Favorite Drum Machines?

R

Ryvoke

New member
Hey guys, new to the site,

A few years ago I purchased a large quantity of drum hit samples from nearly 250 drum machines. It has a lot of the classics, multiple models, and even some obscure ones.

I'm getting back into making beats, and it's almost too much for me to process - I have 25,000 drum hit samples. I just wanted to know what are some of your favorite drum machines?

I am interested in producing rock, hip-hop, and techno beats. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan
 
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not a big fan of drum machines but 808, 909, e-mu procussion (i think i have a similar sample pack) off the top of my head.
 
ego killer said:
also having 25,000 drum samples CAN be a bad thing sometimes, you're gonna wanna narrow that down.
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Yeah I agree. There are probably many sounds I will never want to use. That's the reason I came here though so I can narrow it down to using a few good ones for the time being.

But yeah, it's overwhelming when I go to make a beat...I just randomly pick machines and take good sounds out of them.
 
I would take the time out n go thru 1 machine at a time...
Narrow down the ones i like from each n put the rest in another folder...
you can never really have to many drums...
-just to many options while creating...
Alot can come in handy when you wanna layer to get a different sound n what not...
 
I'm more of a fan of the converters and filters of the SP1200, AkaiS950 and MPC60. I dont have any of them though.
 
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It depends on what kinds of sounds you want for what kind of music you want to make. I've used most of the hardware units over the years, and I still have an Alesis HR-16B in the studio, and I use an Alesis SR-16 live. I tend to like more "realistic" sounds. I can always mangle a more real sounding drumkit with effects and sampling, etc. but for the dance stuff and some earlier rap/hip-hop sounds, you kind of need that 808/909 type of thing. But I have some of those kinds of sounds in the Korg Kaossilators and some sample sets, and there's a bunch of kits available in the SR-16. You can't really make an 808 or a 909 or an early Dr. Beat sound like "real" drums, but you can do the opposite with more conventional sounds if you're willing to spend the time.

BTW, to the OP-- That's A LOT of drum samples!

GJ
 
Favorite sounding was the Yamaha su 700 just the converters made everything so rich and fat and nasty filters.

Actually drum machines I still use sb246 and a mophatt
 
Aren't you talking samplers there, Solacerodgers? I know some people use the term inter-changeably with "drum-machine," but they're really rather different...

Samplers/sample-players and sequencer-wise, I have (and like to varying degrees) the Yamaha SU-10, the Roland/Boss SP-202, Boss RC-20XL looper, and the new Akai MPX8. I also had an old Gemini sampler, and a Casio SK1 and SK2. I have a handful of I-apps now for sampling that are pretty decent. My Juno G has sampling and audio recording, but I haven't used those features much. The newer Korg Kaossilator has sampling/looping as well. I have also used (but not owned) most of the older "serious" studio samplers-- Emu, Akai rack stuff; just about everything except any of the MPCs! Never used one. But they are all a little bit different from stand-alone, pre-loaded drum-machines.

GJ
 
rhythmgj said:
Aren't you talking samplers there, Solacerodgers? I know some people use the term inter-changeably with "drum-machine," but they're really rather different...

Samplers/sample-players and sequencer-wise, I have (and like to varying degrees) the Yamaha SU-10, the Roland/Boss SP-202, Boss RC-20XL looper, and the new Akai MPX8. I also had an old Gemini sampler, and a Casio SK1 and SK2. I have a handful of I-apps now for sampling that are pretty decent. My Juno G has sampling and audio recording, but I haven't used those features much. The newer Korg Kaossilator has sampling/looping as well. I have also used (but not owned) most of the older "serious" studio samplers-- Emu, Akai rack stuff; just about everything except any of the MPCs! Never used one. But they are all a little bit different from stand-alone, pre-loaded drum-machines.

GJ
Click to expand...

Yes and No the first list yamaha su 700 is indeed a sampler but the sb 246 is not.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I have samples from a few of the drum machines you listed above and will definitely check those out.

I have a lot of good samples from these machines that I have, and I have made some decent beats with them...but like I and you have said, it is almost too many. I like the idea of narrowing it down and taking out the drums I may never use...I guess I'm just the type that likes to have them all just "in case" I need a sound to add texture, even if it's a tiny little blip or something.

Thanks for giving me a place to start...of the machines you mentioned above...I will try to make some beats with the samples of the ones I have.

Any more input welcome on what your favorite drum machines are.

Thanks,

Ryan

It seems like my sample set, although very large, still lacks a lot of the drum machines you guys are mentioning, although I have samples from 250 drum machines. It blows my mind that there were that many drum machines out there. I will have to see if I can find some samples from the others you mentioned.

And, is it possible that some of my drum machine sounds come from "samplers"? I guess I don't know the distinction between the two.
 
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Yea thats possible... if u took the time to listen to all of them.. ud prolly find that u have multiple of the same drum with a different name.. or a lil more distortion...
 
Those look cool!

Space-Ant, I like the MPX8 as a player, but I haven't moved beyond the stock 8 kits they include. I need to get a card and start loading. I got it for adding some accapellas to my DJ set-up; the other samplers I have are full and I don't want to lose/change/store those sounds, I'm just using them as-is, so the Akai will be my rotating/new samples-player... So far, so good.

GJ
 
Nah, unfortunately you have to do your editing/chopping/cutting before you load. It's really a sample player, not a sampler per se. Nice MPC-style pads, simple and space-concious form factor, built pretty decently, and some control and a few internal FX, but you can only play what it comes with, or what you load in, but you've got to have everything set before you bring them in on SD or SDHC card. There are some free sample downloads, and there's free software to help you organize files and stuff, but it's not an MPC or anything. It's space-saving size fits perfectly with my over-crowded little DJ/live performance set-up, though...

GJ
 
O ok thanks for that... I was super confused on it...
watching videos n all but none of them really talked about it or showed what all it was capable of...
 
So of all my 250 machines and all my sounds, is it possible some of them are from "samplers"? What's the difference between a drum machine and sampler?
 
Well, some of the drum-machine sounds will have been sampled, and some of them will have been synthesized, so it gets kind of murky. In your case, your drum-sound samples may be re-samples of certain sounds (so they may have some EQ or FX added).

A drum-machine (whether physical or virtual) is a device that uses synthesized or sampled drum sounds (individual parts of the kit) to create rhythm patterns and drum grooves for songs by chaining various patterns and fills together (so there's a sequencing aspect as well). It is a machine that emulates a real drummer for production or live performances purposes, when a real drummer and drum-set are not available or for some reason (stylistically or financially) undesireable.

A sampler (whether hardware or software/virtual) is a device that records sound clips and plays them back either through live performer manipulation or through sequencing or MIDI control. Samplers like the MPC series became de facto drum-machines because of their use as a total hardware production solution for Hip-Hop producers (late 80's to early 2000's?) before DAWS and virtual instruments became such a big factor. So some people from the Hip-Hop tradition call something like the MPC a "drum-machine," even though it's much more, and in some ways, less. Two different devices that have the potential to cross into each other's territory...

GJ
 
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