Alesis SR18 Drum Machine with Effects Engine

by Alesis

Product Features

• Professional drum machine -12 velocity sensitive pads (w/Dynamic Articulation) enabling a drum sound to change its tonal content
• Backlit LCD, MIDI I/O, Stereo Main and Aux outputs, drum Roll function, headphone output, 1/4" instrument input jack, 2 footswitch jacks
• ,Battery powered (6xAA - not included) or AC adapter - included
• 32MB sound set with percussion bank and bass synth including over 500 Drum and percussion sounds and 50 bass sounds
• Built-in Effects- Reverb, EQ and Compression on each pad, preset or editable by the user

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 13 x 4 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0017Y2TAC
• Item model number: SR18
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,113 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #4 in Musical Instruments > Drums & Percussion > Electronic Drums > Drum Machines
  • #8 in Musical Instruments > DJ, Electronic Music & Karaoke > Electronic Music

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The next-generation Alesis SR18 drum machine is loaded with cutting-edge drumsets, electronic drums, one-shot hits, and modern percussion sounds--from hip-hop to country and everything in between--for any cutting-edge musician's performances and compositions. It also offers an effects engine with Alesis reverb, EQ, and compression so you can output recording or performance-ready sounds. And Alesis' exclusive Dynamic Articulation feature enables a drum sound to change its tonal content as it's played harder--just like an acoustic drum--for truly realistic performances.

The next-generation Alesis SR18 drum machine (see larger image).

The rear ports of the SR18 (see larger image).

You can plug in an instrument, such as a guitar, and play along for setup simplicity. You can play in bass parts using the pads on the SR18 or connect a MIDI keyboard for fast, musical low end. The SR18 can be powered by AC or batteries for on-the-go composition

Key Features

• Large, 32 MB sound set with percussion bank and bass synth
• Over 500 drum and percussion sounds and 50 bass sounds
• Built-in Alesis effects: reverbs, EQs, and compression
• Pattern Play Mode enables different patterns to be triggered from the pads directly
• Programmable Drum Roll function
• Mute/Solo Function: mute drums, bass, and percussion or individual pads
• Flexible wall (adapter included) and battery powering (six AA, not included)
• Backlit LCD
• 100 preset patterns, 100 user locations
• 12 velocity sensitive pads
• Tap tempo for instant beats exactly as you want them

Dynamic Articulation
Discerning ears will notice that each sound is actually a series of different samples; multiple dynamic-level samples and articulations are all built in so as you play harder and softer, the drum or cymbal changes its timbre, not just its volume. This engineered realism is known as Dynamic Articulation, an Alesis exclusive.

This results in sounds that respond accurately not only to dynamic changes, but also with the appropriate timbral and color changes you'd expect from their acoustic counterparts. You can play with or without reverb for different room sounds and enjoy a wide variety of rimshots, rim clicks and different stick-placement sounds on the cymbals. The Random Sample feature also ensures you don't get the same sound twice for further creative realism.

Specifications

• Sound set: 32 MB, multi-sampled
• Polyphony: 32 voices
• Inputs: 1/4-inch instrument (guitar)
• Outputs: 1/4-inch stereo pair, 1/4-inch TRS, 1/4-inch TRS stereo headphone
• MIDI: in, out/thru
• Footswitch: two inputs - start/stop, count/A/B/fill

Product Description

INSTANT DRUMS FOR ON-THE-GO MUSICIANS. Alesis knows drums. Our SR16 has dominated the drum machine market since 1990 and continues to be in-demand today. Following in the tradition of its relative, the next-generation SR18 is loaded with cutting-edge drumsets, electronic drums, one-shot hits, and modern percussion sounds for any cutting-edge musician’s performances and compositions. From hip-hop to country and everything in between, SR18 nails it on the first take. SR18 has an effects engine with Alesis reverb, EQ, and compression so you can output recording or performance-ready sounds. Dynamic Articulation™ enables sound to change in color and timbre, the same way that acoustic instruments do for truly realistic performances. SR18 can be powered by AC or batteries, so whenever or wherever you need to lay down a groove, you’re ready to roll. It’s time for the next Alesis drum machine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a very weird machine, not much of an upgrade, March 1, 2010

By 

Todd L. Nuzum (bay city mi usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alesis SR18 Drum Machine with Effects Engine (Electronics)

