Hardware Drum Machine thread

  On 6/15/2012 at 12:30 PM, kokeboka said:

  On 6/15/2012 at 2:30 AM, missingsense said:

I just finished my sammichSID, it has a C64 dumsynth + sequencer in it. really cool!

Do you have any sound samples yet? I'd love to hear it in action.

ok did something anyway, here's what it sounds like with my Evolver doing a bassline. (it starts off sloow)

untitled2.mp3 12.72 MB · 6 downloads

the older 6581 chips I have are noisy and have a bug with the ADSR so it never really closes. trying to get some newer chips somewhere but it's getting difficult..

  On 6/15/2012 at 7:45 PM, oscillik said:

i miss this so much

 

hahaha, wicked pic, osc! can't beat the 808 :)

606... better snare and hats..? what! ?

i have an acidlab miami. i use it a lot

can hear quite a bit of it if u check out my live streams - http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/23334185

  On 6/15/2012 at 11:13 PM, missingsense said:

  On 6/15/2012 at 12:30 PM, kokeboka said:

  On 6/15/2012 at 2:30 AM, missingsense said:

I just finished my sammichSID, it has a C64 dumsynth + sequencer in it. really cool!

Do you have any sound samples yet? I'd love to hear it in action.

 

ok did something anyway, here's what it sounds like with my Evolver doing a bassline. (it starts off sloow)

 

untitled2.mp3Fetching info...

 

the older 6581 chips I have are noisy and have a bug with the ADSR so it never really closes. trying to get some newer chips somewhere but it's getting difficult..

Thanks Yeah those SID chips are getting harder to come by, but nothing sounds quite like them. AFAIK, the DCM8 is about the only dedicated SID drum machine emulator out there.

606 hats are fucking amazing

wouldn't trigger inputs be a far better idea than a midi retro fit on these drum machines? Midi is sloppy. fine for strings and stuff but something like percussion?

favorites:

roland tr-626/707/808/909

yamaha rx5

oberheim dx/dmx

roland r8

boss dr-110

the 606 sounds great in some people's hands

sort of overrated but it is pretty cool for what it is, bonus for portability ..

  On 6/16/2012 at 6:53 PM, noise said:

 

the 606 sounds great in some people's hands

sort of overrated but it is pretty cool for what it is, bonus for portability ..

yeah i agree.

i like the sound of the 606 - very distinct sound - but it's definitely overrated.

maybe (subconsciously) because it looks like a 303!

aciieeeed

i love the 606's toms, tho. big time. but prefer the DR-110 overall (its closest cousin), especially the snare.

808, tho, for me.. if i had to choose 1.

all day, all night, everyday.

  On 6/16/2012 at 6:46 PM, marf said:

wouldn't trigger inputs be a far better idea than a midi retro fit on these drum machines? Midi is sloppy. fine for strings and stuff but something like percussion?

How would it be a far better idea? Also, in what way is MIDI 'sloppy'?

the 808 is justified because it's an amazing instrument that sounds as fresh as the ideas and talent of the person using it

got midi clock on it and use the gate outs and some of the audios to trigger things, so it's useful as a master clock and sequencer for melodies and my modular system has 2 s&h modules when triggered with the 808 can create new melodies. ive got 5 cv sequceners but i can make 2 remixed sequences with the s&h and clever triggering from the 808, 7 sequneces in total hehe

the 606 is a wild beast that needs taming, well not really but you should be really talented if you want to get the most out of it, dunno what the point is if you have an 808, it might be fun to make something on the train like ceephax did?

i dont like the 707 it's more popular than it deserves to be. it looks ok and has good features but it sounds really dry and stale. in analord it was used pretty well, dunno how, probably the compression and EQ or somethign like that made it softer. imo it's popular because it's a roland not popular because it's brilliant like the 808.

dr110, sounds good if it's the only drum machine in the track, when synced with an 808 it sounds puny. i modded mine and got it working with a 303 and sh101 and some filter modding, it was really fun but the mod fell apart :-) pisspoor soldering skills you see..........

909, wish i could try one, never had the pleasure, how about some derrick may pianos &bassand some 909 beats hehe? yes please

1st 707 bass drum and snare sound fucking amazing pitched down a bit and compressed. Beauty of software now you can do that on the fly without tinkering in the machine. I love the 707, its so honest :)

606 is shit unless pushed on the mixer.

