Creating drum patterns for Alesis SR18 Drum Machine 

Thanks ..... I try....... glad I was able to help..... thanks for letting me know 😊

Thanks for letting me know it was helpful to you

Thanks.... it's 7:09 a.m. here ..... and I just came back from my morning run..... I will soon be reviewing smart watches with GPS 😂.... even though I am a musician, I just cannot resist dabbling in ..... health and hiking .... photography .... and a few other areas 🙂 ..... the one thing in common is TECHNOLOGY ..... when I go to a lot of effort to learn a product, I always make a video to explain it better so (hopefully) others would not have a hard time figuring it out ..... cheers... and thanks for posting your comment

Thanks for letting me know this

Thanks for your comment.... it certainly is my intention to create some more tutorials, specifically combining patterns into songs and creating custom fills to make sound like "genuine drummer".... I had years of practice at this with Yamaha RX11 in 80's and 90's (a machine which I sorely miss) but the Alesis SR18 is a worthy replacement, biggest drawback it doesn't have individual instrument outputs like RX11 did.... you will get all the videos you want eventually ..... just be patient as I have a LOT of other topics to cover as well .... I will do at least one Alesis SR18 video every month .... how's that sound ?

YES.... you can program your own patterns and save them in user memories

try moving the crash a small amount of time in either direction .... just a few clocks (there are 960 ticks per quarter note) ...... you will not audibly be able to detect such a small timing difference .... but it would make a huge difference to the processor

yeah it has a steep learning curve but it's not really "harder" in practice than RX11 (or the drum sequencer in FA-06) ..... once you get "the hang of it"😊

I guess it's pretty randomly asking but do anyone know of a good site to stream new tv shows online ?

@Ashton Jairo Flixportal :D

@Clayton Axl thanks, I signed up and it seems like a nice service =) I really appreciate it !!

@Ashton Jairo you are welcome :D

I have a video that shows you how to use the "SAVE" procedure..... every thing needs to be explicitly saved .... unless you take the save procedure everything is lost when you change program or turn off the power...... you could try holding down the "save/copy" button while pressing "record" (enter button) 😊

Yes I was planning to do the "song" sequencing.... but because exams is near for my University students, I have a few other videos to do first.... so it would be a couple weeks before I get to that .... also my Eurorack modular gear just arrived and I need to do a "beginners video" for that..... this is an active channel with at least 3 (or more) videos per week ..... I hope you will stick around till I get back to more Alesis videos 🙂

@@StephenMendes I'll be waiting, thank you!

@@mozr5053 np.... thanks for your interest in my channel

YES.... because you have control over the sound as well as the reverberation ..... and you can program the Bass Drum (or any of the sounds) to trigger faster than any human can trigger it..... so it is actually possible to create drum tracks that no human drummer could perform 😊 ..... so there is NOTHING that any human drummer can play that this thing cannot duplicate..... HOWEVER programming it do what you wish is quite another matter...... it could be thought of as a "challenge" .... or an incredible "frustration" ..... depending on your propensity for "fiddling with technology" 😂.... unfortunately, I cannot do it for you .... I can only help you to understand the SR-18 (hopefully well enough that you will be able to do it yourself)

IF the swing feature in "Quantize" does not give you what you are looking for .... then the only other option is to actually PLAY IT (that is perform the shuffle yourself manually while recording with "Quantize" turned OFF)..... the Alesis SR18 is both a MIDI sequencer capable of recording an actual live performance OR "programming" a pattern sequence..... since I am not a drummer, my videos only show the "programming" aspect...... but an experienced drummer can record ANYTHING into the machine 😊

Stephen Mendes Ì ll keep on trying. Thanks again Stephen. I am guitar player no drummer. Missing 6/8 blues too.

