Groove Boxes, Sequencers, Drum Machines

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jason M Hancock
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Jason M Hancock

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I posted this in the Newbies section where no one has responded. I hope the question isn't that dumb. I'm just not near any good stores where I can walk in and play with stuff. Please help!

I can lay down a few tracks of vocal, guitar, and even a bit of woodwind. But I need bass and drums to complete everything. As fate would have it, I don't know any bassists or drummers around here.

So, do I want a groove box, a sequencer, a sampler, a drum machine or what? How do these things work and what're their differences?

Thanks!
 
1. Yes :)
2. Differently :)
3. a. A drum machine is a machine play drum rhythms.
b. Groove box is usually a drum machine that also plays melodies.
c. A sampler is a machine that digitally records a sound and then plays it back. If you buy a sampler you either need some type of sequencer too, or you need to buy a sampler with a built in sequencer (like the MPC 2000XL).
 
What kind of drum sounds are you looking for and what's your budget?

If you use a computer, there are some good softwares you can get pretty cheap that could do the trick.
 
what i'm looking for

Thanks!

Are groove boxes flexible enough to add/remove harmony to rhythm such as drums? What I'm hoping for is the ability to lay down bass and drums.

As far as the kind of drums I'm shooting for...most anything suitable for stuff ranging from acoustic folky to classic rock to Prodigy kinda stuff. Wow....that's quite a spectrum!

Based on prices that I'm seeing in U.S. catalogs, I'd like to spend somewhere under USD 400. Any suggestions, recommendations, or warnings?

Thanks again.
 
REMOVE harmony? No. Add, sure.

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions. Maybe that Korg Electribe ES-1? It's a sampling drum machine. That should be very flexible.
 
doh!

Of course, regebro, not "remove".....wow....living in a foreign land is killing my native English. I meant to add harmony or not to utilize it.

Thanks for clarifying!
 
Yo Jason, Go check out out a BOSS DR202 Groove machine.
It has everything you need 256 drum and bass kits with over 400
variations plus 100 user patterns you can design yourself.
You can also use the drummachines internal bass lines or use the keys to make your own bass runs. The drum kits are awesome also and the basslines rock!
 
Dr202

Thanks, MisterQCue...I just checked out the Dr202. The catalog I have keeps hyping its ability to turn out great dance styles. I'm not really doing dance stuff and am not likely to for a long time to come. Can it turn out anything other than dance grooves?

Sorry for such basic questions. Just have been out this for a long time and haven't messed around with any of these apparati!
 
I’ve been using a Boss DR-770 for the last few months and I find it is very versatile, especially if you only keep one drum machine. I haven’t tried Prodigy style music though. I think you can find this machine for approximately 300-350 USD.

You didn’t say if you used a computer for music but Gidge, another member here, usually recommends a software called Fruity Loops which seems pretty popular.
 
The Boss DR202 has (amongst it's own dance kits) 2 "ROCK" and 2 "OTHER" kits whoch has all drum beats not associated with dance, funk, or hip-hop! You can also design and program your OWN kits via "STEP" or REAL-TIME" recording using any of the over 400 drum sounds contained in the unit (along with 100 different variations of each of the over 400 sounds). You can record in 2/4, 3/4, 5/4 7/8's time!
What ever drum beat you can think of, you can put it on the DR202!
 
Roland DR-5 Dr. Rythm Section

Has anyone used it? Any comments or reviews out there? Looks pretty cool. Does anyone else offer a similar product?
 
Boss just came out with a new machine called the DR-760. It's similar to the DR-770 and it emphasizes basslines as well as drum sounds. It's LCD is bigger than the 770 and it's a little bit less money.

Jason H.- you can probably find information on it on the Roland website.
 
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