Shin-Ei “Four-in-the-floor” drum synthesizer foot pedal

video upload by Cfpp0

"Shin-Ei drum machine. Runs on two 9v batteries. Works perfectly, just some occasional scratch on the volume sliders. Distort it and it becomes another thing altogether. Compress it and you can get some 808-ish. Sticker on bottom says from 1974."

Playlist:
7/14/23 Shin-Ei “Four-in-the-floor” drum synthesizer foot pedal + Deltalab Effectron II + CXM 1978
7/14/23 DEMO: Shin-Ei “Four-in-the-Floor” drum synthesizer pedal [bone dry]
7/14/23 Pam’s + Synare 3 and a Shin-Ei Four-in-the-Floor into Effectron II (x2) + PCM 70 + CXM 1978
7/14/23 Shin-Ei “Four-in-the-Floor” drum synthesizer pedal and Metasonix TM-5
7/14/23 Chuck Johnson’s “Caldera Wires” poorly programmed into Firstman SQ-01 + Metasonix TM-5

Some pics with the original box via this auction

"This is a vintage Shin-Ei 4 IN THE FLOOR PERCUSSION COMBO foot operated drum machine. Yes, the same Shin-Ei that brought you the Univibe pedal!

Powered by 9v batteries, and operated via four pedals to trigger four drum sounds, with four sliders to control the volume of each drum sound.

The snare rooooolllllllllllllllllls. And you can set the rate of the roll, which they call REPEAT, with a flathead screw driver! Mono 1/4” out.

Great skeuomorphic wood grain laminate with chrome and aluminum. Rainbow on the back, and a cool wedge shape all around. The drum sounds are beefy, robust, healthy, and sound very analog.

I played the pedals by hand, though they are meant to be played by foot, probably while playing guitar, keys, woodwinds, brass, drums, turntables, or possibly the harp if you wanna get all Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori with it.

Rare as a leprechaun, ride this rainbow into the night."

You can find additional info and pics of another one here.

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Shin-Ei Univox 4 In The Floor Percussion Combo Companion

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via this auction

Pics of the inside below. You can find a demo of one here.

"Late 1960’s or early 1970’s Shin-Ei (Univox) 4 In The Floor Percussion Combo analog drum synthesizer pedal unit.

Works and is in good cosmetic condition (see photos). The four food pedals trigger kick, tom, clave and snare sounds. Rotary trim pots inside the unit (mounted off of circuit board) adjust the envelope of each sound, from very short duration to a nice decay to full-on self-oscillation. Four volume sliders (one knob is missing) control each sound’s level. A rotary “repeat’ control on the side adjusts the speed at which the snare sound repeats for ‘fills’. Runs on two 9-volt batteries or 9 volt power supplies (not included). One of the battery clips is a little flaky and may need additional attention if the unit is to be moved around a lot for gigging. A printout of the schematic is attached to the bottom plate. The screws attaching the bottom plate are not original to the unit but do the job, and one of the rubber bumpers on the bottom is also a replacement.

The sounds are classic analog drum machine, and the ability to adjust the envelopes for each of the voices allows for a lot of sound-tweaking possibilities. All four spring-loaded foot triggers work great. There’s a couple youtube videos demoing this unit that provide examples of the sounds this unit can make. I’ve noticed that if the batteries aren’t fully charged the snare sound is the first to drop down to a click, and in fact on the bottom of the unit it is printed “Replace both batteries if the snare effect become bad or the sustain of other effects become insufficient”. If you make sure to unplug the audio cable when not playing it the batteries won’t get drained (and there’s no power indicator light), but I’d recommend using a pair of plug-in 9 volt battery eliminator units as they will provide consistent power even if you leave an audio cable attached for days at a time."

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SHIN EI - 4 IN THE FLOOR - Funky 60's Analog Drum Synth

via this auction

"extremely rare, late 60's, Japanese, Shin Ei Companion drum synth (by the same makers of the Uni-Vibe)."

This is the one recently featured in this video by Chamber of Sounds.

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