Me and my friend want to use a drum machine that we can play live. We dont have that big of a budget, here is what our current set up looks like: Acoustic guitar Electric guitar 2 amps 2 midi instruments Netbook for midi insturments What choices do i have if i want to add a drum machine of any kind?
The band Big Black played with a drum machine their whole career, and they got a great sound of it. They used a Roland TR-606.
Get an MPC from akai... I don't think they cost more then 300 bucks. I think native instruments maschine might be better, but I haven't used it. You could also try getting a roland sampler, they have pads and can sample with effects... I think it's more expensive though.
Well of course a drummer gives many advantages, but they used it for a couple reasons. It'd keep time perfectly, perform exactly as instructed, didn't need to be paid, and allowed them to travel in a van instead of multiple cars. Luckily, it's distinctly robotic sound worked great for their music.