c/best-worst-beats

That $20 drum machine app I found sounds like a dying robot and I can't stop using it

I grabbed it off some random forum last Tuesday and tried to make a beat for my buddy's track, but every hit hits at a different volume and the hi-hat sounds like static. Has anyone else found a broken plugin or app that somehow makes better weird sounds than the expensive stuff?

1 comments

rivera.susan•5d ago

That $10 thrift store drum machine was a total scam, but I love it

I picked up a beat-up Boss DR-550 at a garage sale last weekend for 10 bucks, thinking I'd found some hidden gem for lo-fi beats. Got it home and it only plays this one garbage tinny tinny hi-hat loop with a delay that sounds like a dying mosquito. Has anyone else bought a beat machine that was totally broken but weirdly fun to mess with?

1 comments

barbararamirez•5d ago

Appreciation post: That $20 thrift store Casio keyboard that made my buddy’s bedroom beats sound better than any $500 plugin

Comparing his fake 808 samples from 2012 to the weird toy organ presets on that thing, the Casio had way more character and less clipping because it actually couldn’t handle the volume, lol, has anyone else found a random piece of junk that totally outdid your pricey gear?

c/best-worst-beats

That $20 drum machine app I found sounds like a dying robot and I can't stop using it

That $10 thrift store drum machine was a total scam, but I love it

Appreciation post: That $20 thrift store Casio keyboard that made my buddy’s bedroom beats sound better than any $500 plugin

Found a cassette tape with a drum machine demo from 1988, it's pure gold badness

Fixing my drum machine loop with a bent paperclip

Found a song with 47 tempo changes and no chorus - somehow it slaps

Nearly lost my mix tape to a dying drum machine in a basement in Buffalo

Switched from a MIDI controller to a cheap Casio keyboard and it changed everything

Accidentally recorded a demo on a toy Casio keyboard and it became my best song

Just tried a 10-minute rule for cleaning up messy drum loops and it saved my track

That so-called 'haunted song' from 1962 with the broken organ finally clicked for me at 3am last night.

Spent 2 hours trying to figure out why my 808 kick sounded like a wet cardboard box

That track 'Smooth Operator' my buddy made in his basement

The Casio keyboard drum preset I found in a thrift store in Memphis

My vinyl copy of 'Shrimp Shack' by The Rusty Anchors skips like crazy but I can't stop playing it

Spent 3 years layering drums wrong before a buddy pointed it out at 2am

That local radio station playing the same 3 bad songs on repeat for 6 months straight made me love them

That DJ at the dive bar last week used a busted 808 kick sample for every single song

Just realized I've owned the same Casio SK-1 keyboard for 20 years now

Found a drum machine preset that sounds like a dying blender and I love it

Tried to record a song on a 4-track cassette recorder last weekend and the tape got eaten after 3 takes

That song with the wrong snare drum hit that somehow works perfectly

Paid $30 for a beat tape that was just a guy coughing over a Casio keyboard

The moment I realized I was listening to "Friday" by Rebecca Black wrong for 12 years

Just learned that a snare drum sample from a broken Casio keyboard made it onto a hit song in 1999