FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Zoom Drum Machine

Question:
I'm gonna get a 4 track and want to get a drum machine to go with it. What are good(but cheap) models? What's the average cost of a half decent one? Should I buy new or 2nd hand? Can you do any rhythm or are there only set pre-programmed ones? Does every drum machine go into a 4 track?? Do you plug it straight into the recorder or do you put it into an amp + mic it??

Answer:
You can mic it or run it direct....I prefer direct. The only drum machine I have is a $25 toy, so somebody else can answer the rest of the post. take a look at the Zoom drum machines, they great for putting down your own rythyms, they also have a similar sampler, but i would recomend you go with the drum machines. they're pretty cheap too (compared to some high end drum machines) and they sound sweet, a whole lotta drum kits too. i dont own one, but i played with a friends, its darn cool! oh and dont go and buy something just because it looks good, play with stuff in a store before you commit to something. I tried the Zoom drum machines out just the other day. Quite honestly I think the Alesis SR-16 sounds quite a bit better. I don't know, to me the Zoom drum machines sounded less natural...not that the SR-16 sounds as natural as real drums, but the samples on it are very well done and with a bit of careful programming or with a external sequencer that has a human feel MIDI effect, you can get some fairly natural sounding drum rhythms