New discussion for Tres. Spun off from Backing Tracks

Moved Reply:

Well, this would seem the place to ask this...

I don't play with tracks for several reasons, but the main two are that I don't have time to create them all, and I don't like being locked into the arrangement.

Having said that, I currently play live acoustic guitar and sing, and have added a live bassist. What I would like to do is add drums, just for the beat and a little more energy. But I don't want to program drums.

What I'd really like is just a simple drum machine or "beat box", with nothing more than some basic rhythms (samba, rock, ballad, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, etc), and a tempo control. Period.

I'm not looking to authentically recreate the original drum solo in Inagaddadavida. Just something I can punch on and off. And not very large or cumbersome. Ironically, the rhythms on my cheap keyboard I used to have worked fine, but I don't want to haul a keyboard around just for the drums. I ran across someone using a very small, very handy one a few years ago, but they don't make it anymore and he wouldn't sell his!

Anyone know of something on the market close to what I'm looking for?

PS: Very good discussion, by the way...very constructive comments...

Moved Reply:

There's also the Dr. Beat DB-30 that only costs $40.

Moved Reply:

The little Korg Pandora PX Mini has a bunch of drum patterns plus guitar effects and amp simulators. It's small enough to go in a pocket. It costs $100

You could also use an iPod Touch with a drum app. There are a bunch of them.

Thanks, Tom, I'll look into those...

You bet, Tres!

Hi Tres,

Long time no post for me. We met at Lil'Switzerland.

I've used an Alesis SR-16 for years and have been very happy with it. Add two pedals and you have foot control over Start/Stop and A/B patterns with drum rolls to go from one to the other.

Try the SR18 sounds great on the L1 Mark2 with 2 B1s

quote:

Hi Tres,

Long time no post for me. We met at Lil'Switzerland.

I've used an Alesis SR-16 for years and have been very happy with it. Add two pedals and you have foot control over Start/Stop and A/B patterns with drum rolls to go from one to the other.

I was originally looking into the Alesis SR-16, but they don't make it any more. Someone on the forum had one for sale but I couldn't afford it at the time.

Good to hear from you again!

quote:

Originally posted by Troisnoir:

quote:

Hi Tres,

Long time no post for me. We met at Lil'Switzerland.

I've used an Alesis SR-16 for years and have been very happy with it. Add two pedals and you have foot control over Start/Stop and A/B patterns with drum rolls to go from one to the other.

I was originally looking into the Alesis SR-16, but they don't make it any more. Someone on the forum had one for sale but I couldn't afford it at the time.

Good to hear from you again!

There's a couple of them on eBay and there's always craigslist if you're still looking for one.

quote:

Originally posted by Troisnoir:

quote:

Hi Tres,

Long time no post for me. We met at Lil'Switzerland.

I've used an Alesis SR-16 for years and have been very happy with it. Add two pedals and you have foot control over Start/Stop and A/B patterns with drum rolls to go from one to the other.

I was originally looking into the Alesis SR-16, but they don't make it any more. Someone on the forum had one for sale but I couldn't afford it at the time.

Good to hear from you again!

On another note, have you thought of using a Porchboard or similar device since you're just looking for a simple beat?

At this point, I'm not coordinated enough for a porchboard.

Tres,

Sent you a PM about an SR-18...

Hey all you guys that already use an SR-18...

Is there documentation available anywhere that lists the rhythm presets that come with the unit? Usually that's found in the addendum of the manual, but I don't see anything in the SR-18 book. I'm thinking of buying one, but I'd really rather not step through all 400 presets in the store to find the ones I need. I can believe they don't list them in the manual...

Hi Tres
If you go online to American Music Supply web site select drums on the top menu bar then on the left side of the page select drum machines. It will take you to the drum machine listings. I beleive the first one listed is the SR-18. Click on the picture and on the right side of the page it lists 3 pdf,files to download. And one is the preset list you were looking for. I hope this helps.

Fellow music maker Todd

Found it!

I got a download of the list from Alesis, don't know why it's not in the manual, but...

Looks like a pretty versatile machine.

Hi Tres
The web site is Americanmusical.com sorry.My mistake

Todd

quote:

Originally posted by Troisnoir:
Found it!

I got a download of the list from Alesis, don't know why it's not in the manual, but...

Looks like a pretty versatile machine.

It's a real powerhouse. Can get overwhelming sometimes, but if you can find some presets that you like (and just have to adjust tempo) it can work well - if you're an old sr-16 user, then it'll be a breeze, and you'll love the drum sounds - much more realistic imho.

Thank you to Tom, Tom, Todd, and Mike:

I just bought a used SR18 on Craigslist, pretty good deal on it.

Looks like it should work out fine.

Tres, I was hoping you'd try something more unconventional, but I don't blame you for going with a drum machine. I used an Alesis for exactly what you're doing many years ago, and it worked great! I'm intrigued enough now to look at the other ideas I suggested. I think it would be cool to use an iPod or iPhone or the Korg I talked about.