Kawai R-50 "The Right Stuff" advertisement, Keyboard 1987

 

Kawai R-50 drum machine "The Right Stuff" full page colour advertisement from page 81 in the December 1987 issue of Keyboard Magazine. 

Although it was in June 1987 that the R-50 started appearing in ads alongside the R-100 (see my last blog post), in November of that same year the R-50 finally got the spotlight to itself. This ad above appeared on and off until early 1988, getting bumped periodically by an ad for Kawai's additive synthesizer the K-5. 

This ad was a big departure from the R-100/R-50 80s themed extravaganza that came before it - with a much more standard title/content/photo layout - and the content efficiently spelling out the features of the R-50, including its polyphony, pitch and pan abilities, on-board effects, pad programmability, Midi out the wazoo, and... my favourite... the alternate sound chips. More on that in a second. 

Although Keyboard never devoted a full review to the R-50, it did make the Updates & Short Takes section of the Magazine in the January 1988 issue. Yes, you heard that right. Although the R-50 began appearing in ads waaaaaay back in June 1987, it would be seven months before any kind of review showed up. 

Wowza is right. 

I do give Jim Aikins credit though - its a nice, small compact review - just like the R-50 itself. We end up with about two columns of content devoted to the machine. 

Jim starts by pointing out that the $495 R-100 is about $300 cheaper than the R-100. I like this, because it lets me know that the R-100 was still on the market at this time. Also, I dig historical retail prices in general.  

Much like my relatives would do when over for Christmas dinner, we first get a lot of chatter about what's missing in the younger sibling compared to its bigger brother (okay, maybe I'm projecting a bit). 

• Buttons not velocity sensitive
• Half the memory
• 50 of the 100 patterns are non-programmable factory rhythms
• Song construction simplified (no repeat loops or tempo changes)
• No punch-in recording and song overdub features
• No DIN sync jacks
• In individual outputs

Geeez... sounding even more like me being compared to my older brother. :) 

But, the R-50 did have a few improvements like those assignable pads I went on about in the last post, some new effects, and some amazing midi tricks including midi triggers. 

And, because I can't, and won't, stop talking about them, Jim also mentions those alternate sound chips. Read what he had to say...

"Two additional plug-in voice chips ($129.00) suggested retail) are compatible between the R-100 and R-50. You have to open up the unit to install the new chips, but we're told that Kawai is planning to market a built-in switcher that will hold all three chips and let you choose whichever one you prefer for the current song.". 

This is the first I've heard that Kawai had planned to market their own switcher for all three chips. I'm my head, I'm thinking this would have been a kit that gets installed at the shop.   

But correct me if I'm wrong - I don't recall this ever on the marketing. And I'm wondering if maybe Kawai decided that rather than market a switcher, they decided to market a new R-50 entirely - the elusive R-50iii - that contained all three chips. 

I just happen to have one of those R-50iii. Time to open 'er up and see how those chips are installed.

Kawai R-100 and R-50 drum machine "Overnight Sensation" ad, Keyboard 1987

Kawai R-100 and R-50 drum machine "Overnight Sensation" full page colour advertisement featuring Jan Hammer and Steve Smith from page 73 in the June 1987 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Wowza. There is so much 80s goodness to unpack in this little rare advertisement. It only ran twice in Keyboard - the June and August issues... but should have had a much longer run, dammit.

First - lets look at those 80s design elements. Have you ever seen anything more 80s? Those pink, blue, yellow and purple colours? That "torn page" design element traveling through the middle of the ad? Even the logo for Kawai's "Electronic Musical Instruments Division" with its lines, Keyboard keys knock-out, and other various chunkiness.  Reminds me of Roland ads running around the same time period (see right). 

11/10 for design. 

Next - 80s endorsements! Steve Smith and Jan Hammer - pure 80s peeps endorsing pure 80s drum machines. Jan Hammer, of course known for Miami Vice (did I mention the 80s!?!?!?) and Steve Smith, known for his work with Vital Information and Journey (80s!!!!!).

The ad copy only solidifies the whole 80s vibe with references to Miami Vice, a keyboard review quote, and the trifecta of 80s brand marketing jargon - the "combination of sound, features and price". 

My head is gonna explode!!!!

Here's the thing though - there is just so much going on in this ad, that the whole reason for its existence almost gets lost - and that's the introduction of the R-50 itself. This little guy came out at under $500, and although it lost a few of its bigger brother's great features like velocity-sensitive pads, less memory and, arguably, the fact that half the patterns are uneditable, it did keep all 24 sounds. 

But more importantly, in my head, the R-50 represents what in my mind was a huge leap forward for drum machines:

The sounds are mappable to any button. 

Look at older drum machines, and you see each button has an instrument label under it. Bass Drum. Snare Drum, Hi Hat, etc. Great when memory cost a lot and there was only a limited number of sounds you could fit in a machine. But memory costs were coming down, and programming was improving. 

Some manufactures would get around this button/sound dilemma by stacking sounds on the limited number of buttons. Like the R-100 - only 8 buttons, but three sounds were assigned to each one. But, hard-coded non-the-less.

The R-50 represents that new era of drum machines that were just labeled Pad 1, Pad 2, etc. Like the Roland R-8 or Korg S3. Suddenly, you could have a wack of sounds onboard, and just assign to different pads as needed. Primitive menu diving.

