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Drum Machine or Groove Box???


Reptilian

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Well my friends, I am a bit confused on this so I need some of your help.

 

To me, one of my greatest weaknesses is to achieve the correct rhythm patterns for my songs. I am a bit lazy making rhythms with my hands in my keyboards and also I don

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To me, one of my greatest weaknesses is to achieve the correct rhythm patterns for my songs.

If that is really your weakness you should be working on creating better drum patterns not on buying more gear. If you expect the gear to create great drum patterns for you then that is why you fail.

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I bought an Akai XR20 not too long ago which I use daily. Its geared more toward hiphop/electronic genres but you can create a fairly convincing live kit in it as well. The XR20 is my bread and butter drum machine but for live drums I usually use kits off my Motif Es or XV5080. Its pretty simple to get around and program and its not overloaded with features. If youre looking for something deeper, you may want to consider a groovebox/workstation. Perhaps a used EMU XL7/MP7?

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If that is really your weakness you should be working on creating better drum patterns not on buying more gear. If you expect the gear to create great drum patterns for you then that is why you fail.

 

 

I need advises on what to get, not on what to improve (which is clear to me as I said).

 

I dont like to create drum patterns in my keyboards or in the computer using Fruity Loops for example, I really hate that (and that's important to consider if you think in improving), because I am more a melodic and harmonic musician who plays on my machines over a rhythm to compose. Just a matter of tastes, dont you think?. I believe thats why drum machine exists, right?

 

Thanks anyway.

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I bought an Akai XR20 not too long ago which I use daily. Its geared more toward hiphop/electronic genres but you can create a fairly convincing live kit in it as well. The XR20 is my bread and butter drum machine but for live drums I usually use kits off my Motif Es or XV5080. Its pretty simple to get around and program and its not overloaded with features. If youre looking for something deeper, you may want to consider a groovebox/workstation. Perhaps a used EMU XL7/MP7?

 

Thanks!! this really helps!, I will check them (the Akai and the EMU) for sure looking for more information. :thu:

 

Other good recommendation to consider???

 

Reptilian

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Thanks!! this really helps!, I will check them (the Akai and the EMU) for sure looking for more information.
:thu:

Other good recommendation to consider???


Reptilian

 

The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is probably consider an Akai MPC or something like a Roland SP series box. I had an SP-808ex years ago which i loved but I wouldn't recommend for this day and age ({censored} zip drives... no seriously, {censored} them to hell). At least with these, you could sample in your own drums and sequence as you like. Plenty of features and it would cover you on almost everything youre looking for.

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what's your budget for this? maybe all you need is some sort of MIDI pad controller. honestly though, i find it just as easy to map drum sounds to only the flat/black keys and bang it out that way. this gives you enough space to make it comfortable to play, and wouldn't cost you a thing.

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I got a Zoom RT-223 for the amount of preset patterns and variety of sounds built in. It has midi IN, but no MIDI OUT meaning it won't trigger other things or be backed up via sysex. Which sucks but there ya go. It has good sounding regular drums and a pile of hiphop and other stuff. And it was $149.

Also has a Bass built in to it. Good jam and idea box. I don't know if it is a good choice FOR YOU, just posting up the option

If I recall, this is the built in demo mode:

[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

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No, the drum forum probably won't help much.

 

Drummers hate drum machines/grooveboxes for the most part, they take their job away :lol:

 

I'm thinking about these same questions.

 

Currently I have a Zoom RT-223. It works surprisingly good for rock and metal (not death metal or anything TOO heavy though). I don't know if you know who Theocracy is but they recorded their entire first album with an older Zoom drum machine, and it actually sounds pretty good (it's symphonic metal with some pretty complex and fast arrangements).

 

For the future I'm looking at a few options:

 

1. MC-909 with SRX-03 (has good drums, and also good instruments for rock/pop) and SRX-05 (which I will use on occasion as I'm also thinking about doing a vocal trance project).

2. Electribes EMX-1 + ESX-1. It could easily be just the ESX as well, because I want to use it as a drum machine.

3. Akai MPC2000XL. People don't see the MPCs as something you'd use for rock music but they're perfectly capable of that. The MPC2000s in particular are very readily available right now on Craigslist, as it seems like a lot of people are going to a full computer setup.

