This is going to sound really silly...

[Dr. M]

Basically, for my musical project Chestnut Juno, I want to start focusing a lot on rhythm. Only I have no real means of creating beats.

I need a tool for making phat beats. There, I said it.

Garage Band has a few drum sets with extremely few sounds to their name. My hardware synth (a Juno) is impossible to sequence. My only other option is live recorded percussion, which seeing as I have no drum set, never turns out well.
I'm looking for a program/audio unit that is free or under $50 that is compatible with a program like Garage Band that has either a percussion synth in it or has a lot of different sounds to use.

The reason I don't go googling myself is because it's hard telling what out there is good and what's not, so recommendations from people like you who have a program you use that you like and that works is the easiest, most sure-fire way of finding something.
Thanks!

[phlegm]

Can't Garage Band sequence audio samples?

Then you could sample percussive sounds from your Juno and sequence them, right?

[Dr. M]

It takes a lot of editing and work, but the problem is it always ends up sounding like a Joy Electric beat. I want something a little more conventional and easier to work with.

[changeofeyes]

You can probably find a free version of reason and/or fruity loops. I was at guitar center last week and I believe they were actually selling fruity loops on sale for 49.99

[phlegm]

It takes a lot of editing and work, but the problem is it always ends up sounding like a Joy Electric beat. I want something a little more conventional and easier to work with.

Isn't Garage Band supposed to be easy to work with? Sorry, I'm not familiar with OS X software.

When you say it sounds "like a Joy Electric beat," do you mean it's too synthetic or too robotic (or both)?

If it's too synthetic, google for free drum samples to use. If it's too robotic, then it might be easier to have someone actually play the drums or pound them out with a MIDI keyboard/controller than to program them.

[Dr. M]

Isn't Garage Band supposed to be easy to work with? Sorry, I'm not familiar with OS X software.

Arranging and production is extremely easy and intuitive. However the editing interface is horrible. It simply wasn't designed for extremely specific, fine-tuned editing of samples.

When you say it sounds "like a Joy Electric beat," do you mean it's too synthetic or too robotic (or both)?

If it's too synthetic, google for free drum samples to use. If it's too robotic, then it might be easier to have someone actually play the drums or pound them out with a MIDI keyboard/controller than to program them.

It's both, actually. I really don't like how robotic it sounds, but maybe that's just my inability to make beats that don't sound robotic. The synthetic part actually could be solved with some samples. Maybe I can find one of those drum pad midi controllers on ebay. Thanks.

[Rogue]

You could sample beats from music you have. A kick, crash, snare, loop, whatever. I have a small library of percussion that I made from songs.

[Dr. M]

That seems a little cheap.

[Module]

Reason 4.0

The ReDrum plugin is dope. I haven't found a drum machine i find easier to use.

[Heretic]

I have had fun making beats with the Korg Kaossilator, which is pretty good and coming up with stuff you weren't expecting. The arpeggio function is pretty cool to mess around with too. I also sometimes use an airsynth, too.

[Rogue]

That seems a little cheap.

Well under $50!



There's also a freeware drum machine program called DrumSynth. You can export the sounds as WAVs, modify the existing sounds, and create new sounds. I made some neat-o thunder rolling sounds with it.