E-mu Procussion

Back in 1991, this rackmount drum module pulled samples straight from the Emulator III library, packing 4MB of 16-bit, 39kHz percussion gold into a compact 2kg chassis—hundreds of kicks, snares, toms, hats, Latin flavors, and even mallets like marimbas that felt huge without any effects.

It delivers 32-voice polyphony across 16 MIDI parts, with 64 ROM kits and 64 user RAM slots holding up to 105 presets total. Layer up to four samples or waveforms per stack in each of eight stacks per kit, tweaking tuning, volume, pan, delay, and dual envelopes per layer, all routed through a modulation matrix with one LFO. A 16x2 LCD handles editing, while six assignable audio jacks (configurable as three stereo pairs or poly sub-mixes) and full MIDI In/Out/Thru let you dial in velocity-sensitive brightness, hi-hat control via pedals, and keyboard zones for 24 sounds per kit.

Owners love its raw, airy punch—crushing beats that stack into ear-bleeding kits with smart polyphony keeping bass, snare, and hats alive together. Front 242 and KMFDM tapped it for industrial edge, and even today, folks dig the no-frills editing for authentic, tweakable drums that hold up in mixes.