"Rare analog drum machine and auto accompaniment unit from Germany. Very much like italians units like Elgam Carousel, Elka Wilgamat or Welson Ritmo, and predecessor of the CX1.
""Many find it attractive" reads the gushing review in british music mag Muzines in February 1983 : https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/go...
The reviewer makes the point that it sounds too good to be a typical auto-accompaniment section from an organ and damnit if that ain't right.
Punchy drums, futuristic synth arpeggios, separate audio outputs and individual volumes for most drum sounds.
We finally found a Godwin Drummaker 32 and its even rarer keyboard 32 K and we think the internet deserves a high quality video of its sounds and functions since the ones out there might leave more to be desired.
Most of the specific information and specs are in the video text so please have a look but a quick summary would go a little something like this :
The successor to the Drummaker 45 share all the original features but got an upgrade with completely new sounds in every section.
The new drums are snappier and fill-ins have been added while the arpeggio has an actual synth sound.
Used by OMBs - One Man Bands - all over Italy, this type of machine generate accompaniment to sing and play other instruments over when the budget and/or stage space is limited.
The keyboard on top indicates the chord and key to the unit below, generating bass lines, chord patterns and arpeggios.
If you're into rare Italian synths and drum machines you should check out our website which is basically an encyclopedia of them : https://www.vintageaudioinstitute.com/
And don't miss our next video of the almost equally rare GODWIN CD1 so subscribe here on Youtube or better still follow us on Instagram where we also post vintage gear for sale : / vintage_audio_institute_italia
"functionnal demo of this Wersi Wersimatic analog drum and accompaniment unit I just serviced. It's very like other units of that era like the Elgam Carousel, Elka Wilgamat or Godwin Drummaker.
You get 24 rhythm patterns that can all be combined and 12 accompaniment patterns that can also all be combined and these consist of an arpeggio (with a selection of 2 sounds: piano and spinet), a walking bass and a chord (with a selection of 3 sounds: piano, spinet and guitar). You can manually play chords or play 'one-fingered' chord and then you have the option to alter the chords (Min, 7th and Diminished).
On the drum you have the option to alternate 2 patterns. Note that one of the pattern should have a dot under its name and the second should not, otherwise these pattens won't alternate but combined. You can actually alternate between groups of combined dotted patterns and undotted patterns (i do this towards the end of the video).
Other nice features includes mute switches for most of the sound (unfortunately not for the Hi Hat and Cymbal), snare roll, drum fill, stereo output (demo was recorded in mono output plugged into a Dynacord VRS23 for reverb).
These units can also very easily be moddified (indivual outputs, trigger input, clock input etc)"
"rare analog drum machine and auto accompaniment unit from Germany. Very much like italian units like Elgam Carousel, Elka Wilgamat or Welson Ritmo, and predecessor of the CX1."
"Sorry about the long title, but the problem in saying that you play a Wersi organ is that they all came in several versions. Most of them were sold as kits that you assembled yourself and often people upgraded them with new circuitry that Wersi released over the production run.
The Comet was initially released with another drum machine called Wersimatic IV and no 'Magic Fingers', which is a unit that adds arpeggio, automatic chords, and a (primitive) sequencer to the organ. I demonstrated that in an earlier video • Wersi Comet Magic Fingers MFX 5 demo [below]
In this demo I play eight songs using a reasonable amount of the features in the Comet. I am not using multitrack so everything is played 'straight'. I did make quite a few edits along the way, as I am not capable of playing eleven minutes without goofing up something. But it is possible to play the entire demo as it is, because I have added drum fill-ins that are long enough to make it possible to change the settings between songs - the Comet doesn't have user presets, so if there isn't one of the 20 'Wersi Registrier System' fixed presets that suits the song, you have to press a lot of buttons to change the sound.
The songs I play are:
Abracadabra (Steve Miller)
Här kommer Pippi Långstrump (Astrid Lindgren / Jan Johansson)
Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά / Never on a Sunday (Μάνος Χατζιδάκις)
Chattanooga Choo Choo (Harry Warren / Mack Gordon)
Gungorna och karusellen / Gyngerne og karrusellen (Karl Gerhard / Dix Dennie / Herbert Steen)
Kald det Kærlighed (Lars Lilholt)
Krummes sang (Michael Hardinger / Rasmus Schwenger)
Flower-Power-Kleid / Flower power tøj (Hans Christian Bruhn / Georg Buschor)"
"Since my Wersi Comet started to come back to life again there are three questions I have been asked surprisingly often in the comments: "Does your Comet have a 'Magic Fingers' MFX5 module, does it work, and what does it actually do?"
