"Must have" drum machine samples?

Projectile · Post by **Projectile** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:03 am

I'm looking to load up an old Akai sampler with drum machine samples. There are so many different drum machines out there and I'm trying to narrow it down to the bare essentials. What are the classic drum machines that everyone should have in their sample library?

So far I have narrowed it down to these:

TR606
TR707
TR808
TR909
TR66
CR78
Linn LM-1
Lin LM-9000
DR-110
Oberheim DX
EMU Drumulator
Alesis HR-16
Casio VL-1

Looking for a few more to round out the collection. I'm thinking maybe Fairlight, CR-8000, and DMX. Are there any other major ones I'm missing?

optimus prime · Post by **optimus prime** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:41 am

The TR66 sounds very similar to the CR78. You might want some Yamaha RX/RY series samples, a lot of goodness there. Also Boss DR-550 is pretty cool. And the Drumulator sounds like c**p mostly, the SP-12 is a lot more useful.

Projectile · Post by **Projectile** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:30 pm

What Yamaha box would you recommend? There's about a dozen of them, and I wouldn't even know where to start.

Also, is the DR550 that much different than the DR660? I already own a DR660, so I don't want to get redundant.

glassofwater · Post by **glassofwater** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:37 pm

626 and 727

edfunction · Post by **edfunction** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:06 pm

yes the 626 and 727 are pretty essential!

Post by **madtheory** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:06 pm

Good list of machines I think.

Good point optimus, the Yamaha's have great sounds. RY-30 was the king because it has almost the complete set, get the hi hats from the RX series while you're at it. There's a website somewhere that has all the Linn and OB sounds taken directly from the EPROMS bypassing the AD. Worth having.

As it's an Akai you should be able to get the sounds from their XE-8 somewhere in the official library, they're excellent. Created by the guy who now runs hollowsun.

Post by **tallowwaters** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:05 pm

I love Akai drum machine samples...

optimus prime · Post by **optimus prime** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:45 pm

Projectile wrote:What Yamaha box would you recommend? There's about a dozen of them, and I wouldn't even know where to start.

Also, is the DR550 that much different than the DR660? I already own a DR660, so I don't want to get redundant.

The RX5 has most and best quality sounds of the RX series, so I guess go for that. And the mentioned RY-30 is kind of like a DR550 by Yamaha, tons of great sounds.

Speaking of the DR550 it seems like it is pretty similar to the DR660, so it would be redundant to get those.

And I'd recommend the TR-505 over the TR-626. I have the 626, and it's fun to play with individual outputs and tunings, but the 505 has a punchier soundset, IMO. The 626 has better percussion sounds though, has more sounds in general too.

While we're at it, here's 200 drum machine sample packs in a single 300 MB file: http://www.hexawe.net/mess/200.Drum.Machines/ They're all 32-bit 48 kHz samples, so that might be a problem for some. I guess I should have posted this in the "links to free samples" thread.

crystalmsc · Post by **crystalmsc** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:31 pm

Add the Yamaha RX7, it has most of the rare cartridge samples for the RX-5.

Nannerfan · Post by **Nannerfan** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:23 pm

Casio RZ-1 !!!!!
Boss DR-220e

optimus prime · Post by **optimus prime** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 1:38 am

Nannerfan wrote:Casio RZ-1 !!!!!
Boss DR-220e

The Casio is probably the lowest sample rate drum machine ever, it sounds like it's 8 kHz or something. Has character of course, but I would chunk it with the Drumulator in terms of usability, which is very low. I think the RZ1 is featured in Ladytron's Playgirl (the only sound I'm pretty sure is from the RZ is the snare, the clap and cowbell are probably from the Roland TR-505, not sure about the others):

The 220e is cool, though I wouldn't call it classic. Can be heard in action on this Nite Jewel track:

One true classic we forgot is the Korg KR-55. The snare on most tracks on Depeche Mode's Speak&Spell album came from that thing (the kick sound was programmed by Daniel Miller on an Arp 2600, the two combined make a great sound).

Projectile · Post by **Projectile** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 2:02 am

optimus prime wrote: While we're at it, here's 200 drum machine sample packs in a single 300 MB file: http://www.hexawe.net/mess/200.Drum.Machines/ They're all 32-bit 48 kHz samples, so that might be a problem for some. I guess I should have posted this in the "links to free samples" thread.

Are you sure you are thinking of the right library? I have that one, and all of the sounds appear to be standard 16bit 44.1kHz files. Also, many of them are unusable because of digital clipping. This seems to be a problem with most of free sample libraries on the internet. I don't really understand why somebody would go through all the trouble to sample a drum machine and not watch their levels. It's even a problem with some commercial librarys. I had to go through about 5 different sets of TR505 samples before I found one that was usable. I guess people must think digital clipping sounds "punchy" or something.

Anyway, I don't mean to complain. It is free, and it's a great collection for just the sheer quantity of it. Thanks for posting it again.

Z · Post by Z » Mon Feb 28, 2011 2:04 am

No RZ-1 on that Ladytron track. Sounds like TR-505 or 626. Only thing I can think of that could be RZ-1 is a half measure "break" that appears a few times in Erasure's "Chains of Love".

No DR-220e on the NiteJewel track. Maybe 220a (acoustic) which has sounds similar to the TR-505. The 220e mostly has electronic sounds reminescent of the Simmons SDSV.

The Emu Drumulator was used extensively on Howard Jone's Human's Lib[/b] album. Sounds pretty good there in my opinion. I know I've heard it on other 80's tracks, but I can't think of any at the moment.

Nannerfan · Post by **Nannerfan** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 3:16 am

Projectile wrote:Also, many of them are unusable because of digital clipping.

hhmmm... y'know which ones have this issue? So I can avoid/delete them?

As for the RZ-1. Anyone that's a fan of mid 90's house/techno knows it sound well.

smoothcriminal · Post by **smoothcriminal** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:04 am

optimus prime wrote: While we're at it, here's 200 drum machine sample packs in a single 300 MB file: http://www.hexawe.net/mess/200.Drum.Machines/ They're all 32-bit 48 kHz samples, so that might be a problem for some. I guess I should have posted this in the "links to free samples" thread.

thanks! I was just lamenting how i don't have nearly enough drum samples.

Projectile wrote:Are you sure you are thinking of the right library? I have that one, and all of the sounds appear to be standard 16bit 44.1kHz files

Just to stir the pot, I've checked quite a few of them in the past 10 minutes... none of them clip, and Audacity labels them as 32bit, 44.1khz.

"Must have" drum machine samples?

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