Hi,

I'm looking for a free (or < $10) virtual drum machine-type program
that will allow me to create my own drum tracks. The program must
allow me to:

-Use their own drum samples to make music instantly
-loop sequences
-loop sequence A x number of times, sequence B y number of times etc
-save the final product (midi, wav or mp3)

It's the third point that I can't find on any of the free programs.
Fruityloops has it, but it costs $50, and you can't save the files on
the demo.
It would be nice if the program also lets you import your own sounds.

Let me know if you have any questions,
Thanks!
-bobtherat

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Request for Question Clarification by josh_g-ga on 02 Dec 2002 19:08 PST

I'm not sure if I understand your third point properly.  Most of these
programs will let you create particular sequences, and then let you
define an entire song by playing through a list of sequences.  Is this
what you're looking for?

---

Clarification of Question by bobtherat-ga on 03 Dec 2002 06:16 PST

Yes, basically.
Most of the free programs I've seen allow you to save either a single
sequence, or a single sequence that has been looped x number of times.
I want the program to loop one sequence a certain number of times,
loop the next sequence a certain number of times, and so on, and save
the entire piece as one song (in some recognizable format).

e.g. I could have a piece that starts with a four beat intro, then has
a part that loops 16 times, another part that loops 32 times, and then
a 16 beat finish.

Also, I didn't put it in the requierments originally, but I assume
that most have it, I need to be able to adjust the tempo (of the
entire piece, not of each sequence).

Thanks!
-bobtherat

Hello,

When it comes to free drum machines, Hammerhead is the oldest of all,
it has all the features you want and is always under development. It
saves wav files. Fruity Loops used to be a clone of Hammer, untill it
got the midi and virtual synth-stuff.
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/HammerHead_Rhythm_Station/

Some other apps to take into consideration:
little drummer boy
is a drum machine where you can use built-in drum sounds, or create
your own using wav files. (you can use stomper,which is a drum synth
that creates wav's)
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/LDB_win_16_32/

Loopy
Uses midi sounds and saves as midi files, so you can change your
sounds at any point.
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Loopy/

The drumz wizard
uses midi sounds also for pattern editing
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/DrumzWizard/

Hotstepper
is a pattern sequencer that uses wav's
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Hotstepper/

It's all a matter of personal preference, but probably Hammer suits
your description best, it has all features you're looking for.
Hotstepper is in second place, the others all have different
advantages.

Links:
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/
http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/
http://hotstepper.de/

If you have any more questions or remarks, feel free to ask,

Greetings,
Cubist

I once was seeking the same as you :-)

Buzz is a opensource-synthiziser where you can 
build a graph of effects to produce sound. You have 
full control of all signals. Further more it 
has a tracker where you can program your beats 
and efx.

http://home.swipnet.se/~w-36627/buzz/index.htm

CSound is a opensource-synth that is highly programmable.
There exists many instruments-plugins and editors.

you can download it here (win, mac, unix):
http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/~jpff/dream.html

tutorials
http://www.csounds.com/