Alesis SR18

No drummer, no problem, sort of

I bought this as I was about to start gigging again with a few friends, mainly acoustic guitar but also a saxophone and electric bass, so some amplification was going to be needed, and if amplification is needed then so is some way of keeping time. We have been using this now for several months, running directly through the PA, and for us the main advantage is that the patterns and songs can be started and stopped using a footswitch – we use a Nux NMP-2 – IMO a super reliable switch box.

There is an abundance of patterns and kits available, although as anticipated we have ended up using only a few of them.

There are some quite important limitations to programming it, inevitably very old fashioned in that way, and I have found it quite tricky to get the beats in exactly the right places. I have not worked out if it is possible to extend recorded phrases. Possibly this is more a case of my being limited rather than the machine, time will tell.

On the plus side the sounds are really very good and there are so many of them to choose from. I can see that this machine will keep me busy for years. I have not yet tried triggering it with MIDI from a DAW, which is something to look forward to! Although it is plastic it is solidly built and will doubtless last a long time, even being gigged. It’s size is another plus point (very light and portable), I have it mounted on a microphone tablet holder, as is the fact that it can at a push be run on batteries, although I would not recommend doing this as they do seem to become exhausted rather too quickly for my liking.

Overall, I have to strongly recommend it because it does what our little group needs it to do and does it, so far, completely reliably.

Alesis still masters of super Drum machines and products

After hours and hours of youtube clips and research, looking for your standard basic drum machine, user friendly and even has the extra function of Bass, and matching its younger brother world renowned Alesis SR16, the SR18 will not dissapoint and will give you hours of enjoyment creating your own drum and bass patterns, or if Just drum patterns, leave out the bass, I can't comment on the bass function as I have not used this function yet,

a drummer in a box and once off payment, but I have to add, you can never beat the live drummer, but SR18 will get you pretty close..

Classic Updated

I was an SR-16 user from the 90s. I did a ton of songwriting demos and self produced CDs using the SR-16. It's not a real drummer, but if you know how to use it, it's a damned good replacement when there's no drummers around. So, when my SR-16 blew out on me, I replaced it with this baby. It's an upgrade - it's just as easy to use, but sounds better. I haven't gotten into using it live yet, but I will. So far, it's better than its predecessor and I am all good with that.

PROs: When you get the basics of it, it does what its supposed to do and can be used for pro recordings and live shows.

CONS: it's not Steve Gadd... but if you don't expect it to be and use it for what it is, it's excellent. The bass stuff in there is icing. I've not used it yet as I also play bass, but the patches sound good.

Excellent drum machine

If there's a better hardware drum kit then I haven't found it yet. This is almost perfect for practice, composing and stage work.

Excellent drum machine. I use it for 5 years. I used it for rehearsals, concerts and recording albums. Very happy with the quality.