They Replaced Steely Dan's Drummers With a $150,000 Computer

video upload by Nick Cesarz

Also see: RIP Roger Nichols - Creator of the Wendel Sampling Computer

"In 1980, Steely Dan put out Gaucho with Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro, Rick Marotta, and Bernard Purdie credited on drums. Four of the most recorded session drummers in history.

But three of the seven songs on that record weren't actually played by any of them. They were played by a $150,000 custom-built computer called the Wendel, programmed by their engineer Roger Nichols in hexadecimal code.

I grew up listening to this album and had no idea half the drums weren't real, so I went down the rabbit hole. Here's why Steely Dan built it, how it actually worked, and which Gaucho tracks are the Wendel vs. the real drummers.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:43 How Steely Dan made records
01:48 Hey Nineteen and the pitch
02:18 What the Wendel was
02:38 How it actually worked
03:42 Real tracks vs. Wendel
05:34 Wendel II and The Nightfly
06:35 Wendel Jr and the spread
07:09 Today's tech"

Hey Nineteen

video upload by Steely Dan

via Google AI: "The song's rhythm track is also famous for utilizing 'Wendel,' a pioneering, insanely precise drum machine custom-built by engineer Roger Nichols. Marotta recorded his drum part in a single afternoon, which was then perfectly recreated by the machine." via Expanding Dan