Great Synth Mysteries Ep. 4: Whatever Happened to the LinnDrum II

video upload by Noir Et Blanc Vie

"So, it's been over 2 years since I completed an episode of Great Synth Mysteries. Cool. Well, I honestly thought about this for at least a year, really hard to top that Jexus two parter ya know. The reason this story worked was because I was lucky enough to find a solid storyline using Internet Wayback Machine, so the research took FOREVER. (Plus, new interviews gave me better insights) I'll probably do 1 of these a year going forward, but these are by far my favorites. I'm a story teller, and this (while it takes sometimes a dang year) is the ultimate rush for brain like mine who needs to tell a compelling story. I hope you enjoy it, and I thank everyone who deals with all my low effort content in the meantime lol

FAIR USE OF CLIPS FROM:
SONICSTATE - sonicstate.com
MIKE HIEGEMANN - (nodes and wires) mikehiegmann.com
GEARWIRE (RIP)
...and more.

Shoutout GamerFromMars, this series and artwork has always been inspired by him."

Additional posts mentioning the BoomChik and LinnDrum II.

NAMM: Dave Smith and Roger Linn Create a Tempest

YouTube via DaveSmithInstruments | January 13, 2011

Boomchik arrives in a Tempest (click and scroll to see how it has evolved over time).

"Analog Drum Machine a First for Legendary Designers

January 13, 2011—Dave Smith Instruments today introduced Tempest, a new analog drum machine, at the 2011 NAMM Show. Tempest is a collaboration between Smith and longtime friend and fellow instrument designer Roger Linn. Though they've consulted with each other on past projects, Tempest marks the first time a product will carry both the Dave Smith Instruments and Roger Linn Design logos. 'If you're going to make a drum machine, who better to have in your corner than Roger Linn?' said Smith, referring to Linn's legacy as inventor of the digital drum machine.

Though Smith is also responsible for some fine drum machines—most notably Sequential's DrumTraks and Studio 440—Tempest is his first to utilize analog synthesis to generate the sounds. "We've designed a very flexible new synth voice for Tempest," said Smith. Linn added, "The design of Tempest reflects a rethinking of what a drum machine needs to be in the current era. It's not so much a drum machine as a new musical performance instrument for the creation, manipulation, and arrangement of beat-oriented music, with an intuitive and efficient use of human gestures."

Tempest's 16 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads are arranged in an 8 x 2 array to facilitate both real-time and step entry of beats. Two pressure- and position-sensitive Note FX slide controllers provide a unique new method of performance and control.

"We're very excited about Tempest," said Smith. "It's an instrument with a lot of personality and it's great fun to play. It has been a long time since there has been anything new in the drum machine world."

Tempest is expected to be available by June 2011 with a projected MAP of $1,999.00.

Summary of Features

CLICK FOR MORE »

NAMM & NOT NAMM - New Products on the Synth Front

Well, it's that time of year again. Keep an eye out on the NAMM label (added to top right menu) for everything NAMM and more. More in that anything new will get the label whether it's shown at NAMM or not. It's about new gear. Updates in this post will be preceded in red. Some already in below. See "The NAMM List!" link under the Twitter, Facebook, and RSS labels on top of the right to get back to this post later.

(A note on the top site menus: I removed the iPhone and iPad labels as they go up in posts every day now so you can find them there. eBay links are on the right, so I removed it as well.)

That said, the following are some of the things to look out for. If you have any NAMM info feel free to comment and/or send it in. If I missed anything, let me know! If you are going to NAMM, feel free to send pics and video in.

On the list:

CLICK FOR MORE »

the evolution of the LinnDrum II

Third design, now abandoned in favor of the current design. Click the images for the full size shots.

via Roger Linn Design
"September 20, 2008:
I'm sorry to report that we won't be shipping in 2008 and I can't yet offer a new estimated ship date. The good news is that it's turned into a significantly more powerful and creative product. The bad news is that we'd prefer not to release details of the new design because it's so cool that I don't want to show our cards to the competition. However, I do want to thank all those who wrote in with suggestions because this interactive design process has very much helped to change what we thought the product originally should be into what we now know you really want. So please hold your questions while we're hard at work on it, and I'll be periodically updating this page as we release new information. If you'd like to be notified when we update this page with something significant, please click here to join our LinnDrum II email list.

