Estradin 11 - Ultra Rare Vintage Soviet Analog Drum Machine

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"There are three rows of round buttons that represent steps in a drum sequence. The first row is for the Kick drum and the second is for the Snare. All of these buttons are working and you can create custom patterns with the kick and snare. I believe the third row is for the hi-hats, however it seems that this row is unfortunately not working, although the hi-hats are audible in the preset patterns.

If none of the pattern buttons are engaged, you can create your own patterns using the round buttons on the front panel. If a pattern button is engaged, you can use the round buttons to add their respective drums to the preset pattern. In this way, you can create pattern variations and fills on the fly.

All the pattern buttons work and they all latch, meaning they stay pressed in until you press them again. It’s easy to press multiple button combinations to create hybrid patterns. The translation of the pattern buttons is as follows: Rhumba, Samba, Mambo, Cha Cha, Jazz Rock, Bossa Nova, Beat, Folk 1, Tango, Swing, Folk 2, Beguine, March, Slow Rock, Ballad, and Waltz.

There are additional control buttons on the front panel. The “P/4” button seems to alternate between 4/4 and 6/8 versions of the patterns, unless the pattern is already in 6/8 (or 3/4). There are a pair of buttons, one marked with a triangle, and the other with a triangle and a circle. I can’t tell exactly what they do, but at least one of them needs to be engaged in order to play a pattern. Finally, the “K” button mixes in the custom sequences for the kick and snare (and hats if they’re working) that you create on the round buttons.

The included foot pedal makes something happen, although I’m not sure that it’s working as intended. It’s a controller pedal rather than a momentary pedal, and using it seems to just toggle between normal pattern playback and a loop of the first step of the pattern. Useful for fills perhaps?

Lastly, it's important to note that although the Estradin 11 is normally a 220V machine, this unit has already been converted by a previous owner to 110V for use in the US. No external step up transformer is necessary. However, like most Soviet electronic instruments, audio is carried on a 5-pin DIN connector. If you need to wire up an adapter, tip is carried on pins 1 and 4, and sleeve is on pin 2. Pin diagrams can be found with a web search."