What's a "Drum Machine"?

[game_freak24]

I'm totally lost with what a drum machine is. I've been playing for around 3 years with just my metronome and my bass teacher told me to go out and get a drum machine. He showed me his, an old Yamaha something-erather. Anyway, I know its just a machine that replays preset drumbeats and you can make up your own.

At first I thought THIS is what I was looking for, ZOOM RT-223:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-ZOOM-RT-2...QQcmdZViewItem

I emailed the guy asking him about it, and apparently its only used on electric drumkits and cant be used as the drum machine I'm looking for. Is that right?

Why am I having such a hard time finding one on the Aussie Ebay? Are they right in front of my face and i just cant tell the difference between the one i want and the electric drumkit ones?

I'm 95% sure this is what I'm looking for, The ZOOM MRT-3:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ZOOM-MRT-3-Mi...QQcmdZViewItem

I thought I'd ask guys with the right know-how, just to be sure.

Thanks guys.

[Dave Muscato]

I'm not sure why the first guy said it would only work on an electronic drum kit, because that's not true; in fact, that would *not* work with an electronic drum kit (he's thinking of a drum module aka a drum brain, but that's not what's in the link you posted).

A drum machine is simply a programmable unit that plays sampled drum sounds. You can program drum beats using the different sounds, and loop them, so you can have a drum part to a song that you can use for practicing and playing along with. You can do the same thing with software for a lot less (Garageband comes with a bunch of drum loops, for example, and there are also a million other programs out there which do the same thing).

I use a Boss DR-88. It's really just a fancy metronome but it works great for me. The Boss DR-670 is probably more along the lines of what your teacher's talking about. Either of the two links you posted would be fine.

[DocBop]

Metronome is best learning tool, but drum machine are good when you have good time and starting to work on styles. I have one of the BOSS Dr. Rhythm DR-670 and BOSS make a few different model at different price. The Alesis SR-16 is a basic drum machine many bass players have and they are inexpensive.

http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=60

http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/p_rhythm.html

BOSS the DR's are drum machines and DB's are fancy metronomes.

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by DocBop

he Alesis SR-16 is a basic drum machine many bass players have and they are inexpensive.

+1 the sr-16 is the fender precison of drum machines
not flashy but very usable

if you have a PC where you practice you may consider downloading Fruity Loops or a similar software sequencer

[fenderhutz]

Herb Alexander

[kevinmoore73]

A hearty +1 on the Zoom RT-223! I just got one on Friday to replace my Boss DR-670 and I love it. (I'll give the Boss DR-670 a big -100 as it had a pathetic user interface compared to the RT-223).

Also, that guy doesn't know what he's talking about. The RT-223 is a stand-alone drum machine and wouldn't work as the "brain" of an electronic drum set.

[kevinmoore73]

Originally Posted by mambo4

if you have a PC where you practice you may consider downloading Fruity Loops or a similar software sequencer

Or you could get Hydrogen from http://www.hydrogen-music.org/. It's free.

[game_freak24]

thanks for that guys. I was a little lost with the difference between a drum machine and a drum module. I'm leaning towards the RT-223, its only an extra $70 more than the MRT-3, and it seems to have alot more features.

[jwl]

Originally Posted by DocBop

Metronome is best learning tool, but drum machine are good when you have good time and starting to work on styles. I have one of the BOSS Dr. Rhythm DR-670 and BOSS make a few different model at different price. The Alesis SR-16 is a basic drum machine many bass players have and they are inexpensive.

http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=60

http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/p_rhythm.html

BOSS the DR's are drum machines and DB's are fancy metronomes.

+1 on the sr-16. never without it.

[GoesThump]

If you can, try to find an older Roland R5 or R8. These were really the cream of drum machines & still hold up well. They can be had cheap now - I just sold an R5 for $60.

GT

[kyral210]

The best is EZ Drummer with the Drumkit From Hell add on!

[RickenBoogie]

The low end Boss unit, DR-3, is plenty good for practice and low level jamming. I just got one last week, cheap, and don't know how I ever lived without it.

[98dvl]

Originally Posted by game_freak24

thanks for that guys. I was a little lost with the difference between a drum machine and a drum module. I'm leaning towards the RT-223, its only an extra $70 more than the MRT-3, and it seems to have alot more features.

I have an RT-223 and it's fairly easy to use... There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you get past that it's no problem...

I wish there was something I could use my computer to program... A graphical interface would be much easier for programming (like Fruity Loops) than step programming... Also, it'd be nice to be able to transfer files to and from your computer with a USB interface.

[bkbirge]

Get an old Sequential Circuits Drumtraks, you'll thank me someday. Easy to program, good sounds with great tweakability, individual outs for each voice, and not a billion menus to navigate through just to program a click track. I love my boss DR-770 also but for pure grit and 'pick up and play' the Drumtraks is hard to beat.

[PauBass]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

The low end Boss unit, DR-3, is plenty good for practice and low level jamming. I just got one last week, cheap, and don't know how I ever lived without it.

Can you tell me if all the Preset Styles on the DR-3 come with the bass as well as the Drum sounds? If so, can you mute the bass and listen only to the drums?

Thanks!