And this brings up to the other really exciting thing announced in this ad almost as an afterthought:

"Both machines have the same great sound and easy operation. And both accept Kawai's new interchangeable sound chips.". 

Say what now?!?!? 

Yup. And those new sounds rawk even more than the standard ones.

There's a lot more to say about those chips... coming up soonly!

Kawai R-100 drum machine "What good is playing loud if you can't play soft?" advertisement, Keyboard 1986

Kawai R-100 drum machine "What good is playing loud if you can't play soft?" full page colour advertisement from page 11 in the November 1986 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

This gorgeous advertisement appeared in Keyboard Magazine from around November 1986 to February 1987. Somehow Kawai found a little hole in time between promo'ing their K3 ad they had been running, and a K3/K3m/computer ad that kicked the K100 to the curb in March 1987. 

It deserved more. More real estate. More promo. More time. 

This thing is still a beast. A living, breathing animal. Seriously.

You see, I'm not just a fan of the R-100, but also a trained biologist. Botanist/zoologist to be exact. Sure, my last 25+ years in Marketing may have dulled some of this here scientific noggin (*points at head*), but if there is one thing I can still do, it's identify the life cycle of living, breathing organism. And included in that category is gear that would follow the classic Keyboard Magazine life-cycle. NAMM article. Spec sheet. Ad. Review.

Take the R-100 for example. 

I first tagged a wild R-100 specimen while hunting in the forests of the September 1986 issue of Keyboard Magazine. Even though I had just entered university as a science undergrad, I'd like to think my catch-and-release game was already in top form way back then as I flipped through a Summer NAMM article and found this write-up under the "Drum Machines" subheading.

"Kawai continued to expand their line of professional products with their R-100 drum machine ($795). The R-100 has 24 32kHz, 12-bit companded sounds on board, including agogos, timbales, and china bell. It also has a selectable clock rate, tap tempo, individual outs, stereo outs, MIDI key assignments, and real-time tuning.

To put the time period in perspective, also roaming the forests of theis September 1986 issue was Korg's new DDD-1 drum machine ($999.95).

Needless to say, I tagged both for future observation and data collection before pushing forward in my quest to find more info on this new Kawai drum machine.

It would be a few months after that initial interaction that I would see the elusive R-100 again while staked out in my little observation hut. I remember I was sipping some hot chocolate I'd made by the fire pit when I saw fleeting images darting across a deer path. 

Two shadows leaping through the underbrush toward a stream. 

I squinted... remained motionless... and there, in the Spec Sheet section of the December 1986 issue of Keyboard (a month after it's first sighting in an advertisement - okay, no life cycle is perfect), crouched down along-side a K3m, quietly drinking from the stream, was another sighting of the R-100...

"The R-100 digital drum machine features touch-sensitive pads which trigger 24 12-bit/23kHz sampled sounds. Real-time control is provided for tuning, panning level, and sensitivity of each sound. Memory capacity is 100 patterns, 100 songs, and 10 chains. The unit records velocity, tuning and stereo pan for each note. Song position pointer and MIDI data dump are included in the MIDI implementation. The clock rates are variable and a sync-to-tape function is included. Other features include song overdubbing, programmable tempo and volume changes, and ten separate programmable outputs (two stereo, eight direct). The R-100 drum machine :$795.00."

But as I moved in for a closer look, the R-100 caught my scent and they both took off into the night brush. I returned home, telling the tale of this second sighting of the R-100 to all that would listen. 

Then, FINALLY, while walking through the dense woodlands of the February 1987 issue of Keyboard, I found what I was looking for. A review of this magnificent beast by Dave Fredrick!

The article starts, as most reviews do, with a brief intro that includes this rather scientific, fact-based observation on the rather short history of the digital drum machine:

"In as little as six years, we've seen the digital drum machine evolved from a $5,000, 15c rhythm device to today's fully dynamic, keyboard-controllable, tunable, user-sampling MIDI drum machine. And most of these instruments are priced under $1,000. Ain't life grand!"

Grand indeedy!

After a nice thorough review of the instrument, the reviewer concludes with what would become general consensus pretty much everywhere - Kawai had a winner on their hands with the R-100. 

Yes indeedy!

Dave especially liked some of the new features not yet found on other drum machines, like being able to individually assign instrument, tuning and pan placement for each key on a MIDI keyboard, and the "repeat and jump structure" of the pattern sequencer. 

I would have to agree. To this day, the R-100 is one of those pieces of gear that will always have a place in my heart. And, on my specimen table, where it sits waiting the next chance to be turned on.

More Kawai to come in the near future.

Roland TR-727 drum machine "The Rhythm Composer that keeps you in the groove..." brochure, 1985

 

Roland TR-727 drum machine "The Rhythm Composer that keeps you in the groove..." four page colour brochure from October 1985. 

Hey! Has it really been 20 days since 707 Day!?!?! Well golly-geeeee! 

Happy 727 day, peeps!

No better way of celebrating than by scanning this lovely beast from the archives. (Yes, I also flinched when I used the word "beast" to describe a vintage brochure of a vintage drum machine). But there ya go. What's done is done.

