Drum Machines

I've recently been considering getting a drum machine for tempo backup and fill-in on my uke playing (and horrible singing ) Does anyone have any experience with drum machines, perhaps in particular the Alesis SR 16 or Sr 18? Do you use it much? Just wondering Lozark

Aloha Lozarkman,
Go to you tube and punch in: Alyssamarie067 then click third from the top.."Drums"! and "Tico tico"
I hope you enjoy....she's awesome...young girl uker... MM Stan...

I had an SR-16 for a while...never got past the basics. I finally sold it. There was nothing wrong with the unit, I just didn't have the patience to go through the manual and figure the thing out. It has lots of features and possibilities if that's what you're looking for.

lozarkman said:

I've recently been considering getting a drum machine for tempo backup and fill-in on my uke playing (and horrible singing ) Does anyone have any experience with drum machines, perhaps in particular the Alesis SR 16 or Sr 18? Do you use it much? Just wondering Lozark

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Alesis drum machines have been around forever. They are a wonderful workhorse and will last. It takes some time learning how to program them but once you get it down they never fail. Have used one for three ears in my band. My brothers band has used one for many years. A guitar player or bass player can operate one easily and still play their instrument. My brother has gotten so used to using one while he plays bass, he can start and stop it, add fills, all sorts of things. you can program them to hold a whole set of songs. Check craigs list, sometimes you can find a used one for $100.

I have an SR-16 that I bought last year off CL. I haven't used it as much as I would like just because I am trying to learn the play the uke and guitar and harmonica and make movies etc etc all at the same time. The guy I bought mine from advertised it for $75 and sold it to me for $50, so you can get them pretty cheap. My only complaint is that they can sound a bit too regular in a song.

I had a small one "Dr. Boss" years ago, and its' best feature was you could play it like an instrument, tapping on these rubberized buttons. Adds a little human touch. It died and I never got another one, since you can do the same thing on any computer nowadays. If you don't need the portable machine for gigs, just get a free Midi program and create your own patterns on channel 10.

Playing with them is great, you get rock-solid with your timing.

Oh, one advantage to working out drum patterns on the computer, you can really get in there and fine-tune the notes so they sound natural. You can change the attack (volume) on each note, so they sound more lifelike. Likewise, you can scoot notes off the beat a little, to rush or to lag, to sound more organic. The more time you spend, the less anyone can tell it's a machine. I once worked out a flute solo without a flute that sounded very lifelike, and it got played on the radio.

Also, if you go with the computer, try Band in a Box which gives you more than just the drums - also bass and piano and more. Some of it is cheezy but you can get in there and change things.