
The Sabian Quiet Tone is the best drum practice pad because it replicates the real experience better than others.

You can, with some patience, even wrap these around your actual drum heads, pots, or pans, allowing you to quietly “play” your kit.

It was also incredibly easy to use.All you really need for a practice pad is a soft, slightly rebounding surface - so hit blankets, sweaters, old shirts, and comforters. Offering an impressive 49 16-bit sampled drum and percussion sounds – including a full ‘ethnic’ set – the HR-16 was both powerful and affordable, and with sequencing duties taken care of across 100 user-programmable patterns (and 100 songs), its studio credentials couldn’t be argued with either. Overnight the playing field was levelled. It all changed in 1987 when Alesis unveiled the HR-16, one of its first forays into the drum machine market and the first truly low-cost digital drum machine. 10 – Alesis HR-16/HR-16BĬurrent price: £50-200 for a unit in good, usable conditionįor a long time in the 70s and 80s, drum machines remained the preserve of the relatively moneyed music-making elite (LinnDrum for $2,995 anyone?). From the fattest analogue machines to the iconic sample-based units and seminal early rhythm boxes, we’ve whittled the options down to our ten favourites.

Prepare for a few controversial decisions as we run down our list of the best drum machines of all time.
