Rhythm Machines

Paul Awalt · Post by **Paul Awalt** » 29 Sep 2000 6:15 am

What rthymn machines are out there that are good for steel guitar.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 29 Sep 2000 6:37 am

If you mean drum machines, the Alesis SR-16 is a good unit for price. I have one and have done two CD's (one for a singer and an instrumental that I'm finishing up for myself) with it. The only thing the Alesis doesn't have preprogrammed is a 3/4 waltz program. I don't know why they didn't put one in the factory programs. But it's not that hard to program in a basic 3/4. One of the songs I did on my album is The Waltz You Saved For Me and I used my basic 3/4 on that and it came out fine.

RickRichtmyer · Post by **RickRichtmyer** » 29 Sep 2000 6:43 am

It kind of depends on the application.

If you just want some rhythm tracks to play along with at home and you have a computer with a decent sound card, I'd pick up a copy of Band In A Box.

If you need portability then you'd probably need a standalone unit or one built into a keyboard.

Personally, I've been pretty happy with Roland products.

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Rick Richtmyer
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Dave Horch · Post by **Dave Horch** » 29 Sep 2000 7:40 am

Yeah, Roland makes a nice unit called the DR5 (I think) that is sorta like a portable version of Band-in-a-box. Costs about $450. Billy Cooper loves 'em and uses them in his shop on a daily basis. I heard that one of his students played a SOLO steel gig/concert using nothing more than a DR5 for backup.

Moon in Alaska · Post by **Moon in Alaska** » 29 Sep 2000 10:07 am

Yes, Dave, the Boss DR-5 is a really good unit, being engineered by Roland, it has a good sound engine. I have used one here at home for several years, and my only complaint is it is HARD to program. I also use band in a box, which is a snap to use !!

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Robert Parent · Post by **Robert Parent** » 29 Sep 2000 11:03 am

The Boss DR-770 is a great machine. They go for about $350.00 mail order.

Don Olson · Post by **Don Olson** » 1 Oct 2000 2:38 pm

You have a computer,get Band in a Box.I have used it for about 10 years,like the others have said it is easy to use and the new styles are killers and they update constantly.I like and use Roland products but once you buy their rythum machines it's hard to update them,and Band in a Box is cheaper.
Zum Steel Forever

Jeff Hogsten · Post by **Jeff Hogsten** » 2 Oct 2000 6:27 am

the boss 770 is the best available now the memory is double of any of their other machines and the samples are longer and thus sound better. It has a lot of nice new programable features. I can send anyone who needs them three four beats or anything else for one

Jeff

Fred Murphy · Post by **Fred Murphy** » 2 Oct 2000 7:10 am

For recording rhythm tracks, I like to program them up in Band In A Box and bring them into Cakewalk, and then use a Roland JV-1010 Module for tone. You can get a great sounding rhythm section with this set-up, also strings or horn, if you like. I have the Alesis SR 16, and it sounds pretty good if you just need the drum tracks, although the sounds are not quite as good as you can get from the Roland JV1010 module. You can let BIAB program do the rolls and fills, which I think are a bit complicated to do with the Alesis Drum machine.

Kenneth Kotsay · Post by **Kenneth Kotsay** » 2 Oct 2000 3:25 pm

Try the new, BOSS JS5 JAM STATION, it's the replacement for the Dr.5. It cost's about $480.00. I had a demo of it at MARS MUSIC Store in Margate, Florida. Has great potential for creating your own tracks and chord arrangements. You get to view the chords as they are played by this electronic music machine maker. Has pitch control and tempo control etc.

With the Boss JS5 JamStation, guitar and bass
players can jam along to high-quality
accompaniments, create new accompaniments,
and even digitally record up to 32 minutes of
their playing without any knowledge of MIDI
sequencing or recording. This tabletop backing machine features hundreds of songs with 4-part arrangements that can be structured to fit user-defined progressions -- giving musicians a simple, effective way to practice, jam and write songs.

Features:

Highly intuitive backing/accompaniment machine and song composer for guitarists
Professional-quality sound engine with separate reverb, chorus, and multi-effects
200 Preset songs with 4-part backing tracks
100 User songs and 26 user-definable chord progressions

Separate audio track and mic/line/guitar input for digitally recording live input sources

Recording time expandable to 32 minutes with optional SmartMedia card

Built-in Time-stretch feature automatically syncs audio recordings to internal patterns

Locator function loops selected passages for practicing or jamming

Check it out on, zZOUND.COM

gary darr · Post by **gary darr** » 2 Oct 2000 5:24 pm

I'm with Jack on the S-R-16, we use one to gig with and I have had good results recording with it.For the money,best toy I've bought in a while.

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sho-bud,session 500,american standard strat,shecter tele,peavy classic 50

Don Olson · Post by **Don Olson** » 3 Oct 2000 4:33 pm

Along with Band in a Box I use a Roland sound brush and sound canvas.I have a library of about 200 tunes to pick from and it's great.I play singles to trios and I have complete control over volume and speed.