The brief history of the drum machine
This article contains an exploration of the history of drum machines and their reception in the music industry. From early experiments to sophisticated programmable machines with sampling capabilities. What was their impact on music production, and how did drummers react to machines that share their role in music?
The early developments
1930s The Rhythmicon
The first drum machine can be traced back to the 1930s with a device called the Rhythmicon. It was more of an experiment rather than something practical for musicians; however, the demand for a rhythm-producing machine was evident with the rise of the “around-the-piano-sing-along tradition.” The Rhythmicon was played like a rather conventional piano keyboard with every key associated with a rhythmic pattern. This way, it had no problems playing all sorts of polyrhythms.
Here is a brief demonstration of the Rhythmicon:
1949 Chamberlin Rhythmate
The Chamberlin Rhythmate introduced recordings of actual drummers made into a loop. Only about 15 were ever produced by Harry Chamberlin. It was also designed with great care to look nice and be a nice addition to any home. It had a built-in amplifier and speaker and was based on the same concept of mimicking live musicians as its sister product, the Mellotron. To adjust the speed, you had to adjust the speed of the tape.
1959 The Side Man
The Side Man was released in 1959 by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. It produced sounds electronically like the Rhythmicon but unlike the Rhythmate. It included predefined rhythms, such as waltz, foxtrot, tango, and many more that continued on to the following developments of the drum machine. The drum sounds were sequenced by a rotating disc with metal contacts set up in a certain way to resemble familiar drum patterns. The reception of the Side Man wasn’t all positive. The UK Musicians’ Union labeled the machine a “stilted and unimaginative performer”. It didn’t help that the name also hinted at a job-stealing purpose.
Programmable drum machines
1972 EKO ComputeRhythm
The drum machines mentioned so far had one thing in common: they could only play predefined rhythms which shipped with the machine. The EKO ComputeRhythms is regarded as the first programmable drum machine with six different instruments available to program onto a 16-step sequencer. It was an important milestone and set the standard for all drum machines that followed.
1978 Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm
The Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm was the first machine that included a microprocessor and allowed musicians to save their sequences. This model resonated most with musicians. It can be heard on tracks like “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.
1981 Roland TR-808
The TR-808 changed the game and is still considered one of the most important drum machines of all time. It wasn’t initially successful, but its significance only became apparent over time. The sounds on the TR-808 were entirely analog sourced, which meant that they didn’t sound like their acoustic counterparts. For that reason, many didn’t like the sounds and considered them less convincing. What really stood out, though, were the bass drum and clap sounds, which would become key ingredients for drum beats in the majority of pop songs from the early 2000s to today. The real authentic TR-808 can be heard on tracks like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston.
Sample Based Drum machines
1981-1982 Linn Electronics LinnDrum LM-1 & LM-2
Roger Linn is perhaps the most important figure in the development of drum machines. He is a musician who also happens to be an engineer, and not the other way around. This combination made his designs intuitive for musicians as they were purely designed around musical purposes. The LM-1 was the first-ever sample-based drum machine and was noted for its high-quality sounds. But it was way too expensive to become widely available. The LM-2 was released a year later. It was cheaper and more refined, with more or less the same features, and it became a hit. Prince was famous for his use of the LM-1, and the machine can be heard on many of his hits. A good example could be “When Doves Cry”.
1982-90s
Many more classic drum machines were introduced, and it would take a lot of writing to go into detail. But it’s worth mentioning the Sequential Circuits Drumtraks, which was the first machine with MIDI integration. Roland released the TR-909, which followed the same pattern as the 808 and would later become hugely important for house drum beats. Linn released the Linn9000, which featured innovative pad controllers.
1990s The MPC
A pivotal moment occurred with the introduction of the MPC3000, again a drum machine by Roger Linn but this time for AKAI. It was half a drum machine and half sampler featuring 16 customizable pad controllers inherited from the Linn9000, which could be played like a keyboard. The machine was intuitive and didn’t require much effort to learn, which played a huge role in its success. With the MPC’s extremely easy way to record, adjust, loop, and sequence your own samples, it paved the way for the art form of sampling. The MPC can be heard on a lot of hip-hop tracks, and it shines bright on the track “Workinonit” by J Dilla.
The legacy of drum machines
Quantization
There is no denying that drum machines are better than humans in time-keeping and playing accurately on the grid. The feature of correcting inputs so that they “snap” perfectly to a predefined grid was a feature invented by Roger Linn on the LM-1 drum machine. It was discovered by accident as a way to try to compress “drum grooves” to take up as little storage on the expensive hardware. Similarly, Linn invented swing on drum machines, which manipulated the time and distance between the eighth note and the next big beat. This feature was originally called “timing correct,” but when copied by other manufacturers, it became known as “quantization.”
