"amazing visual condition. even comes with original box. it powers up, but it’s barely functional. patterns appear to be empty, and every time it doesn’t matters what do you program, it just plays a few repetitive drum hits, and then all fades away."
"Quick impro to demo the Sound Master Stix Programma ST-305 (!) analog drum machine syncing the Roland Jupiter 4 arpeggiator. The Echolette SE251 provides echo/reverb.
The ST-305 is an 80s programmable analog drum machine. Very basic, no sound editing but you get 7 sounds, an accent track, dedicated volume faders and outputs for every instrument.
And the icing on the cake is it can be synced to external gear and/or sync other gear, which is a nice feature (you can use it slaved to a sequencer and in the same time slaving a synth, so it acts as a 'through').
I did not know this one till recently and it was a pleasant surprise."
"This is quite a rare tape echo manufactured by Dynacord. It seems to be one of the very last tape echo introduced by the brand (with the Echolette Echo 400). It shares many parts with the Echocord line of delays like motor, pinch roller, heads, oscillator board etc But this one used op amps instead of only transistors for amp stages (the Echocord Super 76 also already used one op amp for the output stage).
The unit has 2 heads which you can mix with the dedicated pot. Otherwise classic features like input volume, tone, echo send level, echo feedback and echo level. In the back the original DIN socket enabled output and aux input. In this case you only get the wet signal out of the delay, which is nice in a studio environment.
Unit was fully serviced and modded: - all electrolityc caps were replaced (except 3 bipolar ones ) - original 4x op amps were upgraded to better one (TL081) - original DIN socket was replaced by 2 jack sockets, one for the output and one for the aux input. Also a pot was added to attenuate the level for the aux input - unit was meticulously cleaned - heads were cleaned, demagnetized and aligned - unit was calibrated - tape is new
The unit is in perfect working order and in excellent cosmetic condition."
"RHYTHM MACHINES - The Rise And Fall Of the Presets - by Alex Graham
Rhythm machines – the precursor to what we in the modern age refer to as a drum machine. This book documents the emergence of the preset pattern electronic rhythm instruments that (for a time) were used as a viable alternative to the drummer. Contained within are the Rhythmates, Rhythm Aces, Rhythm Boxes, Rhythmers, Rhythm Kings, Rhythm Masters, Donca Matics, Mini Pops and many more. Nearly three hundred rhythm instruments are documented here, with over two hundred pictures and information provided on their country of origin, instrument sounds, patterns and features. The book is a ‘must have’ for collectors, vintage instrument enthusiasts and recording artists.
For information on purchasing this unique book, follow the links here:
This is one massive playlist of 68 videos. You can use the player controls to skip around.
The Godwin DM32 gets my vote for best looking rhythm machine.
"GRENOBLE, FRANCE: after almost a year of diligent development, music software specialist XILS-lab is proud to announce availability of V1.0 of StiX by Xils — a virtual analogue and multi-synthesis-driven drum machine with sophisticated sequencer plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.5 and later) and PC (Windows XP, Vista, and 7/8), inspired by a whole host of trailblazing drum machines that have helped make music technology what it is today, all adapted to the modern-day digital paradigm and fast-footed user workflow with ease — as of April 5…
35 years is a veritable lifetime when it comes to music technology. Today’s computer-based music-makers bombarded by staggering software developments on an almost daily basis may mock at the idea of hefty hardware blazing the trail back in the 1980s. But breakthroughs came throughout that genre-defining decade — often at a prohibitive price. Take the wonderful world of drum machines, for instance. Innovative American designer Roger Linn’s revolutionary Linn LM-1 Drum Computer was first to use digital samples of acoustic drums — albeit at 8-bit/28kHz — and also one of the first fully-programmable drum machines to boot. But back in 1981 most musicians could only dream about accessing a $5,000 USD digital drum machine, revolutionary or otherwise!
Only programmability in itself would be a dream come true for many musicians of the time, tied to realistically restrictive constraints when it came to auto-accompaniment budgets. But the technological tide turned in their favour that same year with the timely arrival of the STIX PROGRAMMA ST-305 from (now-long-lost) Italian manufacturer SoundMaster as one of the first affordable analogue drum machines to feature programmable patterns rather than just presets. Proactively, perhaps, the STIX PROGRAMMA ST-305 included individual outputs for several sounds — unlike its main competitor, the breakthrough Boss DR-55, though, similarly, ‘programmability’ was restricted to basic bar-based patterns, which would soon become its downfall. Within a year, Roland’s radical TR-606 Drumatix was a better buy as an affordable analogue drum machine offering a higher number of fully-programmable patterns and, crucially, an ability to chain them together into songs, such was the speed of technological change… before long, the advent of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and affordable digital drum machines changed everything. Endgame? Paradoxically, an ‘analogue renaissance’ is still being felt (and heard) today — a fact far from lost on XILS-lab CEO Xavier Oudin.
Obviously, times change as, of course, does technology — music and otherwise. Today, then, StiX by Xils takes the best ideas (and subtly-different, yet strangely contemporary-sounding sounds) from the likes of the STIX PROGRAMMA ST-305 and Roland TR-606 Drumatix — and many more notable drum machines besides — and successfully transports them to a virtual analogue and multi-synthesis drum machine plug-in for Mac and PC, pumped up for a truly 21st Century computer-based music-making experience that is second to none.
Central to the StiX by Xils workflow with fast-footed users in mind — and centrally positioned in a GUI that’s as easy on the eye as it is to understand — is its engagingly-expressive XoX Sequencer, boasting a multitude of fanciful features, including a multilane editor with customisable steps per beat; per step division trigger (for fills and stutters); customisable beats per bar; and global swing, as well as a single line editor (for in-depth editing of individual sequencer lines), plus pattern and song modes (for speedy song building).
