Sunday, September 09, 2007
Demo of Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 Drum Machine
YouTube via submodern.
Demonstration of the sounds and preset rhythms of the Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 drum machine, dubbed "the funk box" by Sly Stone and used on his classic album "There's a Riot Goin' On"."
via Art who also put up a page here with samples.
7 comments:
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If it had speakers on each side, that beat box would make an excellent ghetto-blaster. I think that was the same model Wall of Voodoo used early on. Great sound. I had a similar sounding Maestro, which was smaller, cube shaped. Actually, that one did have a built in speaker, which made the snare sound much more natural, since it was resonating within a real acoustic box.
ReplyDeleteI'm often surprised at the praise lavished on these early analog, mostly preset rhythm generators.
ReplyDeleteMany of them sound like they belong in a Lowrey or Thomas home organ. Do they develop some magic when recased?
Don't get me wrong: I have an 808 and a DR110 and several early Casios where the rhythm sounds WAY better than the voices.
I just think back to what inspired Roger Linn: he wanted a drum machine that played more than samba beats and didn't sound like crickets.
(I do like crickets...just as much as EPROMS)
I believe Sly used a Maestro IV - similar, but not the same beast. At least that's what Sly biographer Jon Dakks once told me after I snagged my own beloved MRK-2.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the rhythm box appeal goes, kb, there's a definite charm, beauty, quirk, chunky or sizzling, near-wooden appeal to old rhythm boxes. Just because we've got programmable boxes/MPCs/Reason at our disposal in 2007 (and thank goodness we do), doesn't automatically disqualify the immediacy, ease of use and sounds these old boxes make. More often than not, instead of using a click, I'll lay a beat down with a rhythm box and often keep it in the final mix. Perfect as a songwriting tool, too.
Now, does a studio really need 55+ of them lying around? Absolutely not, but hopefully Matrixsynth will be a kind soul and post an eBay link when these finally start going to auction later this year. ;-)
Ace! Or was that Bentley..?
ReplyDeleteTa for the vid + samples.
N
Hi walkathon,
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely possible he used the IV, especially if that's what his biographer said. Most places just say he used a Rhythm King:
http://www.robotsandelectronicbrains.co.uk/features/strangesounds/index.html
(uses picture of MRK-2)
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/1684
This short post on gearsultz does specifically say MRK-2, but they don't give a source:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/68769-slys-drummachine-family-affair.html
The MRK-2 came out around 1970, which is when Sly was recording this record. Unfortunately I can't seem to google when the Mk IV came out, there isn't much info on these machines out there. Anyway, thanks for the note, I will update the page with your info.
-Art
FWIW: Kraftwerk used a Maestro Rhythm King back in the day. They apparently built trigger inputs for each button into the unit so
ReplyDeletethat they could trigger it either by the drumpads used by Wolfgang and Karl or by one of their customized Synthanorma sequencers. The drums on TEE were done this way.
Micke
agreed, walkathon, on the charm of old hardware, from an immediacy and sound standpoint. this particular MRK-2 one is nicer because it can individually trigger the sounds - many of the others require you to build your own triggers (thanks Micke).
ReplyDeletewhat's interesting to me is that I have a bunch of old 8-bit drummachines, that all use the 6070 comdac, and even THEY sound quite different, even with the same EPROM. the internal sequencer and the analog signal paths even for them seem to be important.