“Dilla Time”
The legendary hip-hop producer, J Dilla, mastered the MPC3000 drum machine and came up with never-before-heard drum grooves by turning the “timing-correct” feature off, which resulted in oddly timed grooves that didn’t perfectly line up on the grid. This concept turned out to be hugely influential, as the renowned drummer and producer Questlove said in an interview:
“So, as I’m leaving the club, I’m hearing the vibration of the kick drum, and it was the most life-changing moment I ever had. Like, I had to get out of the car and run back in the club to make sure, like, “Did I hear that?” Whereas this part is normal… [plays a metronomic, simple beat], it sounded like the kick drum was played by a drunk three- year-old. And I was like, “Are you allowed to do that?” So it was like… [plays the same beat on hi-hat and snare, but with a kick that’s all over the place] And I was like, “What the hell is that?” So the next day in Atlanta, I’m asking him, “Yo, what was that drunken song that y’all were playing? What was that?” He said, “Oh yeah, that’s ‘Bullshit.’ It was produced by Jay Dee.” And I was like, “Who is that?” He’s like, “Q-Tip’s guy.” (Questlove, 2013) Questlove talks Drums, Dilla, and D’Angelo | Red Bull Music Academy So what we can derive from these stories is that drum machines weren’t as a big of a threat as initially thought by many. In fact quite the contrary as we see drummers embrace them and get inspired by their unique sound and capabilities.”
This way of playing has a really distinct feel to it. There is a book about J Dilla by Dan Charnas where this feel is regarded as “Dilla time”. These electronic drum beats have encouraged musicians to explore the distance between notes like never before, and drummers such as Jojo Mayer have dug down deep in order to reverse engineer the grooves.
Drum machines today
The legacy of the drum machines cannot be understated, and looking back, it predicted to a certain degree the all-in-one workflow of DAWs such as Ableton Live. Today, digital interfaces have mostly replaced the physical drum machines, but there still seems to be a market for them as there’s still quite a selection available to choose from. There seems to remain an appeal of having a physical instrument that you can manipulate with your hands.
Conclusion
The drum machines have had a profound impact on music production. From early experimental devices like the Rhythmicon to programmable machines such as the EKO ComputeRhythm and iconic models like the Roland TR-808, each development marked a milestone. The LinnDrum and MPC introduced sampling and sequencing innovations, while J Dilla’s unique approach showcased the art of timing and groove. While digital interfaces now dominate, physical drum machines still remain appealing and are still a great source of inspiration for musicians. It’s interesting to note that drummers have strived to mimick some features of the drum machine and shows that the way forward is to embrace new technology. I’m sure the drum machine’s legacy continues to shape music production and it will be exciting to follow further developments, especially now as we see the power of artificial intelligence unfold, promising new possibilities for musical creation.
Sources
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Akai MPC. (2023). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Akai_MPC&oldid=1159206960
Chamberlin Rhythmate | Vintage Synth Explorer. (n.d.). Retrieved June 16, 2023, from https://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/chamberlinrhythmate.php
Colouring musical rhythms with coloured noise. (2011, October 28). https://www.mpg.de/4621315/humanizing-musical-rhythms
Griffiths, D. (2022, April 14). The 10 drum machines that changed musical history. MusicRadar. https://www.musicradar.com/news/10-drum-machines-that-changed-music-history
How J Dilla humanized his MPC3000. (2017, December 6). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SENzTt3ftiU
Jojo Mayer. (2011, November 6). TEDxZurich - Jojo Mayer - Exploring the distance between 0 and 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KExLCJAuTXA
Kurk, W. (2018, October 4). Electric Rhythm: The History of the Drum Machine | Reverb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d89S-jOsfY
Questlove (2013). https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/questlove-new-york-2013
Rhythmicon. (2023). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhythmicon&oldid=1154580451
Scarth, G. (2013, July 2). Roger Linn On Swing, Groove & The Magic Of The MPC’s Timing. Attack Magazine. https://www.attackmagazine.com/features/interview/roger-linn-swing-groove-magic-mpc-timing/
The Wurlitzer ‘Side Man’ Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, USA, 1959. (2013, September 21). 120 Years of Electronic Music. https://120years.net/wordpress/the-side-manwurlitzerusa1959/