Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. An electronic device that can be programmed to play digital drum sounds.
Wikipedia
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums, cymbals, other percussion instruments, and often basslines. Drum machines are most commonly associated with electronic music genres such as house music, but are also used in many other genres. They are also used when session drummers are not available or if the production cannot afford the cost of a professional drummer. Also, many modern drum machines can also produce unique sounds and allow the user to compose unique drum beats and patterns that might be difficult to perform with a human drummer. In the 2010s, most modern drum machines are sequencers with a sample playback ( rompler) or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres.
Usage examples of "drum machine".
That was when she built herself a computerized drum machine, programming it to write and play its own intersecting polyrhythms, using insanely complex weighting algorithms to make it stay with the stuff she finds pleasing.
The repeated phrases got tossed back and forward between the two members of the band, the drum machine got heavier and heavier, and there had been a dance video.
He had the amps turned up so that the music sounded far louder than it did on tape, and there was something about the acoustics of the cottage's main room that made the produce of his drum machine seem even more insistent than it ever had before.