Free standalone drum machine??

[sjm]

The big problem with Rebirth (unless they've changed the UI from back in it's heyday) was that it's really really really finicky to work with.

Instead of designing a UI that works on a PC they retained a hardware UI that's probably great for "hands on" tweaking of knobs etc., but absolutely insanely un-user-friendly with a single mouse (and coupled with knobs and buttons the size of a grain of sand).

It drove me absolutely mad back in the day. Yeah, it sounded cool, but there was no way I was ever going to actually USE the damn thing.

Of course, other people probably didn't see this as such a big problem. I'm a bit of a UI nazi and can't be bothered with software that goes out of it's way to be a PITA to use, however good it may be otherwise.

YMMV of course - and with it now being free, you won't lose anything by giving it a go.

[D.Wako]

Is there a rebirth version you don't have to write to disk somewhere?

[tattiemannie]

..working my way through the list so far, Wow that drop.io link is a goldmine!
... just a wee thought tho .... my old mate Dreamstation 1 is now freeware ... a bit complex for a complete beginner, and way more than a drum machine, but used as a drum machine, it rocks!

nix808 .... that creation of yours is brilliant .... but for one thing. Big CPU footprint! .... I dont think the guy I'm doing this for will have the spec on his laptop to handle it ... and he wants to use a drum machine live.
It may be the sheer weight of the loaded samples which is the prob, I didnt have a lot of time to test and tweak, but it certainly dropped its CPU appetite when I replaced a few with shorter samples, and turned some stuff off. Other than that though, well impressive! ... loads of potential there, but you may be giving us an awful lot more of a drummer than we will ever need! you're def on the right 'track' tho ... very easy to read and work with.... Great stuff!

Anyway, back to the auditions....

[allofdrab]

Couple more:

AudioTool
"... an online application where you can jam on a 909, 808 and 303 with different effects. All this in your browser (Flash 10 required)."
You can record up to 5 minutes of audio from within the application.
http://www.hobnox.com/audiotool.1046.de.html

marteleur
"a kind of drum machine
split up into 2 synchronized tracks."
http://www.servovalve.org/machines/index.html#m2

[nix808]

That's very encouraging TattieMannie! I now have another 32 step mono sequencer with pan and velocity per note(essentially exonerate's work). It might be lighter on CPU as the architecture is more streamlined. The things that are in it are the ones I am looking for in a drum machine for Acid(the VSTs are coming too). I'll have another look at it today with CPU the focus.
Thanks BramBos for the helpfile help. I'll try later when I'm home(if I can go home-really bad bushfires here). If it works I'll share with the RB community.
As far as getting it to run without a disk, does Daemon tools help?

Fingers crossed for all peeps welfare

[RunBeerRun]

Rebirth-yeah, you'd need to get the hlp thing from Microsoft for use in Vista, I did.

And yes Daemon Tools works with it, that's what I do.

[tattiemannie]

Wow this is quite an adventure! .... However, I have to focus periodically on the task!

So a few comments.

Personally ... nix808s machine has the makings of something fkn awesome! Hydrogen is great ... I may well spend more time on this beast in future.
Hobnox, ... I Want,want,want!!!! .... but I want it to work on my PC, not just online. Lunchbox is soooo much fun! ... I love it! ... not sure if I'll 'use' it much, but I'll certainly play with it! dLusion Drumstation .... it's been a while since I used this ... good sounds, stable, versatile, but not particularly intuitive ... even though I use rubberduck every once in a while ..... but well worth sussing out .. could be very, very handy indeed with a bit of time spent pondering the help file! Hammerhead .... I love this prog ... and use it regularly to knock some assertive loops together to paste into projects. Dreamstation ... another prog I have used periodically in the past few years, still use, and will continue to use. Until now, I have never thought of it as a utility solely for doing drum loops, having used it as a composing tool, but nice to be reaquainted!

For the purpose, ( ie. friend with NO experience of progging, ....crappy lappy, ...wants a drummer for his punk band, and wants to experiment a bit more with the possibilities beyond skinned cylinders, ... and we need to go freeware for now )

I've narrowed it down.

