Practice accompaniment

[TheBlueFalcon]

Having looked at other advice, I have decided that I would prefer a drum machine rather than just a basic metronome. But what I was wondering was if I should get a stand-alone drum machine or look at software for my PC. I know there are free programs (which would be fine to begin with) but sooner or later I guess I would need to look at something better. Initially I only need a metronome and basic drum patterns, but hopefully at some point I will be looking at playing along to full backing tracks.

So I guess the question is....

Do I buy a drum machine (like the Alesis SR16) for now and don't look to far ahead....

or....

Look ahead and get something that will cover me for the future?

If PC software is the way to go, can I please get some recommendations?

Edited September 22, 2009 by TheBlueFalcon

[Musky]

There's nothing much wrong software drum machines for home practice. About the only advantage of a hardware drum machine is its stability for live use.

Hammerhead and leafdrums are worth looking into, but there are plenty of DAW's with sequencing capabilities that will do the same job and a lot more into the bargain.

[BottomEndian]

Once you've gone beyond metronomes and drum patterns, for basic backing tracks, [url="http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm"]Jamstudio[/url]'s a good start.

If you want more than one chord per bar, and a lot more flexibility, [url="http://www.pgmusic.com/index.html"]Band-in-a-Box[/url] can't be beat.

[Badass]

I use iZotope iDrum software. Very easy to use and plenty of options.

[url="http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/idrum/"]http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/idrum/[/url]

[TheBlueFalcon]

Thanks guys. I've been looking at all of your recommendations. I'm liking iDrums at the moment. I was also recommended Beatcraft (which is fairly good) but iDrums seems to be better. I think at some point I'll consider Band-in-a-Box, as it does seem very in-depth.