I had the SR-16 and out of all the drum machines I ever owned it was the most user friendly so when I noticed the new SR-18 I had huge expectations, basically this is the same machine but they have made some very weird changes, my first complaint is you have to save every single thing that you do, they took this to the point of being completely ridiculous,every single edit you make must be saved I am not kidding. and then something weird; I noticed that whatever tempo you decide to play a pattern in it is automatically saved, one of the least important things (to me anyway) so now every pattern has it's very own tempo, that just seems strange to me, one thing I liked about the SR-16 was when you wanted to change the length of a pattern you were give the option of taking bars off the end or the beginning, the SR-18 is like every other drum machine and you can only cut off the end, the SR-16 also had an output to dump all of your data onto a tape or cd (or whatever you prefer) so then you never run ot of memory, The SR-18 does not have this cool feature either,the sounds are good,lots of cool presets but drum machines still have a very long way to go before I will get too excited, I thought this was supposed to be an upgrade. ?

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow - What Great Sounds, June 12, 2009

By 

C. R. Downing "Chris Downing" (Chippenham, Wilts England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alesis SR18 Drum Machine with Effects Engine (Electronics)

This is just a huge sounding drum machine. Forget what they used to sound like years ago - this sounds like a real drummer - and a very good one at that. With the basslines added this machine can be used to back a singer / guitarist / keys player and you could go on the road solo (what I plan to do).

It can be complicated if you want to go the whole mile and programme it rather than use the sample tracks, but it comes with a very thorough instruction manual. Plan to learn how to do most of the good things during a month of tinkering with it in your spare time. I bought it with two Yamaha FC5 pedals to work it 'live'.Yamaha FC-5 Sustain Pedal for Portable Electronic Keyboards (But it does work with other on/off pedals like the Yamahas as well.) This allows me to start stop and switch between A / B fills and A / B rhythms. You'll need pedals like these if you plan to use this box in front of an audience - but you won't need it for practice.

This is a great tool. And better than a drummer because it doesn't have an ego, doesn't need beer to fuel it, and I get to keep all the money from gigs. (I'll do a video review soon.)

If you're on a tight budget or want something a bit easier to programme, try the SR16. Alesis SR16 Drum Machine

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Alesis Blew It, May 21, 2010

By 

F. J. Rodrick (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alesis SR18 Drum Machine with Effects Engine (Electronics)

I've had an SR-16 for years. Loved it; used it regularly. I loved it so much, I started writing Alesis about 10 years ago, asking them to update the sounds to 16-bit. I bought the SR-18 the day it came out. Now I'm going to Ebay it.

I need a drum machine for practice. With a couple of foot pedals, you can run the SR-16 while you and the other guitarists do your thing. Stop, start, decent fills that are completely logical and predictable.

But the SR-18 is just about worthless in that role. Yeah, it sounds gorgeous, but it's just unusable as a live-performance tool. I mean, maybe it's OK if you want to program every single song you do, but to just start it and jam on a song, forget it. Here are some of the weird things:

Genres not grouped together. Wouldn't you expect one click to take you from Rock 1 to Rock 2? Not so. If you're looking for a rock beat, you have to look all over the list to find the next one.

Different tempos for each pattern. So. . .you're playing along a 130 bpm but you decide you need a slightly different rhythm. You dial in a different pattern and wham, you're suddenly playing at 210 bpm. What's with that??

Different track lengths for each pattern. On the old SR-16, all patterns were 2 bars; eight beats. Boring, maybe, but useful and predictable. It was easy to insert a fill because you knew what was coming. On the SR-18, some patterns are 16 beats, some are 8, some are 20. . .I forget. But there you are, jamming along and you go to the Fill function to bring you to the chorus. . .and it starts the fill 8 beats too late. Sheesh. With the SR-16 I got so good, I could just tap my footswitch and get a single cymbal crash at the end of a phrase. Not possible now. . .at least, not without years of study.

So: this machine is probably swell if you intend to program each song you do--and play it exactly the same way each time. If, like me, you used the SR-16 for practice, for extending a jam while your lead guitarist got his act together, for a quick simple beat that did the job most of the time. . .save your money. Stick with your old SR-16. That's what I'm doing. Alesis, you broke my heart! Why couldn't you just give us the same great functionality of the SR-16, but with better sounds?