Good Drum Machine?

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Robertt8

Robertt8

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Hey!

I'm looking for a decent drum machine that sounds like real drums, out-puts in stereo, doesn't just have pathetic simple beats (are there any that have patterns that last longer than just a measure?...ya know, not just bass/snare/bass/snare?) and is simple to use. Does any thing like this exist for under $400?

I'm a mostly a singer song writer/guitarist/bass player trying to do it all myself.

Thanks!
 
Yo Roberto of 8:

Seems as if the drum machine technology moves slower than DAW's. However, I have the Boss 770. It has great pre sets and many have an A/B pattern.

Also, if you have the time, you can program most drum machines so you don't get a repetitive beat.

Also, if you multi-track, you can add little chops here and there: rim shots, bells, whatever.

Boss makes a couple of models, so you'll have to check them out; better yet, if you can get a visual and audio check by visiting a vendor, that will help. The 770 comes in at around a little under 400; you can call all the 800 numbers to get the best price. I almost always get the best price at Full Compass. [ask for Heather Peske -- she is a nice sales person. Tell her "Ben" said to call in inquire.]

There are a couple of other drum boxes that range in the 1k price band but I don't know much about them.

Happy shopping.
Green Hornet

:D :D :p :p :cool:
 
Write down on a piece of paper those features that you think you will need from a drum machine. Things like instrument pitch manipulation, ease of time and tempo changes, kinds of kit styles (e.g. rock snare, wire snare, dance kick, and especially tom sounds), etc.

Take that piece of paper with you to a music store like Guitar Center and listen to the different drum machines they have. Work with the salesman to find the unit that will have most of the features on your list at your price. Are you planning on programming your own fills and working less with drum loops? Then you are going to sap the internal memory on the machine in a hurry, so you'd better look into how the unit's memory can be expanded. Find out how much the expansion cards cost too, because they can be expensive.

Look into the Roland machines. The R-70 I purchased back in '96 or '97 was about $750 (a VERY good machine that is sadly discontinued), and prices have dropped some, so you should be able to find something relatively decent for around your price range.

Cy
 
I recently took home and tried every drum machine on the market,
returned every one and as a last ditch effort,I tried out the Zoom 323.

Figured I'd be returning this one too,but to my suprise it was great!
Beat out the others by a long shot.

Some of the features it has some of the others don't-2448 samples,stereo out and two sub outs both assianable,seperate midi track you can record data to,bass track,access to two different kits in the same song, big well laid out pads that are touch sensitive and light up when activated(this is a great feature when step editing),smart media card for backup.

The only shortfall is,it dosn't have as many sounds as some of the others,but what it has are pretty good.

I think I paid around $300,but they also make a couple of smaller ones.
You should definatly check it out.

By me,GC dosn't carry it,only Sam Ash.
I think ZZounds and some of the other online places carry it also.

Good luck

Best to you,
Pete
 
yup yup.........
like Mr. Hornet, I too have a DR 770, and am very happy with it. It's midi capability sync's up nicely with my tascam 788, and the sounds aint too shabby......... good luck:D
 
Adding distortion or running the machine thru a tube pre does wonders for the sound of drumm machines. I reccomend Rolands tr-909. I picked one up at a pawn broker for 40.00 and its a wonderfull machine.
 
I am very happy with my Alesis SR16. It's pretty easy to program. Lots of different sounds and patterns. I picked it up new for about $200 at Woodwind and Brasswind. 1/4 inch stereo main and aux outs, plus it's midi-able if you are into that (I'm not and haven't used it that way). It's the drummer for one of my bands recordings (www.thetonies.com in case you are interested). It strikes me as the kind of unit that can remain really simple (like how I use it) or, if you take the time to master it (like anything), could really do a lot.

Just my $.02. :) Good luck!

Tony
 
I wish I had never sold my SR-16, great drum machine. I like the way you put a foot pedal in for fills and switch between a/b. I really liked that for just jamming with friends.. I now have a zoom 234 and its pretty cool, wish it had better midi implimentaion(like a midi out....How hard would that have been...)
 
Man I got a HR16. Don't use it much though. I went out and bought BIAB. I hope I don't get to many laugh's here! But for recordings to give someone an idea of what you want it to sound like or, just setting back by yourself and jammin', I think it's great. But, I don't know if your using a computer or what? So what do I know? BIAB was like $100.... Anyone tried it?
 
Yeah, I use BIAB when I'm working out a new melody line and such.
 
Me too, thats basically what I use it for. I have a new song right now I've been working on and I used BIAB for the bass and drums and I've had a few people wondering who played the drum part. I had to laugh myself. But like I said for the money I don't think I went wrong. Something for someone to wonder about.
 
I use a SR-16 for playing live in a dou on the fly and it's great for playing a pattern and fills. I use a DR-770 for recording and writing patterns and fills and songs into.
Both are great in the enviornment the are suited for, though after 10 years I am gettin sick of the SR-16 sounds and find the DR-770 more refreshing, plus twice the memory.
I don't play live much anymore and have about 200 songs programmed for my SR-16 and backed up on tape, but I now concentrate on my DR-770 for writing song mode patterns for recording.
I love the DR-770......but both have there advantiges, as far as programming or playing on the fly live.....
just my opinion.......
 
bubinski said:
I use a SR-16 for playing live in a dou on the fly and it's great for playing a pattern and fills. I use a DR-770 for recording and writing patterns and fills and songs into.
...
Click to expand...

Just out of curiousity, how do you use it live? Do you pre-program your set list as "songs", or do you go back and forth between "patterns" with a footswitch or something? I am interested in this as I look to playing out on my own around town here. What advantages are there to one way or the other?

I would think recording a live set in a club or coffee house would be simplified by this setup too.

Tony
 
I have a Zoom 123 drum machine,it doesn't have the memory of it's bigger brothers but it sounds pretty damn good.I programed some Beatles tunes note for note,drums and bass,and it sounded killer.I think I had room for like ten or twelve complete songs of both bass and drums.
 
Motorbreath.....Ya get a couple of " non-latching " pedals like the Roland dp2 or yamaha ones and use one for start/stop and on for fills.
Say your gonna do a blues song, ya pick pattern 32A and step on start and use the A version for verses and then step on the fill pedal to fill into the B version for chorus's and leads and then fill back to the A version for the next verse. If you are in A version of a pattern and step on the fill pedal and hold it down it will play a fill to the end of the measure from when you step on it anywhere in the measure and stay on the A version. If you step on it and let off it will switch to the other version of the pattern.
We only play mostly country, old rock and blues so I only use about 3 preset patterns. 00 Rock, 32 Shuffle, 34 Country Rock.
I also use several user patterns I wrote like a 12/8 for blues and another country beat and a 6/8.
For some of the newer stuff and classic rock stuff I programmed user patterns and put them in song mode so's you just hit start and stand back.
Hope this helps.
bubinski
 
Thanks, bub. That's awesome. I'm motivated to buy those pedals and try open mic night next month! Thanks again!
 
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