Anyone here use a drum machine pedal for home jamming?

[bearhammer]

I’m shopping for a reasonably priced drum machine to just be able to practice at home and groove to, maybe even create loops for song idea etc. So far I’m looking at Mooer and Flamma brands, they seem decent and inexpensive, some have a looping function, some don’t, and I also noticed the beat buddy, but those are nearly $400, which is WAY over what I’m willing to spend for what I want this for.. just looking for suggestions. Thanks

 

[bholder]

I've got the Beat Buddy. Not cheap, but yeah, it's pretty great. Sorry.

 

[Nebadon2000]

I use Beat Buddy Mini 2 $149 but it is just a Good Drum Machine

 

[skycruiser]

A $50 used Alesis SR-16 kept me going for a long time.

 

[UntitledProject]

I use a phone app and the aux in on a pedal.

 

[Ekibnur]

I do similar, drumbit in the browser and plug into my aux in.

 

[M-Mittlesteadt]

I use my Zoom B1X for my tone and effects. Also has a tuner, mute and 50 different style drumbeats as presets and I can change the BPM to suit my needs.

 

[pfschim]

(at least for Apple silicon macs)
I used a software based drum machine/sequencer (iZotope iDrum) for a long time because it sounded good and was easy to work with, and most importantly, it was programmable so I could build my own grooves or edit one of the hundreds of available grooves to fit my needs. I was very sad to see that product die, at least for Apple silicon macs. It seems like it still may be avail for Windows and Intel Macs.

After iDrum was no longer avail, I got the Mooer Drummer X2. I've used the X2 for practice and some live work. It sounds pretty good but it is limited to a fixed set of 11 "genres" (i.e. funk, pop, country, latin, reggae) with each genre having 11 grooves. There is no capability for editing/creating drum beats. So, I can't say it's very limiting, but you have to work with the stuff it comes with.

I have no experience with Beat Buddy or Beat Buddy mini.

TBH, if I was just going to use a drum machine for practice, I would just use a software drum sequencer because those will give you a lot of flexibility as far as grooves/feel.

good luck OP!

 

[MonetBass]

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can create beats in Garage Band.

 

[singlemalt]

The Beat Buddy is very cool, especially with the extra switches. I found one used for $250.

It’s more geared towards using it for live performances. They sell packages of drums for various artist songs as well.

If you don’t need that much, there are tons of inexpensive drum machines and drum apps.

GarageBand has everything you need.

For most practice, I’m using the Zoom G3n and B3n. The built in beats are decent and cover most styles and feels. The looper locks in with the beats, making it a very easy to use looper. Both multi fx units were about $100 used.

 

[PNW Tony]

I use Beat Buddy Mini 2 $149 but it is just a Good Drum Machine

I really like the Beat Buddy Mini at the end of my at-home pedal chain for trouble-free backing beats or inspirado. Great customer service, too. Also, a few useful drum apps for phone or tablet are Drumgenius, Loopz, and Backtrackit.

 

[bholder]

The Beat Buddy is very cool, especially with the extra switches. I found one used for $250.

It’s more geared towards using it for live performances. They sell packages of drums for various artist songs as well.

If you don’t need that much, there are tons of inexpensive drum machines and drum apps.

GarageBand has everything you need.

For most practice, I’m using the Zoom G3n and B3n. The built in beats are decent and cover most styles and feels. The looper locks in with the beats, making it a very easy to use looper. Both multi fx units were about $100 used.

one of my favorite beats to jam over is from the B3n - the two "bossa nova" tracks overlaid on each other (not that what I play sounds like a bossa nova at all lol). more useful than one might think.

 

[hyperdoc]

I use and agree with the above comments about the Beat Buddy Mini 2.

 

[FightMilk]

I like to use the Boss RC10 Rythm station. It's kind of hard to use until you figure out what all the footswitches do, and it's easier if you connect an auxiliary footswitch with 2 more, so it gives you 4 in total to switch between parts, immediate stop etc...

 

[Jeff Hughes]

There are many easy apps that are just drum machine. The Vox Bass Amplug has some decent drum loops, but they just repeat and cannot be looped.

 

[MVE]

If you are just looking to practice at home, try YouTube.

There are a million videos of drumloops.

 

[BassicJazzy]

I’m shopping for a reasonably priced drum machine to just be able to practice at home and groove to, maybe even create loops for song idea etc. So far I’m looking at Mooer and Flamma brands, they seem decent and inexpensive, some have a looping function, some don’t, and I also noticed the beat buddy, but those are nearly $400, which is WAY over what I’m willing to spend for what I want this for.. just looking for suggestions. Thanks

Beat Buddy Mini 2, price about what others have noted. I used to use a BOSS drum machine and the Beat Buddy is far superior. It's also a lot better than the drum tracks in Garage Band, plus lots easier to use. Two things to note: 1) It is mostly oriented to rock and modern music, very light on jazz beats, but then again, GarageBand is nearly worthless on those too, 2) You are going to get better results running it to a separate amp, not chaining it to the end of your pedalboard. Even a small micro amp set off to the side will sound better. Keep your bass signal your bass signal, clean.

The Beat Buddy Mini will loop its drum track, if you want to loop other things, get a separate looper. No need to do this in one pedal.

 

[logdrum]

As a Charlie Hunter fan I use his phone tablet "metronome" called Wheelhouse Beats -- subscription based and it is not cheap. But very ggoove oriented and features all the drummers that played or stll play with him. It is very human like.

I also have the full Native Instruments Suite and there are drummer libraries including esoteric percussion like gamelan and other world percussion. That is computer based

 

[Jeff Scott]

I have a virtually brand new Alesis SR-16 I have never used. Want to buy it?

 

[MaxSpinrun]

I have two, BeatBuddy and my favorite, SDRUM. Worth checking it out.