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Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine

41 ratings | read 5 reviews

233 drum and rhythm samples and ready for MIDI!

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9 Artists Use This
Orbital

Included in equipment list
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Billy Corgan

> "The drum machine used on *1979* and other songs on *Mellon Collie*..." Sold on Corgan's official Reverb.com shop.
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Mark Linkous

This article states that Linkous owns an Alesis SR-16.
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Laura Jane Grace

Grace tweeted this photo of her Alesis SR-16 drum machine.
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Mylets

Here Mylets uses the drum machine
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Darren Partington

When Darren's not cajoling the crowd and telling them how "absolutely fuckin' marvellous" they are, he drops in samples and plays ambient fills with a collection of records and a couple of Technics SL1200s. He also reinforces the rhythm track with congas, timbale and a Roland Octapad triggering an Alesis SR16 and S1000.
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Trio Kwek Kwek

This is what they actually used for the drums, they used a pattern that they probably made themselves.
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Graeme Norgate

"Maybe it's not a worry for the younger people of the world... it'll all be taken care of by Google, but for now, I'm just trying to figure out how to get a tape recorder to back up my Alesis SR16 drum machine so I can save those songs I wrote 20 years ago compatible with the current generation of readable formats."
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Kyle Hall

In his 2013 NPR interview, Kyle states: > "'Dr. Crunch' was created with two pieces of gear: The Alesis SR-16 and Nord Lead. I had the SR16 (which is a really basic digital drum machine) from the early '90s doing a few drums, but at the same time having it send MIDI note values to my Nord Lead."
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Details

Description

233 drum and rhythm samples and ready for MIDI!

Make the Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine your new songwriting partner. With its selection of 233 realistic drum and rhythm samples, it offers a plentitude of options to spawn your creativity. Use the Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine and see why it is a trusted tool for so many music engineers and performers. The Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine has 50 preset patterns played by studio drummers instead of merely programmed. With Alesis exclusive Dynamic Articulation system, the drum sounds change tonally when played harder instead of just increasing in volume. Play the drum and rhythm samples in dry form or with digital reverb. This system also features footswitch input, velocity sensitive pad buttons, and MIDI implementation. Increase your capabilities with one of the most reliable music partners around, the Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine.

Specifications

16-voice polyphony
12 velocity-sensitive pads
Over 200 drum and rhythm samples
Dynamic Articulation is velocity-sensitive
50 preset rhythm patterns with A and B variations plus A and B fills
4 different rhythms in each pattern
24-bit sample/DAC resolution
20-255BPM tempo range
4 outputs

5 reviews

gchiaren

Admin

4873

Really good Alesis SR-16 video tutorial (it's split into two parts)

+4

over 3 years ago
- 0 Comments
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scroaker2705

1493

Pretty neat sounds.

Very cool old-school samples, good for demo tracks or keeping acoustic drums in time. Also very good for maybe late 80s early 90s synth pop.

+2

about 3 years ago
- 0 Comments
- edited almost 2 years ago
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rotten77

118

Great old-school drum machine

Great old-school drum machine with classics drum sounds but some of samples, which can be used in electronic music. Great as an automatic drummer or drum module in your setup.

+2

over 3 years ago
- 1 Comment
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jimmarchi1 Moderator

aww man, I had one of these.... you used to be able to buy them in pawn shops for 40 bucks or less

over 3 years ago

tel_nobody

462

Great drum machine.

Fell in love with the SR-16 when it hit the shelves of the music store I worked at in 1990 and had to have one!. So simple to program, sequencing at an entry level even a guitarist could understand. This has been my drummer for 27 years now and while the sounds are a little "of that era", I do not know what I would transition to.

+2

over 1 year ago
- 2 Comments
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jimmarchi1 Moderator

if you read the latest TapeOp flood mentions this little guy as a favorite sequencer for triggering other gear because he likes its groove.... the internal sequencer does have its own thing and its really fast compared to other digital beatboxes

over 1 year ago

tel_nobody

We used to use it for an old Klute cover, We would take a Nasty Brass tone from the Kawai K1 and use the SR as the trigger. Because drum voices are all attack/ minimal decay it replicated the sound almost perfectly, just hacking off the decay where anything else would snip or trim... Would love a copy or link to the article if you have it handy!

over 1 year ago

dukeuke

1025

Solid, but minorly faulted

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: At the time of this first review I've only owned this for three days, and in that I've still, unlike most music hardware I've used to date, only scratched the surface. This is a combination of two things: One, the sr16 is packed to the rim with features, and settings, and buttons that it can take a while to learn how to use, or even uncover, and Two, this is one of the most ridiculously un-user friendly devices I've ever used, though considering these are from originally, and mine is dated to also, 1990, they are decent. I think that if a product has been in production for the last 26 years non stop, pretty much, it is probably okay.

+2

over 2 years ago
- 3 Comments
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jimmarchi1 Moderator

oh hey, that's an sr16? I have one of those somewhere! How much do you think its worth? What did yours cost you?

Yeah, there are tons of features to dive into, but they are pretty dated by today's standards of drum programming.... and the sounds are most certainly of the time Alesis has always been a Johnny-come-lately (other than the mighty Andromeda). You are definitely looking at lofi interpretations of the Emu and Yamaha sounds that were allover mif 8s pop (like Janet Jackson).... on the other hand, those same drum machines were used by the likes of Depeche Mode, Ministry and Skinny Puppy, so....

over 2 years ago

jimmarchi1 Moderator

oh, and like a lot of alesis stuff you are really meant to command it with MIDI from a PC or more user friendly external sequencer.... heck, you can even use a midi keyboard to play beats on one of these...

over 2 years ago

dukeuke

Yeah I could use a MIDI setup to control it with my 25 key controller, but I mostly use it in conjunction with my guitar looper system (TC FB X4), tapping the beats out, or pre-programming them, and using the A/B/Fill function. I could do with getting a couple of piano sustain pedals, for the exp. jacks; adds a lot of function.

I bought mine 2nd from a mate for £50. They go for about £45-£80 2nd hand on Ebay. After a tonne of research there's basically nothing better within a budget range, and its actually pretty good once you get your head around it

over 2 years ago