Recommend me a drum machine.

[bassmonkey]

Greetings Bass friends!

Anyone give any recs on a drum machine. I want it primarily to practice with. I'm a little bored with my metronome and want to spice up practice. I'm going to get something used from the bay, don't need anything too complicated and don't want to spend big bucks.

Any thoughts?

Will I need some kind of splitter box(you can tell I'm really technical, can't you ) to plug into my practice amp?

ETA: Is there anything I should absolutely avoid?

 

[Aussie Mark]

Alesis SR16 or Boss DR50 are similar and great value used.

 

[p5string]

Try a Boss DR-670. It uses a grid system for beat input which, for me, makes it super easy to input a pattern.

 

[bassmonkey]

Noted. Thanks guys.

Any more suggestions?

Any for the barge pole treatment? (I may have to explain this for my stateside compatriots! )

 

[bassmonkeee]

Do you have a decently powerful computer? If this is primarily for practice, I'd reccommend getting Sony ACID Studio and using loops for practice. I'll set up a simple loop and practice over it for hours. And, if I want, I can add Fender Rhodes, pots and pans, etc and create complete songs.

I had an Alesis SR-16, and I didn't like the included drum patterns, and I'm not a drummer--so creating my own was not the easiest thing for me to do.

I much prefer loops to drum machines, but a good set of speakers and a decent amount of processing power are essential.

 

[adouglas]

My band does not have a live drummer. We use a pair of Alesis SR-16s, which hold all of our songs.

+1 on the included drum patterns not being great...I think this is going to be true of all machines. To get the most out of them for performance, you really need to program them yourself. The results we've gotten this way have been very impressive. But for practice, a built-in pattern ought to be fine.

The SR-16, while old, is a great machine and sounds really good, but it also has limitations. The architecture is closed -- there's no memory expansion, and the machine will only hold about 30 songs if you program everything yourself. So, we have to use two of them and a mixer. Also, the format for patterns and songs is pretty closed, so you can't easily dump a song to a computer via MIDI for editing.

But if all you want is a practice tool, it's great...and a bargain, at least here in the US ($149 new).

 

[bassmonkey]

Do you have a decently powerful computer? If this is primarily for practice, I'd reccommend getting Sony ACID Studio and using loops for practice. I'll set up a simple loop and practice over it for hours. And, if I want, I can add Fender Rhodes, pots and pans, etc and create complete songs.

I had an Alesis SR-16, and I didn't like the included drum patterns, and I'm not a drummer--so creating my own was not the easiest thing for me to do.

I much prefer loops to drum machines, but a good set of speakers and a decent amount of processing power are essential.

Hi Jason, how you doing?

I have an iMac, so may be limited on software, but I appreciate the suggestion. Also I would need to get new speakers with a sub-woofer and don't really want to do that just yet. I just want cheap and cheerful.

How about input to my amp, will I need some sort of mini-mixer?

 

[bassmonkey]

My band does not have a live drummer. We use a pair of Alesis SR-16s, which hold all of our songs.

+1 on the included drum patterns not being great...I think this is going to be true of all machines. To get the most out of them for performance, you really need to program them yourself. The results we've gotten this way have been very impressive. But for practice, a built-in pattern ought to be fine.

The SR-16, while old, is a great machine and sounds really good, but it also has limitations. The architecture is closed -- there's no memory expansion, and the machine will only hold about 30 songs if you program everything yourself. So, we have to use two of them and a mixer. Also, the format for patterns and songs is pretty closed, so you can't easily dump a song to a computer via MIDI for editing.

But if all you want is a practice tool, it's great...and a bargain, at least here in the US ($149 new).

Just for practice. I'll buy used on eBay. the Alesis seems like a decent proposition.

 

[adouglas]

How about input to my amp, will I need some sort of mini-mixer?

This is not rocket science. Do you have two input jacks on your amp? If so, then bass goes into one, drum machine into the other.

The drum machine outputs in stereo, so you might want to get a Y-connector.

 

[bassmonkey]

This is not rocket science.

I know, I'm just a thick limey!

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[bassmonkey]

And, if I want, I can add Fender Rhodes,

BTW I have a real one of those in my spare room. A MkI 73 model. Beautiful sound.

 

[bassmonkeee]

BTW I have a real one of those in my spare room. A MkI 73 model. Beautiful sound.

I love the sound of a good Rhodes piano. Of course, I can't play a note. Hence, the beauty of looping software.

If you are using a Mac, I suggest you look into Garageband. Someone here who uses Apple's stuff can tell you all about it, I'm sure.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

 

[azzy_wazzy]

If you are using a Mac, I suggest you look into Garageband. Someone here who uses Apple's stuff can tell you all about it, I'm sure.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

+1 - I love Garageband - tho I don't fully understand it... If you can run the Mac into your amp as well, you can just stick some loops down on a track and then play along with them... - but admittedly my other half is the real Garageband whizz... I tend to just use the metronome and stuggled even then haha

Only prob is it EATS disc space!

 

[AnthonyD]

My band uses an Alesis SR-16 as well. It did the job well until we got up over 20 songs, then things start sounding too much alike due to reuse of similar patterns.

For practicing, though, I think it's a great deal - there's enough to choose from to keep your fingers busy and it sure beats a metronome.

For the Band, we're looking at an Boss DR-880. Besides the latest in sound qualilty and loads of patterns to choose from it offers a bunch of "makes a drum machine sound/feel more like a human" features.

Sorry - still trying to understand all the fesatures myself.

I actually put the question to John F. in Dallas - "No offense, John, but what would be a REALLY good drum machine for use with a Band?". The BOSS product came up as a good choice, but there was also lots of discussion re: computer-based tools being the best way to go.

 

[syciprider]

I have an SR16. It's a good machine but the user interface can be complicated. You get what you pay for.

 

[jeffrey]

Look for Leaf Drums 2, it's a free software package that's really powerful.

I prefer it over any drum machine I've owned.

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

I have a boss DR770 that I got off Ebay. Works fine for me. I got a couple of drum machine pattern books and input some different things, and that was cool as well.

 

[Mobay45]

While I was at SOBII, the F*nd*r guys had some of their new product there called a B-DEC. Check it out at one of the online retailers. Much more than a drum machine. It's a great training device.

 

[SteveB]

I love my Boss DR-770. Great sounding drums, and you can create patterns programatically or by performing in real time on the little keypad.

I like to build my patterns in real time. You tell the machine how many beats per measure, and then you can record and it just loops through that many beats.

So, I'll do say an 8-beat measure. I hit record and let it loop (it gives metronome clicks for you with an accent on '1'), then I'll just play the kick drum for one pass. As it loops another time through the measure, I'll add the snare hits. Repeat this process until the pattern has all the requisite parts and you've got great sounding patterns with no need for drum skills!

 

[PocketGroove82]

Boss Dr-880 The Practice Drum Machine Of The Gods!