The Steel Guitar Forum

I am looking for a drum (Rhythm) machine. I am hoping to only do this once. Any help you can give will be apreciated.
Thanks, .....Steve

Are you looking to use a machine for live performance or recording? I use the Boss DR-880 but all of my patterns are programmed by hand and over the past 2 years I've built up a good library of about 200 patterns as a base. I am one of the few diehards still using a drum machine and I really believe that if your starting out now you should consider using drum software. I do get a lot of use out of my machine but the DR-800 is useless the way it comes and the patterns are kind of a joke. Many hours of listening to the drum parts on records and copying them led to a useful set of patterns for mine. Even with software, you will have to do some customization to get the base sound and jumps you need to sound decent. The bass lines in the 880 are totally worthless. Buy a cheap used bass and record your bass lines if you need them.

I've found the drum parts on songs to be just as unique and creative as the steel and guitar parts. Listen to 10 different artists records and you're likely to hear 10 different drum approaches and these help make the song just as much as the lead and vocal parts. So I guess it depends on what your goals are and how sophisticated/authentic you want to get. Ive seen drum machines do a good job but I've also seen software drummers and Band In A Box work well on some tunes not to mention that you can remotely hire a drummer to lay down tracks for you.



Greg

I've used a Roland 707 for years. Easy to program,sounds good AND has individual outputs with sliders for balance. You can EQ each "voice" when recording. You can also save your programs onto cassette tapes and/or cd in "computer language" then play that back and it will trigger the drum machine to play the song anytime you want. They have been out of production for quite sometime but I see them on EBay occasionally priced "reasonably".

I just sold a Zoom MRT-3B last week on the forum. I think it is the way to go for just a drum machine. Compact, user friendly, and can be started and stopped with a foot switch. If you want more than just drums (bass, guitar, piano and a couple hundred other instruments) so that you can make full tracks, check out the for sale section for the Boss DR-5 Rhythm machine that I have for sale. The instructional video makes it easy to learn to program it.

I wish someone would offer to share drum patterns (hint to Greg). If we could share midi files for the Boss unit like Greg has it would be super.

Greg, have you ever considered setting up some of the Boss units and selling them on the forum??

I think there is a valid market for a drum machine with a library of patterns for country, western swing, jazz, waltz and basic rock and roll patterns.

I have used a Korg KR-55 Rhythm Machine for all the years since they came out, I guess that means at least 30 years. They are so simple an idiot like me can use them. They are still around, but not as cheap when they came out. Do a search on e-bay and you can find one every once in a while.

I use Lauri7.10 bit hard to work with, but sure is fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSWoidRe5pI

Ken, I will consider just giving them away or maybe just putting them into a chart format so they can be loaded into anyone's machine.

Greg

I've been using an Alesis SR-16 in my "studio" for the last 8 or 9 years. "Mrs Santa" let me buy a new Alesis SR-18 and will be using it, and probably will sell the SR-16.

Ken Billy Cooper programs drum machines like the one we have, and also sells a book that explains how to do it yoursels, I bought one.
When I heard yours I thought it was a big band, you just do not have the time to spend.


ernie