electronic percussion

[scarr3d]

hi,

a friend and i just decided to go w/o our live drummer. so i'm trying to absorb as much knowledge as i can on the subject of electronic drumming.

we've been experimenting with Fruity Loops and Reason so far. however, we would like to reproduce everything in a live setting soon. so, i'm confused on what type of gear we should buy.

drum machines, like the roland dr-770 seem like a good choice for a beginner like me. but, i'm afraid this will be extremely limiting. we want our drums to be more like, percussive noise, rather than a normal drum machine sound. can these drum machines be aux'd to an external processor to add distortion and other effects?

on the other hand, MIDI modules and controllers seem like a good choice also. anyone have any suggestions for types of gear i should check out? the Alesis DM-5 looks nice. how would i control this w/o triggers? you think the learning curve is too steep for someone that wants this stuff ready within the next couple of months? (we're getting very anxious to play out again.)

i suppose i could make all the beats with the software, render to WAV, then dump onto a MiniDisc player --------> mixer --------> PA.

thoughts, suggestions, flames? thanks for reading!

 

[FailingAcension]

my thoughts are:thats way over my head! sorry!

 

[scarr3d]

anyone?

 

[Bloodbayne]

 

[Tut Ankh Amon]

the best advice i can give you is:
if you don't like your old drummer.... get a new one.

Drum machines are useless unless you wan't your music to sound uni-layered.

 

[scarr3d]

the sound i hear in my head does not contain acoustic drums.

and besides...

humans = compromise.

heh.

 

[Tut Ankh Amon]

hah i knew it had something about money
so... get a friend of yours who is a drummer, get him to play an eletronic drumkit and tell him you're just doing it for fun!!!

 

[FrostGiant]

drum machines, like the roland dr-770 seem like a good choice for a beginner like me. but, i'm afraid this will be extremely limiting. we want our drums to be more like, percussive noise, rather than a normal drum machine sound. can these drum machines be aux'd to an external processor to add distortion and other effects?

I've got one of these. I accidently let the insert effect on on my BR-8 and I got lots of distortion added to the drum track. But, look at the dr-whatever number it is but it's a cheaper model. These have less programming space, but what they have that is a huge advantage are velocity sensitive pads. When you hit the pad at a different speed, the sound of the instrument changes, rather than just the volume. More like a real kit. But if you are going for percussive sound I would thing the dr-770 would work great. It just matters how much time you want to take programming the tracks.

 

[scarr3d]

Originally posted by Tut Ankh Amon
hah i knew it had something about money
so... get a friend of yours who is a drummer, get him to play an eletronic drumkit and tell him you're just doing it for fun!!!

?

 

[scarr3d]

Originally posted by FrostGiant
I've got one of these. I accidently let the insert effect on on my BR-8 and I got lots of distortion added to the drum track. But, look at the dr-whatever number it is but it's a cheaper model. These have less programming space, but what they have that is a huge advantage are velocity sensitive pads. When you hit the pad at a different speed, the sound of the instrument changes, rather than just the volume. More like a real kit. But if you are going for percussive sound I would thing the dr-770 would work great. It just matters how much time you want to take programming the tracks.

yeah i agree, the 670 does seem better for the money. and it's got cool features. think it comes with a footpedal too. thanks for your input.