"The Eko Ritmo 12 has, as the name suggests, a selection of 12 preset rhythms to choose from. The machine also offers Intro and Fill-in breaks for each of the 12 rhythms.
The rhythms are selected by 6 black switches arranged in a 6 x 2 format. All of the switches have built in red LED's to indicate the rhythm selected.
The rhythms encoded in memory are:
· Bank 1: Waltz, Tango, March, Swing, Ballad, Bossa Nova.
· Bank 2: Cha-Cha, Beguine, Samba, Rock, Disco 1, Funky.
The sound quality of the voicing of this drum machine is very good, especially the Snare, Hi-Hat, Cymbal and Cowbell!
Eko was the Italian brand that produced many legendary instruments. The Company was based in Marche, Italy, in the same area where Elka, Elgam, Farfisa, Crumar, Jen, Siel, Solton, CRB, etc. were born.
This is your chance to get your hands on a super rare drum machine made in Italy!"
Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.
VEMIA is Peter Forrest's auction house. He is the author of The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizer Books.
"Rare and working EKO EKOSYNTH digital system (Mark1) one of the first vintage digital / analog synthesizer produced in Italy by EKO (Recanati) in the '70 years. Interesting and unique character in sound, great synth! It come in very clean conditions, working with its original lid serial 152"
Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.
"Very rare EKO EKOSYNTH digital system (Mark1) one of the first vintage digital / analog synthesizer produced in Italy by EKO (Recanati) in the '70 years. Interesting and unique character in sound, great synth! It come in very clean conditions, working with its original lid"
"The drum machine is fully working and in excellent cosmetical condition for its age.
It has 16 types of rhythms that can be combined (maximum of 2 together at a time):
• March • Fox Trot • Shuffle • Jazz • Swing • Tango • Waltz • Western • Slow Rock • Rock'n Roll • Bossa Nova • Samba • Mambo • Cha-Cha • Beguine • Rumba
The front panel includes 3 controls: Volume, Sustain and Tempo Speed.
The “Sustain” knob is one of the 'mysteries' of all Eko Rhythmakers as it almost never makes any changes. We have sold several Rhythmakers over the years and the “Sustain” has never worked or made any changes to the various sounds.
In fact, if we check the Rhythmaker diagrams and calculate the sustain time, in the best scenario, the result could be a maximum of 0.8 sec, therefore completely imperceptible to human ears. If we then consider the components of the epoch, perhaps it is even less than 0.8 sec. So in none of the Eko Rhythmakers does the “Sustain” knob work because is practically imperceptible.
The 'Selector' section is practically an integrated mixer that allows you to adjust the volume of the individual parts/sounds of the rhythm. Very cool!
On the back there are:
• FOOT SWITCH: Works perfectly with any switch pedal (not included in the sale)
• HIGH IMP OUTPUT
• LOW IMP OUTPUT
Inside the drum machine there are some trimmers: they can modify the sound of the individual instruments (intonation, etc.) to your own taste and liking.
True collector's item: it’s a simple and great drum machine with a very rich sound, especially with a nice tape delay and reverb added.
Eko was the Italian brand that produced many legendary instruments. The Company was based in Recanati (Marche, Italy), in the same area where Elka, Elgam, Farfisa, Crumar, Jen, Siel, Solton, CRB, etc. were born."
"We can't get over how fun this machine is to program and play! Here's a suuuper processed little jam (the machine does not sound anything like this in its natural state!)
Read more about what effects and processing were used on our Patreon page, and download the one-shots and stems!
Ekko From Mars contains 275 loops and 240 round robin one-hits, with clean and processed versions for both. You'll get full-beat loops and stems for bass drums, tops and more - ranging from classic rhythm box patterns to more modern genres. This is the most extensive sample pack available of the beloved early 70's Italian made Eko Computerhythm."
"Released in 1972, the Italian-made Eko Computerhythm (which we're lovingly referring to as the 'Ekko') was the first programmable drum machine, shaping the sound of electronic music forever after. With only around 50 ever made and less than 15 in circulation today, it's taken us years to find one - but finally, we have, and our high expectations have been exceeded- nothing could fully prepare us for how cool this thing is to look at, play and hear!
Of course, we wanted to share this joy with you by creating the most extensive Eko sample pack in existence. Capturing round robin one-hits, loops and stems, we preserved the natural sound of this pioneering rhythm box, and further processed it to extend the possibilities of this analog powerhouse for years to come.
The First Programmable Drum Machine
Rhythm boxes were first created out of necessity, to provide pre-made beats to accompany an organ player, for example. As such, they were hardly considered instruments in their own right.
We aren't sure exactly why Eko, an Italian company making guitars and organs during the psychedelic revolution of the 60's, had the foresight to create the first ever user programmable step sequencer (possibly some mind-expanding substances?). But what we do know is that this step sequencer would change the face of music and music technology forever after, (after all, we're still using it today!)
Sporting a space-age user interface with 16 steps per track for user input, a punch card reader to load sequences, 12 voices and individual outs, musicians were no longer reliant on using pre-programmed factory Waltz and Fox Trot presets, and could finally program their own custom patterns and perform live with an analog drum machine. The Computerhythm quickly garnered favor with innovative musicians and groundbreaking composers like Jean-Michel Jarre, Lee Scratch Perry and Tangerine Dream.
Preserving the Original Sound
The Eko features 12 classic rhythm box sounds (ok, one is a 'rolling drum' which is quite odd) and upon first listen, it is warm, punchy and full of life- somehow more defined and pro sounding than any other rhythm box we've used - likely due to its robust internal electronics (this thing is huge!) and direct outs."
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"EKO Stradivarius with the lid - modded with external power supply transformer.
Excellent condition unit that plays great, it has not been used much - just back from service.
These are rare - crème della creme string machines - Solina String Ensemble but better - no kidding.
A few smaller signs of wear at the very ends of the front panel probably caused by the hinges of the lid, some smaller areas of wear on the sides and underneath the unit.
"Eko P15 70's Italian analogue synth through a Behringer DR400 reverb/delay. This just some cobbled together improvisations to show some of the sounds of the Eko P15 not to 'show off' my music.Didn't even think of cobbling them together until I started editing.The P15's are regarded as rare, but I have 2!They are temperemental though!This one's upper octave is faulty and with all the wires inside it ain't easy to fault find!
Recorded through a mixer into the input of a Panasonic G7."
"A rare Ekosynth P15, the semi-preset analog synthesizer released by the Italian EKO in the late 70s. The machine has been recapped and serviced by a professional technician and it just looks and sounds perfect.
"Very rare and exotic Italian analog monophonic synth from the late 70s. The condition is really great, working very well as well as sounding just beautiful.
The synth was recently pro serviced:
All old electrolytic capacitors replaced hi-quality equivalents
Potentiometers refurbished and cleaned
Calibrated, tuned and ready to play!
Power cable (220V / EU plug) is included."
