A Brief History of the Drum Machine

The drum machine had its real break-through back in the eighties but never really lost momentum. New models are frequently released while older models are regularly reissued and priced more generously than the original hardware. Curious about how legendary bits of kit like the TR-808 and the LM-1 came to exist? Read on!

A 13th Century Drum Machine

You could actually argue that the very first drum machine dates back to the 13th century, when an inventor called Ismail Al-Jazari developed a water-powered system that made wooden sticks strike percussion instruments. Fast-forward to the 1930s and there’s Léon Theremin (yes, that Theremin) who invented the Rhythmicon (or Polyrhythmophone), an electronic percussion machine which is now a museum piece. What’s clear is that, for centuries, there was a desire to create an automatic drummer of sorts — a quest that finally ended after computer chips became affordable enough to be crammed into consumer electronics.

A Brief History of the Drum Machine

Enter Roland

In 1978, Roland dropped the Compurhythm CR-78: an analogue drum voice-spitting drum machine equipped with a microprocessor that, above all, opened up a ton of options.

A few years later, Roland would unveil two now-legendary Rhythm Composers. The TR-808 popped up first, soon followed by the TR-909. From a commercial standpoint, both drum machines were a flop, with a relatively low number of units sold. At the same time, samplers gradually became more affordable — a development that went hand in hand with increasingly realistic drum sounds. While the cymbals loaded into the 909 were certainly solid, the rest of the sounds were just a collection of analogue oscillators, which meant that both the T808 and the 909 struggled to compete with more authentic-sounding samplers that were released around the same time. A decade later, the tables turned when EDM discovered the hidden-but-massive potential of Roland’s original Rhythm Composers, which were now changing owners for astronomical amounts of money. The legacy left behind by the 808 and 909, which by the way aren’t the only drum machines Roland ever made, is that the vernacular we use today still includes the x0x method when it comes to sequencing: sixteen steps that can be turned on and off at will, or sixteen sixteenth notes in four-four time.

The TR-808: A Sultry Drum Machine

The 808 is a fully analogue drum machine, so every sound is synthetic. Popularly used in more sultry songs and styles (think ‘Lady in Red’ by Chris DeBurgh), the sound of the 808 also ended up in the Roland Sound Canvas, a general MIDI sound module released in the ‘90s. In order to cram every last sample into that synth module, Roland did have to lower the quality. Anyone who owns or has ever owned an 808 will agree that the real thing sounds a whole lot better than any replica from the 1990s.

The TR-909: A Dance-Machine?

The 909 might well be called a dance machine rather than a drum machine. The cymbals were sampled while the rest of the sounds came out of analogue oscillators. While samples normally add that all-important dose of authenticity, here, they sounded a little crunchy. Nevertheless, the 909 played a key role in Madonna’s hit song ‘Vogue’, after which it became a staple in house and every subgenre. The real magic lies in the kick and snare, which are simply spot-on and can carry a groove like no other. The price for a second-hand 909 suddenly surged, and to this day, there are countless producers who still call the TR-909 the best drum machine ever made.

The Akai and Linn Story

One of the most famous designers of the 1980s is Roger Linn who, with the Linndrum, came up with one of the most iconic collections of vintage drum sounds. While the Linndrum single-handedly defined the sound of Italo-disco, it ultimately suffered from a few too many bugs in the coding, resulting in Roger’s company going belly-up. Shortly after, Linn joined the ranks of Akai, which turned out to be a great move.

Akai gave Linn the freedom to design the drum machine of his dreams: the MPC60. Just like the aforementioned x0x method, the MPC interface has survived the test of time and is still an incredibly popular input method today. The MPC method is characterised by touch-sensitive pads in a 2D grid (e.g. 4×4) that can be used to trigger samples and play drum patterns. Since it doubled as a sampler, the MPC60 also featured various other perks and has inspired many modern grooveboxes. Akai continues to offer up new MPC units to this day, with the latest models essentially being ultra-complete, hands-on machines with a built-in DAW and all.

Drum Machine Software & Plugins

The logical upshot of the success of the x0x and MPC methods is that they’ve been implemented in countless DAW plugins. Part of the reason why is that the golden days of the analogue era are ever-inspirational, but the main explanation is that both methods have simply proven to be rock-solid and have become everyone’s go-to way to programme drums. If you’ve never worked with either method before, I can only encourage you to give one of the many software packs available a try and see for yourself.

New Old Drum Machines

History always repeats itself. Manufacturers are always reissuing vintage synths and drum machines, whether it’s the original manufacturer (e.g. Roland) or another. One of the most prolific recreators of classic bits of kit is Behringer, who serves up countless legendary synthesizers and drum machines drenched in a Behringer sauce and slapped with a surprisingly generous price tag to give new-producers-on-the-block the opportunity to get started with gear they would otherwise never be able to afford — much to the dismay of a small group of disgruntled purists. If you ask us, there’s nothing wrong with reviving iconic, in some cases genre-defining gear. It only helps keep their spirit alive, and what’s more, reissues often feature modern conveniences like USB/DIN MIDI and can fill in when a vintage counterpart irreparably breaks down. Also, to each their own!