The 1984-1986 period was an awkward one for drum machines. It was like watching your teenager go through puberty. You wanted to look away, but had to keep one eye on 'em to ensure no one got anyone else pregnant, make sure they washed their face, and wait it out until they grew into a fully (semi) functioning adult. 

In the case of drum machines, it was watching them make that transition from analog to digital, while keeping one eye on the cost of memory as it slowly came down.

Okay, not the best analogy. Let's just say there was a lot going on and a lot of moving parts. 

As 1984 ticked by and 1985 reared its ugly teen-age head out of the bedroom after a three day binge of Fortnite and McD's, it was just a matter of time before the intersection between the cost of memory and the cost of manufacturing hit that sweet spot. Someone got the bright idea that they could just swap out the digital sounds in a drum machine they had already manufactured, give the casing a new paint job, and slap it on the back, out the door, onto music store shelves.

And to that end, we had Boss come out with their Super Drums (DM-110) and Super Percussion (DM-220), Yamaha with their RX21 and RX21L, and of course Roland with their TR-707 and TR-727. 

Each pair housed in VERY similarly manufactured boxes, with their sounds switched out for alternative percussion sounds. 

It was an interesting and short-lived (experiment) solution to keeping the price-point of your drum machine down until memory came down to the point you could start really backing one single machine with tons of sounds. If I recall, it was Boss/Roland that managed to get their percussion-based boxes out the door before Yamaha, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. 

Anyways, enough about those other two - I've got brochure scans ready to rock for a later date. Today is the day to let the 727 shine. 

Quickly - we've got the classic Roland "We design the future" layout. Cover with large font up top and sexy photo on the bottom. And what a sexy photo this is - pairing the 727 with the Octapad PAD-8, looking longingly at each other in the subdued lighting. I can here the TR-727 softly whispering "come hither". Put some lace on that PAD-8 and this could be a Harlequin Romance book cover. Just saying. 

Let's face it, Roland was expecting a large audience of the 727 to be trained percussionists, and as a friend of many percussionists, I can tell you that they love to hit things. The PAD-8 becomes the perfect companion for programming a TR-727. Although with the rigid timing of the 727, it possibly could have ended up to be more frustrating in the end. 

With their interest peaked, the reader slowly opens the cover to reveal the inside pages. And it doesn't disappoint. The Roland TR font makes me so happy, as do the large photo and diagrams included! What's interesting is the shear amount of text packed into those pages - especially on the right page. 

So much so, that they really had to compromise the negative space of the pages to fit it all in there. 

Compare it to the 707 brochure and you can see what I mean. Subtitles are crowded in the 727 brochure, and even the line spacing of the paragraphs seem claustrophobic. 

But now I'm just quibbling. It's still lovely. 9.5/10. 

Now flip to the back page and we have that PAD-8 again. Coming back for some more of that sweet sweet 727 lovin'. And it looks like it brought it's friend along for a good time. 

Bow-chicka-wow-wow. 

The perfect upsells. 

Have a safe and happy 727 day. 

Roland TR-707 drum machine "A brand new digital drum machine" brochure, 1985

Roland TR-707 drum machine's "A brand new digital drum machine from Roland "four page colour brochure from March 1985. 

Hey there! Happy 707 Day. My fifth happiest day after 303 Day, 808 Day, 909 Day and 606 Day. Oh wait... 202 Day. And 101 Day. Wait. 272 Day. Okay, my eighth happiest day of the year. 

But its still a great day! It beat our 358 or so other days. Not too shabby. 

All that aside... let's keep this short and sweet. Just like the 16 beat patterns found on this thing. 

Based on the classic "We Design The Future" brochure style of the period for Roland, this thing is gorgeous. It hits all the right notes. Large images. lots of breathing room. Cool red laser effect when you flip open the brochure. A marble. Yeah... even the marble. 

Like many of the other brochures in this series, the cover has a theme - in this case, some kind of metal thingy behind the 707. It's actually a little freaky on the eyes, ain't it? But that don't matter, because as soon as you open the brochure, you get that large image of the TR-707 and lots of info including the specs. 

But even better than the marble and lazer found on those inside pages is the back page. Because here we have the lovely older brothers of the the 707 - the TR-909 and TR-606. I love that even as MIDI started overtaking previous sync standards, Roland kept that fire burning under the TR-606. I can't fault them for that (606 Day beats 707 Day by three other days!!!

Like I said. Short and sweet. because I have a job now. A real one. And its fun too. 

Have a safe 707 Day! Enjoy!

Novation Drum Station brochure, 1996

Novation Drum Station four page colour brochure from approximately 1996.

So, it's looking like May could become Novation month. Well, the last half of May any way. I've been drilling down into their brochures and I'm really liking what I'm seeing. But first, a little house-keeping....

I haven't posted anything for almost a month a half. And that last post was my April Fools number - its been about two months since my last real post about the BassStation (one word).  I know I've had droughts before but this time I actually have a reason. I got a job. No really... a REAL job. Digital marketing of course. But this time with a dash of business development involved too.  Anywhooos, point being that time is becoming a little more limiting. Let's hope I can keep this going. Probably means keeping 'em short and sweet. 

Now back to this lovely brochure. 

After Novation's mind-blowing launch of the BassStation (one word) around 1993, it was hard to think they could follow it up with something that, personally, I found even more mind-blowing. Mind-melting even. That product - the Drum Station (two words). 

