDIT: Just installed my free tracktion, thanks for the link.

Oh god... A set of V-Drums would be IDEAL (I'm originally a drummer), but unfortunately I don't have that kind of money to throw around. The same goes for the hardware synths I looked at -- I think software is definitely my best option as of right now.

Software-wise, would I be better off just buying a soundblaster sound card that supports sound fonts, and buying drum sample CDs? Would there be any difference between doing that and using Battery/LM-4?
 
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