Erica Synths Hexdrums drum machine

General

Look, you could of course think: "yes now we know with all those variations on drum computers from forty years ago", and in itself you have a point. It's a genre that manufacturers can hardly let go of, and is there really anything new in it? And then suddenly the Erica Synths Hexdrums is in front of your nose, and then the blood crawls where it can't go. Your hands want to operate it, your pupils get as big as those of a cat seeing a mouse. Now this is a drum machine, developed together with Hexinverter! Analogue (for the most part), separate outputs, multiple parameters per drum sound, hefty push buttons for the sequencer. Quite apart from the sound itself: in terms of layout and controls, this is exactly how you want it to work.

Features of the Erica Synths Hexdrums

In terms of integration with other systems, you're at your beck and call: MIDI and USB-MIDI. But a clock-input is also present, or even a clock-output if you want to trigger something else with the Hexdrums. In terms of sequencing, you get the well-known x0x interface, which was already present on the old drum computers of yesteryear; the system works! Slightly more extensive than the classic x0x by the way, Hexdrums also includes things like ratcheting and probability. The classic sound groups are present, and then a bit more elaborate too. Two kicks, one is a kind of 909, the other is a kind of 808, and so you have them together! The hi-hats are in the style of the 808, and further, of course, you have extensive snare, rimshot and claps - with simulated reverb. 'Machine' is the most extensive engine, and is meant for percussive sounds. The master section offers overdrive and compression, so yes: the Hexdrums can sound both clean and rough!

Samples

In terms of sound, we mentioned the analogue character, which is mainly true. However, you get samples for the crash and ride, and I guess that's the best solution too - was the same with the 909, after all. There are ten sets of crashes and rides to choose from, and you can't delete these crashes and rides. You can, however, overwrite the locations they occupy with your own samples (48 kHz, 16 bit, mono), by connecting the Hexdrums to your computer. The Hexdrums then appears as a storage medium, and you can place your own wav files there. So there are always two folders involved: crash and ride, and they always work in pairs. See also the manual on this whole mechanism. Anyway, so your Hexdrums is pretty well tweakable and customisable to personal taste. All in all, the Hexdrums is a valuable addition to your EDM studio!