More affordable Beat Makers
When I was first starting out, I could not afford to get the MPC series. I made do with what I could get. We were still using tape recorders back then and I can remember recording the first drum machine I ever owned and then speeding up the reel to reel just to make the drums sound better. The things we do to be unique!
Later I was able to afford better drum machines and drum modules but still not the mpc……I did get an ensoniq sampler and used it to sample a few drum sounds from some of my favorite records…..yes we were still playing records back then…..it was only 20 years ago…lol….I also was able to get a percussion drum module and a few other cheaper drum machines and modules a couple of years later…..
I soon started stacking drum sounds and processing them heavily to finally get that close to mpc sound…..A lot of people would listen to our songs and swore we were using a MPC…..That at least assured me that I knew what I was doing. A few more years passed and I was making a bit more money and the MPC series drum machines prices started coming down with the company change over and new models being produced. I finally got my hands on the 2000 and never looked back since.
If you know what you are doing….you can get a good sound from almost any type of beat maker, that is why I told the little story above. Of course now days….you don’t have to work so hard to get the good sounding drums and samples that I had to work so hard to get…….but knowing how to mix and what processors to use on what and when will still make your mix stand out from the crowd, even today…….but this article is about beat makers so I will stick to that.
In today’s world….you can buy a cheaper drum machine, or beat making software program ( if you have a computer) and produce some pretty impressive sounding tracks, thanks to technology and the lower cost of more capable equipment nowadays. Can the cheaper beat makers sound like the bigger boys?……in most cases not…..at least not directly, but with a little extra help they can get pretty darn close to sounding like the big boys, if you know what you are doing……and is some cases, depending on the style of music you are doing….it”s not necessary to even change the sound at all.
So you see…..even if you cannot afford the industry standard big boy beat makers….you can still achieve top level results with the aid of new technology and some solid mixing knowledge…..so strike up that beat machine whether if be hardware or software and get to creating some hit beats!……See you on the other side, or should I say at the top!