For those of you who are new to LinnDrum II, its new subtitle is "Beat-Centric Digital Audio Workstation with Integrated Analog Synthesis". Inspired by how the MPC product line that I (Roger) originally created for Akai has evolved a new genre of musical instrument, LinnDrum II aspires to raise the bar beyond the current crop of high-end pad-oriented music production station products in order to enable musicians around the world to better realize the next wave of beat-oriented music.

- Roger and Dave
And for your amusement, here's the evolution of the LinnDrum II so far."





some details from tonymission on gearslutz:
"what i know:

Two versions will be available. $1000/1500 one is just for drum sampling like an MPC and the other will have 4 voices dedicated to prophet 8 synth engine if im understanding that correctly. the first sold through Roger Linn Designs, the other through Dave's company...

2008 is no longer the release "date/timeframe" ... early 2009 Linn is quoted as saying in his NAMM interview (youtube)

* Operating system is optimized for realtime live performance, with the ability to switch between beats, drop in and out of record on different beats, switch in and out of song mode and much more, all without stopping play.
* Digital voices have nearly the same signal and modulation path--including modulated filters and resonators--as shown on the LinnDrum II Analog panel. Total number of voices is not yet determined.
* 16 standard 1.1 inch square velocity- and pressure-sensitive drum pads, assignable to sounds, tunings, beats, track mutes, sound mutes or sequence steps.
* Both MPC-style real time and 808-style step recording are provided, and the 16 pads are backlit for visual animation.
* Real-time stereo digital effects on output mix--modulated multi-mode filtering, guitar amp model and bit/sample rate reduction distortion, modulated resonator, compressor, delay, reverb and EQ--with 6 dedicated on/off keys to switch them individually in or out in real time.
* Compact flash slot for data save/load/backup, or for expansion of internal sound storage.
* Internal RAM and flash size is yet to be decided; at least 16 mbytes for each.
* 128 x 64 dot graphic LCD.
* USB port for transferring samples and other files, MIDI messages and audio I/O to and from computer.
* 4 pushbutton soft knobs below the LCD, acting either as soft knobs or soft keys.
* 48 lit buttons for extensive real-time performance control.
* 2 sliders assignable to a large variety of real-time functions.
* HELP key gives descriptive text for any screen, data field, function key or knob.
* Pressing DETAILS key followed by any panel key presents a screen of settings related to the key pressed.
* 2 pairs of stereo outputs, with phones output fed from either pair.
* Stereo inputs for sampling, audio processing or triggering sounds.
* MIDI in and out.
* 2 inputs for either foot switches or expression pedals, assignable to a wide variety of functions.
* Four complex analog voices based on the same Curtis-chip synth voices used in the highly-aclaimed Prophet '08 and Evolver keyboards.
* Four direct ouputs for the four analog voices.
* 27 dedicated dual-function rotary encoders for voicing the analog and digital voices.

taken from:
Linndrum II Analog Drum Machine

more info/source on price:
Create Digital Music » LinnDrum II: Former BoomChik Gets More Delayed But More Mature"

NAMM: LinnDrum II Prototype

"Update: January 17, 2008

Happy new year! Today is the first day of the 2008 Winter NAMM Show and, for the first time ever, Dave Smith Instruments is introducing two new products. We'll be showing a prototype of the LinnDrum II Analog (previously announced as BoomChik). It doesn't do much yet, but it's finally more than just a nice Roger Linn rendering. As you might imagine, this is a very software-intensive project, so having hardware is just one step towards completion. But it is a step. And those pads with the blue backlighting are mesmerizing! Check out the LinnDrum II Analog product page for more information."

more info. via MG.

LinnDrum II on Roger Linn Design

The LinnDrum II is now up on Roger Linn Design. via MG.

"In January 2007, Dave Smith and I (Roger Linn) pre-annouced BoomChik, a new drum machine product that we are creating together. Since that time, we received many enthusiastic comments and suggestions from musicians around the world that caused us to rethink and enhance the product's design. The bad news is that this design change (along with Dave's release of Prophet '08 and my release of AdrenaLinn III) has delayed our development. The good news is that the product has grown into a far more capable instrument. Also, we've decided to change the name to LinnDrum II, recalling an innovative drum machine from a bygone era. Please read on for more details.

