Best Drum Machine for Bass Practice: Feel that Funky Groove!

The best drum machine for bass practice
Photo by NosyNation

The best drum machine for bass practice will get you into a groove. Let’s look at drum machine brands, models and features.

Whether you are looking for an app, practice play-along drum machine, or a live recording pedal drum machine for house music or jazz, we have you covered.

Bestseller No. 1
Alesis SR-16 - Studio-Grade Standalone Drum Machine With On-Board Sound Library, Performance Driven I/O and In-Built Effects, Black, 100 patterns
  • A Studio Icon - Legendary classic drum machine for songwriters, live performers and remix engineers
  • In Demand Sound - 233 professional sounds included, built-in digital effects for added realism and powered by Alesis exclusive Dynamic Articulation
  • Seamless MIDI Connectivity - Complete MIDI support for use with keyboards, computers, DAWs and electronic drum kits
  • Connectivity Covered - 4 (stereo pairs) outputs; 2-function footswitch jacks for start/stop and count/A/B/fill
  • Production-Ready Features - Sound stacking, step editing, stereo samples with reverb and ambience
Bestseller No. 2
AKAI Professional MPC One+ Standalone Drum Machine, Beat Maker and MIDI Controller with WiFi, Bluetooth, Drum Pads, Synth Plug-ins and Touchscreen,red
  • No Computer Required - Powerful Sampler, Beat Maker, Drum Machine and Desktop Controller with MPC2 Software for Mac and PC that uses the MPC legacy iconic workflow in a compact format
  • Standalone Supercharged – Featuring WiFi & Bluetooth MIDI, 16 Velocity-Sensitive RGB MPC Pads, 7” Multi-Gesture Display, Touch Capacitive Q Link Knobs, Dedicated Encoder Knob and Transport Controls
  • Connectivity - MIDI In & Out, (2) 1/4" TRS Audio Ins, (2) 1/4" TRS Main Outs, (4) TRS CV/Gate Jacks, (1) Headphones Out; SD Card Slot, USB-A for MIDI Controllers, Audio Interfaces or Flash Drives & USB-B for PC/Mac
  • MPC Stems for MPC2 Desktop - Producers and beat-makers can now easily isolate drums, bass, music, and vocals from any audio recording or sample bringing a whole new creative way to make music
  • On Demand Sound - Custom Sample & Loop Library; 128 MIDI and 8 Audio Tracks per Project; Exclusive Standalone Synth Engines; Premium AIR FX For Mixing & Mastering; Network Access for Splice and Ableton Link 3
SaleBestseller No. 3
Korg Drum Machine, Blue (VOLCADRUM)
  • Digital percussion synth with a 6-part x 2-layer structure
  • Distinctive sound from a newly developed DSP engine
  • Waveguide resonator adds rich resonances
  • 16-step sequencer with a wide range of parameter automation
  • Slice function finely divides a step to allow drum-rolls
Bestseller No. 4
Stylophone Beat - Compact Stylus Drum Machine | 4 Drum Kits & 4 Bass Sounds | Rhythm Machine Beat Maker | Drum Loop Machine
  • Compact stylus drum machine - 4 drum kits, 4 bass sounds
  • Connect any wired headphones - Powered by 3 x AA batteries (1.2-1.6V, not included)
  • Stay in time with click track & tempo lock - Record multiple layers, mute sounds
  • Record multiple patterns - Built-in speaker with volume control
  • Connect any wired headphones - Powered by 3 x AA batteries (1.2-1.6V, not included)
Bestseller No. 5
BeatBuddy the Only Drum Machine That sounds Human and is Easy To Use
  • The first drum machine in a pedal format, enabling full hands-free, creative control of the beat. Add fills, cue transitions, and end the song all without taking your hands off your instrument
  • Over 200 songs in 24 genres (that you control) and 10 ultra-realistic drum sets. Expandable via the SD card port. Holds up to 3.2 million songs and 300 drum sets.
  • Seamless MIDI Connectivity. Use your beatbuddy as a MIDI transmitter or receiver, passing MIDI Clock information, song start/stop, transition, and more.
  • Visual Metronome on the built in LCD screen show you which bar and measure you're in, making it easy to improve rhythm and play in new time signatures.
  • Award-winning sound quality thanks to professionally recorded samples and non-quantized round robin playback. It's the first drum machine that doesn't sound like a machine.
Bestseller No. 6
AKAI Professional MPD218 - USB MIDI Controller with 16 MPC Drum Pads, 6 Assignable Knobs, Note Repeat & Full Level Buttons and Production Software
  • Beat Production, Anywhere - Ultra-portable, feature-packed and USB powered pad controller with 16 thick fat MPC pads for triggering drums, melodic samples, effects and more
  • Expandable Banks - Easily accessible dedicated controls for three pad banks provides a total of 48 assignable pads
  • Assignable Control - 18 fully assignable 360-Degree potentiometers accessible via three banks for controlling DAW, virtual effect and virtual instrument parameters
  • Feature Packed - MPC note repeat and full level controls for immersive expressive performances
  • Comprehensive Software Suite Included - Ableton Live Lite, Drum Synth 500 by AIR Music Tech
Bestseller No. 7
Roland AIRA Compact T-8 Beat Ultra-Portable Bass Machine Sounds | TR-REC Drum Sequencer | Six Rhythm Tracks | Built-in Effects | USB and MIDI Connectivity
  • AIRA Compact puts Roland’s legendary creative magic in the palm of your hand. Jam, perform, and develop ideas anywhere with genre-defining sounds.
  • With the T-8 you can create infectious tracks in seconds flat with a miniature rhythm factory powered by pristine TR drums (TR-808, TR-909 & TR-606) plus bass from the inimitable TB-303.
  • Craft on-the-fly acid jams or trap bangers with the intuitive 16-step sequencer, shape sounds with onboard controls, and flip and dice beats with hands-on tools that stimulate ideas and put the fun back into your flow.
  • Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) technology faithfully recreates the tonality and behavior of vintage Roland instruments
  • Classic TR-REC drum sequencer with 64 user patterns and up to 32 steps each

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What drum machine do I use?

