MOTM

Now that I'm starting to record more, my old HR-16 sounds pretty limited.
Any recommendations for good sounding drum machines? It should cover good
acoustic and electronic kits. I'm particularly interested in realistic
sounding, reasonably hi fi cymbals, including cymbal bell sounds, natural
decay, etc.

Dave Bradley
Principal Software Engineer
Engineering Animation, Inc.
daveb@...

> You can get Roland RM-8s now pretty cheap (since everyone
> wants Roland V-Drums).

Is that the exact same sound engine as the R-8? I'd want the sequencer part
of a drum machine since I'm not currently using a MIDI sequencer, just a
HDR.

Dave Bradley
Principal Software Engineer
Engineering Animation, Inc.
daveb@...

You can get Roland RM-8s now pretty cheap (since everyone
wants Roland V-Drums). Also, the new Alesis ProDrums got 2 glowing
reviews recently.

Paul S.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Bradley <daveb@...>
To: MOTM List <motm@onelist.com>
Date: Wednesday, August 25, 1999 9:47 AM
Subject: [motm] OT: Drum machines

>From: "Dave Bradley" <daveb@...>
>
>Now that I'm starting to record more, my old HR-16 sounds pretty limited.
>Any recommendations for good sounding drum machines? It should cover good
>acoustic and electronic kits. I'm particularly interested in realistic
>sounding, reasonably hi fi cymbals, including cymbal bell sounds, natural
>decay, etc.
>
>Dave Bradley
>Principal Software Engineer
>Engineering Animation, Inc.
>daveb@...
>
>
>--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ----------------------------
>
>ONElist: the best place to EXPLORE topics, SHARE ideas, and
>CONNECT to people with the same interests.
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>

>Also, the new Alesis ProDrums got 2 glowing
>reviews recently.

If you just need the drum sounds - check out the Alesis D4 & DM5 modules
Both are easily found used for less than $250. Excellent sounds & 12 trigger
inputs to boot! (which I imagine could be used for some wicked purpose with
your MOTM modules...)

I recently checked out a DM5 vs the Roland Vdrum module ( both were
triggered from V Drum pads) and I thought that the the DM5 sounded better.
The VDrum odule does have more bells & whistles though - like the cheesy,
computer generated, vocal count off: 1 - e - and - uhh - 2 - e - and -
uhh....

Stiffer than Al Gore at a Republican cocaine orgy!

jmw

Note that all newer modules (D4 forward on the time line, say 1995 >>>)
*do not* have sequencers built-in (808/909 etc).

That's due to either MIDI or drum pad trigger inputs being used.

Paul S.

My roommate recommends:

* Alesis D4. He found his used for $125. It's worth that much solely for
the trigger->MIDI conversion, if you are interested in triggering drum
sounds with either drum pads or analog sequencers. (He built an excellent
set of trigger pads from instructions available on the net, for under
$100; email me and I can find the reference, although in this group, it
may be enough to say that it involves Remo practice pads, coffee can lids,
and disassembled Radio Shack piezo buzzers.) The D4 contains the same
soundset found in the SR16 stand-alone drum machine ... `serviceable'
might be the best way to describe it.

* E-mu Procussion. This is the drum module member of the Morpheus/Proteus
series. Very large, nice sounding sample set, _very_ flexible synthesis
architecture (for a ROMpler I mean). We both think it sounds better than
any machine with pads on it. I forget how much he paid for it used. But
it wasn't cheap, and it's MIDI only.

Not recommended is the Alesis DM5, because he found the trigger inputs
worked much less reliably than the D4's with his pads, and DMPro, because
it costs too much. Also not recommended is any Roland product from after
1993. :)

ObMOTM: I would _definitely_ go for a couple VCOs that offered
through-zero FM in exchange for some loss of precision (as long as Paul
could still sleep at night), were such a module to be offered.

peace,
Chris Jeris

hello:

what seems to have been missed from the original post is that he wanted a
drum machine and not a drum module. while i'm sure that the info that's been
passed on has been appreciated, i think we've missed answering his question.

yes, the R8M is the module version of the R8. the R8 and the R8mkII, i think
would be excellent choices from how you described your needs in terms of
sounds. i found the timing options to be excellent and with a wide variety of
sound cards you can cover a lot of sonic territory. the manual is terribly
written in my opinion, but when i owned one (about nine years ago) i was able
to purchase a book (sorry don't have it anymore) that explained its workings
better, written by an english speaking person. the mark two version comes
with a lot more internal sounds (i think 200 or something). i owned the non
mark two version and all the sound cards. i was quite pleased with it. keep
in mind though that these things are not manufactured any longer but are
quite easy to find on the used market.

or....... you could buy a hardware sequencer and any of the modules that the
other kind people have mentioned.

i'm partial to the x-base 09 myself at the moment in terms of currently
manufactured drum machines but from what you described in terms of your sonic
needs i don't think it would be appropriate.

another option: an MPC 2000 or MPC 2000 XL or the reissued and overpriced
MPC3000 from akai. these are great sequencer/samplers whereby you'd have to
sample your own drum sounds or buy or download samples of the sounds you are
looking for. these units might be more than you are looking for in terms of
features but are truly great machines (again in my opinion).

hope this helps and that i haven't offended anyone,

anton fier

> From: Christopher Jeris <cjeris@...>
>
> My roommate recommends:
>
> * Alesis D4. He found his used for $125. It's worth that much solely

for

> the trigger->MIDI conversion, if you are interested in triggering drum
> sounds with either drum pads or analog sequencers. (He built an

excellent

> set of trigger pads from instructions available on the net, for under
> $100;

If it indeed just sounds and ability to interface with triggers and MIDI
and you do not need the pattern stuff in many drum machines, I too like the
D4. I have one. However, sounds are subjective to the individual
listener.
Larry Hendry

Dave I use a Boss DR-5. I think the DR660 is probably better.
Jim

>From: "Dave Bradley" <daveb@...>
>Reply-To: motm@onelist.com
>To: "MOTM List" <motm@onelist.com>
>Subject: [motm] OT: Drum machines
>Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 09:41:10 -0500
>
>From: "Dave Bradley" <daveb@...>
>
>Now that I'm starting to record more, my old HR-16 sounds pretty limited.
>Any recommendations for good sounding drum machines? It should cover good
>acoustic and electronic kits. I'm particularly interested in realistic
>sounding, reasonably hi fi cymbals, including cymbal bell sounds, natural
>decay, etc.
>
>Dave Bradley
>Principal Software Engineer
>Engineering Animation, Inc.
>daveb@...
>
>
>--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ----------------------------
>
>ONElist: the best place to EXPLORE topics, SHARE ideas, and
>CONNECT to people with the same interests.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks all for the recommendations. Interesting that nothing has come along
in the last 10 years to blow away the Roland R-8 (Akai MPCs excepted -
they're beyond my budget!) I remember liking the R-8s when they came out,
but I can't remember if the cymbals sounded choked, or had nice long decays.

Dave