drum machine?

[Rock A My Soul]

I'd like a nice flexible drum machine, and also one that's easy to use with a minimum of things like patch editing or MIDI stuff (I'm completely clueless when it comes to that). What are some suggestions?

[chris g]

Originally posted by Rock A My Soul
I'd like a nice flexible drum machine, and also one that's easy to use with a minimum of things like patch editing or MIDI stuff (I'm completely clueless when it comes to that). What are some suggestions?

I won this on ebay last week. I've always heard good things about the Alesis drum machines. I had a Boss 550, but it took a crap on me. This little unit may be what you're looking for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2572029727&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6

[Rock A My Soul]

Originally posted by chris g
I won this on ebay last week. I've always heard good things about the Alesis drum machines. I had a Boss 550, but it took a crap on me. This little unit may be what you're looking for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2572029727&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6

When you get it, let me know what you think.

[zepolant]

Originally posted by Rock A My Soul
When you get it, let me know what you think.

I've owned that for quite some time. With the dynamic articulation! Nice. It's a fairly staight ahead uint. Nice sounds, patches are easy to edit and as well are good enought if you are just looking to practice. I would highly recomend it.

[dirtyboots]

You can get a Korg Electribe ER-1 for around $100 used. If you're not looking to cut up samples and just want a drum machine with a good range of effects, then this is the one.

[Rock A My Soul]

Originally posted by dirtyboots
You can get a Korg Electribe ER-1 for around $100 used. If you're not looking to cut up samples and just want a drum machine with a good range of effects, then this is the one.

I have the EA-1...and it seems to be mostly aimed at the techno crowd. I can't find a single pattern on it that's not just downright annoying. Is the ER-1 capable of making rock beats instead of just techno?

[Rock A My Soul]

What about the Roland Groovebox? There was that whole CD called "At Home with the Groovebox" with a few cool people playing around with it. Has anyone had any experience with it?

[dirtyboots]

Originally posted by Rock A My Soul
I have the EA-1...and it seems to be mostly aimed at the techno crowd. I can't find a single pattern on it that's not just downright annoying. Is the ER-1 capable of making rock beats instead of just techno?

The EA-1 is more or less a rhythm synth so it is going to have that 'techno' beats feel to it. The ER-1 is more of a full percussion synth so it has a stock of the techno sounds AND a stock of conventional rock drum sounds. You can manipulate either of these pretty much any way you want [my fav. is to mess with the shape of the waveform].
It comes with a number of pre-programmed patterns, but you can very easily blow them out and start from scratch on your own pattern. If you're using the more conventional sounding percussion, then it really won't take that long to build a good pattern from the ground up.
Now that the ES-1 has come out by Korg [which is pretty much an ER-1 with the ability to import and manipulate samples] the ER-1 has come down quite a bit in price. It's a good value if you can grab one for around $100.

[telebastard]

the boss dr 550 gets the job done for me. just nice basic drum sounds, no frills. it's incredibly easy to use. i scored one on eBay for all of $70

[chris g]

Originally posted by telebastard
the boss dr 550 gets the job done for me. just nice basic drum sounds, no frills. it's incredibly easy to use. i scored one on eBay for all of $70

That's what I had and I loved it. I took it out one day, after not using if for a few months, and two of the pads wouldn't work, so I'm now waiting on and Alesis SR-16. I'm going to miss my Dr. Rhythm.:(

[brighterstatic]

What about the Roland Groovebox? There was that whole CD called "At Home with the Groovebox" with a few cool people playing around with it. Has anyone had any experience with it?


yeah i have one of the old 303 models, the at home wiht the groovebox cd is done with the 505 model. It is an ok drum machine, it is a bit dated and lacks alot of user patern (you can only write 50) but with MIDI dumps that is not a big deal, the synths are fairly brittle sounding but usable when effected, though i rarely use it now due to the reason program.
I have not messed with the 505 or the new 909, but judging from what I have heard from the jx305 groovesynth (basically a 505 wiht a keyboard) I would assume those are a BIG step up in quality of drums and synths both.. The 303 is good, just dated