Looking For A Rhythm Machine

MD1948

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Coachella Valley desert, California
I'm looking to buy a simple rhythm machine/drum machine. I play mostly pop/rock and it would be fun to have a bit of groove accompaniment.

I don't want to really PROGRAM original drum grooves of my own. I just want to select a groove, adjust the tempo, and go. I have a little electronic keyboard that has a simple rhythm section, but I don't want to drag out a keyboard just to get that feature.

So far, the BOSS DR-01S (about $225) seems to fill the bill, although I was hoping to find something for about $100. It needs to have an output that I can connect to my portable PA.

If there are any good ideas, units that others have found useful, let me know.
 
The leader of my uke group gave me her Alesis SR-16 drum machine a few months ago and its been sitting on a shelf since, I don't have any plans to use it. You can have it for the cost of shipping. It sells for about $150.

"Complete MIDI support for use with keyboards, computers and electronic drum kits, 233 professional sounds. Built-in digital effects for added realism. Create and save your own customized patterns and songs."

https://www.alesis.com/products/view/sr-16

Alesis SR-16.jpg

Alesis SR-16 connectors.jpg



This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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I was going to say I heard the Beat Buddy last night and it seemed pretty good for what it is, but it seems like kohanmike has got you taken care of.
 
Mike's offer is hard to beat (not to mention incredibly nice!), but just to toss out an additional possibility for your situation, MD, I have an iPhone 6 (given to me by my daughter when she recently upgraded), and within the phone's "App Store" I found a nice little (free) app called "Keezy Drummer" and loaded it on to the phone. It's very straightforward, allowing pretty much infinite on-the-fly tempo adjustment, and lets you add or subtract various components (kick, snare, heavier snare, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, tambourine, shaker...) I have selected kick, closed hi-hat, snare, and tambourine, and, with appropriate tempo adjustments for the different songs, it serves as a very nice, not-overly-in-your-face, way to add a little groove to what you're doing. The nice thing is that, with the proper cord (or inexpensive adapter), I can run it from my phone's little headphone jack right into one of the "regular guitar inputs" of my amp, or you can just run it from the phone into the "aux in" jack of an amp or P.A. head, and it sounds great!
 
Mike's offer is hard to beat (not to mention incredibly nice!), but just to toss out an additional possibility for your situation, MD, I have an iPhone 6 (given to me by my daughter when she recently upgraded), and within the phone's "App Store" I found a nice little (free) app called "Keezy Drummer" and loaded it on to the phone. It's very straightforward, allowing pretty much infinite on-the-fly tempo adjustment, and lets you add or subtract various components (kick, snare, heavier snare, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, tambourine, shaker...) I have selected kick, closed hi-hat, snare, and tambourine, and, with appropriate tempo adjustments for the different songs, it serves as a very nice, not-overly-in-your-face, way to add a little groove to what you're doing. The nice thing is that, with the proper cord (or inexpensive adapter), I can run it from my phone's little headphone jack right into one of the "regular guitar inputs" of my amp, or you can just run it from the phone into the "aux in" jack of an amp or P.A. head, and it sounds great!

Hmmm, sounds like a nice app for basic drums. I'll have to find out what to do since Apple did away with the earphone jack on my iPhone...
 
Hmmm, sounds like a nice app for basic drums. I'll have to find out what to do since Apple did away with the earphone jack on my iPhone...

Darn, that's kind of a bummer, Ken; but honestly, for smaller-venue gigs, I think you could actually just lay your phone in front of a microphone, and "mic'ing it up" this way would probably do just fine. You could make a list of the appropriate "tempo" speed for each song on the setlist, and maybe recruit a friend to be in charge of re-setting the correct speed for each song as you make your way thru the gig, and also to start and stop (or fade out) the drum app at the beginning and end of each song. Basically he or she would be handling the phone so you wouldn't have to attend to it yourself...
 
Also, MD, don't rule out the more "primitive", but potentially workable, option of the good old-fashioned foot tambourine. I used one just last week for the first time, and it was pretty nice, plus you have complete control over it and you don't need a phone, or a drum machine, or cables! My main problem was remembering that it was strapped to my foot and that I need to tap my foot to make it do anything! But on your basic songs in 4/4 time, just tapping on "2" and "4" adds a surprisingly nice groove! There's a discussion about these interesting little guys in the "Other Instruments" thread, if you look further down the main page...
 
...potentially workable, option of the good old-fashioned foot tambourine...
The same leader uses two all the time when we rehearse. Very nice.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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