Alesis SR-18 Drum Machine QUICK START TUTORIAL

Susan Erwin Prowse explains how she utilizes the Alesis SR-18 in her international shows, primarily in piano bars. She and her husband, Cliff, have a duo show. She is on keys, and Cliff is on guitar and fiddle.

Grab our Party Starter Setlist today and get over 1,000 songs sorted by the best to get crowds singing and dancing. You can sort by the easiest to play AND get the corresponding drum beats with the Alesis SR18 for over 250 songs. In this great resource, we train on how to use the machine even more.

Cliff & Susan

[chrishalstead]

A working musician rather than a paid YouTuber! What a breath of fresh air, thank you 😊

[garydmercer]

The dog on the lap while you are doing the tutorial is so adorable.

[riffdigger]

My SR18 has been sitting on my desk for 2 years idle. I love your trial and error, free form demo video. It hits home for me and I followed along. What can appear complicated can be rather simple (and fun) when you have a working performer run through the practical tasks. Changing the tempo on the fly, knowing your Beats Per Minutes of the song and feeling it out in live situation. All the best with your career and future shows.

[smpmn]

Thank you very much. This demo is real world. I learn and play for fun and as a hobby. Piano and sr18, guitar and sr18. No laptop, no DAW, no groovebox. Sometimes less is more. Thank you for keeping it simple.

[robertremington]

SUSAN - YOU ARE TRULY AWESOME !!

I PURCHASED AN ALESIS SR18 LAST NIGHT & INSTALLED MINE IN THE EXACT RIGHT SIDE LOCATION OF MY 88 KEY WORKSTATION WAY BEFORE I WATCHED YOUR INFORMED VIDEO !!

MY FIRST ALESIS DRUM / BASS PATTERN MUTE INQUIRY THIS WAS ANSWERED WITHIN 2 MINUTES OF WATCHING YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL THIS AFTERNOON !!

I HAVE PERFORMED WITH WORLD CLASS ELECTRONIC DRUMS FROM HAMMOND, ACE TONE, & LOWREY SINCE THE EARLY 1970’s !!

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCE & MUSIC ON YOUTUBE.COM FOREVER !!

YOU’RE THE BEST !!

SINCERELY,

ROBERT REMINGTON

[georgearleo]

Susan and Cliff-thanks so much for providing your talented examples using the SR18.

[lynnsmith]

Susan, this was a godsend! My husband bought this machine more than a year ago and has never sat down to figure it out. We just sat down now with the manual and were flummoxed so I went online and found you. Eureka! They need to pay you to do an instructional cd for them. Thanks for your generosity in sharing and sorry we already made the purchase.
Best wishes, Lynn and Alastair

[martinoconnor]

Great demo - as others have said it's much better to hear a real musician rather than a reviewer or influencer. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[RichardFitzDublin]

The mute Bass tip was a huge help for me. Thank you so much!! Just got this yesterday and couldn’t find a way to kill the awful bass notes. Keep up the great work!

[MarlenaPhillips]

I had just been thinking "I wish I could sit beside another keyboard player friend, and see what they use for a drum machine, but more importantly how they use it...I just don't have the hours and patience to teach myself from step one, using a manual." You just gave me that! Thank you sooo much! I'm buying this drum machine using your link. :)

[BillyNoon]

Hi C&S thanks a bunch for your work on the list of SR18's on your site.
Im no 'player' just part of a gaggle of old dudes doin the bucketlist thing.
Youve just opened up that machine for use, we were just sat looking at it, even the younger guys had no clue....so thanks a whole lot.

[rodneyariel]

I just wanted to thank you for posting this video I have the SR18 I bought a while back and seeing you use it and explain a few things helps alot. There are so many functions on this machine and seeing you show how to use it without getting too complicated is great. I thought it was much more complicated than it appears to be. My use for the machine is primarily to create rough cuts of original stuff on my 4 & 8 Track and your video is an awesome insight on how I might be able to do that. Thank You for taking the time to post this video.

[randybradley]

Thank you so much, I just bought this machine and Needed some simple instruction to get going, You my dear are a blessing!!

[careyw]

Susan and Cliff - thank you so much. I have been wanting to incorporate a drum machine into my playing from time to time, but was having trouble getting started. I have an SR-16 that I got some time ago, and then moved without ever having learned how to put Alesis to work. I think it is similar enough that I will be able to take what I learned from your video and get up and running. Practical, real-world tips--the best kind.

[davidmoore]

Excellent practical advice on how to get the best out of the SR18 without spending days programming. Thank-you! The way you incorporate it as a part of your instrument is impressive.

[kavaleao]

THANKS SO MUCH I AM LOOKING TO BUY A DRUMS MACHINE AND YOU REALLY HELPED ME OUT BIG TIME AND I AM GOING TO BUY THIS DRUMS MACHINE THAT YOU'VE BEEN SHOWING HERE TODAY! GOD BLESS ALWAYS AND STAY SAFE! MUCHO ALOHA'S!

[fjammusic]

Hey i want to thank you for this video!! I finally had time time to break down and learn how to use my sr18 the right way. Thanks so much❤️💯👍🏽🙏🏽🔥✔️

[TheFendertak]

Thank you so much Susan, I am so thrilled to happen to come across your demo here of this drum machine, this was actually my main reason, looking for a drum machine to bring into my shows, even though I use the ketron Audya 5 keyboard, there are nights I get asked for a song and either I don't have the backing track for it or on the fly select the correct beat on the Audya I could simply pick up my guitar and dial in quickly on the SR18 machine, I did once own the SR16 many moons ago, but I gave a lone of it to someone and for the life of me cannot remember who, because at the time I did have a live drummer in my 4 piece band,
I'm so happy right now to finally meet you, and also appreciate the fact that you want to help explaining in great detail what beat to use for certain songs tempo etc,
shows the sign of a true and honest musician, I did start out years ago with just my guitar and SR16, but now moving on in years and to be honest I use very little backing tracks I just love to play live, it's actually more challenging and enjoyment, besides glorified karaoke which a lot of bands are doing nowadays, I think I will invest in an SR18 now and thanks to you I think it will be of great advantage, but can you tell me if this machine actually have an old time waltz beat in it, good old fashioned Irish country waltz or is this something I would have to programme in myself, also the intros and endings what are these like on this machine, again I have to say a huge thank you for doing this clip, I have subscribed now and will check out your other videos, it's great to be back on track again, hope everything is going exceptionally well for you both..

[marklevigne]

Just watched your video. This is exactly what our duo needs. Thank you so much. Your straight forward, simple demo'ing of the device's features and how 'you' use it (not an engineer's perspective...) sold me. Thanks, Susan (and Cliff). I subscribed :-) too.

[sledge]

By far the best tutorial on this machine out there. I would love to go to one of your shows but I live in UK. Your music is great, even from these short clips you can tell.