Hi folks,
Lots of great information here and I’ve read through quite a few threads on the various drum machine options, but most of the information and experience leans into their synthesis possibilities.
I’m looking for a GREAT sounding drum machine to put on the 4th channel of a DJ setup. Midi clock will be sent from the mixer (or can be received).
I’d love something durable, compact and immediate - I love good synth engine but I don’t have the mental capacity to menu dive with 2-3 other decks playing. I LOVE the sounds coming from the Perkons but it’s just too big, the TR8S is great but feels like a toy and sounds a bit wimpy for my style.
Looking at the Spazedrum, LXR-02 and analog Rytm mkII - I do know that some of these are menu dive machines but it’s the small list I’ve come up with so far. Rhytm is probably the max size I could deal with.
I will give you one tip–I specifically bought the SP-16 because it has Pioneer DJ Link (which lets you use sync). I still wish it had a “nudge” function so it would be easier to beat match manually. So, you might want to make sure the drum machine has a nudge function–which lets you shift the pattern “backwards” or “forwards” to match it to your CDJs (or whatever).
Just my two cents–I tend to agree with you–but a higher tier sampler where you can build your own more complete beats/tracks. But yea, just a drum machine doesn’t seem super useful to me. Unless the DJ in question is using DJ tool tracks and acapellas on their CDJs as well.
Most commercial tracks are pretty full mix wise, so adding drums on top might get messy.
Thanks all - appreciate the feedback. I pretty much exclusively play minimal techno and sometimes even throw in ambient tracks. The ability to add a hi-hat or bass drum without loading in a whole track is great (for me). For reference I use a Pioneer V10 and rekordbox laptop, no CDJs.
I didn’t think about the Toraiz but it’s not a bad idea. Might give one a whirl.
You get eight tracks, and each track can be an audio buffer or an FX processor. You also get 8 MIDI tracks that you can control external synths with, or loop back into the OT itself. OT + Virus makes a fantastically powerful sequenced multitimbral polysynth monster.
Audio tracks could be as simple as a single large sample that you loop: ideal for ambient or 1-4 measures of techno elements. But the audio can also be sliced up, and you can play the individual slices.
All of this works in real time, so you can live sample a record, and while that sample is looping you can slice that same audio on another track and start building up a new beat from those same elements. Then you can bring in your new beat. And that’s just using two of the right tracks.
Construction is robust: OT is a metal box. It has a fader and some encoders so you will want to be careful with those - protect them with a decksaver when you aren’t using the OT. Mk2 is the way to go, but if it is out of budget, you can get Mk1s for less. Functionality is identical, but the Mk1 has fewer buttons, so you have to memorize some combos.
TR-8S, wimpy? i’ve got the TR-6S and in addition to the beefy 909s and 808s, the FM kicks are seriously big. fatten it up with some saturation, compression, or whatever, and i’d have thought the sound and performability of either of these machines would make it ideal…
Can I link the SP16 to the V10 mixer via DJ Link and sample through it? I use 3 decks of rekordbox on my laptop through the V10 with transport handled by the XP2 and it would be amazing if I could use the SP16 to mangle tracks already playing without a mess of cables out the back.
Unfortunately DJ Link is for tempo sync only. However, if you have an aux send/FX loop on your DJ mixer you can route things so you can live sample. Looks like if you have the Pioneer V10 mixer you could still do this, just with analog audio cables instead of DJ Link. But yea…still a few cables to mess with.
I’ve seen a few DJ’s with drum machines as part of their setup - the ones that spring to mind are the TR8-S and the Drumbrute. I’d favour the drumbrute impact over the bigger sibling personally, would be an affordable option.
Or a Model:Samples maybe? Seems more complex features aren’t needed so something like a Digitakt/OT might be overkill and deadweight.
No-one’s hyped the Rytm for this use-case yet, so I’ll have a go…
It’s performance focused: the Perfs, Scenes and Mutes give you a lot of options for tailoring content to fit your set. The distortion and compressor should help get you some tone, level, or controlled dynamics to fit with your records (to a degree). It samples so you could play vocals, stings, sirens etc, as well as any drum sound. You could make “whole tracks” with it, as well as fragments for zest.
You’d have to prepare a fair bit in advance, but it’d do a lot musically. It could easily be more than you need. It lacks the quick looping and FX processing the OT offers.
I’ve used a TR8 with Traktor. For CDJs and live mixing you’re going to want something that allows you to nudge the beat up and down. DT, and OT both allow this and Im toying with the idea of doing live mixes using them. Classically a lot of big DJs use Traktor and Maschine. Its cool. I think using a drum machine with Traktor expands on the performance. When I was using Traktor I’d get my 4 tracks looping and bring hats and rides in. Add some kick to beef up the beat or to tease in with drops. Got to say that in my 20+ years djing, Traktor with drum machines and other groove boxes (tb3) was the most fun to use.
I recently added an Arturia DrumBrute (and Microbrute) to my DJ turntable setup, but am still considering other drum machines options that I already own: TR-8S, SP-16, RD-9, DrumBrute Impact, etc. I appreciate the straight-forward interface and workflow simplicity of the DrumBrute, and the lack of menu diving was also a big factor why it was selected.
So far, the drum machine addition works as intended, but I am unsure whether it will remain in my DJ setup over the long-term. When playing vinyl, the tap tempo function is helpful to closely align the drum machine to the active song, but I typically have a rough idea of the tempo anyways. After the drum machine tempo is set, the turntables are adjust accordingly. If using DVS, a MIDI clock is sent out of my mixer to the drum machine.
That said, the Pioneer DJ DJS-1000 is awesome, if a DJ is okay working with samples. It is purpose built for integration into DJ setups.
