Hal Leonard 260 Drum Machine Patterns from Hal Leonard Corporation

Mr Guernsey Donkey: The book really seems to be aimed at traditional bands so that the band can practice with a drum machine when they don't have a drummer. Some of the styles seem a bit old-fashioned, like twist and waltz. I would love to see an updated version of this book covering electronic music styles more suitable for drum machines, such as techno, dnb, trance, etc.

The drum machine patterns in the book are accompanied by the proper drum music. The pattern beats are also numbered which was something missing from the other 200 Drum Machine Patterns book.

Even though it's dated, I would still recommend this book to beginners to help them learn the basics.

United Kingdom on Jun 05, 2023

Megatron: Very easy to use and works perfectly with TR-808 style drum machines. Helps keep my patterns fresh so I can get out of the 4-to-the-floor rut. Highly recommend!

United States on Feb 03, 2023

Tony Greis: 👍

Sweden on Feb 01, 2023

Mike: The book is concise and easy to use, but if you're looking for something to help with genres from after 1970 you will be disappointed.
Nice and cheap though.

United Kingdom on Jan 27, 2023

Ian Webster: ... you're doing something wrong. I've had it less than a day. I'm transcribing the patterns into Ableton live and adapting them to suit. I can already feel my vocabulary for rhythm increasing. I don't feel like I'm just throwing stuff at a wall and I don't feel like I'm just dragging and dropping loops.

Brilliant resource. Essential.

United Kingdom on Jan 12, 2023

Johnny Ch: Absolutely must have for every modern musician - yes it contain patterns from before 1990, but they are absolutely essential to understand, and most newest stuff is anyway built on them. Those are fundations of all music. Get it - its only 6 quid or so.

United Kingdom on Jan 06, 2023

Shawn: This is a good collection of misc patterns to help get your started programming your drum machine. The pattern layout is from the late 80s, a variation of the Roland TR-707 drum machine grid screen. I would have liked to see some transcriptions of famous patterns using is popular music from the author's time in this book. that alone would be worth the price and 5 stars. However, my biggest complaint was the lack of ethnic percussion in latin style patterns. Drum machines during this time included both traditional drum sounds and many aux percussion sounds. Some machines like TR707 and TR727 could be sync'd to provide both drum kit and aux percussion parts. This was a giant miss by the author, which would have made this book more interesting. Overall an interesting book and happy to have on my library shelf for reference.

United States on May 19, 2020

Mr. Russ: This book is a good starter for those with a Roland TR Rhythm Composer or similar drum machine who want quick access to pre-programmed patterns. It is laid out well and includes general patterns from pop-rock, jazz, bossa, etc. Improvements; There are no BPM or general tempo settings for each patterns. Adding this would have been a great addition. Also, the author would be well to improve the quality of the pattern illustrations making them clearer and to look more professional; they look like they were drawn with a pencil.

United States on Mar 05, 2019

Walter R. Williams: I bought the kindle version of this book, and liked it so much that I ordered the paperback version.

I was pleasantly surprised by the large, clear format of the book.

It's so much nicer than reading it on a phone or tablet.

Worth the money if you're looking for rhythmic ideas in any style.

An excellent resource.

I would love to see a newer version with the more recent rhythm styles, such as trance, dubstep, etc.

Thanks!
~Walt

United States on Jan 29, 2018

Michael David Williams: As an inspiring musician armed with a DAW and no formal music experience, this book does its job of teaching basic rhythms quite well. I have an MPC studio, so translating these patterns into my DAW was extremely simple, but time consuming. Got the book translated into my DAW in ~8 hours. I try to just tap along with the rhythms for at least an hour a day to make myself memorize the patterns. Quite good for finger training on the MPC, Maschine, MIDI Pad, and any drum machine. This book should be used as a guide, remember there are no borders to your art!

United States on May 08, 2013