Hardware Drum Machines

UnclePsychosis

So, I've got a little Korg Volca Beats and its really cool but a little bit limited. 

If I flog some other synth gear I'm not using I could afford a slightly bigger/better drum machine. I need to do some thinking about exactly what features are important to me but there's something very appealing about the Arturia Drumbrute and the Roland TR-8: they both look like all the features are very accessible and easy to use, and the TR-8 obviously has *that* sound. As an outside option there's something like the Korg Electribe sampler which could obviously do drum sounds but not sure its really got the simplicity of a dedicated drum machine. 

Any thoughts on these, or similar priced alternatives? 

I'm aware there are lots of software options out there but those just don't float my boat. I like hardware solutions. 

octatonic

Get a Digitakt.

UnclePsychosis

octatonic said:

Get a Digitakt.

I'd love to but £500 for a second hand one is more than I'm prepared to spend, sadly

Funkfingers

Perhaps, given a clearer idea of your budget, it would be possible to make constructive suggestions? 

Are you mostly programming beats in Step Time or tapping them in in real time? Do you rely on a pattern grid display to keep tabs on what you are creating?

Jalapeno

Boss DR series, or Alesis SR

UnclePsychosis

So budget is about £250 ish.

The thing i love about my volca beats is that it's very much WYSIWIG: the controls are all up front, there's no menu diving, buttons pretty much all have a single function. 

The thing I don't love so much about it is that the sequencer is pretty limited - in number of steps but also there's no song mode or chaining of patterns.

I also have a volca sample and it doesn't get much use - there's almost too many options in terms of sounds. I spend more time choosing samples and manipulating them than I do making beats. 

Between a bout of insomnia last night and a train journey this morning I've watched and read a lot about both the Drumbrute and the TR-8. The Drumbrute's sequencer, polyrhythms, and WYSIWIG sound editing are all leading me fairly strongly to one of those: it basically seems like my volca (which I like) but with the things i don't like much improved. 

That said, the TR-8 does sound fabulous, and the inbuilt delay and reverb is a nice touch. I know that I can reprocess the beats from the Drumbrute but built in is simply less hassle. I just don't know whether I'd feel limited by being restricted to the 808/909 sounds which I can always get from a software or sampler solution anyway. 

sxard

No experience with the TR-8, but had the Volca Beats and Sample and then got the Drumbrute. Really loving the Drumbrute interface and feature-set, and finding a lot of useful variation in the sounds. Another plus point that you might not have considered yet is that you can use the Drumbrute to sequence the Beats and Sample, if you plan to keep them (I still like the Beats sounds, especially after getting the snare modded and find them a good complement to those on the Drumbrute).

UnclePsychosis

sxard said:

No experience with the TR-8, but had the Volca Beats and Sample and then got the Drumbrute. Really loving the Drumbrute interface and feature-set, and finding a lot of useful variation in the sounds. Another plus point that you might not have considered yet is that you can use the Drumbrute to sequence the Beats and Sample, if you plan to keep them (I still like the Beats sounds, especially after getting the snare modded and find them a good complement to those on the Drumbrute).

Interesting, thanks. 

The sample is going to go to help pay for the new gear. I'll make a decision on the beats when I can try things out together. Can you use the sequencer on the drumbrute to control other things whilst also sequencing on the drumbrute at the same time? 

GavRichList

was going to suggest the Elektron RYTM, but then I saw the budget. I'd suggest looking at some of the MFB offerings - the Tanzmaus might be achievable at that price second hand, and it sounds great. Bit of a strange OS, but a great box none the less. 

sxard

UnclePsychosis said:

sxard said:

No experience with the TR-8, but had the Volca Beats and Sample and then got the Drumbrute. Really loving the Drumbrute interface and feature-set, and finding a lot of useful variation in the sounds. Another plus point that you might not have considered yet is that you can use the Drumbrute to sequence the Beats and Sample, if you plan to keep them (I still like the Beats sounds, especially after getting the snare modded and find them a good complement to those on the Drumbrute).

Interesting, thanks. 

The sample is going to go to help pay for the new gear. I'll make a decision on the beats when I can try things out together. Can you use the sequencer on the drumbrute to control other things whilst also sequencing on the drumbrute at the same time? 

Yep, just have to set the sequencer to both trigger the Drumbrute's sounds as well as sending the MIDI, which you can adjust to match the Beats mapping in the MIDI control center software. So you could either have Drumbrute voices layered with those from other gear, or if you don't need some of the Drumbrute voices, just take them out of the mix and use the triggered external ones instead.

