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Drum Machines A - I

Acetone, AK Drummer, Akai, Alesis, Austin, Amdek, Atlantex, Boss, Dr. Böhm, Cameo, Casio, CDA, Chamberlin, Cheetah, Clef Master, Cohn, Conn, Coron, CRB, Crumar, Dynabeat, Drumkat, Drum FX, Dynacord, Eko, Electro Harmonix, Eli, Elka, E-mu, Ensonique, Forat, Fricke, Hammond, Hillwood, Hohner

Did I miss any company? Did all of these companies make rhythm machines?
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Ace Tone RHYTHM ACEFull Auto

Ace Tone FR-1

Ace Tone was the fore runner of Roland. Made in Japan in sometime around 1970, the FR-1 model was introduced. It was a huge success and laid the ground work for the Roland Corp.

The FR-1 is a 100 % analog drum machine and is primitive by today's standards. It was not the best unit out there when new. It did however have several features that made it desirable. The finest feature being the cancel buttons. This allowed you to modify each beat somewhat to give greater flexibility. The tones generated by this unit tend to go from muddy to raspy. The best tones are the cowbell, which is convincing in a mix, and the clave, which really cuts through. All tones but the cymbal are adjustable to the users liking. To order the manual which guides you step by step through the adjustments click here.

The FR-1 is still being sampled as well as used in professional recordings, although not widely. This models claim to fame is the famous recording sessions with J.J. Cale. To learn more about these sessions click here

Beat Box User Rating - 3 Stars (Good)

Comment: You can get good samples from the FR-1. Kick is real deep, snare is good. Toms and wood block very "woody". It was very good for it's day and you could still gig with one, but several popular styles are not offered as they were not "invented" at the time of production. Very good on latin rhythms, weak on "country style" patterns. Rock is also marginal. It would make a great "guest drummer" if you currently gig with a drum machine.

The FR-2 is basically an FR-1 in a low profile cabinet designed to sit on top of an organ. It has most of the features of the FR-1. These units are a good alternative to the FR-1 if you are looking for a vintage analog beat box.

FR-3 More Later
FR-4 More Later
FR-5 More Later
FR-6 More Later

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AK Drummer

This is a German make from the 1970's. More Information Later

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Akai
More than a simple drum machine, the Akai machines are made for total production. The following machines are some of the most popular of all "new generation" of drum machine/samplers.

Akai MPC60 II

The MPC-60 was the music production studio that single-handedly took over the Rap and R&B music genres as the main instrument of HipHop production. Designed by Roger Linn (Linn Drum), the MPC-60 is a one-box-does-it-all sequencer-sampler workstation.

The built-in sequencer is very complete and professional. There are 99 tracks per sequence, 99 patterns, and 99 sequences that can be created, edited and stored in the MPC-60 with ease. Most artists create their patterns in real-time adding drum parts to a beat-loop spontaneously creating a groove that captures the vibe. These patterns are varied and chained into a sequence. Full MIDI, SMPTE and various other forms of external control prepare the MPC-60 for any studio situation.

The Sampler section is lo-fi but highly respectable. Its 12-bit sampling at 40KHz is pretty good. Sample editing, looping and transforming is simple to do. And finally, there's even a built-in drum machine for extra groove! Finally, the 18 voices of polyphony should be plenty of room for anyone who wants to create HipHop on the machine of professional artists worldwide including Apollo 440, BT, and A Guy Called Gerald.

Akai MPC60/60II Specifications

Type: Sampler/ Drum-machine/

Synthesis Type:
Polyphony:
Max: 18
Typical in use:
Multi-timbral (number of parts): 16
Controllers : footswitch/etc...

Effects :
Number of FX units : none
Number of different effects : none

Keyboard :
Number of Keys : 16 pads
Can send on 4 simultaneous MIDI channels
Responds to : velocity, after-touch
Sounds can be split by : velocity,

Inputs and Outputs :
Number of Audio Outs (excluding Phones) : 10
Number of Audio Ins : 1
Number of MIDI Outs (excluding Thru) : 4
Number of MIDI Ins : 2

Media Release From 1997

Thanks to numerous breakthroughs in both technology and production techniques, the engineers at Akai have finally been able to bring the MPC Series within reach of all serious musicians with the release of the brand new MPC2000. With a new lower list price of just $1495, (new 1997 price) it looks like I can finally have my dream machine. What's so special you ask? Let's take a look "under the hood."

The MPC Series was the first serious piece of equipment to merge CD-quality 16-bit sampling technology with a MIDI sequencer that set the standard for both immediacy and ease-of-use. What that meant was that you could sample in your favorite drum sounds, play them from the great-feeling onboard drum pads, then use the sequencer to control all your synths and samplers. It was very cool then, but this new machine has taken this design philosophy to a new level.

The MPC2000 ships standard with a 16-bit sampling engine with 32 note polyphony, two megs of onboard RAM (upgradable to 32 megs via standard SIMMs), dynamic digital filters with resonance, graphic cut and paste sample editing, a 64 track sequencer with 100,000 note capacity, linear or pattern (drum machine style) recording, enhanced sequence editing, and the MPC's unique note variation slider for note-by-note control of level, tuning, attack, decay or filter. Of course, there's a large, 248x60 LCD with graphic user interface, a 25-pin SCSI port, 16 great-feeling velocity and pressure sensitive drum machine pads, floppy drive and fully ergonomic data/digit wheels for entering data.

