Synthesizer Drums

[moog man]

Hello all

 

I'm kinda new to the whole drum sequencer/sampler realm and want some advice on sequencers. I don't mean to be repetitive as I saw that sequencer thread from a few days ago but I am looking for something that can produce relatively simple, warm sounding drum beats for ambient style/spacey synthesizer rock (like Jean-Michel Jarre style beats). I have done some research and so far and the electribes and older yamahas like the AN-200 and RM1X look cool. I listened to some demos and some of them sounded a bit like what I am looking for but most sound very digital/modern dance sounding with a lot of arppegiated synth and bass lines. I'm really mostly concerned with the drums, though some phat baselines would be cool as well. I also liked a lot of analog ones I heard, such as the roland tr series but they seem really expensive. I'd like to keep it $600 or lower (probably by buying used which is fine).

 

I also noticed that some are laid out in the 16 pad line format and others like the mpcs are a square shape with their pads. Is there a bonus to one or the other? Finally, sampling would be cool to have as well. Is it possible to load keyboard samples on to an MPC for example and then hook up a midi keyboard and play them?

 

one last note as well: I need to go the hardware route as I would probably be using this live to some degree

 

thanks a lot

[King Julian]

Roland R8 with the 808 and 909 cards?

 

Got mine for $275 + $70 + $80 or thereabouts. You could probably do even a bit better if you are in the US.

[crufty]

you will find no stronger critic of this piece then I, but i have also only recently started to truly appreciate it's power. Check out the mc808. It comes with a grip of VERY usable kits, and can sample your own stuff (w/help of cpu). add in some pretty tight sequencing out. you should be able to easly snag one under $500.

 

I like the x0x style of programming because it supports linear programming. If you know what your drum line looks like you can program it in very fast. I dont' like the 4x4 style of programming because while its better for 100bpm BWAM CLAP BWAM BWAM CLAP of 90s rap, I personally can't get my head around it for 130bpm beats--your own mileage may vary, plenty of folks don't mind it.

 

have you thought about a computer? the advantage to a drum machine is real time manipulation of the sound. If the sounds you are going for are static, you might be better off with live or logic etc.

 

[Khazul]

You might be better off with an AKAI MPC and using it with combination of phrase loops and samples - MPC are good if you want to play in your beats.

 

Can be a bit fiddly to step program however, so I tend to 'play in' even 132+bpm dance beats rather than try and step edit them, and TBH, the end result or more organic.

[moog man]

I would go the comp route but I don't have a laptop right now for live use. Plus even with that is the option of reliability. In the future this could be a cool option because I've seen reason/FL but for right now hardware is pretty much how I need to go.

 

I like the look of the MPCs but the ease of programming somewhat scares me. Also if I got an MPC could I play samples with a midi keyboard? Or does it have too little polyphony? if it is possible could you do that with more of a groove box type deal as well?

 

thanks for the replies, this is quite helpful!