Novation called their sound creation system A.S.M. - short for Analogue Sound Modelling, and state in the brochure that the technology "re-created with stunning realism the original character and flexibility of the TR-808 and TR-909 drum sounds". Weirdly, although the acronym A.S.M. is peppered about the first half of the brochure, it isn't until halfway down the second page that we actually learn what it stands for. 

Instead of spending time on needless definitions, Novation decided to go straight to the jugular of P.C.M.-based systems on page one, explaining just how crappy and un-variable sampled sounds are. 

"Yesterday's analogue drum machines, while not as authentic sounding as today's digitally-sampled equivalents, have the character and warmth which PCM-based systems just can't seem to replace. What's more, a sampled version of an analogue drum sound loses all the variability of the original as the sound is "frozen" in just one of the myriad combinations of the editable parameters which the original machines offered." 

Bam! That's how you hit 'em where it hurts. 

The intro goes on to explain that this is why there has been a resurgence of analogue drum sounds (true) and that the TR-808 and TR-909 are the much sought after "dream machines" (also true). 

And with full control over parameters, these sounds could be as varied as the originals. 

So how did it sound...? Unlike the BassStation (one word), which I'm already on record saying it doesn't sound much like a TB-303, this thing was a dream machine. Sure, no sequencer - it had to be controlled through MIDI (and most likely a computer sequencer). But who cares. It cost a lot less than a TR-808 and TR-808 - even at 1995 prices. 

So yeah. Love it. 

The brochure itself is lovely too. A gorgeous front page that has the Drum Station (two words) floating over top a black reflective texture of some sort. Very reminiscent of Roland textures from their "We design the future" period of the 80s. Inside we have a really large photo spread of the front face, a cool block diagram and lots of juicy info. Back page - the specs in a black font in a large light yellow box with rounded corners. 

I mention the colour and shape of that box because I have an older version of this brochure that is slightly different. On the back page that box is square and black, with a white font. Exact same info in the exact same order. Just a different colour theme.

And that's not the only difference. This version of the brochure has that cool "Future Music Platinum Award" logo and blurb on the front page with a July 1996 date. The other version of the brochure doesn't have that award info, suggesting it probably came out earlier - maybe even 1995 when the machine was first released. 

If you can find one of these (the machine, not the brochure) for a decent price. Definitely worth picking up. Great sounds. Rack mountable. Lots of tweaking. 

Yum!

Korg Electribe A (EA-1) and Electribe R (ER-1) "The cure for the common groove" brochure, 1999

Korg Electribe A (EA-1) and Electribe R (ER-1) "The cure for the common groove" two page colour brochure from 1999.

Hey - an early morning post from me! Gotta get it out of the way before the Pet Shop Boys pre-sale begins!  :)

So, a short while back Korg tweeted out a Bob's Burgers gif that featured a synth. No, it wasn't the ol' one with Gene Belcher flying through the clouds in a diaper with synths floating all around him:. Although that is a classic...

No. This is one I hadn't seen before. It's Gene (of course) playing with what is unmistakably a Korg Electribe ER-1! Hubba!! It's so new, I can't even find it anywhere online yet. Kudos to Korg for being so quick on the ball.

Credit where credit is due... here's the tweet from Korg.

That gif made me happy enough to get off my ass and go looking through my packed up files to find this Electribe EA-1/ER-1 brochure from 1999.

Korg released the EA-1 and ER-1 together at 1999 Winter NAMM, and since the brochure is dated 1999, I'm guessing its one of the earlier batches of Electribe marketing material. A great start to what will become classic machines.

The cover of the brochure is exactly what you would, and should, expect from a 1999 Electribe brochure. Its definitely got that 90's techno/rave flyer vibe happening. The italicized fonts for titles, the glitchy video backgrounds behind the descriptive text, the crazy background patterns. Its all there.

The brochure does a super job explaining the two machines as well, with the two subtitles "the classic analog tweak box" and "the ultimate analog beat box" and just enough descriptive text without feeling overwhelmed. Flip it over and get all the specs.

The ER-1 is my favourite of the two - and may be my favourite out of all the first-gen and MKII Electribes. Sure, the EA-1 is a great virtual analog synth that also makes a nice addition to any acid studio - it can really growl!  But for me, the ER-1 is *definitely* the cure for the common groove and my secret weapon when I want to add an extra something-something to a techno track. And its not just the analog feel I dig - I'm even a fan of the PCM samples used for the 909-ish open and closed hi-hats.

So what exactly makes the ER-1 sound so unique and sit so well in a track? It's got everything to do to the motion sequencer. That feature allow it's sounds in a pattern to jump around and fill out unoccupied space with crazy harmonic changes in just the right way.  Add to that n awesome delay and extremely simple interface with just the right amount of programming options and you end up with an electro-making juggernaut in a box.

But don't take my word for it - read Chris Carter's review of both machines from the July 1999 issue of Sound on Sound magazine.

Spoiler alert - here's his summary for the ER-1:

"What a refreshing change, a beat box that doesn't want to sound like every other beat box. Plenty of innovative features and tons of parameters yet so easy to use. It really makes you want to experiment and try out new sounds and rhythms. Cheap too, so I'm buying one."