If that's still not enough, how about 1/4" balanced recording ins, RCA-pin digital ins and outs, 1/4" stereo outs, headphone out, and full MIDI in/out/thru ports? And if you want even more, you can add eight individual outs, S/PDIF digital in and out, a multi-effects processor, 8 meg Flash ROM board, and a SMPTE board, all of which are optional.
What none of this tells you is exactly how easy the MPC is to work with. Controls are right where you'd expect them to be and the large LCD graphic interface takes you through every function with ease.

MPC2000XL
MPC2000XL MIDI Production Center

The Akai MPC2000XL. It's features include Next Sequence key, 4 bank keys, Track Mute key, hinged LCD, multi-program playback, device naming, MIDI soft thru, multi-track recording, time stretch, resampling, simultaneous playback of a second sequence, and folder file management.

Sampler, drum machine and MIDI sequencer in one instrument, Dedicated buttons for most-used functions, Informative graphic display with soft keys. Extremely powerful sampling drum machine/phrase sampler
44.1 kHz, 16-bit stereo sampling with 32-voice polyphony
Resonant digital filter & envelope per voice
Large, great-feeling, velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads for expressive programming
Note Variation slider for programming a wide variety of dynamics
Extensive cut-and-paste sample editing with waveform display
Stereo Mix outputs & optional eight individual outputs + S/PDIF digital I/O
Built-in floppy disk and SCSI interface
Reads sample data from S1000 and S3000 series samplers, the E-mu EIIIx library, Roland S750/S760 libraries, .WAV files from PC disks, and last (but certainly not least) your own samples.

Extremely powerful sampling drum machine/phrase sampler

Limited Edition MPC2000XL-SE1 Limited Edition MPC2000XL-SE3

Limited Edition MPC2000XL-SE1 AND MPC2000XL-SE3

44.1 kHz, 16-bit stereo sampling with 32-voice polyphony
Resonant digital filter & envelope per voice
Large, great-feeling, velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads for expressive programming
Note Variation slider for programming a wide variety of dynamics
Extensive cut-and-paste sample editing with waveform display
Stereo Mix outputs & optional eight individual outputs + S/PDIF digital I/O
Built-in floppy disk and SCSI interface
Reads sample data from S1000 and S3000 series samplers, the E-mu EIIIx library, Roland S750/S760 libraries, .WAV files from PC disks, and last (but certainly not least) your own samples.
Powerful and easy-to-use MIDI sequencer offers a great alternative to complex computer-based sequencers

Supports both linear and pattern-style (looped) recording
300,000 note sequence capacity
Step Edit mode for fast recording, viewing or editing of any event in a sequence
Flexible synchronization capabilities: MIDI clock, MTC, and SMPTE (optional)
Two MIDI inputs with merge & two independent MIDI outputs (32 channels)
Options

8 analog output and two-channel digital I/O board
Multi-effects processor board
8MB Flash ROM board
SMPTE board
MPC Sound Library
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Chamberlin

Rhythmate 40

Harry Chamberlin of California built the first such instrument, the Chamberlin Rhythmate using continuous tape loops.
The machine above started it all folks! It had its own speaker and power amp. The controls were located on the top.

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Cheetah

Cheetah MD16

Cheetah has been said to have been way ahead of its time. 8 outputs midi in and thru, Rom expansion port, foot switch port, sync in and out. Works with a power supply.

MD16R

Cheetah Drum Machine MD16R, about 700 differents sounds.

Detailed Information About The Cheetah MD16R

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Clef Master Rhythm

(This unit is missing the rhythm select knob)

The Clef Master features variety of rhythms in a fairly compact package. The tone knob and program control knob makes it a better than avaerage machine for it's time. It has an interesting feature that allows the user to switch snare attack from stick to brush. Also the cymbal control is more than a simple cancel, it allowed some flexability. The sequence button is a very nice feature. These units were primarily produced in the mid to late 1970's and early 1980's.
Crumar

Crumar OMB-2

Crumar was an Italian company that was famous for their keybord instruments. The OMB-2 was one of their few ventures into analog drum sounds. OMB stands for one man band. It not only has drum patterns, it also has rhythm and bass. The main unit had all of the controls to select and mix.

OMB-2 Main Unit

OMB-2 Pedal Board
The pedal board allows you to play bass on the pedals manually, or when it auto mode, select what key your bass pattern is playing in. The volume pedal is a nice feature. This outfit was one of the early one man band units and helped pave the way for hundreds of solo musicians that needed "electronic side men"
Fricke

Fricke MFB 2001

More Information To Follow

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HAMMOND

AUTO-VARI 64

Just about the coolest of the "Cheese" machines. 64 different patterns with the 4 selection Auto-Vari function (16X4).
Killer sounds and patterns. Kick is almost like a pretty cool bass sound.
Phrases can be adjusted from 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 measures long.

Patterns are as follows: Waltz, 6/8 March, March / Polka 4/4, Western Shuffle, Ballad, Dixie Land, Jazz, Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Liver Pool, Samba, Bossa Nova, Cha-Cha, Rhumba/ Beguine, Tango and Afro-Latin.

Each of these then has 4 variations. Sound can be temporarily muted without stopping built-in metronome. Tempo full adjustable. Rear mounted footswitch jack. SOLID -not veneered - Walnut wood case. VERY easy to use and operate. If your studio needs a vintage machine, there isn't a better sounding more versatile one out there in a lot of peoples opinion.

Measures 31" wide x 11" deep x 4.5" tall and weighs 22 lbs unpacked.

Beat Box User Rating - 4 Stars (Very Good)
Comment: You can get good samples from the Hammond 64, (great mellow snare) also, if you play "old school" style music, you could gig with this unit successfully. It can handle most styles well enough to do the job and the overall sound quality is excellent. Auto Vari feature is not too practical.

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