Another newbie question.
What's a drum machine? Is it used to strictly create drum patterns? How does it work? How is it different from a sequencer on a keyboard or on a software sequencer?
Starkeeper

Starkeeper,
A drum machine is a unit that is primarily for recording drum tracks.. However many units also have bass sounds and allow you to record both drums and bass. The way they work is quite simple. Take mine for example. I have the Zoom MRT-3.. It has 7 velocity sensitive pads (with 2 banks, meaning I have a total of 14 sounds per kit) Now a lot of people like the keyboard set up because of the number of drum sounds per kit.. This isn't a problem with drum machines.. Especially if you have a unit that allows you to use more than one kit per song... Mine allows this.. I can have a drum track that has multiple patterns, and each pattern can be done with a different kit.

I also have the option of using a footswitch to control things such as bass drum, open hi hat. A decent drum machine will allow you to edit your own custom kits, and not just by assigning different sounds to the pads, but doing things like adjusting velocity level, tune, pitch, pan, and other settings. Also decent drum machines have kits that have multiple levels within the samples.. A good example is a kit on my drum machine called a bend down kit.. The sound changes as you hit the pad harder (along with the volume too)... Drum machines are easy to program.. You're using pattern chaining. They can be midi synced to keyboards quite easily, and can really breathe new life into some songs. There is not one kit on my PSR-550 that I honestly like... That's why I bought a drum machine. Recording on them also varies between makers. You can do realtime recording and step recording. Mine doesn't do it in tracks.. Since it only records drum tracks everything is just overdubbing. When you're recording just drums all you really need is overdubbing.. It wouldn't make any sense to have hi hat on one track, bass on the other and so on.. If you want a track that is just like your original, but without the hi hat, you just copy that pattern to an empty spot, and then delete the hi hat from that pattern.. You know have the same pattern, but without the hi hat.

My drum machine has kits sampled above CD quality. They sound awsome and so real. My drum machine only costs $99.00 It was $119.00 when I bought it though.. However, at $99.00 it's the best one on the market....

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 06-11-2003).]

Ohhh. It is an electronic version of a real drum set, you can adjust the placement of the pads (like real acoustic drums)? You actually play it using drum sticks? Drummers can use these instead of acoustic drums (I have seen this)?
Starkeeper

Basically yes.. It's an electronic version of drums.. Keyboards are that too... The drum sounds on a drum machine are digitally sampled as well.. There are drum machines you can play with sticks such as the Yamaha DD55. Others are actual electronic drum kits (full size)... They are played just like a real kit.. With sticks, and a bass and hi hat pedal. These ones can get REAL expensive.. Take a look at the Roland "V" sets that have mesh heads... I've played them and it's just like a real kit.. Machines like I use are small in size, and very compact. They don't take up the space a kit would... Electronic drum kits are just that.. Full size kit's but digital...

Squeak

Do you play the Zoom mrt-3 pads with your fingers?
Starkeeper

Yup! Use your fingers, and I also use a footswitch to control the bass drum. Using a footswitch for the bass drum frees up both of my hands for playing.. As on a real kit you'd play the bass with your foot. Doing this with my drum machine actaully makes it feel more natural when I play and record patterns.

Squeak

Starkeeper,
Go so sites like www.music123.com www.americanmusical.com www.8thstreet.com www.zzounds.com and look up drum machines. You'll see some nice ones out there...

Squeak

Squeak...
Perhaps you could enlighten Starkeeper a little further on the midi aspects of drum machines, ie. using them as either a controller or a slave.
I sometimes (but not too often) use my old R8 in addition to my other toys. She may be old, but the sounds are very good, and easily editable.

Good idea Leon, He's right there are quite a few advantages with drum machines via midi. You can use them as controllers and as slave devices as well. Here's some examples... I know someone who has a Yamaha DD55. He also has a Zoom drum machine.. He uses his Yamaha DD55 to play the sounds of his Zoom.. This way he can play that sounds of the Zoom like a real kit using sticks and the large pads of the Yamaha. I'll often midi the drum machine up to my keyboard and use the keyboard to contol the drum sounds... It's a nice feature to have.. Other machines will vary with midi functions.. Many have both midi in and out, and I think some take more than one footswitch.

Squeak

Thank you all for enlightening me on drum machines. I think the word machine threw me off. It's an electronic drum kit, not a machine that produces drum rythms.
Strkeeper

Well actually it's a machine that produces drum sounds and patterns. The sounds you're playing are actual sampled sounds from a live kit. Some are so good on my MRT-3 that you can actually hear the the vibration of the snares under the drum. How the patterns are actually recorded is another thing... I would assume that the majority of them were step recorded into the unit using the internal sounds.. However I think some units ultilize live playing with the patterns, which gives them a nice natural flow to them..

Squeak

I may be wrong on this, but I wonder if Starkeeper is confusing the'drum machine' squeak_D is talking about with the electronic drum sets some drummers use....
t.

Yeah me too... Starkeeper, These are two different units here.. A drum machine is small desktop unit that you program by tapping pads with your fingers. An electronic drum kit is an actual drum kit. They are set up just like a drum kit. You play them with drum sticks and bass and hi hat pedals. Of course you'll need to amplify the sound, but what's great about those is that you can practice in silence.. If you don't want to disturb anyone you can plug headphones into the drum module of the kit. Electronic drum kits are awsome. The sampled sounds are great and playing surfaces are quite responsive.. Roland V sets have chokable cymbals. They work just like real cymbals too.. The sound actually changes as you move closer to the bell.. The drum heads are the same way.. The sound changes as you move from the inside to the outside of the head or pad.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 06-11-2003).]

No. I think I got it. What I meant was, a MACHINE sounds like a device that creates drum sounds automatically (sort of like an arranger) and you tweak them some how, to create different patterns. So the musician is not really drumming.
The drum machine that Squeak owns, you actually drum in the patterns using fingers and your foot. An electronic drum kit you use exactly like acoustic drums, in which you use drum sticks.
Starkeeper

Yup you got it