Drum Machines R - Z

Did I miss any company? Did all of these companies make rhythm machines?
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Sakata

Sakata DPM48

The Sakata DPM48 is a good rhythm unit that is fairly easy to use and the rear patchbay allows for great flexability. This unit has a memory cartridge and "old school" sounds.

The back has individual 1/4" outputs for each sound as well as headphone outputs, mono and stereo outputs.

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Seeburg
Select A Rhythm

Hear the Seeburg Select A Rhythm

Sampled by www.Keyboardmuseum.com

The Select A Rhythm has its roots in a company called Kinsman. They made inexpensive organs from the '50's.(the Kinsman "Carlyle" model was one of the first organs to have automatic rhythm) (JG) Kinsman used neon dividers driven by a tube master oscillator, developed the Select-A-Rhythm which later appeared on Seeburgs and Gulbransens. Another company in financial distress, bought lock, stock and barrel by Seeburg.

The original models were called the 'Kinsman Rhythm King' and 'Kinsman Rhythm Prince' - They were the predecessors to 'Select-A-Rhythm' produced under the Seeburg brand name in its short-lived but advanced (for their day) series of organs. Seeburg also made the portable Select A Rhythm shown above. It was a plug-in (to your organ) unit similar in appearance to the Ace Tone FR-1.

Made by Seeburg, the famous jukebox company in 1968, this unit set many standards. It is 100% analog and most of its generated sounds are good. Of all the early beat boxes, this is the one that obviously had a professional jazz drummer involved in it's selection of pre set rhythm patterns.
This model does not have any special features, but just real good (for it's day) sounds.

Three design flaws (my opinion) that this unit has are:

1. The use of a special plug end on the foot switch. If the foot switch is missing, which most used machines are missing the foot switch, you will have to buy a regular on/off foot switch and modify the end or modify the unit by installing a simple 1/4" panel jack so any modern on/off switch will function.
To order the manual which guides you step by step through the modification and other adjustments click here.

2. The second design flaw is that the drum sounds are non adjustable, at least not by non trained technicians.
The only adjustments are the clock control and the output gain.

3. The third flaw is that the instrument cable has an RCA end. It would be better if it were 1/4", but that is easily solved.

All in all, the Select A Rhythm is a good piece of vintage gear.

Hear the Seeburg Rhythm Prince
Sampled by Keyboardmuseum.com

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Sound Master

Sound Master Memory Rhythm SR-88

Sound Master was a solidly constructed, Japanese made analogue drum machine, made, I would guess in the 1980s sometime.

Shown above is a Sound Master Memory Rhythm SR-88, and, as the name suggests, it's a programmable rhythm machine.

Rhythm programming is done in 'write' mode in a combination of 16th notes and rests, using the four - count 'em, four! - sounds (Bass Drum, Snare, Hi-hat and Cymbal) and you can store up to twelve (1-6 A or B)4/4 and four (7&8 A or B) 3/4 patterns in the internal memory bank. These can then be played back individually as (A or B), or in sequence (A then B). You can set the 'fill' function to kick in every 4, 8 or 16 bars.

Tempo, Volume and Tone are continuously variable using the 3 large rotary knobs down the left-hand side (the tone one being the most useful), and the patterns are switchable via the knob on the right. You can run it on batteries (4 x AA) or external 9 volt AC adapter.  It also has a 1'4" mono jack output and 1/4" foot switch input (to start/stop it).  It doesn't have MIDI, nor a CV input, so it's strictly for sampling or live use.

Sound-wise it's fairly restricted, though the tone pot can yield some pleasing results. Not even Stereolab would want to rely on it as their only rhythm sound source in this day and age, however.

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SIEL
.
Siel MDP 40

The Siel company made drum machines in Italy in the 80's. The MDP stands for Midi Digital Percussion. The MDP 40 features: Midi in, out, through and pedal. Some of the sounds are pretty decent, such as the kick, snare and hats, and some of the onboard disco and funk rhythms are killer. The shuffle and waltz beats are good enough to use this drum unit for country and variety groups also. The 6/8 ballad is nice. This unit also has a swing mode.

The preset patterns include: Disco 1 and 2, New Wave 1 and 2, Funky 1 and 2, Reggea 1 and 2, Rock 1 and 2,
Pop 1 and 2, 8 Beat 1 and 2, 16 Beat 1 and 2, Ballad 1 and 2, Slow Rock 1 and 2, Beguine 1 and 2,
Cha-Cha 1 and 2, Bossa 1 and 2, Samba 1 and 2, Jazz 1 and 2, Shuffle 1 and 2, Polka 1 and 2,
March 1 and 2, Tango 1 and 2 and Waltz 1 and 2.

Its best feature is having each pre set beat with two slightly different patterns. The machine itself calls one pattern #1 or Verse and the other pattern #2 or Chorus. Pattern #2 being bolder and with more thump and flair to the pattern. Two fill in buttons allow you to add a fill between verse and chorus and the fill pattern automatically puts you into the right mode, either Verse or Chorus, depending if you push the "Break to Verse" or "Break to Chorus" button.

The worst feature is in the tempo department. It simply has two buttons. One is marked with a plus sign and the other with a minus sign. There are no readouts or markers of any kind to assist you with the small exception of a blinking light that blinks on the first count. It is a very difficult machine in this regard.

It runs off of a power supply, 12 Volt DC, (the center being positive) 300/500mA. It also runs off of a 9 volt battery.

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UNIVOX

Univox Version of Korg's Minipops 3

Univox marketed several drum machines in the 1970's and 1980's. Most if not all were made by Korg.

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Vox

Vox Percussion King

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Wersi

WersiMatic WM24 (With Music Stand)

WersiMatic WM24 (Without Music Stand)
The Wersi Matic Rhythm Machine the was originally marketed as a companion to the company’s excellent organs.
Made in Germany it has a fat analog tone and serves up some really fabulous rhythm sounds.
Made to match the finish of their organs, this box has a wood cabinet and a flip up wooden music stand. It can either be hooked up to your Wersi organ or it also works great as a stand-alone unit. There are 23 rhythm sounds, all of which can be combined simultaneously to create really intricate patterns with variable tempos. There’s also variations on each rhythm, drum break, snare roll, etc.  It gives you stereo or mono outputs and a footswitch jack to start and stop it. You can also add/remove the various percussion instruments from the rhythms that are going.

Wurlitzer

Wurlitzer Sideman ( 1959), works with TAP loops, with which the rhythms with rotary contacts were produced. The Sideman sold itself rather well and made the rhythm machine concept popular.
This unit was designed to sit beside your organ with the controls on the top. It has its own power amp and speaker built in.

The Sideman was one of the most important developments in the history of electronic music. It was the product of a very progressive organ company that was trying to revolutionize the industry. They achieved their goals as the Sideman has almost universal respect.

Because he with its Sideman was not developed enough for the Japanese accordion player Tsutomo Katoh, he together with the electronics company Keio in Tokyo produced the DoncaMatic in 1963. This was the foundation of the Korg Corp.

More Information about the Wurlitzer Sideman

Hear The Wurlizer Sideman
SambaBeguine

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