His summary for the EA-1 isn't too shabby either:

"A bold attempt to break the dance workstation mould with something a little different. The EA-1 is a very capable and great sounding synth/sequencer combination whether you are on a budget or have just won the Lottery. Go on, get analogue modelling you'll feel better for it."

I will never, ever give up my ER-1.

Alesis 1992 "Alesis Product Line" product catalog

                 

Alesis "Product Line" 7-panel two page colour product catalog from 1992.

So, I uploaded these scans as two long pages, and also segmented them out to higher res scans of different panels depending on content flow. Basically an experiment to see what works best. 

Surprisingly, I've only ever posted one other ad from Alesis - a Christmas ad for the HR-16 and MMT-8. But I was recently intrigued by my own MMT-8 and thought I'd share my little experience. I could have posted a number of earlier marketing promo pieces that feature the grey MMT-8, but I kinda love my black MMT-8 so I specifically dug into the vault and chose this brochure because of it.  Besides the MMT-8, it includes a great summary of Alesis' gear from 1992 - drum machine, mixer, effects and their ADAT. All fantastic gear for a great price at the time.

Anyways, about the MMT-8...

A few days ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw this tweet from Peter Kirn:

So did anyone manage to get a working MMT8 and try out those grooves from Shawn Rudiman? Would love to work on a Sysex dump and - that might lead somewhere else (I can explain :) ) pic.twitter.com/mGssBp3fTB

— peterkirn (@peterkirn) May 26, 2019

Well, there's two things I love in one sentence! The Alesis MMT-8 sequencer and Shawn Rudiman.

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Side note for Rudiman fans: Just found out he's releasing a new EP on Tresor Records. From the page:

"The studio is Rudiman’s vehicle, the weapon and the balm. From synthetic wonders to dark-warehouse drum missives, Autonomic Pilot proves once again Rudiman as a master of his craft. Tresor Records is proud to welcome his new work into the world."

Sweeeeet!

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I jumped over to Peter Kirn's article on the CDM Web site called: "Post Album Techno: 9 years of live sequence data, from Shawn Rudiman". As Peter puts it -

"Shawn has taken the plunge and dumped years of live performance practice from his backups, in an irrationally specific media archaeology experiment for techno nerds." 

And specific it was! Each of the 12 live sets on the album called "Finest Quality, Big Time Data" are from the MMT-8's data tape audio back-ups. That's right. Not the audio. The DATA. I you try to listen to the tracks, it's just that screechy 90's dial-up modem-like sound for four or five minutes.

Brilliant! It's like he posted it just for me.  Okay, not just me - it's also for the eight other people that also purchased the "album" so far.

To me, that's one of the most interesting things about this release by Shawn. He knew when he posted it that it had a very narrow audience and hence was obviously a very limited money-maker. But from a promotional standpoint, it's a fun and interesting exercise aimed directly at us "techno nerds".

And exercise I did!

Unfortunately I had just packed up *all* my studio for a temporary move (over 200 synths, drum machines and sequencers into 250+ feet of 4' wide bubble wrap, 20+ cases and 25 carry-totes) so I had to find that MMT-8 first. Luckily, it only took about half an hour to find it and get it out of its bubble-wrapped sleeve. The power supply was somewhat easier to find since I have a healthy addiction to label makers.

So I plugged it in, and hoped for the best. Sure enough that lovely little screen lit up bright!

It turned on!

Next, I needed to figure out how to restore the audio data. One of the great things about the MMT-8 is its ease of use, and the fact that most of the directions on its use can be found on the flip-up lid on the top of the MMT-8.

flip-up instructions

So, with the instructions on how to restore pattern and song data identified, I dug out an audio cable and plugged one end from the headphone output of my laptop and the other end into the "tape in" port on the back of the MMT-8. I then pulled up the Shawn Rudiman's Bandcamp page, entered the correct key combo on the MMT-8 to start the restore process, and hit play on the Bandcamp page to get the first set of audio data playing.

Nothing.

I tried different volume levels.

Still nothing.

I tried downloading and playing the MP3 file from the computer. Nothing. Uncompressed WAV files. Nothing. Stereo cable. Nothing. Mono cable. Nothing. Mono->Stereo cable. Nothing.

Anger sets in.

Then I had an idea. I pulled up the Bandcamp app on my Android tablet, plugged the audio cable into the headphone jack and hit play.

Boom! The screen on the MMT-8 indicated it was restoring the data.

I had forgotten how fussy tape backups/restores could be. And not just fussy. But time-consuming. And so it was four minutes and fifty-seven seconds later the MMT-8's screen returned to normal and I started looking for parts (what Alesis calls patterns).

00. 01. 02..... 16 - jackpot - "Deep Techno-2"!

Success!

But now for problem #2. All my synths were packed up! What do I connect to the sequencer to see what exactly was restored?

I got an idea.

What if I play each track, one by one, from that first pattern on the MMT-8 while sync'd up and recording into Propellerhead Reason?

And that's exactly what I did:

The great thing about this method is that it created a nice visual reference of the MIDI data and I could get a better idea of what might be a percussive, pad or bass-type track. I then created a new instance of Kong, Thor or any of Reason's other great instruments (or VSTs!) and copied over the midi data from the track. Voila!

It also helped that I contacted Shawn to let him know I had managed to pull in one of his sets and he gave me a few more tips and hints about his workflow. Thank you Shawn!

