Good drum machine for home recording

[Heritage1970]

Hi all! First off let me say I'm not a drum machine guy. In any way shape or form! Every recording I've ever done my entire life has been with a real drummer and I don't plan on changing that ever! That being said, I'm looking to get something to lay down a decent drum track that I can run right into my 8-track recorder and it will sound decent. I have absolutely no experience or knowledge of drum machines at all, I have heard that Beat Buddy is pretty good, and I have heard people talk about other models that actually adapt to the song that is playing to make a perfect beat. Again I know nothing about it so hoping some of you have some experience with home recording and can suggest one that's user friendly but actually does a great job too. Thanks everyone!

[Anthony]

Hey,

For a simple but awesome sounding drum app for your phone, try LOOPZ.

It was created by Paul Davids (guitar youtuber).

It is not a drum machine but it is great for jamming. I run mine through my bluetooth speaker.

[TalismanRich]

I've got an Alesis  SR18.   I like the drum sounds,   but I never had the patience to do any programming of it.   It does have some usable patterns.   I used it with my Yamaha AW1600 years ago to do a version of Inner City Blues with only factory patterns.  

You can also feed it midi tracks from a computer and feed that to your 8 track.

I've since moved to MT Power Drumkit in my DAW, although you could send the audio output from your computer to your recorder.  

[Heritage1970]

20 hours ago, Anthony said:

Hey,

For a simple but awesome sounding drum app for your phone, try LOOPZ.

It was created by Paul Davids (guitar youtuber).

It is not a drum machine but it is great for jamming. I run mine through my bluetooth speaker.

Thanks! I'll definitely check it out!

[Heritage1970]

18 hours ago, TalismanRich said:

I've got an Alesis  SR18.   I like the drum sounds,   but I never had the patience to do any programming of it.   It does have some usable patterns.   I used it with my Yamaha AW1600 years ago to do a version of Inner City Blues with only factory patterns.  

You can also feed it midi tracks from a computer and feed that to your 8 track.

I've since moved to MT Power Drumkit in my DAW, although you could send the audio output from your computer to your recorder.  

Thanks! 

[HANGAR18]

I've been trying to figure out how to play with myself.... uh.... I mean... I want to play the drums and record it, and then play back my own drumming somehow like they do on guitar with loopers, and then play the guitar along with my own drumming. I'm guessing that I' have to record the drums into an MP3 format, then play that back from a laptop into a PA system, and then play the guitar with real amps. I've also thought about buying multiple loopers and connecting them to different amps so that I could walk around the room, play each part one at a time and setting each looper in motion. By the time I got all the way around the room, all the loopers would (in theory) be playing along with each other.

[LK155]

I'd think most recording software would handle this with ease.  Just record your drums on one track, then play/record your guitar tracks while listening to the drums track.  That's basically how all my recordings are made.

Reaper is excellent software for this purpose, and is free (well, in theory you're supposed to pay $60 for it after a trial period, but it can still be used whether or not you pay for it).

 

[Kuz]

I think most drum apps have surpassed outboard units in both sound and ease of programing.... I still think they are a pain in the ass, but sometimes a necessary evil. 

[Dick Seacup]

I have NI Groove Agent, XLN Addictive Drums 2, a handful of other "drum machine" VSTs (because they're like Pokemon, you have to catch them all, right?), the built-in stuff that comes in Ableton Live and Cubase Pro, and a Roland TR-8. For "quality" sounds, Groove Agent of Addictive Drums win. For "just lay down a foundation to jam along with", the TR-8 wins hands down.  Several years ago, though, Roland superseded the TR-8 with the TR-8s, which has some different functionality. Never bothered to "upgrade" because what I have works for what I want to do with it. 

If I'm building a track, the work flow, generally, is to just get that four on the floor going with the TR-8 and then eventually replace it with better sounding/more complex MIDI patterns from Groove Agent. Just depends on how much effort I feel like making at the time and whether I'm truly "building a track" or simply "futzing around", aka "noodling." 

[ElChoad]

Have you tried one of these yet?

Edited May 25 by ElChoad

[Heritage1970]

15 hours ago, ElChoad said:

Have you tried one of these yet?

Thats the only way for me. But sometimes, like at 4 in the morning when you come up with an idea and want to hear it with a drum track, thats not always an option unfortunately. 

[TalismanRich]

What the heck am I supposed to do with those?    Beat them with a stick?

My old drummer friend left his kit in my basement some years back.   I tried to learn a bit  of drumming.   It was hopeless!     As someone who has ZERO coordination and even less sense of timing,  about the only thing I could do with them would be to throw a blanket over them so they don't get dusty!

[ElChoad]

On 5/25/2024 at 3:29 PM, TalismanRich said:

What the heck am I supposed to do with those?    Beat them with a stick?

My old drummer friend left his kit in my basement some years back.   I tried to learn a bit  of drumming.   It was hopeless!     As someone who has ZERO coordination and even less sense of timing,  about the only thing I could do with them would be to throw a blanket over them so they don't get dusty!

🤣🤣🤣

[bolero]

I have an assortment of these. It's all you really need!