Much as i like the little micro br i get this sinking feeling that i will very soon exhaust all it's ryhmn possibilities. Notice that the local cyber store is offering the Alesis SR16 for Euro 85. Anyone have any experience of it and who could make a comparison between the 2 and tell me how much more the SR16 would offer?
Thanks in advance
Al
orh where are you?-this up your alley
I've got an SR-16. And yes, it's way more versitle than the rhythm section on the M-BR. Has loads of preset patterns and drum kits plus you can completely customize, create from scratch and save patterns and kits. And you can tune the kits up or down a couple of pitches to better match the key of the song and sit in the mix.
After more than a year I'm just now finally getting the hang of programming the SR-16 because the manuel is so very poorly written. However, someone told me that if you send Alesis tech support an email and request the instructional DVD they will send it for free. Sure enough, I asked and they promptly sent two disks with 2 hours of instruction. That was a BIG help. Not nearly as well done as the instruction videos that Pedro did for the M-BR but if you can endure the boring parts, this will get you up and running.
Be advised that you will not be able to sync the SR-16 and M-BR to use together in a master/slave setup since the M-BR has no MIDI in/outs. However, one way to get around that is to record a guide track on the M-BR and export it to a PC-based multitracker. The SR-16 will accept MIDI time code input from a multitracker such as Sonar or Cubase and follow the tempo. So, you can then create a drum track on the SR-16, record it on the PC in sync with the guide track, then import it to the M-BR. Or of course, just do all your mixing on the PC.
Hope that helps.
thks very helpful - just noticed the SR18 is also available but almost 3x the price - will download manuals and see what it has to offer..
Al
You could always grab yourself a DAW and EzDrummer .... this took about 10 minutes to do and I am no expert! A mate on another forum made a backing track for Freebird using this method in a couple of hours, but he has been doing it for a LONG time !!!!
Quote from: SteveG on August 21, 2008, 03:22:11 PMYou could always grab yourself a DAW and EzDrummer .... this took about 10 minutes to do and I am no expert! A mate on another forum made a backing track for Freebird using this method in a couple of hours, but he has been doing it for a LONG time !!!!
ezdrummer is the shit
I have had an SR-16 for 10 years, and I think that the fact that it has only just been replaced by the SR-18 is a testament to its longevity and quality.
While some of the sounds now sound a bit 'electronic', I think that that unit is a very good one.
I was pleased to read above about the series of instructional DVD's available from Alesis because it can get a bit complicated to program the SR-16 and because I haven't used it in a few years (properly), I think that the DVD's will be a good reminder over the instruction manual. I also wonder if there are videos on youtube about this.
I also thought that the drum machine and the sounds within it on the Zoom PS 04 was fantastic. Wish mine hadn't been stolen.
i got one a while back, but have hardly used it, basically because i am a lazy sod and want instant results, so programming it and learning to build up loops into songs etc is not my forte, that said i got it for about same price as quoted and initially when i first got it i used all of the preprogrammed loops to build songs quite easily but i quickly got fed up with its patterns but i know i will use it again, my hope is one of my drummer friends will programme stuff into it for me.
Quote from: oldrottenhead on October 10, 2008, 09:50:13 AMi got one a while back, but have hardly used it, basically because i am a lazy sod and want instant results, so programming it and learning to build up loops into songs etc is not my forte, that said i got it for about same price as quoted and initially when i first got it i used all of the preprogrammed loops to build songs quite easily but i quickly got fed up with its patterns but i know i will use it again, my hope is one of my drummer friends will programme stuff into it for me.
If you use the unit in real time, you can just punch in a pattern using the pads. That way you don't have to bother finding existing patterns or programming new ones in step time.
Can't think of any way to provide more instant gratification.
P.S. I'm a lazy sod, too, so I know whereof I speak. :)
Does anyone know of a decent multitracker that works well on Vista.
I am thinking of getting one of these machines but want to try what hooper sugests with the tempo..
If you want to hear what the SR18 sounds like, check out my first serious BR recording, Unicordia, in the "Post Your Work" section. This piece was inspired by one of the pre-programmed SR18 patterns, which I played live (using the fill and roll features to give some variety). The SR18 is an amazing piece of kit (although I wouldn't rely on the bass too much as that's a bit of a pain to program, sounds are quite good though).
Like you, I wanted more drums than the onboard drum machine in the BR and if you are considering getting a drum machine, teh SR18 is a serious contender.
Cheers,
Nigel
Have you tried recording the MBR rhythm tracks and switching from say, Intro to V1, F1, and back etc, only in real time rather than programming?
IOW as you record you punch the value +/-
It only takes a little bit of practice (you have to do the changes a bit ahead (usually 4 beats) for example).
It works kind of slick.
I tried the programming thing and it was a pain.
A friend of mine has recently purchased the SR-18, and from what I've heard it's as capable as any similarly-priced dr/mch on the market. The point is that with the introduction of the BR-series etc, and drum machines and all the other modern musical paraphernalia available to each of us as One Man/Woman-Bands, the onus is on us to tame these beasts and manipulate their sonic potential for our own purposes.
Well it saves on trying to persuade a human drummer not to do so many fills.