The Alesis SR18: Wow! I’ve been writing music for many years, and I really can’t believe I ever lived without this drum machine!
A 12-pad, sample-based, velocity-sensitive drum machine, AC- or battery-powered, this device is more than capable of helping a beatsmith experiment with drum loops, or a guitarist toy around with rhythms to jam over. The 32MB bank of drum sounds is extensive, providing many kits in several different styles, from hip-hop to rock, industrial to reggaeton. The SR18 is also MIDI-capable, so you can use it as a control surface for external devices or software samplers/synthesizers as well.
In addition to the massive selection of drum kits, there are also percussion kits as well, with a wide variety of worldly instruments. A simple bass line is triggerable as well, with a one-octave range of sounds in immediate control with the press of a pad.
Sequencing a pattern on the device is very easy, and the editable settings (quantization, rhythm swing, BPM, etc.) are simple to configure. Once the click track starts, you simply play whatever pattern you want, and after a set amount of measures it will automatically repeat; you can then start layering sounds ad infinitum, as well as applying built-in effects to your patterns, for a very customizable sound.
The best feature about this drum machine, to me at least, is its complete portability; throw in some AA batteries, grab your headphones, go to the coffee shop, and you are ready to rock! As I said earlier, I’m truly unable to grasp how I ever lived without the Alesis SR18, but now I don’t have to, and I know my music will go far with this weapon in my arsenal!