There will be two models: the all-digital “LinnDrum II”, available from Roger Linn Design and the “LinnDrum II Analog”, which adds four voice analog synth voices and 27 dual-function voicing knobs, available from Dave Smith Instruments. We're currently estimating street prices of around $1000 for LinnDrum II and around $1500 for LinnDrum II Analog. Here's a brief summary of the product features:

Features common to both products:
* Operating system is optimized for realtime live performance, with the ability to switch between beats, drop in and out of record on different beats, switch in and out of song mode and much more, all without stopping play.
* Digital voices have nearly the same signal and modulation path--including modulated filters and resonators--as shown on the LinnDrum 2 Analog panel. Total number of voices is not yet determined.
* 16 standard 1.1 inch square velocity and pressure-sensitive drum pads, assignable to sounds, tunings, beats, track mutes, pad mutes or sequence steps.
* Both MPC-style real time and 808-style step recording are provided, and the 16 pads are backlit for visual animation.
* Real-time stereo digital effects on output mix--modulated multi-mode filtering, guitar amp model and bit/sample rate reduction distortion, modulated resonator, compressor, deley, reverb and EQ--with 6 dedicated on/off keys to switch them individually in or out in real time.
* Compact flash slot for data save/load/backup, or for expansion of internal sound storage.
* Internal RAM and flash size is yet to be decided; at least 16 mbytes for each.
* 128 x 64 dot graphic LCD.
* USB port for transferring samples and other files, MIDI messages and audio I/O to and from computer.
* 4 pushbutton soft knobs below the LCD, acting either as soft knobs or soft keys.
* 52 lit buttons for extensive real-time performance control.
* 2 sliders assignable to a large variety of real-time functions.
* HELP key gives descriptive text for any screen, data field, function key or knob.
* Pressing DETAILS key followed by any panel key presents a screen of settings related to the key pressed.
* 2 pairs of stereo outputs, with phones output fed from either pair.
* Stereo inputs for sampling, audio processing or triggering sounds.
* MIDI in and out.
* 2 inputs for either foot switches or expression pedals, assignable to a wide variety of functions.

Additional features on Dave's LinnDrum II Analog:
* Four complex analog voices based on the same Curtis-chip synth voices used in the highly-aclaimed Prophet '08 and Evolver keyboards.
* Four direct ouputs for the four analog voices.
* 27 dedicated dual-function rotary encoders for voicing the analog and digital voices.

There's still a lot of work to do so late 2008 is our best estimate of when the products will be ready. If you'd like to be updated on the progress and informed when we're ready to ship, or if you have any comments or suggestions, please send us an email. And to all those whose comments and suggestions helped refine our design (special thanks to Noaka for help on the visual design), please accept our sincere thanks.

Thanks,

Roger Linn"

Linndrum II Drum Machine on Dave Smith Instruments

Looks like the Linndrum II is up on the DSI website. Click the image for the full size shot.

"Many of you have been anxiously awaiting news of BoomChik, the collaboration between Dave and Roger Linn announced at Winter NAMM 2007. As information becomes available, we'll be posting it to this page. The most obvious development over the last year is that it is no longer called BoomChik: it is now the LinnDrum II. There will be two models: the all-digital LinnDrum II and the LinnDrum II Analog, which adds a 4-voice analog synth and 27 dual-function voicing knobs. The LinnDrum II will be available from Roger Linn Design and the LinnDrum II Analog will be available from Dave Smith Instruments.

The operating system emphasizes real-time performance with the ability to drop in and out of record on different beats, play multiple beats simultaneously, switch in and out of song mode, and much more, all without stopping play. Both MPC-style real time and XOX-style step recording are provided, and the 16 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads—backlit for visual sequence animation—can be assigned to sounds, tunings, beats, pad mutes, or sequence steps. Dedicated buttons exist for touch sensitivity, sound restart, real-time erase and pressure-sensitive note repeat or rolls. 16 megabytes of internal flash memory exist for sound storage, but because sound data is read directly from flash, expanding sound memory is accomplished merely by plugging a compact flash card into the rear panel slot. Inputs and outputs include four audio outs, two sampling/audio processing/drum trigger inputs, phones, USB, MIDI in/out, two expression pedal/foot switch inputs, and four additional direct voice outputs for the Analog model.