I have an Alesis HR-16 sitting around gathering dust at home. I really should pull it out again to get some 80s pop drums going. I did have an idea to use it in a Godflesh/Head of David style industrial metal band, since it sounds awesome when the samples are pitched right down. I just need to find a bass player so it's not just me onstage..

no one mentioned the 505, which I love dearly, the kick could be nicer, but the rest is just cool

  On 6/16/2012 at 8:21 PM, oscillik said:

  On 6/16/2012 at 6:46 PM, marf said:

wouldn't trigger inputs be a far better idea than a midi retro fit on these drum machines? Midi is sloppy. fine for strings and stuff but something like percussion?

 

How would it be a far better idea? Also, in what way is MIDI 'sloppy'?

hi,

MIDI is a serial protocol invented in the 80's. Meaning only so much information can go down the narrow pipe. if the pipe is clogged with too much info from too many notes or too many CC messages you get thinning. Dropped notes, jitter, etc. Triggers are control voltage.. an 808 probably has its own internal swing too. (not that i don't see the appeal of a midi'ed 808)

  On 6/19/2012 at 1:49 AM, marf said:

  On 6/16/2012 at 8:21 PM, oscillik said:

  On 6/16/2012 at 6:46 PM, marf said:

wouldn't trigger inputs be a far better idea than a midi retro fit on these drum machines? Midi is sloppy. fine for strings and stuff but something like percussion?

 

How would it be a far better idea? Also, in what way is MIDI 'sloppy'?

 

hi,

MIDI is a serial protocol invented in the 80's. Meaning only so much information can go down the narrow pipe. if the pipe is clogged with too much info from too many notes or too many CC messages you get thinning. Dropped notes, jitter, etc. Triggers are control voltage.. an 808 probably has its own internal swing too. (not that i don't see the appeal of a midi'ed 808)

Well your argument is flawed, since the Groove Electronics MIDI retrofit on the 808 that I owned didn't respond to CC messages, and neither did it have a MIDI THRU port, so you couldn't even have the 808 as part of a daisychain.

Even if it was capable of being used in a daisychain, if I remember correctly, bandwidth issues with MIDI only started appearing after 3 devices (your mileage may vary, of course).

It all depends on your usage scenario, and your requirements, but for most instances where a musician wants to control a synth / drum machine, MIDI is sufficient and dare I say better than CV/Gate and DIN SYNC. Otherwise, MIDI wouldn't have become the standard that still dominates to this day.

man, i'm thinking i want either a dr-110 or something that i could circuit bend, any recommendations?

Up until recently I used to look down on MIDI too..

But I've learned how to do sysex and talk to my MachineDrum with it...

i can now fetch patterns/kits from the MD, parse and modify them or generate new patterns/kits from scratch, send them back, you name it.

this is the fucking shit.

gonna build a Minicommand on steroids for iOS.

MIDI is fucking wicked!

  On 6/19/2012 at 7:45 AM, oscillik said:

 

 

 

Well your argument is flawed, since the Groove Electronics MIDI retrofit on the 808 that I owned didn't respond to CC messages, and neither did it have a MIDI THRU port, so you couldn't even have the 808 as part of a daisychain.

 

Even if it was capable of being used in a daisychain, if I remember correctly, bandwidth issues with MIDI only started appearing after 3 devices (your mileage may vary, of course).

 

It all depends on your usage scenario, and your requirements, but for most instances where a musician wants to control a synth / drum machine, MIDI is sufficient and dare I say better than CV/Gate and DIN SYNC. Otherwise, MIDI wouldn't have become the standard that still dominates to this day.

yes, its fine for most uses. do you think you could do high tempo triplets or take the snare and hats into almost audio rate territory with the retro fit? Would the other sounds drop off? Would their be lag? I dont know. im asking

btw i have tr505, yamaha MR10 for sale

and a tr707 but this one is not in the best condition

£100 each +postage

I wanna get an RX-5 - I shouldn't really but it looks like a beast. I'm quite happy tho with my humble RX-15.

The RX5 is a beast, but it's a fun beast with lots of options & parameters to tweak the sounds! I'd like tot get one for 100$ max, because it's lofi, but most of the places I have looked so far are selling it for 200$ or more...

One cool gagdet is the Stylophone Beatbox, dirtcheap but I can't seems to find one for sale now, I guess it's soldout.

I'm happy this thread was made, I've never owned a drum machine before and I am really interested in buying one. What are some decent ones on the market in a reasonable budget? (if i had tons of cash i would buy an 808 but no dice)

oh what, the rx-5 gained recognition ? last time promo mentioned it in another thread it was turned down as an ugly rompler, is it because noise listed it ? or am I on the wrong neck of the woods ?

the RX5 is awesome. promo has an RX15 which is not so awesome.