Drum Machines

Drum machines range from boxes that play basic rhythms for playing along to, all the way up to sophisticated electro modules. The basic principle is the same, allowing you to program your own beats, often by tapping the pads on the main panel or by a process called step sequencing, which allows you to place drum hits manually to each beat. A particular drum machine may feature a wide range of acoustic and electronic sounds, or focus more towards emulating classic beat boxes where there are fewer sounds but instead more in-depth control of those sounds and characteristics is available.

Machines including the Alesis SR16 and SR18 offer a simple way to produce rhythms for playing along to and creating demos, featuring a range of acoustic, electronic and percussive sounds. Since these machines keep things simple, they are ideal for making all kinds of music regardless of your technical experience.

Drum Synthesizers such as the Elektron Analog Rythm MKII, Roland TR-8S and Arturia DrumBrute are geared more towards electronic music and offer in-depth control over the individual sounds and grooves as well as the ability to sync to other electronic music hardware.