Replacing the drummer with a box

[evan_ccs]

After over a year of struggling with a difficult--though unfortunately very talented--drummer, I'm sick of it. This and our musical style has led me to consider doing our drums on a drum machine. I know that MPC are the best, and I wouldn't argue, I love them. But they're production tools: I don't need sampling or any of the other extra features that come with even the 500.

So I'm looking for a cheap, standard drum machine. I need acoustic drum sounds, but it doesn't have to be top-of-the-line realistic. The poorly-sampled vintage boxes would actually be great, and I'd be willing to hunt one down, I just need ideas.

Thanks, all.

[bobbymars]

evan been there. . there are positives and negitives to what you are about to venture into . . first and most important is the music becomes less flexible with the machine . . . this can also be a good thing . . . steady beat . . . also you lose alot of stage energy without the real thing pumping on stage but you might be able to improve your stage sound with the added control over some parameters . . .there are multiple ways to go about converting to the box but as you might already be aware there are not alot of stand alone sequencers available these days . . . Akai may be the answer . . . a cheaper controller accessing some sound source . . there are alot of options as far as sound sources are concerned . . . if you plan on sequencing I encourage you to be thorough in your programming as the old cut and paste 4 bars can get pretty redundant . . . keep your audience in mind . . . but ultimately if you're happy they will be too . . . . bobby

[Audioholic]

Good comments from above. If you are doing live stuff, you will have to program the snot out of a sequenced drummer, and not miss a cue nor really have much space to improvise.. but it might be a good move, I really like the it when there is both, a live drummer and sometimes some sequenced drums.

I always like the real thing, specially for live, just so organic, perhaps you can look into another drummer? if you don't, do you have a laptop? there are many great drum programs out there for the computer, and some good realistic drum sounds as well.

[evan_ccs]

Thank you for the positive words. For live shows, funny as it sounds, I've got my old man to fill in for us, but he's too busy to practice; and a friend of mine who's a studio drummer for recording the live drums parts. As far as the box's uses:

a) To get me and the bassist through practice (we're also giving the guitarist the boot, which means I'll be playing guitar and keys, yikes!)
b) To mix with live drums (during live performances/recording)

Audioholic mentioned a laptop; I hadn't stopped to think about that: I'm saving up for a MacBook Pro, and I've also got my eye on an Alesis DM5 and a MPD16. The latter two would be a good thing, but I'd need to sequence, which is where the Mac would come in. The other thing is, I'd kinda like the excuse to have an MPC.

So that leaves me with two main questions, then:

1) I'm getting the laptop and the MPD (for hip hop production) anyway, so would it be more cost effective to buy the DM5 or software (if so, what software?)?

OR

2) How is the sequencing on the MPC 500?

[Audioholic]

well I have a DM5, and it basically is only used as my click trigger now. Much progress in the sounds of acoustic drums, namely programs like EZ drummer and Strike from digidesign. So while something like an MPC might be up your alley, I think software type sounds are slightly better (at least more options) and easily upgradable and you are not stuck with an out of date MPC in a year or 2

[evan_ccs]

I'm thinking, since I'm broke, the MacBook Pro is a little far off, which puts my sequencing out the window for a while. But I want to have more flexibility with sounds (i.e expansion of accurate acoustic samples and new electronic ones, too). So I narrowed it down to an all-in-one box.

I was at Guitar Center today, and the salesperson seemed to think that an MPC 500 or 1000 was my best bet, and he wasn't pushy or anything; he seemed genuine.

The 500 is my choice as of now, but here's my question: how do the slightly cheaper Roland and KORG boxes match up (my main concerns are simplicity and expandibility) to the 500 for the simple stuff I'm looking to do?