Rebirth is way too much! Hammerhead cant do songs, Drumroll is gonna crash his machine, and maybe overwhelm him slightly. Drumstation is a non starter cos I aint sussed it enough ... although I want him to like it so much that I have to suss it!! Hydrogen and some others load kits ... we need to keep things simple and flexible filewise ... so it has top be a sample loading scenario.
Dreamstation .... I kinda hope he wants to chip away at that one.
Lunchbox is no use to him ... but I will demand he tries it anyway cos it's fun!!

Other progs were glitchy, unavailable, too much pfaff/risk to load on my precious PC, obviously not suitable for the 'purpose' .... you may wish to plead otherwise, and your input will be welcome!

And so, at this point in the proceedings, there are only two contenders.

Tuareg and Leafdrums! .......

Still early days tho, thanks again for giving me so much to work with that I actually missed all the Scottish Cup football, and if theres anything else out there that's been ignored ( apart from the scottish cup football ) ... then gimme. gimme, gimme!

A final word ... nix808 .... pleeeeze make your machine the best! .... sorry, you may have to compromise re. what you are offering in balance with what the majority of users need ( or can comfortably handle ) .... like, one channel of your creation knocks shit out of loads of other standalone drummers, maybe we dont need that capacity in every channel .... you're def onto a KILLER!

[nix808]

My enthusiasm for the project is entirely renewed . I'll see if I can fit the bill. Maybe some channels don't need to be pitched? Also some channels could be drum synths with this project's gelling with the SM groovebox project. The kick is good if I can make it sound the same after it is exported(Big thanks to Nippy). Noise makes nice snares and there is a funky percussion module built for all toms and bongos.
take care
man these fires burning here

[tattiemannie]

I am similarly enthused! I like the octave per beat feature, but then again, I would prefer a semitone select per beat. ... in terms of CPU, a pitch envelope, across the phrase might be kinder on the CPU ... or a way of applying some kind of pitch mod only on selected beats ..... now that would be incredible!

The post sample effects are superb ... but again, so much capacity for every channel? It's like you are giving blood for free to save the lives of people who aint gonna die!

I dont want to criticise, cos its a a fkn great machine ... and as I think we have established, good standalone drummers are rare!

But yours is just TOO good in one direction, and might tickle my balls nicely if it could be ecomomised too create some capacity in another

[tomg]

I moved so here's one that the link is likely broken on.

Have fun.
http://www.analogtoybox.com/vst/efm-drumkit2.zip

[nix808]

Rebirth-yeah, you'd need to get the hlp thing from Microsoft for use in Vista, I did.

And yes Daemon Tools works with it, that's what I do.

Thanks for clarifying. Mention of these should be up at the ReBirth Museum.
Cheers

[nix808]

I am similarly enthused! I like the octave per beat feature, but then again, I would prefer a semitone select per beat. ... in terms of CPU, a pitch envelope, across the phrase might be kinder on the CPU ... or a way of applying some kind of pitch mod only on selected beats ..... now that would be incredible!

The post sample effects are superb ... but again, so much capacity for every channel? It's like you are giving blood for free to save the lives of people who aint gonna die!

I dont want to criticise, cos its a a fkn great machine ... and as I think we have established, good standalone drummers are rare!

But yours is just TOO good in one direction, and might tickle my balls nicely if it could be ecomomised too create some capacity in another

teehee
Critiscise away. I'll think and research your ideas and see if I can come up with anything myself. I'll try and butter your mate's muffin! I've got to experiment with pitch mod especially getting into percussion if I understand.

[tattiemannie]

Cheers tomg .... thats a vst. Not what I'm looking for, however, now I've got it, I look forward to givin it a bash! thanks!

Anyway, no probs if for any reason suggestions dont completely match the criteria of the thread heading ... I've passed the thread link onto my colleague for future reference and advised him to save it somewhere .... unless I completely fail in my quest, he will find this thread a cracking good doorway to what happens next ... so let the beat go on!

[tattiemannie]

nix808 ...



.... dont f**k it up!!!!!

[tattiemannie]

... and by the way ... we could have been doing with some bushfires in Latvia last week! brrrrrr .... back home in Aberdeen, I'm out in the snow with my teeshirt on wondering what everyone is so miserable about