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Better Drum Machine App?
Hi,
I use AUM and I have EG Pulse.
In the old days (start laughing), I had a Boss DR-550 MK2 physical drum machine. That was back before anyone ever said 'drum like a Boss'. It certainly had it's limitations. It was a lot of work sequencing background drums. You couldn't change the volume or timbre of a single pad within a song or pattern.
In my recording studio (PC based), I use both Groove Agent and EZ Drummer. I love the percussion sounds and there are tons and tons and tons of out of the box beats to start with. A kit in EZ Drummer has around 40 unique sounds. For example: snare with springs, snare without the springs, rimshot snare. For example: crash, and muted crash. I feel the sounds are fairly realistic. Maybe not perfect, but very close. There's lots of different kits, and even non-kit drums like bongos, congas, shakers, etc.
RECOMMENDATIONS for iPad Drum Machine/Sequencer (to Run in AUM). I have EG Pulse, but I really, really don't like it. Some of the issues I struggle with are:
- a single drum kit has 16 sounds and that's it
- unless you play or feed EG Pulse with a MIDI file you can't change the velocity (volume) on a single pad within a song (a louder kick in one pattern or one place, and a quieter kick in a different place)
- the grid view won't enlarge well - especially if you have it set to 1/64th note divisions, you can't enlarge the screen to zoom in where you want to add/remove notes
- you have to feed EG Pulse a MIDI message to change what MIDI note triggers the pad - there's no user interface where you can just type in the MIDI note number; while playing a keyboard seems easy - there's still connections and set up work
There are certainly great features about the app, no doubt.
Alternative Recommendations?
- something with 30 - 40 pads?
- something with up to 64th note divisions
- something that allows notes or divisions to be grouped into triplets
- something that lets you set the note velocity per note in the pattern (so in one place in a pattern, the kick can be loud, in another place in the SAME pattern the kick can be set softer)
- something that lets me manually type in the MIDI mapping for each pad
- something that lets me load my own wave files for a pad (EG Pulse does this)
- something that lets me copy and paste patterns via CMD+C and CMD+V
- something that lets me create a song as a collection of patterns, with up to 120 patterns; possibly even looping segments or a smaller set of patterns within a song
- something that lets me 'record' a pattern by playing the drum pads
Anything out there in this ballpark, or is EG Pulse really about it?
Thanks
Drumless in Denver
Comments
You can check DrumPerfect Pro if you are looking for flexibility. It practically covers all the features ( and much more ) you request. Kits can be very detailed. ( up to 256 samples per kit ). Come with Auv3 module ( player ) multi out. Expect a little learning curve.
Yeah drumperfect pro looks like the deal, but man this app is hard to master. Check out some digistix yt videos before deciding. Because I recently got digistix2 from 4pockets and it is so freaking neat.
i also tried EG pulse long time ago but same here: no click.
Cheers!
DigiStix2 should tick most of the boxes.
If you can live with an IAA then maybe BM3.
In a weird confluence of OP’s question and the answers so far: I have the Dr-55 MKii (and the Dr-5) and I go to Digistix2 when I want the “Dr. Rhythm” sound(s).
THANK YOU!!! I do appreciate the input. It's tough to know ahead of time how much functionality something really has and also how difficult it is.
By the way - I was not 'in love' with Dr. Rhythm, or anything - it was a fairly ease to use drum machine back in the day. It also had a limited number of pads, and if I can remember that far back, you couldn't change the volume of a pad per pattern.
Koala sampler if you don't mind BYOD samples. Probably the most flexible, but I don't think it has keyboard (QWERTY) input.
Beatmaker 3
@db909 Is Beatmaker 3 a drum sequencer? Does it let you make 'patterns' and put the the 'patterns' together in a song? Can Beatmaker 3 'play' or receive MIDI notes from Atom Roll?
TBH, you and I have different workflow preferences. But I suspect you should check out DrumComputer, and Drambo.
Personally, I keep coming back to DrumJam, but it doesn't tick many of boxes you're looking for.
It's mix between a drum sequencer and a piano roll (and a pretty good one actually).
BM3 has patterns (not quite sure how many, but more than 120) and yes, you can put them together as you like. It actually comes with a scene mode which is pretty dang cool.
And BM3 can at least receive Midi notes from Atom 2.
And you can duplicate patterns if you like (not sure if it supports cmd+c & cmd+v)
And 128 pads, a grid with max 1/64 normal & triplets, velocity per note, load your own wave files plus layering per pad, record a performance via pad playing (quantized and non quantized), very good file management including tagging/keyword search etc.
Drum computer is definitely NOT what you are looking for. Only 8 drumslots and a pretty bad file handling.
Koala could be interesting especially with the samurai iap but I think BM3 ticks more boxes.
The above poster covered it well. It’s essentially a full fledged daw, but the pad/mpc style playing surface, beat repeat functions, sampling, and patterns make it especially suited for drums. So yes to all of the above and much more
BM3 for dedicated use. Drambo for AU, you don't get unlimited pads but lots of sound shaping options.
EG Pulse is good for hosting samples and multi-out. But the sample engine is limited, no AU parameters for important stuff, and the sequencer isn't very intuitive. It's still my second go to for drum AU. Kits are importable and exportable. Works well with Kitmaker.
1 year later; update?
Soon it’ll be Logic Pro.
Logic Pro is the new Drambo.
No turning back after this.
This is one drambo can’t do lol
Nah, Drambo is in a league of its own.
Two different things anyway.
DrumComputer was and is ahead of its time.
Very powerful, probably a bit overwhelming…
+1
And hitting the randomize button isn't too hard to learn 😄
@Vmusic
Looking at all the features you want, I would say that Groove Rider comes closest. Especially the triplets and 64th note functions, sample import, loop slice support and the 16x16 pads should serve your purpose well.
Drambo is a great candidate too but you'll have to custom build your dream machine - maybe with the help of a few Drambo exports here, since others have asked for something like this before.
The sequencer in DC is really nice. Is it possible to use it to sequence synths in AUM? I'm not sure how to do it.
Koala Sampler + Keystep 37 is also a really cool drum machine.
Good question, I’ll check and see.
Definitely. That and Playbeat are my favorite drum machines on iOS. Digistix2 is great as well.
Logic has the Producer Kits... i hope they make their way into iOS.
There's similar functionality within 'Drum Machine Designer'. Of course, not sure how this'll translate within LPiOS (This level of meta depth and complexity is why i still have my doubts about 1:1 feature parity, but never mind).
And yes...each video shows certain different functions:
Well each drum voice has its own lane which responds to its own midi note
Each of the lanes can be triggered at different note lengths and each track can be different lengths
So you can use drum computer to sequence synths just as you can - and I often do - use it to sequence other drum voices
If you want a different scale look to midi translators like Mozaic scripts or MFXConvert