Drum machines for metal

  • Thread starter Thread starter fireworksgoup
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Hi!

Depending on what kind of budget you have, I would look into the Roland DR-670 & 880. Both have bass lines as well. The DR880 is new. I tried it out at Guitar Center yesterday and it is extremely versitile in terms of being able to play metal to swing jazz to latin tunes. It also has a direct input for Guitar and Bass, as well as a USB out, making it a recording interface as well, with some COSM modeling too. I would check it out. In the used end of things, there is always the classic Alesis SR16. Good luck!

MAtt
 
Matt D'Ortona said:
there is always the classic Alesis SR16
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You mean the brittle, dead sound of first generation 16-bit digital contained in one difficult to edit little box?

The machine that's inexplicably still selling after 12+ years on the market?

If simple age is all it takes to be a 'classic' I've got a Casio RM-1 you may be interested in...
 
I can't imagine getting plausible drums for rock or metal from a drum machine.

If you're covering 80's pop/new wave, great, but metal and rock... nuh-uh.......
 
boss dr-660. it has 4 outputs on the back so you can run all toms and cymbals to a l-r output than kick and snare to seperate individual outputs giving you more control upon mixdown.
 
How is the Zoom MRT3? Would this be able to handle the job? I don't want to spend alot of money and ease of use is important, but if it's impossible to do what I need then I can try for something else.
 
Find a real drummer or at the least find some drum loops done by a real drummer. You will have much better results.
 
therage! said:
Find a real drummer or at the least find some drum loops done by a real drummer. You will have much better results.
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I'm aware of this but the point is to have beats incapable by any human drummer. I know I'll need a drum machine for what I want to do.
 
For a lot of the really heavy stuff, many people do use triggered or sequenced drums. Even on stage. I have worked with too many Black/Death metal bands. :P
 
Check out Discrete Drums samples and loops. These are the real thing - decently recorded real drums played by an actual person in a studio, miked up clearly. On the loops, each ' song' style has 14-15 segments: different fills, intros, end crashes, lots of stuff.
IMHO, that is.
They also offer a disc of the same stuff, which I haven't heard (but sounds interesting) that has been lobotomized by Craig Anderton. It's called something like 'Turbulent Filth Monsters' or something like that.

Drums seem to be one of the biggest challenges for many home studios. It takes gear, ability, and lots of space to use real drums, and home studios rarely have all three.

Good Luck
 
fireworksgoup said:
I'm aware of this but the point is to have beats incapable by any human drummer. I know I'll need a drum machine for what I want to do.
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incapable by ANY human drummer? i can think of some human drummers that could play most anything in terms of metal...if its sheer speed, like double bass, etc...then i definitely can think of some human drummers that can play as fast as anyone would want before each hit starts sounding indecipherable.
 
Groove Agent

Try Groove Agent , I think that you will get what you searching for!
 
fireworksgoup said:
I'm aware of this but the point is to have beats incapable by any human drummer. I know I'll need a drum machine for what I want to do.
Click to expand...

Wow, let me know where I can get a copy of this CD when it comes out. I loves me some impossible drumming. :rolleyes:
 
I stand by the SR-16. It's the machine I use and, if you work it well, can produce some pretty good results. It allows for some pretty dynamic playing that the Rolands don't give, and you can also split the outputs in to a "4 mic" comfigurations. The step editing function is a bit of a pain, but if you learn how to set up the different rhythm functions and choose your drum sounds wisely, there isn'y much you can't do. It all comes down to how much you leanr it, practice it, and how creative you can be with it. It's not the gear, it's the ear.
 
there is a cd out by destrete drums

There is a cd out by descrete drums. It's suppused to be all heavy drums. I Think they are real recordings of drums that you have to loop. They give you the bpm and you set your software to that and import the files. Then you just cut and paste the messures together.


F.S.
 
Oops, as far as I know there is no impossible drumming on this CD.

F.S.
 
I owned a Boss Dr. Rhythm (I think it was model 550? - I don't remember but it was stolen many years ago from me). I bought an Alesis SR-16 over 10 years ago and I like it. The interface can be confusing at first but its default samples are pretty good. A year or so ago I picked up the Alesis DM5 rack drum module and I haven't looked back. The DM5 MIDI'd to the SR-16 is wonderful.

If you're working in a DAW environment your choices for drum sounds is almost limitless with MIDI Drum samples. I don't use the SR-16 alone much these days. I'm so in love with the DM5 as a Drum Module for the SR-16 there's really no way I can go back.

I'm speaking based on I haven't heard much of the newer drum machines out there except I did own a Roland 303 (for about 6 months before selling it off) but it was confusing and not very user friendly. Plus the drum tones weren't all that great. It was more of a sequencer with too much crammed in to one portable machine for my taste.

You can still buy the SR-16 these days (new) and that says something about its performance and reliability, I think. It's pretty straight up. If you're looking for the NuMetal (gawd I hate labels but it does explain a "tone" without going in to a long diatribe - whoops, too late) then the SR-16 right out of the box isn't going to give you slappy snappy click click like outboard rack modules will today.

The Zoom seems pretty compact and straight forward (based on the link you presented). I'd say just get a whatever drum machine (c'mon, SR-16 already - or a Dr. Rhythm) and then invest in Drum Modules that have other sampled percussion kits. I found my Alesis DM5 Drum Module on eBay for $150.

-- Adam Lazlo
 
In all honesty the best way to go for you may be Fruity Loops. You can load real drum samples/wave files. and work them how ever you want. You can throw down f*@$ed up beats and you real drum sounds. Best of both worlds.

This is of course providing you have a computer to work with.... Oh waite your on the internet now:)



F.S.
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
I can't imagine getting plausible drums for rock or metal from a drum machine.

If you're covering 80's pop/new wave, great, but metal and rock... nuh-uh.......
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As far as metal goes, most of it is electronic. Normally a Ddrum module of some sort, but it is triggered from a real kit with real cymbals.
 
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