Drum Machines

Due to recent leaps in both the quality and availability of DAWs and midi controllers, drum machines have sadly become clunky artifacts in the eyes of many musicians. Still, though, they can be valuable tools for live performance or hands-on studio production, as well as just being some pretty sweet toys. This article will contain information on popular drum machines for those interested in purchasing one

The Dinosaurs (1930s - 70s)
In the early days drum machines only allowed for preset patterns with a very limited library of sounds, and were really only used as something slightly better than a metronome to play along with.

The only people who buy these now are Moby and the Gearspammer.

I know fuck all about these and won't add anything more

Vintage (1970s - 90s)
With the invention of programmable drum machines such as the Roland CR-78, drum machines became accepted as viable instruments and began replacing the 70s' hordes of fucking awful drummers.

The TR-707/808/909
Trust me when I say you don't need to buy one of these. The sounds these machines produce have become staples of a lot of modern music, but you can get great sample packs of all of these online for free, a solid $600 - $3000 cheaper than getting the actual machine. The popularity & overpriced-ness of this line has even hiked up the price of their retarded brothers TR-606 & 505 to higher than they deserve to be.

The LinnDrum
The drum sound of 80s pop music in a box. Unlike the Roland TR line of drum synthesizers, the LinnDrum is technically more of a drum sampler than a synthesizer, as it is pre-loaded with recordings of actual drum hits. Due to the limitations of 80s sampling technology, the LinnDrum has a distinctly compressed and lo-fi sound which many find pleasing to the ear. These things were obscenely popular in the 80s, and the sound remains popular today with lo-fi and nu disco producers. Much like the TR drum machines, there is little point in actually buying one of these with the sheer volume of free sample packs available online.

Kawai R-100
Most notable for being one of the first drum machines with velocity-sensitive pads, this unit also defined the sound of 80's industrial and EBM. Its mechanical 12-bit samples, highly detailed editing capabilities, and well-crafted design made it a powerful machine that could actually compete with the big dogs back in the 80s. It's also really fucking cheap now (usually $100 if you can find one).

Korg Volcabeats
It's portable, it's analog, it's straight forward, and above all else it's affordable. This little machine's solid and has a nice 808-y sound, as well as a pretty cool 'stutter' function (a sort of delay effect). DO NOT buy this machine unless you have a fine-tipped soldering pen, though, as the default snare is absolute shit and requires a simple but delicate modification to sound right. With the snare mod however this is a solid physical alternative to an 808 emulator for a radical $150 new or ~$100 used.

Elektron Machinedrum
A modern hardware drum machine that aims to do fucking everything. It can emulate some of the most popular vintage drum machines such as Roland's TR line, but it's also fully capable of generating new and original sounds through synthesis and sampling. It also emulates the price of a TR machine at around $1000-1600.