Bad Gear - Alesis SR-16 - Least S€xy Drum Machine???

In this episode of Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools, we are going to ignore the developments of the last 30 years and rediscover the living fossil that is the Alesis SR-16. Do we really have to make backups onto tape? Drum plugins anyone?

[AudioPilz]

Full Tracks, Extended Jams, Sample Packs:
Support the channel regardless of what your G.A.S. tells you to buy:

[oig]

In 1996 the drummer for the band I played with broke his freakin' neck and couldn't play with us for 8 months. We replaced him with the SR-16 for live shows and it worked perfectly. He programmed every song for us and we never missed a show. We never missed a beat either.

[MisterNiles]

In the 90s I used to write entire tracks on this thing trying to emulate a real drummer. It was a huge pain in the ass, and took hours and hours and ended up sounding like a real drummer who was in an accident and had their brain replaced with a 1990s drum machine. 
I'm still buying a used one after seeing this.

[richardsaffle]

I’m a metal guy who’s been a “closet electronic” guy for a while, coming out. Totally shocked by the metal sequence.

[AlexBallMusic]

This series should be named "Bad Gear that my kookie tunes will make you actually want to buy".

That metal was awesome btw 😂

[sonicjackalopeproductions]

Ok, as a New Wave guy and a huge fan of the Synthpop and Synthwave, I am not afraid to say... I like it

[seanshea]

Former alesis Tech support here. If you have to slam your pads you have a common problem where all the pads transmit midi at about minus 25 of what they should. You can tell if you have presets left because those are recorded at the proper velocity and will sound louder than you can hit the pads

[APMTenants]

SR-16 has to hold the record for the longest production of an electronic instrument, and it’s still going. I would call that legendary, not bad.

[nephrium]

The metal drumming was unironically rad.

[hansneervoort]

The fact that it still sells after all this time, speaks for itself.

[slimriddim]

I gigged one of these for many years in a duo act and for me, the hardest thing was finding realistic, cross-genre snare samples and also the amount of time it took to prog songs using on-board functionality. In the days before these things were loaded with memory card slots, I went out and bought a second one to cope with the set.
I owe those little machines big time - we were working 6 nights a week with them.
God bless the SR16.

[Marc]

It may be old, but for 60 bucks, I'd be on it like fat on a mother-in-law.

[ewarre]

As someone starting a solo blackened grind project, I am very excited.

[matthewlister]

I'm a classical guitarist by trade but I like to make synthwave beats as a fun hobby. This drum machine sat in the shop I teach out of for years and years. One day I asked the manager what it was. He said, "Why, do you want a drum machine? I can cut you a deal." I said I wanted to hear it first. My initial impression was good God, this thing is some serious trash, but when I got to the kits that weren't trying too hard to sound like actual drums I was instantly intrigued. "How much?" "$50. Please get it the fuck out of the store, it's just going to sit here." I sat and watched the same VHS tutorial ripped to YouTube. Good God what a snoozer. Once I got into MIDI functionality the thing instantly made more sense. I'm working on a beat with this thing, some synths, all controlled by a Yamaha QY10, and recorded into a four track cassette. Yes, I know, I'm just that kind of asshole. I have fun, though, and that's what matters, because this kind of musical dumbfuckery is never going to pay the bills for me anyway. My concert guitar was handmade in Spain. My electronic gear? For the most part I own hobbyist gear for hobbyist clownery. I spent about the same for a Pocket Operator Rhythm and got a lot more with the Alesis SR-16 (again, all of this is hobbyist gear for hobbyist clownery), so is this drum machine really that bad?

[kalenbaker]

Somehow, these "Bad Gear" vids just convince me to buy a piece of gear even more. Got a DX7 after watching your video (was planning on getting one anyway) and now I want this since it's cheap and sounds pretty 80s

[mikemeengs]

A friend used this machine on his metal album that I mixed. I was very impressed by both the sound and his programming

[johnnydeformed]

I've been looking at the SR16 for a while and this video clinched it. I got it about a week ago and I love it. The sequencer is actually very compatible with my brain and I'm discovering a new way of making music. The workflow is admittedly slow but it's intuitive and I'm not spending much time being frustrated that it's not working at all.

[microbug]

The sequencer has one unique feature: dynamic fill-ins. At the time the machine first hit the market no one had that, and even today it is still a rare feature. This is great for jamming, and it has a footswitch, another missing feature on todays drum machines :)
BTW: The "successor", the SR-18, also available as Akai XR-20, is much worse and could be a good candidate for your series, since its bass part is not permanently mutable, the fills are not dynamic and the sounds are more "meh" than "yeah".

[OverCoat]

I picked one of these up at a goodwill for 20 bucks. Pairs nicely with all my other hand-me-down 90s gear!

[TheAnthraxBiology]

I think the samples are actually pretty cool especially for house and post punk