Question for those who have recently added a drum machine

[Richard deHove]

. . . did it work out the way you expected?

In the late 80s and 90s I went through loads of hardware and was especially keen on drum machines. Then starting around 2002 I went entirely in the box. Now I'm thinking of adding a hardware drum machine again (TR-8s).

My only concern is that it'll all prove to be too messy and I won't actually use it. Would really love to hear from anyone who's added hardware to a pure DAW setup.

thanks

[sqigls]

if you're the type of person who needs physical buttons maybe...

I think it would be a waste of money personally.
I'm all in the box now. I own a Dave Smith Tempest, and although it's a phenomenal analog drum machine, honestly, there are software packages that sound pretty much just as good, and I use it about 2% of the time, because I know I'm always and forever altering the beat a tad, humanising or quantising... changing shit, I personally HATE rendering stuff, and have little studio space to work with. DrumSpillage can do all the same tight drumsynth sounds, even better, and MUCH faster. Someone with a hardware drum machine permanently rigged up to their DAW maybe will tell a different story, but it'a all a pain in the ass for me. Hardware has pretty much done its day in my setup. Add a few analog modelled effects, really, the difference is negligible. If you love the 808 sound, then wait for a Behringer clone, or just use software.

In my tracks over the last 3 years... maybe about 300 of them... Heartbeat, DrumSpillage and Drumatic 4 (a killer trio of software drum synths) have covered pretty much any drum sound i need to make... add some sampled drums like EZdrummer to the mix, DONE. In my opinion. Hardware is rad, no debating, but the difference now is so small, and even some hardware sounds less spectacular than some software. It's expensive, adds to the power bill, and takes up precious desktop space.

For me, It's all just a matter of punching in the beat really, maybe tweaking some knobs... but I have a V-Drum pad and plenty of MIDI controllers (that rarely get ANY use by the way)... I'd say no. Save your money. Buy Heartbeat somewhere for cheap chips... and pick up Drumatic 4, it's DOPE. If you need real drums/samples, then i'm sure there are plenty of options out there.

[Richard deHove]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I went so far as to make a special space for the TR8S and preorordered, but then it went out of stock for two months (so I cancelled) and is only just available here again. And although it integrates well into DAW setups I suspect I just won't click with the required workflow. Drums have been the weak point for me for ages now and I keep trying to find a solution. Have demoed so many things, most recently Stix. But even with that the sounds, and the sound creation process, are far inferior to various synths I have. I liked Poise (now discontinued) for its simplicity, and DrumSpillage/Elecktroid look a bit similar, so thanks for that too.

[foosnark]

Someone with a hardware drum machine permanently rigged up to their DAW maybe will tell a different story, but it'a all a pain in the ass for me.

While I work with synths and effects rather than drum machines, this is exactly the case.

I didn't like working with hardware and would usually skip it, when I had to plug something in temporarily and then unplug it and put it away. But if you can keep hardware permanently connected and easily accessible -- with sufficient physical space, stands/racks, power requirements, inputs into your interface, etc. -- it makes all the difference.

With drum machines I think it's a little harder to argue for adding one to a DAW. It all depends on feel, I guess. I was pretty happy with Maschine for drums, with all the samples and drum synths available. But if you've already got a mostly hardware-based setup then actual drum machines could make more sense.

[RichieWitch]

Someone with a hardware drum machine permanently rigged up to their DAW maybe will tell a different story, but it'a all a pain in the ass for me.

While I work with synths and effects rather than drum machines, this is exactly the case.

I didn't like working with hardware and would usually skip it, when I had to plug something in temporarily and then unplug it and put it away. But if you can keep hardware permanently connected and easily accessible -- with sufficient physical space, stands/racks, power requirements, inputs into your interface, etc. -- it makes all the difference.

I completely agree with this. As someone who migrated completely out of the box, except for recording and mixdown, having everything connected and ready to go at the touch of a button and the raising of a slider, really makes a hardware-based studio flow.

Hopefully you're on an OSx machine, because the TR-8S (and all of Roland's Aira line) is seen as an audio interface by your operating system, and getting it to work alongside your existing audio interface with Windows is quite painful.

[Scotty]

All of my hardware is connected on dedicated and separated audio and midi channels.
I have a few analog drum machines that I use but often sample to push them sonically. I don't enjoy all in the box writing.

[rod_zero]

I think hw can slow you down if you have a good ITB workflow already, I rpefer solutions as Ableton Push and Maschine, you get some needed physical interface but you don't have to make much changes to your ITB workflow.

[Scotty]

It is certainly personal preferences but for me if you have your hardware nearby ... ready to go (permanently patched in) , it leads to improved workflow... I commit to the sounds that I developed and I have some happy accidents with sounds that can make their way into the music. Working with my hands makes me happier. I could go all in the box but over the past couple of years I moved away from that approach and I am glad I did. YMMV of course.

I think hw can slow you down if you have a good ITB workflow already, I rpefer solutions as Ableton Push and Maschine, you get some needed physical interface but you don't have to make much changes to your ITB workflow.

[Richard deHove]

I suspect in the end I'd have fun with a hardware drum machine but not use it that much in my actual music. I'm reminded of the theremin I got some time back: loads of fun to fiddle with but the effort required to properly integrate it is far more than using a more easily manipulated software version. I've still got my newly reserved studio space though. I will get something, sometime....

[lfm]

I had some fun with Zoom RT-223 when I had it.
https://www.zoom-na.com/products/produc ... um-machine
Portable and on batteries - I brought to beach and programmed some patches when I fooled around a bit.

It allowed for 96 ppq so not just boring 16 steps or something - and being real fun to use for realtime drumming or step programming too. You can do real nice funky beats.

So really small and portable - can be useful creative tools to use anywhere.

Something on 115/230V AC and normal midi module size - less useful I think. If using daw you hardly use patterns in drum machine, as I see it.

[DJMaytag]

I've used Nerve, Drumazon, Nepheton, Nithonat, and the drum "machines" in Reason over the years, and I absolutely hate sequencing VSTi drums. I've gotten some hardware to sync up a TR-606 I've owned for 20+ years, and added a TR-08 and Yamaha RX-11 in the past year. It's just so much easier to run synth loops on the DAW and be able to change up drums/patterns on the fly in hardware.