@@rolfm8373 You can easily set a time signature of 6/8 ..... I just checked ... when you press "Rec Setup" and you go through the pages ..... the number under VALUE is the bottom number of the time signature ..... the number under BEAT is the top number of the time signature...... and you can set ANY time signature used in music... so just pick a blank pattern in the USER memory .... set your 6/8 time and record your blues pattern 😊

@@StephenMendes Thanks a lot. You are right. Finally managed to create my blues pattern in 6/8 and - hopefully - managed to save the changes via I`ll keep on trying to get that shuffle rhythm too.

@@rolfm8373 I already have a video showing the "Save procedure" ..... it's the same whatever you are trying to save ..... and NOTHING is saved unless you EXPLICITLY "save it" ..... which is both "good" and "bad" depending on how you look at it..... but "it is what it is" 😊 ..... thanks for sticking with Alesis SR18..... it's a wonderful product WHEN you eventually figure out how to "get it do stuff" that you want ...... it's actually easy to use..... just takes a LONG time to learn due to the "very poorly written and erroneous" user manual

Did you watch my latest SR18 video ? link is below ..... it shows you how to save drum set and set drum set effects .... I will cover the rest in next video .... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Rb0R4zqsnNI.html

@@StephenMendes thank you, so much!

The reason some steps are displayed and not others has to do with the Quantization interval (which controls the step interval)..... I could do a video but I would NEVER use SR18 for my bass lines.... it's way too limited by the awful "entry mode" which is designed for drum patterns not "normal" musical lines.

I understand Stephen. All good I can record bass lines in realtime, thanks for replying

The unit is shipped with those Patterns in the USER memory ...... you are free to delete them, edit them or do whatever you want with them ..... I would advise you to BACK THEM UP just in case you change your mind later ...... but in fact, you cannot do much with Alesis SR-18 unless you delete some of them because there are only about 17 USER memories left that are truly "free" ...... if you buy a SECOND HAND unit they will probably be gone anyway (if it was owned by anybody who actually did their own programming ) ...... but I could provide you with a BACKUP if you want any of them so don't let that scare you away from buying second hand

@@StephenMendes Thanks very much for answering my question (so quickly), knowing this helps a lot! And thank you for your offer of a backup!

@@oj6243 mr.mendes that was a very kind offer. Thanks for all you show us.:)

YES it can do that... there are a couple waltz beats in the presets .... and you could also program your own if you wanted

The American filmmaker, director and actor ??? ..... there are probably quite a few people with that name actually 😂

Watch how I save it in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Rb0R4zqsnNI.html

You cannot do this...... because you have to select the Time Signature and the number of Measures first and after that it cannot be changed...... my best advice to you is copy down the details of the 16 beat pattern on paper..... then create a new pattern.... basically do it over again..... it really does not take very long to do these patterns (which is why they have not created the kind of editing features that you are suggesting which is more appropriate to linear sequencers)

First you press the "Preset/User" Button to put the unit in USER mode .... next you press the "RECORD SETUP" button followed by the "PAGE UP" to get to PAGE 7 (shown on the screen) you rotate the BIG WHEEL to set 12 for the BEAT then you press the "PAGE UP" to go to PAGE 8 ....... you rotate BIG WHEEL to set 8 for the NOTE VALUE ....... press "RECORD SETUP" again and your DONE ..... choose an unused memory slot and record your "Blueberry Hill"

@@StephenMendes Wow, Stephan, thank you very, very much. I don't know much about theory, etc..but can you tell me what quantization do I need..AND...what should the little "note" indicator look like?

@@thomasp.galvin4632 the Quantization depends on how accurate your timing is ..... if you are accurate you don't need any at all 🙂...... HOWEVER it does not have to be set to any smaller value than the SMALLEST beat ...... so if you have 4 Hi-Hat beats you would set it Quarter note ...... if you have 8 Hi-Hat beats per bar you would set it to Eighth note ....... if you have a double-beat on the Bass drum you would set it to Sixteenth notes ...... the quarter note has plain stem (no wavy line at the top) .... the eighth note has one wavy line and the sixteenth note has 2 wavy lines ..... that's all there is to it really..... maybe you should take a music course with me ? 😂

@@StephenMendes Stephan, thank you very much for your help. It took me 2 days or so, but I think I got it! Stephan, is there a way to switch between A to B and B and A without having a "Fill"? I don't like the Fills at all. I am using a Footswitch. If I cannot do that..how do I program just the Fill? I will make it just like the Patterns if I can.