4. E-MU Command Station PX-7. They're a bit rare to find but the acoustic sounds, from what I've heard, are very good, as is the sequencer and the editing capabilities.

 

One drum machine I'm not considering, but might be of consideration to you, is the Boss DR-880. I'm not considering it because I've tested it side to side with my Zoom and I think the Zoom has just as good a sound for acoustic drums, and I don't need all the other stuff that the Boss has.

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Dude! *I* have an RT-223 and an ESX-1. We should hang out!
:D

 

Seriously!

 

You have awesome taste in equipment (A6, etc) and even if you seem to go about recording in a very different way compared to what I do, our objectives seem similar (see that thread where we talked about emulating the "tape feel" on a DAW, etc...)

 

Anyway, drum machines.

 

1. They're never late for practice

2. They don't come up with their own silly songs to present to the band

3. They don't skip the snare every 30 seconds (that really irks me about some drummers that don't practice, like this one guy that plays at our church)

4. They don't speed up as the song progresses or slow down when they do a drum roll (that would be the other drummer at our church...)

5. They can easily play with the metronome (that wouldn't be EITHER of our drummers)

6. They don't over play...

 

Thank God for drum machines :D

 

Having said that, I miss the drummer I used to play with in the late 90s/early 2000s. When a drummer is actually really serious about his instrument, there's nothing that can truly replace him... too bad he moved to another state and I can't find anyone at least as good as a drum machine these days that is available...

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I dont like to create drum patterns in my keyboards or in the computer using Fruity Loops for example, I really hate that (and that's important to consider if you think in improving), because I am more a melodic and harmonic musician who plays on my machines over a rhythm to compose. Just a matter of tastes, dont you think?. I believe thats why drum machine exists, right?


Thanks anyway.

 

 

I'm rhythmically challenged and I find that laying down a track of mechanically accurate beats and recording a second track over it by hand helps.

 

IMO, the two best for that are the MPC's and the E-mu Command Stations. Given your initial post, look at the MPC1000 with the after market JJOS2 operating system. This will let you program a couple of bars using using each pad as a step (XOX style) and will allow you to then play over it by pads free-hand. You load in the sounds so the sky's the limit - you can even play melodic parts, bass lines and chords with the right samples.

 

I think the Command Stations like the PX-7 that Christian Rock suggested are much easier (it was originally designed to do this while the MPC's developed it because of the aftermarket OS). But it is a ROMpler - you can only work with what's on board.

 

More importantly, the MPC1000 can sit on a heavy duty music stand or a keyboard with a big flat space. The Command Station is bigger and heavier.

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How good is the rmx1 for controlling external synths, Yeti?


Could you gate an external synth with it? I need to have a closer look at the manual, hopefully it's not Engrish...

 

 

the RM1X is very popular as a sequencer for other gear, as is the RS7000. people complain about the internal sounds, but i'm sure there's something in there worthwhile. i've heard some great things done with it, though mostly by people doing LivePA techno and the like.

 

what do you mean by 'gating' an external synth? running the audio through it and gating like on the Electribes or what?

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the RM1X is very popular as a sequencer for other gear, as is the RS7000. people complain about the internal sounds, but i'm sure there's something in there worthwhile. i've heard some great things done with it, though mostly by people doing LivePA techno and the like.


what do you mean by 'gating' an external synth? running the audio through it and gating like on the Electribes or what?

 

 

Yeah like the Electribes.

 

2nd look at RM1X!

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I *really* like the XR20 for the money, fun little box. Also like the MPC's and the MPD pads. Have used the Rm1x and still use the RS7000 a bit - Rm1x is smaller and the interface might make a little more sense but Rs7k has more memory for patterns, 2 midi outs and the internal sounds are actually somewhat usuable. The sampler is fun. Both are great for controlling other gear.

 

If I were to recommend one device though it'd be Maschine, great controller, software and a massive library of sounds, you can add your own samples or control other gear. I don't have one. DO WANT

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