Sample playback is enhanced with 8-level velocity switching, dynamic filters and resonators, distortion and lo-fi algorithms, two complex modulation matrices and the ability to use sequence events as modulation sources. The Analog model enables significantly richer voice timbres with its four Curtis chip-based analog voices, analog feedback resonator paths, and dedicated voicing knobs. Performance enhancements include two programmable sliders and dedicated on/off buttons for filter, resonator, amp sim/compressor, EQ, delay and reverb effects.

We hope to be shipping by mid-2008."

Thanks to MG and J for sending this in.

The LinnDrum II

Looks like BoomChick will now be called the LinnDrum II. Images send my way via Aaron.
Some info via this VSE thread send my way via MG (note the images are from this month's Future Music magazine):

"LinnDrum II
So no BoomChik but the name now is the LinnDrum II!

Article is in the new Future Music with nice pics (it looks quite different from the Boomchik pics):
2 versions of the new Drum Machine to be Launched:
1 All Digital with Sample playback
2 Digital and Analogue (IE version above but with 4 Voice analogue synthesis-and Evolver type bits and pieces) and 27 extra knobs

Some details:
OS emphasises usability and realtime performance
MPC and 808 style programming on 16 sensitive pads
16 MB flash RAM expandable by compact Flash
Pitch-space synthesis on analogue side
4 outputs plus 4 Analogue outputs (on analogue model)
2 Audio Inputs for processing etc
USB/MIDI in/out
Various processing options and its own individual 'sound'"

The Prophet '08

"The rumors are true. (Well, most of 'em, anyway.) Dave has emerged from his underground lair (the Dave Cave?) with a fresh take on a classic, the all new Prophet '08. It is an eight-voice synthesizer with a 100% analog audio signal path. And it will be shipping very soon. More details will be available here on the Web site in a few days. Following hot on its heels will be the Prophet '08 Special Edition, each of which will be hand-signed by Dave and which will feature lighted wheels (RED!) and exotic leopardwood end panels. And for those of you who are wondering what happened to BoomChik, stay calm. Do not panic. Development is progressing nicely. Stay tuned!

Dave Smith Instruments: Celebrating 30 Years of Great Synth Design (a little early...)"

Title link takes you to the official site.
Previous posts

BoomChik on Dave Smith Instruments and Roger Linn Design

The following is up on the Dave Smith Instruments site:

"Yes, it's been a long time since I've updated the site. The Evolver synths continue to grow in popularity and get great reviews. Also, we announced a new gem in the works at the NAMM show last month, a new drum machine tentatively called BoomChik. I am designing this with Roger Linn, the undisputed king of drum machines, who not only invented them back in the late 70s/80s (LM-1, Linndrum, Linn 9000), but also designed the MPCs that just about everyone uses now.

We're about a year away from production, so it's currently in the vaporware, uh, I mean, computer simulation stage. Below is the current vision, though it will likely go through a number of changes over the year. We will update the website every few months with the latest status, so in the meanwhile please don't ask about features or specifics on the design - it's all subject to change anyway! As far as price, best guess is $1000 - $1500 range. We're shooting for the lower, but we all know how that can go.

Basically, it is meant to be a drum machine, not an MPC. It will have both real analog percussion and normal sample playback, plus a bunch of novel processing. The idea is to produce sounds with some real, unique personality, different from everything else out there. Those of you with Evolvers can likely imagine what sounds will be possible, but it should go beyond that also."

The following is on the Roger Linn Design site:

"Dave and I annouced this work-in-progress at his booth at the January NAMM show. In our weekly meetings of the Dead Presidents Society), we've been discussing for a while the idea of doing a product together and figured a drum machine with both analog & sampled sounds would be fun. This picture is only a 3D rendering I made up, but it shows the direction we're going in our development. This design will no doubt change and we're still probably a year off until release, but we decided to put this up on our sites to get feedback and start spreading the word. Click on it to see a high-res picture and learn more about the details.

The basic idea at this point is that it will have 4 analog voices similar to Dave's Evolver, using either the analog oscillators or samples as sound sources, plus a number of digital voices that model the analog ones. If you have any realistic suggestions for this product, we'd welcome them at support[at]rogerlinndesign.com. (Replace [at] with @.)"

Dave Smith on the BoomChik and Evolver

Title link takes you to a video from this years' NAMM show on Sonic State. Dave calls out it is not an MPC style drum machine but rather a more traditional box with the focus being on new sounds.

bOOmChik Poster

Title link takes you to the source shot on EX5Tech.