Building upon traditional analogue drum machine design, several sounds — BD (bass drum), SNARE, HH CL (hi-hat closed), HH OP (hi-hat open), TOM L (tom low), TOM H (tom high), and CRASH — are always accessible — alongside additional user-definable PERC 1 (percussion 1), PERC 2 (percussion 2), and MISC (miscellaneous) ones — via the drum pads bar at the top of that intuitive GUI. There the similarity ends, though, as StiX by Xils takes things to another level entirely as an inspired piece of contemporary software design that leaves the historic hardware from which it took its initial inspiration standing (way back in the early-Eighties)! Fit for today, StiX by Xils comes complete with 10 full-featured synthesisers — one for each sound being hosted by those 10 drum pads, each of which can call upon several sound engines, including virtual analogue (with components closely modelled upon a selection of prestigious and rare analogue synthesisers for percussion and drum sounds with unmatched analogue authenticity) and FM sine oscillators (with wave shaping and a third oscillator that can load samples), as well as easy and advanced synthesis pages. Put it this way: yesteryear’s hardware drum machine users couldn’t have imagined such heightened levels of control in their wildest dreams!
Desirable StiX by Xils features well worth noting in that regard include MIDI output (for controlling virtual instruments or recording MIDI data within a DAW); MIDI learn (with full automation of all synthesis parameters of each drum pad and associated mixer, etc); multi-criteria database (for finding the right preset efficiently as well as creating custom tags); randomise (drum kits, sequences, and full patterns); live control (for chaining patterns, plus muting/un-muting tracks on the fly); multi outputs (with volume, groups, and pan preservation); high-quality effects (including natural-sounding reverb, analogue delay, and analogue phaser, plus per drum crusher and distortion); sample-accurate synchronisation and audio engine (to create the tightest beats imaginable); hundreds of simultaneous modulation targets; and gang mode (to edit sequencer lanes, mixer, and effects sends).
Stacked with 390 exclusive samples — including 15 drum kits sourced by production partner Wave Alchemy from classic drum machines of the past (including Roland’s revered TR- series as well as trailblazing digital dream machines such as the E-mu SP-12 and LinnDrum); 2,000 presets; 120-plus global presets; 720-plus patterns; 700 drum pads; and 60 drum kits, StiX by Xils means more sounds and styles are available to the modern-day discerning (virtual) drum machine user than ever… roll on some truly 21st Century computer-based music-making!
StiX by Xils is available to purchase as a USB eLicenser or iLok (soft or USB iLok dongle) protected plug-in for an introductory (30% discounted) price of €125.00 EUR until April 30, 2016 — rising to €179.00 EUR thereafter — from the XILS-lab web store here: https://www.xils-lab.com/products/StiX-by-Xils.html
StiX by Xils can be directly downloaded as a multi-format (AAX, AU, RTAS, VST), 32- and 64-bit-compatible virtual drum machine plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.5 and later) and Windows (XP, Vista, and 7/8) from here: https://www.xils-lab.com/pages/StiXbyXils_Download.html"
"Simple acid demo of the Soundmaster Stix305 drumsample kit by WaveShaper."
"Sunsine Audio is proud to announce we will begin releasing Beatmaker 2 and Nanostudio versions of Waveshaper drum kits and samples.
The iOS versions will be available exclusively through Sunsine Audio, while the original Wav versions will remain available from Waveshaper. Both versions are priced exactly the same.
The first "converted" release is - STIX 305
The SoundMaster Stix 305 is a very rare analogue drum machine from the early eighties. You get both the cheesy, mellow sound of the psychedelic 70s, plus the acid hats of the 80s !
This WaveShaper sample pack is a quite unique occasion to meet this very little known and lovely beat box. Your tracks will get a great retro sound, whether you are an electronic funk producer, and acid freak or a true analogue sound lover.
The Stix305 was recorded using some tube preamp and compressor and a vintage eq on top of it to keep the analogue vibe on the full recording chain.
As the Stix305 features few sounds, I recorded them at various compression, gain and eq settings and made several takes of each sound in order to get some subtle variations that your round-robin soft sampler will love for sure !
There are also a dozen of loops plus a more punchy kit, processed using some strong tube distortion.
Converted and exclusively available for iOS use (Nanostudio and Beatmaker 2) from Sunsine Audio. Please visit http://waveshaper.12r.org/ for original Wav file versions. This product is not included in the Sunsine subscription deal.
Format:
*Requires Beatmaker 2 or Nanostudio*
43 One Hit Samples
3 Kits (Clean, Alt, Distorted)
3 .bmkz files for Beatmaker 2
3 .trg files for Nanostudio
13 Bonus loops in .wav format
Easy Installation Instructions
"This is a vintage boxed (still with original instructions!) progammable drum machine (one of the first) It's in working order, runs on batteries and sounds super-old-school! Pair it up with an analogue synth for cool electro fun.."
some synth spotting via motherboard.tv. via Seema "Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride make up the minimal electronics duo known as Xeno and Oaklander. Instead of geeking out on software like much of their Brooklyn brethren, the pair record their songs live in their home studio, playing analog synthesizers and drum machines exclusively. On this episode of Electric Independence, we learn how this handsome duo of Norwegian/French/American heritage fashions a raw, distopian 80’s dance beat that buzzes with a sense of robot horror." Features the rare Soundmaster Stix ST-305
YouTube via f...ingharpsichord "Some programmed patterns replayed, then i programme 'a beat'.
I'm in love with tha stix, shure i am ! I mean it has individual outputs, clock in, fill ins, 3 variations + 8 banks (so that means : 24 patterns !!!! lol), you can adjust the tone and if you press stop you can play as a thermin (load another video of that funtion up) !"
