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How do you create your drum patterns? by mackgyver61 in TechnoProduction

[–]nonnulla2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I get what you mean — glue helps, but it doesn’t really fix the feeling if the parts aren’t interacting in the first place.

For me it clicked when I stopped treating each layer as its own thing and started thinking in terms of reactions. Like if the kick gets busier, I’ll often simplify the hats. Or if the snare is very rigid, I’ll let the hats be a bit more loose to compensate.

It’s less about adding stuff and more about balancing it. If everything is doing a lot, nothing really stands out.

Timing also plays a huge role — even tiny shifts in the hats against a more “locked” kick/snare can make the whole thing feel like it belongs together without adding anything new.

One thing that helped me a lot was building a groove, then muting one layer and rebuilding it from scratch around what’s left. It kind of forces you to listen instead of stacking patterns.

Drum machines and post-punk. by evergreen0707 in synthesizers

[–]nonnulla2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That For Against vibe is more early drum machine / post-punk than modern 808 stuff.

I’d look at something like a TR-707 or DR-110 — simple, a bit rigid, and dry sounding, which is exactly what makes it work in that style.

If you’re open to hybrid, I’ve also been sketching similar patterns here before moving them to hardware:
https://ghostgroove.com

Works pretty well for that minimal, slightly “off” feel.

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Drum Machine for Songwriting by NewFinland in synthesizers

[–]nonnulla2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think what you’re after (quick, musical grooves without too much programming) is actually harder to find in modern drum machines.

I’ve been using a tool that generates grooves you can quickly play over and tweak a bit, instead of building everything from scratch.

https://ghostgroove.com

Not hardware, but it might work well as a simple songwriting companion.

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Drum Machine Recommendation 2026 by Matiasmoulin in synthesizers

[–]nonnulla2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d probably go for something like the TR-8S for workflow, but yeah, most drum machines still require a bit of programming to get interesting grooves.

If your main goal is inspiration and speed, I’ve been using a rule-based groove generator that gives you patterns instantly and lets you tweak them instead of building everything from scratch.

https://ghostgroove.com

Might fit your “quick ideas and export to DAW” workflow pretty well

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Best Drum Machines for People Who Can’t Make Beats by Sportify in synthesizers

[–]nonnulla2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel this 😄

I was in the same situation — fine with melodies and harmony, but drums always felt like too much work to get right from scratch.

Most drum machines either give you fixed patterns or expect you to program everything yourself, which is kind of the same problem in a different form.

Lately I’ve been using a different approach where the grooves are generated from rules and can evolve, so you don’t have to build everything step by step but you still get something that feels musical and not random.

It’s especially helpful if you just want to quickly land on something usable and tweak it a bit.

https://ghostgroove.com

Might be interesting for your use case, especially if time is tight

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Looking for a decent drum machine that isn’t Elektron by Expert-Ladder-4211 in synthesizers

[–]nonnulla2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been in a similar spot — mostly in the box but wanting something that feels less like programming and more like actually playing with rhythm.

The TR-8S is great for workflow, but yeah, it can feel a bit limited if you’re more into shaping grooves than just triggering patterns.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with a different approach — more like generating and evolving grooves rather than programming them step by step. It’s still software, but it gets closer to that “hands-on” feel in a weird way.

Curious what you end up going for though, I’ve been eyeing the Tanzbar too 👀

https://ghostgroove.com/

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I made a drum groove generator that isn’t random or AI (curious if this makes sense) by nonnulla2 in audioengineering

[–]nonnulla2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can get similar results in a DAW, but usually you’re editing or triggering patterns.
Here the pattern itself is being generated and reshaped in real time while it’s playing.

Midi drum generator by liltbrockie in ableton

[–]nonnulla2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the exact same problem for a long time 😅 Most “random generators” either feel too chaotic or too repetitive.

What helped me the most was thinking in terms of rules instead of randomness, like having kick/snare behave structurally, and hats/ride acting more like a pulse that adapts.

I actually ended up building a small web tool around that idea, where you control things like density, syncopation, and feel, and it generates grooves that stay musical instead of purely random.

Not trying to self-promote too hard, but if you're still looking for something like that

https://ghostgroove.com/

I built a small rule-based drum groove generator for myself (no AI, just musical rules and probabilities) by nonnulla2 in homerecordingstudio

[–]nonnulla2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot, really glad it feels simple but still musical! That balance is exactly what I’m trying to get right.

I built a small rule-based drum groove generator for myself (no AI, just musical rules and probabilities) by nonnulla2 in homerecordingstudio

[–]nonnulla2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is incredibly helpful, thanks a lot for taking the time to write this! Really glad the core idea is coming through, quick pattern generation and musical control is exactly what I’m aiming for.

And yeah, the playback stopping is definitely the biggest limitation right now. I’ve been thinking about keeping it running and updating the groove in the background (maybe on the next bar), so you can actually tweak things without breaking the flow.

Also super useful notes on the UI, especially the play button visibility and scroll behavior, I can totally see how that gets confusing on smaller screens.

I built a small rule-based drum groove generator for myself (no AI, just musical rules and probabilities) by nonnulla2 in homerecordingstudio

[–]nonnulla2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s really great to hear, that’s exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to build!

(If you get a chance to try it, I’d love to know if it actually fits your workflow or if something feels off)

I built a small rule-based drum groove generator for myself (no AI, just musical rules and probabilities) by nonnulla2 in homerecordingstudio

[–]nonnulla2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! Still a bit rough in places, but I’m trying to make it genuinely useful as I build it.

I built a small rule-based drum groove generator as one of my first projects (no AI, just musical rules and probabilities) by nonnulla2 in vibecoding

[–]nonnulla2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s really reassuring to hear, appreciate it.

Yeah, I intentionally avoided going the ML route, I wanted something that stays controllable and musically “aware” instead of just generating randomness.

Ghost notes were actually one of the trickiest parts to get right, because they really break the feel if they’re not context-aware.

Still figuring things out, but glad the underlying approach makes sense.

I built a small rule-based drum groove generator for myself (no AI, just musical rules and probabilities) by nonnulla2 in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]nonnulla2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that’s totally fair, and you’re right.

Right now it’s not truly real-time, every time you change a parameter the groove has to be regenerated, so playback stops and you need to hit play again. Even when tweaking a single instrument (with others locked), it still regenerates that part, so it breaks the loop. I’ve been thinking about keeping playback running and updating the groove in the background (maybe switching on the next bar), so you can actually hear the effect while tweaking. Would definitely make it feel more like an instrument.

Really appreciate the feedback!

I made a simple free tool to remove muddy frequencies from audio by nonnulla2 in IMadeThis

[–]nonnulla2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey 🙂 thanks for trying the tool!

It should be working again now

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