So now I bet you want to hear something. Well, that's gonna have to wait because I have a few more Alesis brochures to post yet!  :)

Roland TR-505 drum machine "The first step..." brochure, 1986

Roland TR-505 drum machine "The first step in forming your own personal music system" four page colour brochure from October 1986.

Well, its May the 5th.

5/05.

505 day.

Sure, it's not as flashy as 808 day. Not as bouncy as 303 day. Not as Latin-y as 727 day. But dammit if I'm gonna ignore the baby of the Roland XOX family today.

Plus, its been a while since I've blogged. For good reason though - I'm getting ready to demolish my house. Everything is getting packed up as we speak. Bubble wrapping synths and drum machines. Boxing thousands of old synth magazines and brochures. And trying to figure out what to do with 10 Commodore 64's. No kidding. Its slow going. But its happening.

But I jut had to take some time out to post this lovely Roland TR-505 brochure.

The layout of the brochure follows the format of all those other lovely Roland brochures - like these two for the TR-909 and TR-808 (click on images to view corresponding blog posts and full sized scans).

        

Same large lettering on the front page with a ton of white space around it. And a gorgeous, artsy-esque image below. This time, Roland chose to use a dark slate rock formation as the backdrop, and included two of the 505's siblings, the TR-707 and TR-727, to help pump up the TR-505's cred. This wasn't an accident (more on that later).

Flip the page and Roland gets directly to the point with a title that makes it clear who the target market for the TR-505 is.

Newbies and the price-conscious.

Hey, everyone has to start somewhere.

The intro also hits directly at the intended audience with words and phrases like "economical" and "extremely affordable price". And to drive home the point that you are getting lots of value for the money, Roland makes sure to highlight the large number of sounds, large memory and full MIDI implementation found on the TR-505.

Roland references the TR-707 and 727 early on when hyping up the sounds on the 505. Smart move, as its a great way to suggest that what you are getting is the best of those two worlds in one small package.

And guess what... turn to the back page and there they are again. Sure, its a great way to cross promote a few other Roland products (standard fare in these brochures), but also to again make that connection in reader's minds between the the 505 and its bigger brothers. Nice work!

Now... do I have to address the obvious question?  How did the 505's sounds stack up to the 707 and 727. Well, the logical thing to do is plug in all three and hit record on the video camera. But unfortunately all three drum machines are bubble wrapped and wedged into big carrying totes at the moment. So, that will have to wait until next 505 day.

So, I tried to do the next best thing, which was Google it and read a couple of forum comments on the topic. And well, you can guess how that went. Hint: humans are mean SOBs.

So, in the end I loaded up Reason and got my sample packs out. I compared the 505 and 707/727 sounds from two different sample packs, in case any samples in any given sample pack weren't recorded properly. In the end, there wasn't any perceived differences between samples in the different sample packs.

Here's my thoughts*:
*you have a right to your wrong opinion  :)


Bass drum:  ounds are different. The 505 bass drum has less low end than the two 707 bass drums.

Snare: 505 snare is definitely different than the two 707 snares. But all three have some punch to them. And definitely belong to the same family of sounds.

Low, medium and hi toms: Definitely different between the two machines. The 707's toms were longer, with a bit more natural hollowness (for lack of a better word) to them.

Rim shot: Surprisingly, almost exactly the same - with the 707 slightly lower in pitch.

Closed hi-hat: Definitely different. 505 slightly lower in pitch. But both work great to cut through a track.

Open hi-hat: Very similar. Surprised by that.

Low conga: 727 conga slightly longer and lower in pitch than the 505.

High conga: 505 and 727 similar in sound, with 727 slightly higher in pitch.

Timbale: The 505 timbale sounds slightly similar to the 727 high timbale sound, but is a shorter sample with less high-end at the beginning on the sound - less "snap". The 727 low timbale has no comparison.

Cowbell: There are hi and low cowbells on the 505 and only one on the 707. All three sound different, but are pleasing to my ears. I love cowbells!

Hand clap: The 505 and 707 hand claps sound similar, but are definitely not the same samples. The 707 might be slightly beefier and I prefer it.

Crash cymbal: The samples are different, with the 505 having a bit more "crashiness" up front before tailing off. The 707 has more of a steady tail, if that makes sense.

Ride cymbal: Very different samples - you can even see it in the wave form. The 707 ride has much more "ting" at the beginning of the sound than the 505 does, and a lot more body to it as well. I prefer the 707 sample.

Of course, there's a tambourine sound on the 707 that isn't included on the 505. And there are a lot of the 727 sounds that aren't included on the 505 including hi and low bongo, hi and low agogos , cabasa, maracas, short and long whistle, quijada and star chime.

But I think that Roland did a decent job of selecting to include congas and timbales sounds on the 505. Sure, they could always have added more... but remember -  the 505 was created with cost in mind.

Enjoy 505 day, every one!

Akai "Michael Jackson Band - Great musicians use great equipment" ad, Electronic Musician 1989

Akai "Michael Jackson Band - Great musicians use great equipment" full page colour advertisement from page 59 in the March 1989 issue of Electronic Musician.

Coincidences are great. I started blogging about the Akai MPC60 back in November and had planned to push out this next ad on Friday. And then Akai suddenly announces their latest extension of the MPC line - the Akai Force. Reverb is a nice Pre-NAMM starting point to learn more about it.