The first part was easy to answer: Yes, it does have an MFX5. However, until recently it seemed like it wasn't working and I nearly gave up on trying to repair it. But then I noticed a wire that had detached from one of the plugs on the backside of the MFX5 circuit boards in a hard to see and even harder to reach place.
After reattaching it the magic started - once I found a cryptic German user manual online. And so to answer the third part of the question I have now made this video where I go through the things it can do:
Arpeggiator 0:00 Song: "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy" (Rod Stewart/Carmine Appice/Duane Hitchings) 2:30 Marimba effect 3:50 Song: "Blue Spanish eyes" (Kämpfert/Singleton/Snyder) 4:35 Automatic Organ Chords 6:13 Song: "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" (Frederick Loewe/ Alan Jay Lerner) 6:55 Sequencer 9:00 Song: "Tjo Och Tjim Och Inget Annat" (Ulf Peder Olrog) 11:05
The only things I don't demonstrate is step-recording of a sequence - which is basically entering the notes one by one followed by a tap on a pedal, and saving/loading from a cassette. I cannot do that because the cassette interface plug is connected to the drum machine and I don't have the instructions on how to connect the MFX5 module to a cassette recorder. The person who build the organ just left the connections on the circuit boards unconnected."
"The Elka Wilgamat was an accompaniment unit intended as an add-on to some of Elka's organ line and also as a standalone unit with dedicated 2 octave keyboard. It consists of a rhythm unit, a bass section and a chord section.
All sounds are of course fully analog. It is very similar in features and sound to the Godwin Drummaker, Wersi Wersimatic WM24, Elgam Carousel or Böhm Böhmat. If you don't know these units check the video I made with a different unit. [previously posted here]
Unit was serviced and is in fully working order. It comes with a custom DIY keyboard and cable.
Cosmetic the unit has some scuffs mainly on the case but overall looks very nice."
"The Elka Wilgamat was an accompaniment unit intended as an add-on to some of Elka's organ line and also as a standalone unit with dedicated 2 octave keyboard. It consists of a rhythm unit, a bass section and a chord section.
All sounds are of course fully analog. It is very similar in features and sound to the Godwin Drummaker, Wersi Wersimatic WM24, Elgam Carousel or Böhm Böhmat.
if you don't know these units check the video I made with a different unit: [previously featured here]
Unit was serviced and is in fully working order. It comes with a custom DIY keyboard and cable.
Cosmetic the unit has some scuffs mainly on the case but overall looks very nice."
"Wonderful analog Groovebox/Drum Machine/Sequencer/etc/etc from 1982. The later CX2 would replace the sounds with digital samples, but this is the earlier, fully analog model - and you can hear it! Deep, warm, rich and powerful tones - that's how I would describe it! Check the video or YouTube for a demonstration - there are some pretty good examples on there. This thing really grooves effortlessly. There is a fully-programmable sequencer inside too, as well as the in-build rhythms. A 'Super Sequence' mode can be used during playing which runs through all of the stored sequences (which could be up to 512 bars) lasting possibly 20-30 minutes."
The CX2 is a stereo, proto-groovebox that is part warm analog synth, part organ, part crunchy, punchy 12-bit sampled drums, all user programable with analog effects and auto-accompaniment. Not bad for 1984!!
Listing Includes:
Wersimatic CX2 Printed manual/assembly guide Printed “Technical Document” (German) User “Cheat-Sheet” New CR2032 Battery
The CX2’s drum machine section consists of 54 preset rhytms, but it is also possible to compose your own rhytms by using its composer (static/real time composing) and the 20 different drum sounds available, plus it also has programable accents.
The accompaniment section has a bass (guitar, synth, tuba), chord (e-piano, guitar, wah guitar, strings, organ), and arpeggio section (brass, clarinet, banjo, bells, strings) which can be played solo or combined. When the drumsection plays the accompaniment section can be triggered and transposed via the 29 key keyboard. And best of all, you can also make your own custom bass, chords, and arpeggio patterns!
Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia
"We were asked to beta test a new modification for the Solton Programmer 24 - expanding the drum section from a single kit to 32 vintage drum machines. It adds the classics like the three Linn Drum machines, the Roland TR-808, TR-909, Roland CR78, Korg Mini Pops 7 as well as lesser known machines like the Elka Drummer One, Elka Drum Star 80, EKO Ritmo 20, Siel MDP40, Wersimatic 24, CRB Computer drums and many more 🤩 The additional 31 drum kits will perform just like the original Solton Programmer 24 drum section.
This is a total game changer for more than the obvious reasons - the Solton Programmer 24 has a sequencer, 8 separate drum volume sliders and 8 audio outputs as well as trigger capabilities for the individual drum sounds. It also sends clock and has Midi in/out/thru so it can be easily incorporated to whatever you got cooking with other machines.
It’s a non-invasive modification and fully reversible - no soldering - no drilling holes anywhere - it's installed by simply removing the four original drums eproms inside and hooking up a small additional board in place of two of them.
The modificationis divided in 4 memory banks of 4 drum kits each - you program the banks to your preference - this way you can quickly switch between the drum kits you use the most - or you can of course toggle through all the 32 drum kits sequentially. Programming the memory banks is easy and sll the instructions you need are provided on Reverb :
The Solton Programmers drum section can accomodate 13 drum sounds per kit. Some of the drum machines included featured have considerably less sounds and in those cases Andrea, the inventor and seller of the drum chip, has added more drum sounds in the same realm as the drum machine in question. Due to the architecture of the Solton Programmer 24 the sample rate is 8 bit PCM 22500 Hz which sounds low but is definitely sufficient to maintain character and punchiness - I think it sounds damn good. This video was made a few months ago and features a trial version that's now been upgraded - clips and smaller issues sometimes heard in the video have been ironed out and fixed on the version that's available for purchase.
Here's the complete list of featured drum machines
"The Elka Wilgamat was an accompaniment unit intended as an add-on to some of Elka's organ line and also as a standalone unit with dedicated 2 octave keyboard. It consists of a rhythm unit, a bass section and a chord section. All sounds are of course fully analog. It is very similar in features and sound to theGodwin Drummaker, Wersi Wersimatic WM24, Elgam Carousel or Böhm Böhmat."
"The Welson Ritmo was a accompaniment unit intended as an add-on to some of Welson's organ line. It consists of a rhythm unit, a bass section, a chord section and an arpeggiato section. All sounds are of course fully analog. It is very similar in features and sound to the Elka Wilgamat, Böhm Böhmat and Wersi Wersimatic CX1. They are actually built around the same chipset family (SGS M2xx), but the Ritmo cannot be programmed.
It was never intended as a standalone unit so I built a custom keyboard to make it so.
Unit is very easy and straightforward to use with some nice features: for instance you can play it in "free chord" or 'one finger chord'. In the first mode you need to make a 3 notes chord to trigger the arp sound. With one or 2 notes you only trigger the bass and chord sounds, this make for some nice performance variations. The bass section can be set to 'walking bass', and in this mode you also need 3 notes to trigger the melody.
In 'one finger chord' you play a major chord with one key. There is a pedal input on the back to make the chords minors. I also added a switch on the keyboard to alternate between major and minor chords when playing in the "one finger chord" mode.
Other nice features are "keystart" (obvious functionnality) and 'memory' which holds the played notes (and rhythm).
And like almost all the preset rhythm units you can combine different rhythms together."
"Demo of a Wersi CX1 I just serviced. Showcasing the general functionality of the instrument by fiddling with some presets I made.
This unit is actually more a CX2 since it was upgraded at some point to a CX2. This was a possibility given by Wersi when they released the CX2 not too long after the CX1. Basically it replaced the full analog drum sounds with 12 bit PCM drum samples. Otherwise the CX1 and CX2 shared the same analog arranger and programming unit.
There are still 4 analog drum synthesized sounds in the CX (maracas, claves, tambourine and "synthdrum", the latter being only manually triggered).
The CXs also have 3 SSM2044 filters for the 3 analog parts (bass, chord and arpeggio) and it features a great Wersivoice BBD triple chorus card to give that ensemble sound to the string presets sounds (check my videos about these units if you dont know how they sound).
Both drum and arranger parts are programmable and you can store your own 16 presets, in top of the 48 builtin presets.
Instant 80s and italo disco sound with this unit. Very close in philosphy and sound to the mlighty Bohm Digital Drums, with the latter being a much more advanced unit though."
"Here’s some more Wersimatic CX1 for you - a hella stylish auto accompaniment unit made in Germany when the going was good - the early 80s.
