Launched in 1981, this Rhythm Composer arrived when drum machines were still finding their groove, delivering analog drum tones that no live drummer could match—especially that booming bass drum built from a sine wave oscillator, low-pass filter, and voltage-controlled amp for those endless, sub-rattling decays.
Its pure analog heart powers 12 voices including bass drum with tune/decay, snare with snappy/tune, rimshot, claves, handclap, maracas, cowbell, tunable low/mid/high congas and toms, cymbal with decay, open/closed hi-hats, plus accent. Program via a 16-step illuminated button grid for up to 32 patterns, chain into 12 tracks of 64 measures each (or 768 total), with auto fill-ins, intros, and pre-scale for time signatures like 5/4 or 7/8. Hands-on knobs handle individual levels, tones, decays, and tuning, while the compact black metal chassis (20"W x 12"D x 4"H, 11 lbs) offers 1 stereo mix out, 9 mono instrument outs, 2 accent/conductors outs, and 3 trigger outs alongside DIN sync—no MIDI, but perfect for vintage sync chains. Tempo taps from 33-300 BPM, with start/stop and footswitch jacks for live control.
Over four decades, it's earned mythic status in hip-hop, techno, and beyond, with producers loving the raw, imperfect warmth that defined hits from Marvin Gaye to Kanye—though some note its quirky interface demands patience to master.
