Hey Beau;
Have your friend check out this month's Future Music. They've got the rundown on 4 groove machines plus a software based drum machine, and they've got a CD where you can hear all the different models' product demos in action.
I have to say that since back in the day when I used drum machines, the gear has improved at a supersonic rate (As Austin Powers would say, "Yeah, groovy, rah rah capitalism!")
In the early 90s, the hot unit was the Roland R8, costing about a grand and doing none of what the newer machines do. Now you've got;
Yamaha AN200 Loop Factory, physical modelled analog *synth* with sequencer (with an optional software editor so you can do all the drum programming and editing on a computer, if you've got one.)
Boss SP-303, with a sampler on board, so you can get that DJ Shadow thing going, cutting and slicing your own drum sounds.
Korg Electribe EM-1, which comes in a variety of different configurations, includes cool front pannel accessible fx (like filters, delays, ring modualtors, compressors, and what not) so you can get into the Fat Boy Slim sonic loop mutating niceness (albeit, probably not that nice.)
And, if he's got a computer, he can download the sample program "Battery" from
www.native-instruments.de
This requires a fairly powerful machine to run it, but it is really really deep and nutty; he'll be blipping and beeping like Kraftwerk in no time.
And hey man, the cat who won the lotto took home a check for $48 million dollars (you know, after giving up the other $100 or so million to the US government so they can waste it on more middle management office furniture) he COULD'VE gone out and put together the most high tech, state-of-the-art, whiz bang win-a-grammy-on-your-home-kit studio for under $15 grand, just about what 2 weeks at a first class place would've gone for 15 years ago.
Great times to be alive....
----- Original Message -----
From: Beau Young
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2001 5:42 PM
Subject: ot: drum machines
I have a friend that wants to buy a drum machine but doesnt know anything about them. He lives in the middle of nowhere the closest big city being San Francisco (3 hours from him) so he cant really go to a store. Anyway, does anybody here know a good drum machine for a beginner or what are the major things he should be looking for? LAter!
p.s. daaamn... why is the california lottery jackpot 140 million dollars??? daaaaang
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