[Closed] Drum Machines - where to begin?

Sorry for the jokey reply but it bumps your thread:

Ah, that’s Doktor Avalanche.
A Linn thing if I remember correctly, with real drum samples

Roland TR-808 for the authentic 80s sound

I've never touched a drum machine and I'm not a musician but I do browse them because I like toys (and secretly desperately wish I was a musician)

I've gathered that the Behringer RD-8 is a straight up rip off of a Roland TR-808. It makes all the right noises for won't cost you 4 grand. It also looks the part. I'd buy one for myself but it would just be a dust collector rather than the start of an illustrious career in music.

Thanks all - and I do like the look of that Behringer!

Honestly, as a drummer and programmer, get the cheapest thing you can because they'll soon realise they'll be better off with another person in the band to do all that stuff for them.

Honestly, as a drummer and programmer, get the cheapest thing you can because they’ll soon realise they’ll be better off with another person in the band to do all that stuff for them.

This.

Sounds like a smart lad.....if there was a way for me to operate any of my bands without a drummer then I would 😂

In all seriousness though, it's really hard to get a decent drummer at the best of times, let alone when you (and thus they, are fairly young)

Most important member of any band is the singist/front person....second most important is the drummer. Whole thing is a write of if the drummer isn't very good.

per the podge and Tom-B above

but alternatively I've been looking into this for a while and depending on budget and inclination

Alesis SR16 or 18
Arturia Drumbrute
Elecktron Digitakt
I went with Beatstep pro and Nord Drum 3p and will most

Don't forget that plugging these into a guitar amp will sound shit

You're welcome

" share gig money" lol, or have things changed since my time?

can't you use garageband drummer on a iphone or logicX on a laptop?

but honestly just please get a drummer, (unless you like caberet)

I'm loving, agreeeing with and going to share the comments with him.
There's an added irony in that he fancies himself as a Dave Grohl type. Drums is his second instrument for his Music Highers, we upgraded (perhaps) from a Roland electronic kit to an acoustic kit and I've spent enough on lessons for him to understand the value.
But he is still a teenager 🤣

While Behringer produce some proper value gear on a moral level they leave an awful lot to be desired. TR-8/TR-8S would be a good shout or the Arturia Drumbrute or Drumbrute Impact, Digitakt is a sampler but would fit the bill, there's real learning curve to Elektron gear but when you get it it's very intuitive.
Personally I use an MFB Tanzbar but I think the Arturia or Roland would be the one to go for.

Does he have an iPad? Garage Band is pretty capable at this kind of thing and is free. It is certainly of high enough quality for your son to see a) if he likes programming drum loops etc and b) whether a machine is the way to go...

There’s an added irony in that he fancies himself as a Dave Grohl type

The amazing drummer that hired an amazing drummer is the inspiration for someone who wants to avoid using a drummer. That makes perfect sense.

What sort of budget do you have in mind?
The Volca Sample 2 probably the cheapest option, its basically a drum machine you can load samples into so it's a little more flexible than a drum machine but the Volca's do come with limitations due to the low price.

I had a play with a Modal Craft Rhythm the other day, was very impressed with it for the cost and size.
Comes with preloaded samples, but you can load your own.
My mate got his from ebay for £50.

In case you missed it

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4vxylVTKQrw6Hl8kgNrFv61/in-praise-of-the-808-8-essential-tracks-to-celebrate-the-drum-machine-that-changed-the-world

And a 6music playlist at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000q431

If your son just wants to press play and then have the band play along then he'll want drum machine that will allow him to create songs, otherwise he will have to interact with it live to create variations (plenty musicians do this).

Volca's are very limited in this regards, and not that easy to interact with live (if you have another instrument to worry about) Roland RD-6/8s are quite limited in this regard, but with the faders are really quick and easy to play.

Digitakt has a full sequencer, Behringer RD-8 does pretty good pattern chaining.

As others have said, perhaps use garage band, or even Ableton live on a laptop, then you have all the flexibility in the world.

Garage band is a good shout. I'll have a look.

I've got a Digitakt and it's great, but as others have said I think best to start off with Garageband for ease of use. 5 minutes on a Digitakt and you're still figuring out how to navigate the sample library. 5 mins with Garageband drummer and you've got a passable rhythm section.

And if they want to do Oasis / Killers type stuff, I don't think an 808/Volca/Drumbrute style machine would be a good fit at all.

If he really wants to play 'live' and have the option of some sort of interactivity then a BeatBuddy is a good option.  Rather than having a fixed backing track to play to you end up with several 'loops', e.g. verse + chorus, with the ability to flip between them using a footswitch as well as adding the occasional fills to make it sound a bit more live. The downside is it has to be learned as it isn't just press and go but it's pretty good

because they’ll soon realise they’ll be better off with another person in the band to do all that stuff for them

This still applies as well though.  Although there is a forum with quite a lot of stuff that other people have created, it's still quite a lot of work and once you start editing you are ending up being the drummer 🙂

I had a bunch of korg volcas.

I would not have wanted to use the drum machine live and do anything other than play synths, ideally ones linked to the korg.

Plus one an iPad or alesis sr16. It really depends what genre of music it is though
The 808,909 style etc are amazing but limited in sound pallet and won't sound like a real drum kit, or even new order who I think used an oberheim. If he's making techno or hip hop they are fantastic though. If it's more a drum backing track type to sound like oasis he's after maybe not. Something that can play back samples or has a lot of onboard sounds will give him best bang for buck and be more flexible.

Just to update this. I think garage band is looking favourite, but I've managed to pick up a Roland TR-8 for a decent price.

It just looks soooooo cool, I couldn't resist. Will give me something to play with if nothing else 🙂

Thanks again everyone.

Ah ! No Drummer No Band !

Interestingly, our local successful band, Working Men’s Club started with a live drummer and have gone to machines (with Syd pressing ‘Go’ for each track). Works for them...

Playing live with a drum machine is fraught with peril - there’s the ‘can you hear it’ aspect as well as its lack of empathy if you overrun the first verse by a bar, it won’t hear that and make amends, it’ll just keep ploughing through the pattern to the end of the song.

Besides, with a real drummer you’ll have someone with a van who can carry all the band’s gear 😜

there’s the ‘can you hear it’ aspect as well as its lack of empathy if you overrun the first verse by a bar, it won’t hear that and make amends, it’ll just keep ploughing through the pattern to the end of the song

That's where the BeatBuddy wins.  You control when the changes are.  The downside is that you have to do the controlling so it is one more thing to think about