UnclePsychosis

GavRichList said:

was going to suggest the Elektron RYTM, but then I saw the budget. I'd suggest looking at some of the MFB offerings - the Tanzmaus might be achievable at that price second hand, and it sounds great. Bit of a strange OS, but a great box none the less. 

"The Internet" seems to like the tanzmaus a lot. Listened to a demo - great sounds but i think I'd hate the interface. 

Macca_25387

Maybe hold out for the Behrigher rd 808. I can’t imgaine you’ll get much better for the money. Just down to if you like that particular sound. 

wave100

I got the Drumbrute Impact recently, the first drum machine I've had in a long time. I'm enjoying it - you can do step or real time recording, the roller effect is useful and I like the randomisation options - some people (apparently) aren't keen on the sounds but they suit my needs quite well, especially if I record the individual outs and process in the DAW. It also synchs well to midi clock via USB. 
I got it for the hands on workflow after years of programming samples with a midi keyboard and it has been good, you can kind of do a performance with it. Looppop on youtube did a pretty comprehensive review.

At the price, and if you like the sounds, I don't think it can be beat.

octatonic

I’ve had a Drumbrute, although not the Impact.
Kick and toms are nice.
Snare and hats are amongst the worst I’ve heard.

UnclePsychosis

Being an impatient bugger and after spending a lot of time over the last two days reading, watching, and listening, I decided that the price and features of the Drumbrute are exactly what I think I want and the only way to decide on the sounds is to try one for myself. 

So my finger slipped and I bought one. Oops! 

UnclePsychosis

So, an update...

I bought a Drumbrute. Loved the sequencer, but the sounds didn't do it for me. I didn't think they were bad, but they just weren't the sound in my head. So I sold it again (in record time too). 

I decided instead to try a Novation Circuit. I realised that combining the Circuit with my Volca beats would be very powerful and would also let me add pads and stuff to loops which is something I was missing. The good news is that the Novation is here and ticks nearly every box, the bad news is that it seems to be faulty so I have to return it I'll probably buy another one because I do really like it.

Balls. 

Modellista

^ Circuit is the least intuitive bit of gear I’ve ever used, but when learned is a powerful piece of kit. 

You can indeed midi in/out quite easily to use another synth to program the sequencer and make the sounds on one of the two synth channels. Just remember that external synth is now “live” so you can’t use it any further for programming the other channel. Also use the internal Circiut mixer to mute its synth output otherwise you get both sounds at the same time which may or may not be what you want. Also a lot of the Circuits own sounds are a bit weird. 

Overall, quite a cool little beatbox thing. 

octatonic

UnclePsychosis said:

So, an update...

I bought a Drumbrute. Loved the sequencer, but the sounds didn't do it for me. I didn't think they were bad, but they just weren't the sound in my head. So I sold it again (in record time too). 

I sold mine fairly quickly too.
If Digitakt is too much money then what about Elektron's Model: Samples?

UnclePsychosis

The Model:Samples looks pretty cool but after a play with the Circuit last week I think I'm definitely going down that route. The Samples seemingly getting a hard time from users with regards to build quality has also put me off a bit tbh. 

octatonic

UnclePsychosis said:

The Model:Samples looks pretty cool but after a play with the Circuit last week I think I'm definitely going down that route. The Samples seemingly getting a hard time from users with regards to build quality has also put me off a bit tbh. 

There were a few issues with the early ones.
Circuit is a solid purchase though.
I've got Peak and the BS II incoming myself actually.

UnclePsychosis

octatonic said:

UnclePsychosis said:

The Model:Samples looks pretty cool but after a play with the Circuit last week I think I'm definitely going down that route. The Samples seemingly getting a hard time from users with regards to build quality has also put me off a bit tbh. 

There were a few issues with the early ones.
Circuit is a solid purchase though.
I've got Peak and the BS II incoming myself actually.

Cool. 

I've been having a bit of a gear re-think recently. The Circuit is obviously incoming and I intend to pair it with my Volca keys. My Volca Beats may stay or may go, I want to try pairing it with the Circuit (I really like the kick on it for starters). 

Almost certainly for the chopping block is my Monologue, though. Its a cool bit of kit but something about it never clicked with me. Can't put my finger on it---I love how other make it sound but there's something about the workflow that doesn't work for me. 

Edit: the Peak looks glorious by the way. Please share your thoughts!