8/09/2013

The Drum Machine: Free Beats Tutorial

By Delroy Wilkins


Today's drum machine is distinctly different from its traditional counterpart that was available several years ago. The difference lies mainly in the advanced features and options provided by the modern drum machine. Understanding about these features will help you identify and buy the right drum machine for your music production needs.

Samplers are a prominent feature in today's drum machine. This feature allows you to play back tracks you upload onto the drum machine. When compared to the stock audio options available upon purchase of the drum machine, the sampler feature gives you more playback options. It also plays an important role in ensuring the drum machine remains functional for a long time. This feature allows music producers access sounds from different sources including other producers, existing songs and even creation of your own unique sounds.

Previous generation drum machines could only store drum sounds. Today's drum machines however have the capacity to store not only drum sounds, but, other instrument sounds as well. The sample chopping feature enables you to select specific part within a song and then cut it down into smaller pieces. These small parts can then be placed on a pad within the drum machine. This allows you to edit, rearrange and blend the sounds to create your own unique and fresh sound. An exciting part about this feature is that it does not limit chopping to drum beats only; you can also use it on other audio samples.

Sequencer: Most drum machines now come with a sequencer. A sequencer is a feature that allows a producer to create all sorts of instruments, both hardware and software, and bring them together to form harmonic sounds. However, this feature is not available for all drum machines especially those that are found within other software because this means that they are part of a bigger sequencing program. Drum machines such as the Native Instrument's Machines have the feature and thus allow you to control and organize other instruments in your studio.

Step sequencer: This is a feature that allows a producer to create a beat without having to record in real-time. This is a tool that is useful for producers that don't have the time to produce rhythmic chops.




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