Maybe your drummer quit. Maybe you can't find one. Maybe you don't want a live drummer at all because they can't possibly execute the mosaic of frenetic beats in your head.
The following alternatives are not better or worse than a live drummer. They are simply tools, like everything else offered on Reverb. This guide gives you a lay of the land so you can build a broader toolkit when planning your drum sequencing.
Drum Machines and Samplers
From the earliest drum machines, like the Rhythmicon and the Side Man, to classics like the Roland TR-808 and TR-909, to modern behemoths like Elektron’s Machinedrum (RIP) and Analog Rytm, drum machines have become synonymous with electronic music.
Some drum machines contain sound banks that allow users to trigger a variety of sounds, usually by pressing pads in real-time or programming them via a step-sequencer (think something like the Alesis SR-16, a known favorite of groups like Autechre), while others contain synthesizer components that specialize in drum timbres (Elektron’s Analog Rytm).
Some are entirely portable, while others (like Native Instrument’s Maschine) rely on the computer in order to function. Others, like the Machinedrum, allow users to import external sounds.
Additionally, there are many devices that make exclusive use of sampling, such as Elektron’s Octatrack, Roland’s SP-404SX and SPD-SX. Korg’s Volca Sample offers an inexpensive and highly portable entry into the sampling world which has already been favored by groups like OK GO, who have a signature model available. The layout of these devices varies, but they all allow the user to trigger the sample via pads (in the case of the 404-SX) or a step-sequencer (Octatrack).
Patching Drums on a Modular Synthesizer
There are many different ways to patch a synthesizer in order to create various drum timbres, from kicks to snares, hihats and more. If it can be pitched, you can patch it.
If it can be pitched, you can patch it.”
For example, one way of creating a kick drum entails patching an envelope signal onto an oscillator’s v/oct input, then routing that oscillator through a low-pass gate which is modulated by the envelope’s signal. Different filters can be mixed to taste between the oscillator and the LPG.
Buchla systems are famous for their percussive proclivity. Albums like Sonoio’s Blue and Red as well as The Knife’s Shaking the Habitual—all three of which feature memorable percussion sections sourced from Buchlas—attest to their celebrity.
Drum-Specific Eurorack Modules
Eurorack systems can be patched in a manner similar to what is described in the previous section. Modules with a gate, trigger or “strike” input make it easier to patch oscillators and trigger them in shorter, more percussive bursts. One example is the Make Noise Optomix.
There are also many modules that function as self-contained percussion synthesizers. Notably, Mutable Instruments’ Elements, Noise Engineering’s Basimilus Iteritas and Basimilus Iteritas Alter, Hexinverter Electronique’s Mutant line (consisting of the Mutant Machine, Mutant Bassdrum, Mutant Hihats, Mutant Machine, Mutant BD9, and the Mutant Hot Glue), and Tiptop Audio’s 808 and 909 modules, which are clones of various circuits on Roland’s TR-808 and 909 devices.
The modules contain trigger inputs that allow users to effortlessly transmit gates via a sequencer or envelope module in order to generate a pattern.
VSTs
VSTs (Virtual Studio Technology) are great because they encapsulate most of the hardware on the market through the convenience of a desktop or laptop. Some VSTs allow users to manipulate pre-recorded acoustic samples and play them across a digital kit or via MIDI. Think something like Steven Slate Drums 4.0. These can come in handy for projects that require a more acoustic sound.
There are also VSTs that function more like sequencers, as in Sonic Charge’s Microtonic, which allow users to create drum timbres (by routing an oscillator and a noise source through filters, EQ, and distortion) and sequence them.
The digital sea of percussive VSTs is vast, but fear not: we’ve got some recommendations to dip your toe into the tide. MeldaProduction’s MDrummer Small offers a streamlined 500MB rendition of the company’s colossal MDrummer Large for fast, easy beat construction. For more specific reference points in your plugin, the BeatSkillz Beatfactory corrals 10 preset kits including some TR iterations for the 808 fans. Best of all? Both are free on Reverb Sync.
The big drawback here is the loss of a tactile interface. However, this problem can be solved by finding a MIDI controller (or three) that suits your specific workflow. Akai's longlived MPD series is a stalwart among pad-based controllers, with many performers like Shigeto, Baths and Nosaj Thing touring with their MPD-32s for half a decade.
Alternatively, Novation's latest Launchpad, the Launchpad Pro, brings velocity sensitivity to the portable and popular grid controller. Its RGB-lit pads are now equally adept at sequencing, drum performance and clip launching. Lastly, Keith McMillen's QuNeo offers directional X-Y sensitivity in addition to velocity control. With some clever programming and skilled performance the QuNeo can unleash unprecedented realism or outlandish effects.
Whether you're searching for a tried and true pad controller for triggering samples or a next-generation interface for controlling drum synthsesis, there have never been more options at your fingertips (literally).
Apps
Apps are an often overlooked category for drums. There are many on the market that allow for intuitive and creative programming capabilities.
Many offer compacted versions of popular instruments, like Korg’s iMS20, iElectribe, and iKaossilator, or Native Instruments’s iMaschine.
One of the most intriguing and useful that I have come across is Reactable Systems’s Reactable app, which gives users a digital version of the supremely fun block workflow and allows for the importation of custom samples. Users can even create multi-sessions via WiFi to synchronize a session with multiple collaborators.
Most of these apps can also transmit MIDI, either into your DAW, MIDI input on a synthesizer, sampler, or drum machine, or a MIDI to cv module on a modular synth. This is a great way to control your system from the convenience of a touch screen.
The biggest pro to using apps is that they offer immediacy and great sound for a fraction of the price. Compare the iElectribe’s $19.99 price to the $399.99 price tag on its older sibling. The biggest con, again, is the loss of a hardware interface. If you enjoy using a touch screen, then perhaps the tradeoff is beneficial.