Akai or Alesis?

[doncolga]

Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing an Alesis SR 18 or an Akai XR 20, each a drum machine. Looking at a unit to accompany me on percussion without relying on any static sequences while I'm on bass, keys and vocals. Just checking if anyone here has any experience with either or both units. I'm leaning slightly toward the Alesis mostly because it seems to be more versatile and has more of a classic sound set, whereas the Akai is more directed to hip hop/R&B/electronic, even though I like the interface better on the Akai and I do like the idea of the contemporary/electronic sounds it has. At the same time, I've considered that often as a one man show, maybe I should intentionally lean more to an electronic sound (and I do love electronic chill and dance), just to diversify myself in this college town full of guitar players, and take advantage of the extension in my Tubas. The idea being that a unit like the Akai is electronic and sounds that way on purpose. I could see where the Alesis may sound like a drum machine attempting to sound acoustic (and possibly a bit cheezy in the process...if you get my meaning there), but it does have it's own electronic sounds as well. It's a bit of a toss up and I think I'll be happy with either unit. Both are well respected brands and the SR18 (and formerly the SR16) have been industry standards for a long time. Please chime in if you've an thoughts on either one.

Thanks!

Donny

[Grant Bunter]

Donny, some of the best solo keyboard acts I have seen have had awesome drum sounds.

It is quite obvious they spent time on the tracks to sound like a drummer, and good drum tones from downloaded libraries, and it really makes a difference IMO
I hate the putzy obvious "lets make money doing midi song files" bass lines/brass/drums some people use. It makes me walk out the door.

I don't know which machine you should get, but check out roland too. They have been doing drum machines for decades...

[doncolga]

Donny, some of the best solo keyboard acts I have seen have had awesome drum sounds.

It is quite obvious they spent time on the tracks to sound like a drummer, and good drum tones from downloaded libraries, and it really makes a difference IMO
I hate the putzy obvious "lets make money doing midi song files" bass lines/brass/drums some people use. It makes me walk out the door.

I don't know which machine you should get, but check out roland too. They have been doing drum machines for decades...

Copy that. Brass, strings and fake sax and guitar leads drive me especially nuts. I'll be sticking to bass and keys instruments.

[ripNdeb]

http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/

I use these with Cakewalk Sonar Producer

[doncolga]

I've gone with the Alesis SR 18 and I'm happy with it. I can turn on my rig and play within 10 seconds...no booting, no apps to load, no hard drives to crash...that's a nice feeling. Most importantly, I can just sit down and play totally on the fly, something I've not been able to do before unless I was playing solo keys or with a band. I don't even have to set up songs...it's following what I give it section by section of a song...and it sounds pretty good to boot. It's essentially a trio, drums on the Alesis, left hand bass, right hand keys, and vocals, so arrangements are done accordingly. Of course it's not totally perfect, but its about benefits and tradeoffs, and so far, the benefits are greater.

[Grant Bunter]

Good stuff Donny

[doncolga]

I've spent some time with the drum machine. I like it, but I like Ableton Live 9 more, so after some consideration, the drum machine is going back. After getting over a few humps in an old version of Ableton and actually composing a song pretty much end to end without stopping, then being able to arrange it on the fly, plus the abilities of virtual instruments and other capabilities I've not even touched on, that's hard to pass up for a $159 upgrade...which expires today.

Any of you all do anything with Live? https://www.ableton.com/en/live/new-in-9/