@@thomasp.galvin4632 you do NOT have to have a fill when switching from A to B or back again...... simply press the A button (if B is playing ) or the B button (if A is playing)

Yes I can provide that..... thanks for your comment

absolutely NOTHING 'saves' in the SR18 unless you hold down SAVE/COPY button and then press RECORD button...... this applies to all settings, drums sets, pattern, songs , etc. .... if you want any change to survive power off ...... use the procedure I gave you above .... try it and let me know

@@StephenMendes I think I've got the hang of it now. Was pretty much a master at the SR16, but this is a little different. I'm now making great progress in programming new patterns. THANKS FOR THE HELP!

@@ppalm951 Sure .... no problem .... I will be making some more vids for SR18 ... cause people been asking lots of questions about various details ..... so they need some tips and tricks 🙂

Yes I have backed it up.... you set the SR18 to do a SysEx Dump.... and when you hit the send button it records into your DAW .... which you have previously put into the "waiting" mode to receive it when it comes... after it's done (it automatically stops) and you simply save the file on the computer .... and that's it..... but I will make a video for you soon ..... so subscribe and hit the bell and you will be informed when it's uploaded (that is if you have not done all this already 😊 )

In this video I did the same procedure for a DX27 keyboard ..... but I will still do a video for you ..... so this is just in case you can't wait and want to go and try again before I can get it to you ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bUOXUK85_9Q.html

First of all thanks for your comment...... to change the Tempo you hold down the "Tap Tempo" button and then you rotate the wheel to the tempo you want and release the "Tap Tempo" button..... I am making more video tutorials for the SR 18 so if you are interested subscribe to the channel and ring the bell so you will get notification whenever I upload a video.... I try to upload a video at a minimum of once per week (sometimes I can do more)

@@StephenMendes thank you my friend

You do NOT need to use the Bass option when creating your own USER patterns .... but when using the PRESET patterns you can MUTE the Bass so it does not sound...... simply hold down the "Mute" button and touch the "Bass" button and it's gone .... at least for the balance of your session 🙂 .... it wont "remember" this if you turn off the power

NO pattern sequencers do not allow note values at all ..... they only act as triggers ..... you can move the triggers around (with a high precision) within the measure but the triggers just sound either drum, cymbal or other percussion ...... if you want note values then use a conventional linear sequencer...... drum machines only contain pattern sequencers ..... but all modern Workstation keyboards have in TWO separate sequencers ...... one for recording your MIDI tracks (the same as in a DAW) .... and the other one is a pattern sequencer for programming just the drumming patterns ..... drums and percussion instruments in real life are struck with a stick (the equivalent in electronics is a "trigger").... therefore no need for note values

Stephen Mendes thank you for the feedback so say I wanted two dotted quarter notes and a quarter note in one measure I could get round that using DAW software?

@@PaulDoyle93 what impact would this have on DRUMMING ? ...... if you are recording bass, lead or chords then persistence of the sound is very important for musical phrasing...... but when you strike a drum it's decay characteristic determines how long the sound takes to die away...... drummers just hit drums with sticks ..... there are no dampers like in a piano ..... so quarter notes and dotted notes have no MEANING ..... the sequencer in the SR18 is a DRUMMING (sequencer) it is NOT designed to record melodies or musical passages ....... YES..... you can send the dotted notes and other note values (from your DAW) to trigger the drum sounds in the SR18 through a DIN MIDI cable .... but I very much doubt that those note values are going to have much impact on how the drumming actually sounds .... let me know when you try it 🙂

