drum machine

American  

noun

1. a device that simulates percussion sounds in various combinations and rhythms, and can alter digitally stored drum sounds or make digital recordings of drum sounds.

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drum machine British  

noun

1. a synthesizer specially programmed to reproduce the sound of drums and other percussion instruments in variable rhythms and combinations selected by the musician; the resulting beat is produced continually until stopped or changed

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Example Sentences

“Tonic” is one of several tracks in which the hurdy-gurdy is processed to resemble a snarling guitar, and a drum machine implies a relationship to experimental rock.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

The show’s producers were always pushing to save money, Groening says, and to have the show scored with synthesizers and a drum machine — par for the course for TV music in the 1990s.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2025

A would-be arsonist explains himself — his motive: boredom — as slashing guitars scrape against the mechanized thump of a Roland drum machine.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2024

And the introduction of the Roland TR-808 drum machine moved things along further.

From BBC • Aug. 10, 2023

It was a drum machine making its lumbering way down the street Wide as a house, it shimmered with the movement of its dozens of mechanical arms, bashing away at every size of drum.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld