Re: Cheap Drum Machine

["L.A. Angulo" <labaloops@yahoo.com>]

i recently heard somebody playing with the boss
dr.770,very nice sounding little box as well!
Luis



--- Douglas Baldwin <coyotelk@optonline.net> wrote:

> Kevin wrote:
> > OT I know, but then again, you all know a lot of
> useful OT things like
> > which is a better cheap drum machine, the Alesis
> SR16 and the Zoom RT
> > 223.  I can find both used for less than $100 and
> was curious if anyone
> > had any experience with either of them that might
> sway me one way or
> > another.  I'm basically looking for a machine I
> can play live and has
> > Midi out.  Beyond that I'm flexible (other than
> wanting to keep my costs
> > around $100).
> 
> Kevin, I owned the grandaddy Alesis HR-16 (precursor
> to the SR-16) since
> 1980-something, and finally had to retire it last
> year when the LCD window
> got all mushy-black and the pads needed continual
> cleaning to work. I loved
> this machine in a way that would make my wife
> jealous. I got the Zoom 223 to
> replace it. Initially I was pretty jazzed up - good
> effects, good sounds,
> moderately easy programming. Then I hit the memory
> wall. The friggin' thing
> has NO memory. You'll get a few sets programmed, a
> few patterns written, a
> few songs assembled, and right in the middle of
> writng something you'll get
> a "memory full" message. For me, this is a real
> deal-breaker. It has other
> shortcomings as well:
> * No MIDI out! No MIDI Thru! (MIDI in works fine, I
> drive it from my
> recording workstation)
> * You can't overlay sounds as on the Alesis. I used
> to build the coolest
> patterns by mixing just a hint of timbale with a
> snare, maybe a deeply
> detuned snare really soft on all the drums as well
> to simulate snare rattle,
> stuff like that. No can do on the Zoom 223.
> * Zoom 223 has only 2 outputs. Alesis has 4. I used
> to program my cymbals to
> outputs 3 and 4 and run them through a Microverb to
> get a l-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-g
> cymbal wash
> * Zoom 223's little backlit LCD window of
> information is painfully small.
> 
> I will say this for the Zoom 223:
> * It runs on batteries. I get totally in another
> world when I carry this
> little paperback-sized box around, slip on a set of
> headphones, and lay down
> some whack gamelan-meets-rave patterns while sipping
> a latte at Starbucks.
> * The sounds are really good, and deeply tunable.
> * The pads on the 223 are better than the old HR-16.
> Can't compare them to
> the SR-16.
> * Some nice bass sounds on the 223 (upright, slap,
> synth, harmonics, etc.)
> * Some nice effects (good reverbs, compression,
> bit-reduction distortion,
> distressed analog distortion, etc.)
> 
> If you'd like to hear my use of the Zoom 223 in a
> standard song context, you
> can go to my web site and listen to the one song
> I've posted so far. Try
> this link:
> http://www.thecoyote.org/music.cfm
> Scroll down about 1/3 of the way and look for
> "Postmortal Postman." The
> drums are a Zoom 223.
> 
> Yesterday I bought the Alesis/Ion drum pad-drum
> machine set at Costco for
> $200. I've heard that the pad-to-MIDI interface is
> glitchy, but I figure I'm
> getting the drum machine for $150, plus some pads
> and a glitchy interface
> for $50.
> 
> Bottom line: I'd grab the Alesis SR16 over the Zoom
> 223, particularly used
> for $100.
> 
> Best, dB
> Douglas Baldwin, coyote-at-large
> www.thecoyote.org
> coyotelk@optonline.net
> 
> "Life! Life!
> Clouds and clowns!
> You don't have to come down!"
> - Sly and the Family Stone
> 
>  PS - I love your ps:
> 
> > Till now you seriously considered yourself to be
> the body and to have a
> > form. That is the primal ignorance which is the
> root cause of all trouble.
> >
> > - Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
> 
> 


www.myspace.com/luisangulocom


 
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