@@PaulDoyle93 Yes you could trigger the drum sounds in the SR18 from your DAW's MIDI tracks

Stephen Mendes thank you for the help and just for when I record backing tracks for live use just a song starts with all instruments playing that two dotted quarter notes and quarter note pattern But I have this app Songsterr which allows you to learn songs which are in tab and rhythm form and you can solo and mute instruments so save the trouble I could just solo the drum part for the song and play/record it into my multi track recorder and then saves me time then but yeah I have come to the fact that drum machines are a less time consuming and helpful process for adding drums to your songs but iv got my eye on this one at the minute it does seem great but thanks for your help :)

Barbadian ..... it's a nice little island in the Caribbean 😁

@@StephenMendes This is a futurama reference so I hope you get it, if not, well... =D "Barbados Slim, the only man to win olympic gold in limbo AND sex!"

@@thefluffycatchannel8909 LOL.... I mean what else could you expect from a "fluffy cat" channel ? ..... certainly not a SERIOUS discussion about SR18 drum machine... np bro.... whatever "turns your wheel" :)

Yes this machine is the correct one for you..... you can get 2 foot-switches to control it (but of course you can press the buttons also if you wish) .... one footswitch controls start-stop and the other pattern changing..... it has been designed for your application (solo live performance) and I have not found any better (or more suitable) unit on the market.

@@StephenMendes Thank you for your response! So I'm able to save patterns I've created into this unit? Also say I'm singing & playing my instrument and I want the bass & drum to kick in at a certain time as I'm singing, am I able to do this with the click of a button? And is there a way I can make sure it is on time with my playing if it is a saved pattern ?

@@violetflame5290 Yes you can save your own patterns...... you hit the footswitch at the point you want the drums and bass to start....... the only way you could be sure of perfect timing when you hit the footswitch to start the drums and bass would be to play in time with metronome output of the clock in Alesis SR18 (put it in your in-ear monitor)

@@StephenMendes oh okay so I can use the built in metronome while I'm playing the song before the drum and bass comes on to make sure it's on time? Also what exactly is the in-ear monitor?

@@violetflame5290 I will have to check this out ..... to make sure it would actually work 🙂....cause it might not be possible.... did not think of this idea until I read your requirements.... if I get it to work, I will make another video to show you how 😂

Barbados.... it's a tourist island in the Caribbean.... you should come see it sometime 🙂 ..... I live here all my life .... will be doing another video on the Alesis SR18 very soon to show combining the patterns into songs ... was requested by a viewer

@@StephenMendes i thought so ,keep up the good work !

EVERYTHING electronic is getting more complicated as technology ADVANCES..... the complexity is supposed to increase the options and features ....... but you could always go back to farming.... plowing a field with a "yoke of oxen" 🤣

it's cheaper with less features if you want to call that better 🙂

I really dont know why, nobody else is 😊

@@StephenMendes I've had this Alesis for like 10 yrs now. Been playing guitar all this while and kinda of ignoring it. Manuals r too much to go thru. I'd like if someone did like a 3 part demo on the very basics of this thing. Step by step on what it can do

@@duckbrew have you ever used ANY drum machine ? .... it's a different thing to "start from scratch" than relating what ALL drum machines have in common to this particular unit (might be done in 3 videos) ...... if "teaching from scratch" it might take 10 videos 😊..... the manual is full of error, but the actual unit is quite easy to use .... let me know how to best help you

@@StephenMendes Up to you obviously if you have the time Stephan. I'm actually 'getting it' piecemeal/trial and error. It's my 1st drm machine.My programming skills are lacking. Mabey 30 min on how to record and save your own drum segments. Reguardless I'm kinda getting the hang of it. Cheers!

@@duckbrew That's great ! thanks for your answer

Is that a good thing or a bad thing ?

I could probably agree with that statement