BBoy Tech Report also has a nice intro on the machine. And, just by coincidence, the BBoy site also has a connection to this advertisement. But more on that in a second.

I gotta hand it to Electronic Musician - sometimes they pulled in some great advertising that never made it into Keyboard Magazine. This appears to be one of those ads. And the ad looks to have appeared only once as far as I can tell - in this EM March 1989 issue - making it even rarer.

This artist-endorsement ad compresses one heck of a lot of talent into one 8x11 inch page...

On the left is Ricky Lawson, drummer and Grammy winner, who played and recorded with some of the hottest hit makers including Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Eric Clapton, Quincy Jones and Anita Baker. He passed away in December 2013 and there's a nice little write-up on the Modern Drummer Web site. Check out his Wikipedia page it's a who's-who of amazing artists.

On the right, leaning on the 7000, is keyboardist Greg Phillinganes. His Wikipedia page is as jammed packed as Ricky's with some amazing references including touring and recording with the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Richard Marx, Paul McCartney, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, and Stevie Nicks.

And last but not least, on the far right is Rory Kaplan. Google him and one of top links to come up is his LinkIn page, listing his current position as Executive Producer/Artist Relations with Auro Technologies. And looking back at his post-musician career includes four years in the role of Artist Relations with Intel and Microsoft. Rory is in desperate need of a Wikipedia page. Just saying.

Now - back to coincidences. One of my favourite parts of researching and writing this blog is when I find connections between advertisements and interviews or other historical events. And this ad has a great connection.

If you recall my blog post for Keyboard's first MPC60 advertisement, I linked to a 2013 bboytechreport interview with Akai marketing manager at the time, Mike McRoberts. In that interview, Mike looked back at some of his most memorable moments with Akai and one of them includes this 'lil nugget:

"...at the January 1988 NAMM Show in Anaheim, I was approached by three members of Michael Jackson’s band touring for the BAD album. They explained their touring schedule, which basically was one week in each city. They had some free time every week and asked if they could do a clinic in each city for Akai. I couldn’t say “No” to that, since this was the biggest tour on earth at the time. So, every week I flew to a different city and Ricky Lawson, drummer, Greg Philliganes and Rory Kaplan, keyboard players did a clinic. I was the master of ceremonies, and these guys came up with the whole clinic format."

Nice!

We now take YouTube for granted, but I can only imagine how cool it would have been to have attended one of those clinics.

More MPC stuff to come!

Alesis HR16 and MMT-8 "Yes there is a Santa Claus" ad, Keyboard 1987

Alesis HR16 drum machine and MMT-8 sequencer "Yes there is a Santa Clause" full page colour advertisement from page 19 in the November 1987 issue of  Keyboard Magazine.

Surprisingly, very few companies take advantage of the season to customize their marketing message during the holidays. It makes sense since it requires extra time and money to produce an ad that will only get used for one or two months max. But I've come across a few holiday ads that took the chance and made it happen.

Sequential Circuits kept it simple in their black and white quarter-page holiday advertisement that ran in the December 1985 issue. Sequential made the decision to split their marketing dollars into two quarter page ads on two different pages so that they could keep their holiday message totally separate. Nice work.

Oberheim took it a big step further in their full page colour ad in the same December 1985 issue when they took out a full page colour product-oriented ad on the back-inside cover. It's definitely Santa/Christmas themed, but its not a message to readers. It's a full on product-oriented ad.

But Alesis...  they took it one step further.

It's not just a "Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday" message like Sequential's ad.

And it's not a holiday product ad like Oberheim's.

This advertisement is actually THE LAUNCH of the HR16 drum machine and MMT-8 sequencer. Alesis took advantage of the timing of these two pieces of gear to create a holiday season product launch.

Surprisingly, they kept the ad pretty bland. Ad title. Announcement copy. Two photos with some specs. And a holiday message. With some red and green font colours to make it a bit more festive.

But bland or not, those machines were definitely a Christmas miracle. And even more of a Christmas miracle... this is MY FIRST Alesis ad. Don't worry - more to come.   :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Akai / Roger Linn MPC60 "MIDI Production Center" brochure, 1988

Akai / Roger Linn MPC60 "MIDI Production Center" four page colour brochure from 1988.

As I mentioned in my previous post on the first MPC60 advertisement, I wanted to make sure I covered off the 30th anniversary of the MPC60 before the end of 2018! And that definitely includes this lovely brochure.

Now, before I say anything else, I just have to first point out that this is one of the classiest gear brochures of its time period.

PERIOD.

The paper this brochure is printed on is thick and creamy - like a milkshake! I've seen business cards printed on much thinner paper.

Classy.

And its like I can still smell the high quality ink of the printing press from which this thing flew out of.

Classy.

And those two logos on the cover!

CLASSY!

If I have one small grip about the design of this ad, its probably the small font used on the inside cover page. But then again, there's a lot to be said when you pretty much create a whole new market category - drum machine/sampler/MIDI sequencer (dare I say groovebox?).

Can't read the text? Right-click on the image and open in a new tab. Then magnify to 100%. OR however you do that in your browser.

Read that whole page and I'm sure you will agree.

Yeah yeah... sure, sure... there were a few other tools that came before it that could sample, make beats or whatever. But this thing really brought it all together in a fun and intuitive format.

