Not every guitarist has the benefit of getting acquainted with an all-around drummer. Sometimes, even well-known performers do not have the advantage of having one. In the unavailability of a well-rounded drummer, a guitarist can usually turn to a drum machine. But what is a drum machine? A drum machine is an electronic device that can recreate the drum set’s sounds and beats. The drum machine is also capable of producing other percussion sounds. Thus, a drum machine can easily be handy to those aspiring to become musicians and composers. Moreover, a drum machine allows its users to explore various parameters in creating their own music creatively.
Drum machines, at present, are further enhanced and mixed with other functions such as that of the looper. This allows users to readily record a certain musical loop and do an overdub on the loop. Many contemporary drum machines also feature visual metronomes in the form of flashing LED lights.
Many drum machines designs are specifically designed for easy setup and programming using turn knobs or push buttons that could be operated by foot. In fact, most available products on the market today sports a thimble-like foot button for controls. There are, however, a wide array of models and brands of drum machines on the market today, making it difficult for you to choose the best for your needs. Hence, to make it easy for you to buy the right drum machine, we have listed here some of the most popular brands and models of drum machines on the market today:
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Singular Sound BeatBuddy
The BeatBuddy is a drum machine with a guitar pedal appearance that guarantees a hands-free operation during performance. Unlike most foot-operated drum machines with small thimble-like foot control, the BeatBuddy offers full pedal controls just like those of the standard guitar pedals. Moreover, the BeatBuddy features a metronome on its LCD display that allows its user to see the time signature of the music that is being played. Furthermore, the display is in color that lets its user know what part of music is engaged in. Intro and outro are red; gray for transition; fill is yellow and green for the regular pattern.
Tapping the pedal starts the intro of the first pattern of rhythm. The next quick tap introduces the fill. The transition is engaged when the pedal is depressed continuously until released. A quick double tap then introduces the outro. Along with its standard-sized pedal, it also has other control knobs like those for volume, tempo and drum pattern selectors with push functions. It also features a tap tempo button surrounded by four cursor controls.
The BeatBuddy drum machine pedal offers a wide variety of features that includes 24 genres, 220-plus styles, ten types of drum sets with an option to add more. It can be connected to a mixer channel or guitar rig, MIDI sync and can pass the 24-bit sound mix to an amplifier through two output terminals. An optional BeatBuddy footswitch can be connected to the drum machine for more hands-free application.
The BeatBuddy drum machine’s pedal measures 5 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches (127 x 88.9 x 63.5 mm) and weighs 1.15 pounds. Lastly, the BeatBuddy comes with a preloaded SD card and has a USB port for computer hook-up.
Boss DR-01S Rhythm Partner
The time signature can be set by merely pressing the beat button. There are three time-signatures available, namely: – 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8. Selecting a particular time signature will automatically alter the pattern for each instrument category to prevent it from getting out of time or sync. Setting the tempo can either be done through the “tap tempo” button or by the two tempo controls found at the upper part of the Rhythm Partner.
The Rhythm Partner provides 50 memory slots, thus enabling the users to save his “composition” for future use. The drum machine can also accommodate an external footswitch like the Boss FS-5, FS-6 or FS-7 to toggle from one instrument to another by foot for hands-free operation. It is a very portable drum machine that measures 11 x 8 x 6 inches and weighs 0.16 ounces. It is powered either by a DC power supply or by six AA batteries.
Furthermore, It also features a line-out terminal that can be connected to an external amplifier and an aux-in terminal to facilitate the playing of music to the built-in speakers from external sources such as those of the MP3 players, tablets, and iPhones.
Nux Loop Core
Like any other looper, the Nux offering allows the user to record up to 6 hours of stereo or mono audio mix through its 99 memory slots. The Loop Core also enable the user to overdub a loop continuously.
Despite its size of 4.8 x 1.8 x 2.8 inches (122 x 46 x 71 millimeters), the Loop Core features two output and input terminals. The Loop Core has a straight-forward looking guitar pedal/drum machine with all the visual frills. It can surely deliver a solid performance for any musical jamming, practice, recording or live presentation.
Joyo R-06 O.M.B Recording Looper
The Joyo R-06 OMB (one-man band) recording looper and guitar pedal is an electronic device that can function as a looper, a drum machine, or a combination of both at the same time. In its looper mode, the Joyo R-06 can easily record the initial guitar chords and play them back in a loop. The user can then overdub continuously to build up the melody. The good thing about the R-06 is that it can handle up 40 minutes of recording. Moreover, it allows the unlimited number of overdubs. It also has an auto-align capability and count-in function.The Joyo R-06’s six drum machine even has different genres of drum patterns like those of pop, jazz, rock, metal, punk, blues, and Latin. Each drum pattern comes with seven drum beats. Furthermore, the tempo of the drum pattern can be easily manipulated using a tap tempo button.
It is very compact, measuring a measly 4.5 x 2.6 x 1.9 inches or 109 x 67 x 48 millimeters, and weighs a little under 8.75 ounces. Its pedal features volume control for the looper and drum functions as well as a mode selector for looper/drum or drum and looper. The guitar pedal also features LED lights that light up when the footswitch and pedals are used. Lastly, this drum machine uses a 9-volt adapter for its power supply that you have to buy separately.
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