Currently, I am using a Zoom B1 Four as an effects pedal and drum machine. It has preset grooves and a looper. I am a fan of simplicity for just jamming nowadays.

Zoom B1 FOUR Bass Multi-Effects Processor Pedal, With 60+ Built-in effects, Amp Modeling, Looper, Rhythm Section, Tuner, Battery Powered
  • 65 built-in bass effects and 9 amp models
  • Free download of Zoom guitar lab Mac/Windows software
  • 30-Second looper
  • 68 built-in rhythm patterns
  • Standard Guitar input, aux input for external audio players and amp/headphone output

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Find the best drum machine for practicing bass guitar in 2023 on Amazon.

SDRUM drum machine for bass practice

DigiTech Automatic Drum Machine Pedal Multi Effect Processor (SDRUM-U)
  • BeatScratch Technology creates drum patterns by strumming your guitar or bass strings
  • Guitarists can quickly generate professional and authentic sounding drum beats for live performances, songwriting, and practice
  • Drum sounds and patterns can also be created by tapping the kick/snare touch pads
  • 5 drum kits and studio quality samples for professional sounding drums
  • 36 song memories with 12 different Hats/Rides styles

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The SDRUM auto drummer pedal is a beat creator tool.

It lets you make custom drum loops and then adds additional beats when it thinks is appropriate. It works really cool by briding the transition between verse and chorus.

You can use the bass low strings to trigger the kick drum and high strings to trigger the snare drum when creating your loop.

There’s tons of high hat and ride cymbal patterns to use.

The SDRUM can act as a metronome and change timing signatures.

This drum machine is not the same as a live drummer but is a popular drum machine for bassists.

BeatBuddy Drum Machine for Bassists

BeatBuddy the Only Drum Machine That sounds Human and is Easy To Use
  • The first drum machine in a pedal format, enabling full hands-free, creative control of the beat. Add fills, cue transitions, and end the song all without taking your hands off your instrument
  • Over 200 songs in 24 genres (that you control) and 10 ultra-realistic drum sets. Expandable via the SD card port. Holds up to 3.2 million songs and 300 drum sets.
  • Seamless MIDI Connectivity. Use your beatbuddy as a MIDI transmitter or receiver, passing MIDI Clock information, song start/stop, transition, and more.
  • Visual Metronome on the built in LCD screen show you which bar and measure you're in, making it easy to improve rhythm and play in new time signatures.
  • Award-winning sound quality thanks to professionally recorded samples and non-quantized round robin playback. It's the first drum machine that doesn't sound like a machine.

Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

BeatBuddy is the OG beat playback pedal drum machine. It plays preset grooves.

There are also a lot of presets from punk to rock to blues to funk to ska to reggae.

If you are not happy with the preset, the BeatBuddy allows you to sketch out a drum beat with a digital audio workstation (DAW) and add the MIDI file to the pedal.

The BeatBuddy is very easy to use and is similar to playing with live drums. It is able to imitate a drummer.

It is a bit expensive but allows you to download popular beats and serve as a play-along drum machine.

Alesis SR-16 Digital Drum Machine

Alesis SR-16 - Studio-Grade Standalone Drum Machine With On-Board Sound Library, Performance Driven I/O and In-Built Effects, Black, 100 patterns
  • A Studio Icon - Legendary classic drum machine for songwriters, live performers and remix engineers
  • In Demand Sound - 233 professional sounds included, built-in digital effects for added realism and powered by Alesis exclusive Dynamic Articulation
  • Seamless MIDI Connectivity - Complete MIDI support for use with keyboards, computers, DAWs and electronic drum kits
  • Connectivity Covered - 4 (stereo pairs) outputs; 2-function footswitch jacks for start/stop and count/A/B/fill
  • Production-Ready Features - Sound stacking, step editing, stereo samples with reverb and ambience

Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The Alesis SR-16 is a good drum machine for practicing bass guitar.

It has a lot of preset musical generes built into the unit, with vintage and modern drum sounds.

Other popular drum machines for beginners

  • Volca Beats
  • Zoom RT-234
  • Emu MP-7
  • Monomachine
  • Korg ER-1
  • Yamaha Motif
  • MOXF-6
  • Tyros 4
  • TR-8
  • Boss BR-880
  • Elektron Machinedrum UW

Drum Machine Buying Guide 2023

A drum machine is a device that produces a steady beat. It can also produce different types of sounds like cymbals, snares, and toms. Drum machines are very popular in the music industry and are used by many producers to create beats for their songs.

There are different types of drum machines available on the market. They vary in sound quality, price, and features.

The first thing you should do when you want to buy a drum machine is figure out what your needs are.

For example, if you want to focus on creating funky bass lines then you should buy a drum machine that offers a rock solid bass drum beat.

Do you want it for live performance or recording? Maybe you need a good drum machine for live performances then.

Do you want built-in rhythms, or do you prefer building your own rhythms from scratch? Maybe you need to practice with a drum machine that has a play-along rhythm section.

The next thing that is important is the quality of sound. You need something that sounds good and has a great range of sounds. If the quality of sound isn’t good, it won’t be worth it no matter how many features the drum machine has.

You also need to think about what type of interface does the drum machine have? What’s the easiest drum machine to use?

Find the best drum machine for bass practice in 2023 on Amazon.

Originally posted 2022-09-24 23:44:10.