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Thread: Drum Machine Question

  1. #1

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    Default Drum Machine Question

    Hi, I just found this place a few days ago, and I'm heading into a musical area I am not familiar with.

    I have a small recording studio at home, with an acoustic drum set as well as a rack mount unit with digital drum sets. That works good for me, but I don't want to try and use it live - too much plugging and unplugging and the wear and tear. I like being able to walk in, turn on and create, and not have to spend all my time unpacking, remounting and replugging.

    I also have a band and up until now we've done mostly rock stuff, but a lot of the casual gigs we've been offered lately have asked for music we're not all that familiar with, more digital and dance stuff, and some of the songs clearly need some digital drum support because of the speed and sound variety. We want to tap into this gig money, because it helps us buy the toys we like.

    So I was thinking of getting a drum machine I could use live to supplement and enhance our basic sound, open up new venues for us. We're not replacing the drummer, we're adding to him.

    I already have several keyboards but none of them have built in sequencers nor do I want to buy another keyboard, and I'd like to have the drummer control the machine as he'll be helping me program it. He already has a drum kit, so V drums or D drums or whatever would not be an option.

    I've been looking around at various drum machines, but I just don't have much practical experience with any of them, and the reviews are often contradictory, a mix of haters and people who seem to just want to sell the units so they only talk about the features, but not a lot of user reviews with experience who can do an unbiased pro and con review.

    The features I would like to have are:

    1. Sufficient storage memory for custom set ups, either expandable or removable like a flash or SIMM card or USB port or something on that idea.
    2. Ability to export custom patterns for back up storage, big bonus if they can be editable on the computer as well but that's asking a lot.
    3. Ease of playability live, meaning that if needed it could be played live without having to extensively program anything. This is not a deal killer, though.
    4. A good selection of presets that can be edited, with effects in the unit that can be added and edited as well. Also it would be nice to have the option of buying expansion units of different beat styles. < This last part not so critical.
    5. Percussive sounds as well as drum sounds
    6. Sampling would be a nice option
    6. Ruggedness. This will be strictly a road unit so it has to be built to withstand being dragged around a lot.

    The rugged issue is why I don't want to go with a laptop and software. I use REAPER in the studio, and I was toying with getting ABLETON live, but I'd have to spend quite a bit on a good laptop for road use, and be able to rely on it not breaking. That happened to a friend of mine, and he was dead in the water for that night and had to spend $$$ to repair the laptop. I don't know if the new tablets coming out have the hard ware to support sound in this way.

    Can anybody provide some practical experience with any drum machines that would work well live with some or all of the above features?

    I have no price set on this, because I simply do not know what is out there besides a few of the more well know manufacturers like Boss and Korg, but the ones I looked at had limitations, for ex. the DR 880 only has 50 custom song storage slots, backup is bulk only and the memory is limited and not expandable. The Roland SP404SX Sampling Workstation has possibilities, but I can't find any user reviews, only mfg blurbs.

    I would also say no on buying old or used gear. I'd want a warranty with the reassurance that I would not have to be out of pocket replacing it if it dies because it was dropped a bunch of times by the prior user, plus a lot of units that are now only 4 years old or older are no longer even supported by the mfg.

    Thanks for any help and sorry this was so long for my first post! I've been lurking for a few days waiting to get approved and this seems like a very cool site.
    Last edited by FatStratCat; 02-22-2011 at 02:59 AM.

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Drum Machine Question

    Wow I gotta bump outta shock. Lots of views but no replies

    am I that out of touch that drum machines live are also out of touch?

    I'm good with criticism. I'm open for changes, I am new to this.

    Drop it. Inform me. I need advice.

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Drum Machine Question

    for drum machine, think Akai MPC series

    for sampler/drum sounds/playability, the DTX900 drum module

    your biggest problem here is the "music we're not familiar with" comment... different genres of electronic music require the proper sonic palette, so certain machines get used specifically for certain types of music

    trying to jump from a "rock" setting to a "dance" or "electronic" setting without knowing anything about what makes it work will leave you with an empty dance floor, which in DJ circles is about the worst possible outcome imaginable

    find the music that you like/want/need to do and then learn to use those specific machines...samplers help you sidestep that somewhat, as they can be loaded with anything, but you need to know what "anything" is first

    also, look at picking up any of the Roland Handsonic controllers, as they can be played live, with pedals if need be, and have a very rudimentary sequencer built in

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Drum Machine Question

    whats that six or nine pad Roland sampler. That could possibly work. I'm guessing you'll need a sampler and a sequencer...... Though i have seen an acoustic drummer playing to electro dance music before and it sounded awesome and was all him so maybe you can try adding you own flavor to it?

    Ultimately Ive seen what works best is a recording of the whole song and you play to it. Somehow you get a click track monitored only to the drummer :S...... Thats what i would be doing anyway. Hope it helps ya
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  5. #5

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    Default Re: Drum Machine Question

    Yeah Feedback, feedback. ALWAYS helpful.

    Thanks you guys I am learning, and now I have a few new directions to go in.

    It's tough when you have no experience with the equipment and the salesman just want to sell, so I appreciate the personal experience info.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Drum Machine Question

    Roland SPDS sampler .

    Lots of good reviews on it excellent price.

    DTX 800 mos def the way to go, but at 5x the price it is a consideration.

    Gotta do more research, the reviews for the Roland product are all pretty good. I'm not looking to replace only to enhance the live drumming.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Drum Machine Question

    Update:

    Been Reading up on the roland line of products, and I narrowed it down to the SP 555 and the SP606.

    Oddly enough the current pricing is very close for these two units. The 555 is more of a groovebox / sampler, vs the 606 being more of a junior workstation, but they're both in the US $550-$600 range.

    I'm definitely leaning towards the 606 as it has computer interface options I like making it good for studio AND live situations, it comes with cake walk software designed for this unit, both midi in and out, and up to 512mb compact flash storage card capability.

    There are some cons for each unit, but for the price either one is hard to beat. They are a couple of years old, but I'm just not seeing anything comparable for what I want to do in this price range.

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