The machine looks like a obsolete computer terminal and sports 4 sections :
Analog Drum machine
Bass section
Chord section
Arpeggiator section
We modded this one quite a bit - with separate volumes and outputs for the bass, chords, strings and of course the drum section.
We're routing the separate outs to a ton of different effects:
The Compact Phaser effect is an odd one - it could be a Vermona prototype - it sounds like the Vermona Phaser and looks very nice and stylish for a one off.
It's sitting next to the Compact Schulte Phaser and you can see the resemblance in design."
"Introducing the Wersimatic CX1 - a stylish auto accompaniment unit made in Germany in the early 80s.
It sports 4 sections :
Analog Drum machine
Bass section
Chord section
Arpeggiator section (it’s maybe more like a second chord generator)
Each section can be muted, individual drum sounds can be muted.
This specific unit was modified with independent volume control for each section - those are the extra knobs on the front panel - as well as separate outputs for each section in the back.
The drum patterns, the chord and arpeggiator sections are all programmable.
The CX1 was followed by the CX2 - which is basically the same machine but with 12bit sample drums instead of the CX1’s analog drums - it seems the bass, chords and arpeggiator sounds and patterns are all the same on the CX1 and CX2.
The CX2 sports an additional row of buttons for programming purposes but those are available on the CX1 as well - the row of buttons on the left has a third submenu."
"This is an analog auto-accompaniment machine produced by the German organ manufacturer Wersi sometime in the mid-70s.
Originally part of a big, dual manual organ called Helios, this auto-comp section was probably removed from the organ and squeezed into a faux Teak cabinet - literally crammed with circuit boards - all beautifully snug inside - a very good job by whoever built it.
We used a ton of effects of this track - most noticeably the Davoli 2K disc echo - insanely rare unit with a Schaller disc unit mounted inside - the very mounted inside the Lombardi mixing desks.
The Digitech Synth Wah is also going strong - an envelope follower pedal on the cheap side.
We're pairing the Wersimatic II with the glorious CRB Oberon - a unicorn of a dual oscillator monophonic synth made in Italy in the late 70s - one of very few still existing.
Lots of fun features it can really sound huge - there's still lots more to explore here
The grey string machine in the video is also marked CRB - a simple, two sounds (violin and cello) string machine, unusually light weight for the oldie it is - the CRB 709.
It's sound is bright and lush - really not at all bad.
Vintage Audio Institute Italia is a gear vendor and recording studio in the hills of Florence."
"It's still here and we love it - so here we go again with new music : The Wersimatic II - the previous generation of the Wersimatic 24 auto-accompaniment machine and probably familiar to fans of the Elgam Carousel, Böhm Solist 78, Elka Wilgamat and Godwin Drummaker 45 units.
The Wersimatic II has 4 sections on board: Bass line tone generator Drum machine with individual mute options Various chord sounds Various Arpeggiator sounds (same sounds as chords but with busier patterns)
The bass sounds great - very nice and analog. Drum sounds are very analog - this is sound generation in its infancy - the hi-hats scare me :) The chord and arpeggiator sounds were processed through the Digitech Synth Wah - a relatively cheap envelope follower pedal that’s a great bang for the buck.
The sounds and controls are across the board identical to the Wersimatic 24 unit as far as we can tell but the difference being the Wersimatic II was never made as a stand-alone unit - it was part of a large, double manual organ called Wersi Helios. This particular one is unique : it has been transplanted from that organ into a smaller box with a twelve buttons acting as chord control instead of the two bottom octaves of the organ.
Special thanks to Organfairy for the rare schematics that were necessary to complete the repair : dude you f-ing rock
Vintage Audio Institute is a gear vendor and recording studio in the hills of Florence"
"Another take with the Wersimatic II, the older sister / brother of the Wersimatic 24 auto-accompaniment machine and distant cousin to the Elgam Carousel, Böhm Solist 78, Elka Wilgamat and Godwin Drummaker 45.
The sounds and controls are across the board identical to the Wersimatic 24 unit as far as we can tell.
The Wersimatic II was never made as a stand-alone unit but was part of a large, double manual organ called Wersi Helios in the mid 70s.
This particular one has been transplanted from an organ into a smaller box with a twelve buttons acting as chord control instead of the bottom keys of the organ.
Special thanks to Organfairy for the rare schematics : dude you f-ing rock
The Wersimatic II has sections on board:
Bass
Drum machine
Various chord sounds"
