Hi all
I have kind of asked this before but i am still a bit confused.
Two of us play quite regularly. We have one electric guitar and an electro acoustic. Sometimes we both play acoustic. We have an amp each.
We need to get some half decent drum sounds to back us up. What i am looking for is recommendations of how we can do this without breaking the bank.....do we go for an effects pedal with a build in drum, or go for a totally separate unit?
And have you any recommendations for which to actually use, i,e which brand?
opinions welcomed.
Thanks
Matt
I am really new to most of this myself, so take my comments with a big pinch of salt. But, I recently looked into this myself; I wanted some drum tracks to practice with, and here are a few things to think about.
- The cheapest drum machines run about $150, I think.
- You can get a multi-effects with some drum tracks for about the same. Either the Zoom 707-II or Digitech RP-200A are in this range. I have a used Zoom 707 (not 707-II) myself.
-I think the drum machines are more programmable. You could program what goes into each beat and sub-beat etc. With a MFX peadal, there are a bunch of rhythm patterns, and you have to choose one of them.
In either case, playing them through a guitar amp can have some issues. If your amp is set completely clean, and any effects you do are in the MFX pedal with a drum machine, everything works fine. The moment you do any amp modeling or effects in the amp itself, the drum tracks are subject to the same effect. For example, if I decide to play the drums on my pedal, but bypass it for guitar, and then set my amp to high distortion, the drums are totally distorted too. If you play it through your accoustic amp, then it will be fine. But, if you are using a MFX pedal, and even if you set it in bypass, the pedal could have some effect. It may act as a small signal boost or something like that. So, your guitar may still sound different. The way around this is perhaps to have a small mixer board in front of the accoustic amp. (Actually, you didn't say whether you have an accoustic amp as I re-read your post.)
My two cents: From what I have seen of the drum on the MFX pedal, I don't think it is worth it purely for the drum machine. You have to use the MFX pedal on it's own merits. Mine was'nt as useful as I thought it would be, so I am trying to use it with my computer for recording purposes.
Another option: if you are only using this for practice, and you have a computer available in the place where you play (with sufficiently loud speakers), you can either use a software drum machine or get some program which can MIDI, so you may be able to set up chord progressions and drum tracks etc. I am checking out a demo version of "Band In the Box" myself at this time.
Hope this helps.
--vink
"Life is either an adventure or nothing" -- Helen Keller
Another option: if you are only using this for practice, and you have a computer available in the place where you play (with sufficiently loud speakers), you can either use a software drum machine or get some program which can MIDI, so you may be able to set up chord progressions and drum tracks etc. I am checking out a demo version of "Band In the Box" myself at this time.
Hope this helps.
I would like to take this time (once again) to plug Hammerhead. It's not the most powerful in the world, but it's free and it works well for simplistic beats.
Our songs also have the standard pop format: Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, bad solo. All in all, I think we sound like The Knack and the Bay City Rollers being molested by Black Flag and Black Sabbath.
Kurt Cobain
You could pickup a small Keyboard that has a built in drum section for pretty cheap or even a digitech Rp-50 has one built in.
Joe