Point being - and there's no getting around it - if you were at a trade show or in your local music store and the person behind the counter handed you this brochure, you would immediately sense it was something special.

But that cover would only hint at what was exactly on offer, tempting you to flip the page.

[TRAP SET]

And when the victim person opened the brochure and received what amounts to a prefrontal cortex brain-punch by that high quality photo of the MPC60 on the inside, anyone would be hard-pressed not to figure out a way to get the five grand required to take this machine home.

LinnDrum MIDIstudio

Beg. Steal. Borrow. Whatever.

Linn9000 (1985)

Now, a lot of people try to say the MPC60 is a direct descendant of Linn Electronics'  Linn 9000 that came out in 1985. The Keyboard Spec Sheet said as much in my previous post. But in my view, it was the 1986 advertised-but-never-released LinnDrum Midistudio that is the real baby daddy.

And I'm willing, along with a few others, to die on that hill.

The history of the MPC60, the circumstances around Roger Linn's partnership with Akai, and many other interesting nuggets of knowledge can be found all around the Web with a simple Google search.

So to get you started, here's Red Bull Academy's November 2017 article by Lance Scott Walker includes some great history and quotes from Roger Linn as well as many famous users of the MPC60.

Another recent article written by Alexander Acimen for VOX celebrating the 30th anniversary of the machine is also a nice read.

There's tons more. Just Google.

I can't do all the work for ya - I have another MPC60 advertisement to scan.

:)

Akai / Roger Linn MPC60 "A MIDI Production Studio in a Box" ad, Keyboard 1988

Akai / Roger Linn MPC60 "A MIDI Production Studio in a Box" colour advertisement from page 132 in the February 1988 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Well, we've almost come to the end of 2018, and I wanted to make sure I covered off a few more things before we say hello to 2019. And one of those things is the 30th anniversary of the MPC60.

Although it was much earlier in 2018 that the 30th anniversary technically took place, I got lazy. Not uncommon. But I am a little ashamed it took me this long.

In my defense, even if I had posted this earlier in in 2018, it was actually a tad longer than 30 years ago that we first got a whiff of this iconic machine. So technically speaking the timeline is blurry anyways - or at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.  :)

Now, when I say it was tad longer, I'm talking six or seven months at least.

In fact, it was Summer NAMM in June 1987 that it was first introduced to the masses under it's original name, the ADR15 Drum Machine/Sequencer, along with its little brother, the ASQ-10 Sequencer.

Unfortunately I wasn't there (along with many others) to witness this event. But, it would only be a short three more months when readers of Keyboard could find the ADR15 info gleaned from Summer NAMM in the Spec Sheet section of the September 1987 issue.

"Akai and drum machine pioneer Roger Linn have joined forces to produce the ADR15 Drum Machine/Sequencer and the ASQ10 Sequencer. The ADR15 is both a sampling drum machine and a MIDI sequencer. It features a 320 character LCD, and up to 26 seconds of 120-bit sampling at 40kHz with 18 kHz bandwidth. Samples can be loaded and dumped via MIDI. The unit, which has 16 velocity sensitive pads, is 16 voice polyphonic, and 32 drum sounds can be in memory at a time. Ambience and other effects can be added to the drum sounds. The ADR15's sequencer section and the ASQ10 Sequencer share the same specs. Both sequencers record 60,000 notes in up to 99 sequencers of up to 99 tracks. Sequences can be chained together into 20 songs of 256 steps each. The units sync to MIDI song position pointer, FSK, a quarter-note metronome, or SMPTE, and feature two MIDI ins and four MIDI outs. ADR15: $4,999.95. ASQ10: $2,499.95."

And when Keyboard finally came out with there annual Summer NAMM article in the November 1987 issue, it was again given a good deal of real estate in print.  Although there was a lot of duplicate info between the Spec Sheet info and the NAMM article info, there was some new info too. Readers learned that it was a redesigning of the Linn 9000 drum machine/sequencer/sampler. We also learned of the context-sensitive help feature, and that the sequencer included a "variety of editing, quantization, looping, and punch-in/out options" and that "changes in tempo and drum mix, panning, and tuning can be programmed into sequences".

Sweet.

Now, I have to say I originally freaked out when I found out the original name of the MPC60 was the ADR15. I had never about heard this! And I was excited to break the news to everybody on the Internet...

Until I Googled it.

Dammit MATRIXSYNTH!

If you follow the link above, you will find what MATRIXSYNTH rightly refers to in 2014 as "a fascinating bit of synth history". From there you will find a nice synopsis of the history of the ADR15/MPC60 name and a link to a January 2013 bboytechreport.com interview with Mike McRoberts, Akai's product manager for the U.S during the MPC heydays. A fascinating read!

That MATRIXSYNTH page also includes a photo of an ADR15 prototype, which unlike the MPC60, had a fixed LCD display and a foam rubber arm rest.

I love prototypes!

Anyways, Akai finally launched the MPC60 in Keyboard Magazine in February 1988 with this advertisement, which would only run one more time in the following month. And then the ad was gone, replaced with a X7000 sampler ad.

And this ad only seemed to appear once in Electronic Musician in the May 1988 issue.

Akai would wait an astonishing 21 months before advertising the MPC again in Keyboard Magazine.