Roger Linn + Carl Craig - Dubspot Workshop Recap @ Decibel: 'Evolution of Drum Machines'
Published on Nov 16, 2012 by DubSpot
"More info: http://bit.ly/TIfQZj
During Dubspot's recent trip to Seattle's Decibel Festival, our video team caught up with Roger Linn, the godfather of the modern drum machine, Carl Craig, one of Detroit's most talented producers, for a lecture/discussion about the history and evolution of the rhythm machines that have shaped our musical world.
One of the most inspiring elements of Seattle's annual Decibel Festival is the conversations that transpire between some of the world's most talented musical thinkers. Decibel acts as a catalyst for these moments, with lectures and demonstrations taking place throughout the festival. We were especially excited to catch a workshop where drum machine creator and pioneer Roger Linn joined Detroit techno innovator Carl Craig for a talk on the evolution of drum machines and the future of electronic rhythm.
In this video, Linn explains that our assumption of drum machines appearing in the early 80s is incorrect, and he takes us on a tour of early electronic rhythm devices such as Leon Thermin's Rhythmicon (1930), the Chamberlin Rhythmate (1957), Raymond Scott's Bandito the Bongo Artist (1963), Seeburg's Select-A-Rhythm (1964), the PAiA Programmable Drum Set (1975) and the CompuRhythm CR-78 (1978). Craig probes with questions regarding interface design for musicians vs. engineers, discusses the development of drum interfaces, and talks about how the Akai MPC changed his production and composition techniques."
"Seeburg Rhythm Prince vintage drum synth. Made sometime in the early 1960's. Everything works perfectly. Really cool mechanism. A motor spins around on the inside triggering all the notes. Very rare. RCA mono output with 1/4" adapter. "
"This is a vintage SEEBURG GULBRANSEN Select-A-Rhythm Model 601B rhythm beat machine. It includes 17 rhythms plus a metronome. You can adjust the tempo and volume as well. It is for sale on eBay under the same username as here (herbalinguist)."
"This really an electrical and mechanical wonder. First, it has a motor which moves across a field of contacts at a speed set by the tempo control. there are a few dozen neon lamps which trigger to (I guess) give that percussive sound. This is quite a light show - It might be fun to mod this to make these visible during use."
"Modified Seeburg rhythm box playing a variation on each preset and sending a clock pulse out, which is processed by the MS-20 and sent to the SQ-10, which is sequencing the MS-20. Details on the Seeburg: http://ericarcher.net/devices/select-..."
Korg 770 Processing a Drum Machine
"Seeburg Select-A-Rhythm running through a Korg 770's external input to demonstrate filter and ring modulator."
