Muse Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 I want to get one or two, but know next to nothing about them. 1. What are the best brands? 2. How much can they cost? 3. How do they work - just plugged into your amp along with your guitar, or do they need a PA system or their own amp? 4...I'll think of more questions later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarlaxle 56 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 If you didn't live so far away I'd drum for you...but, anyways, make sure you get something with a lot of power, you don't want it being overpowered by your amp. In other words, Lots of Watts = good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGG Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I want to get one or two, but know next to nothing about them. 1. What are the best brands? 2. How much can they cost? 3. How do they work - just plugged into your amp along with your guitar, or do they need a PA system or their own amp? 4...I'll think of more questions later. You say drum machine, but what are you really looking to do? A decent keyboard usually will have some standard beats programmed in, and can stand in pretty admirably if you're looking for basic drum loops to play guitar along to. You also get two instruments for your money. Some of the higher end Roland keyboards have most of their best drum patches onboard, and allow you to program your own loops. You can spend in the neighborhood of 400-500.00 dollars on a Boss "Dr. Rythym" 880 drum module which will offer you the most, and the latest patches available, and 150.00 to 200.00 on the Boss DR3 which will offer less versatility. Both are small units and economical on surface space. A unit like that is what you're after if you want something you can program to stand in for a real drummer.....it won't supply you with any cool stories, or buy the pizza though. Brands: Boss/Roland Alesis If you're looking to actually play some drums without the cost of buying a kit, there are Drum pads that you can buy with all the latest patches programmed in. You select the patches, and assign them to a pad platform. I use a Roland SPD-6 in my live setup, it provides many percussive options via a six pad platform but does not loop. That pad was in the neighborhood of 240.00 when I bought it five years ago. There are so many variations of this on the market, i couldn't even begin to break these down. Some are meant to be used by pros and include outputs for amplification, some are little more than toys. My brother has a Casio drumpad that offers both manual pad action, and allows you to program and loop your own beats but has no outputs other than it's own onboard amplification. As far as sound, you can use keyboards, pro style drum pads, or an outboard drum module/looper on most amplification. They typically will have 1/4", and XLR outputs on them. Unfortunately, drums are going to sound pretty horrible on anything that doesn't supply a boatload of bass response. The snare and tom tones will be ok on a guitar amp, but the bass drum tones will sound very thin. Some of the effect tones will suffer as well, the 808 "BOOM" patch, and quita few of the floor tom patches on my machine can't be properly heard on anything less than a full club PA with subs. Bet you're sorry you asked now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted February 2, 2008 Author Share Posted February 2, 2008 We have a keyboard type thing in the house... have had it for years. It's a Yamaha of some kind... it's good for keyboard usage, but its percussion samples are laughable. I was just messing with it and it's incredibly difficult to make even the simplest loop. Maybe there's a reason drum kits aren't set up like piano keys. I would really need an actual drummer to play with, because I'm a big fan of odd time signatures and shifting rhythms, and loops don't really work for those sorts of things. But machines have a sound all of their own, so I would want one to be used together with the drummer. New sounds, new possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyPage1977 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 I have a Korg Triton. It's a keyboard that does pretty much everything but sing the song for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGG Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 We have a keyboard type thing in the house... have had it for years. It's a Yamaha of some kind... it's good for keyboard usage, but its percussion samples are laughable. I was just messing with it and it's incredibly difficult to make even the simplest loop. Maybe there's a reason drum kits aren't set up like piano keys. I would really need an actual drummer to play with, because I'm a big fan of odd time signatures and shifting rhythms, and loops don't really work for those sorts of things. But machines have a sound all of their own, so I would want one to be used together with the drummer. New sounds, new possibilities. The newer keyboards will have the latest patches, and more versatility as JP 1977 can attest. The drum modules on the market today can spit back any odd time signature you program into it. The hitch will be that you will need to know how the part would be played manually. If you're talking free-form, or improv, then naturally the machine is out. My pad has a midi out that allows me to trigger loops on my keyboard players rig, either through the keyboards own loops, or his outboard sequencer. This puts me in control of the counter-rythyms I want to play along with. I don't utilize it alot, because I don't want to be tied to headphone monitors onstage, but it's fun to play with for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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