Sequential Circuits Inc. Drumtraks self-titled ad, Keyboard 1984

Sequential Circuits Inc. Drumtraks drum machine self-titled full-page colour advertisement from page 55 in the June 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Not too many ads are self-titled. Usually there is some kind of cool or witty ad-title - or at least a subtitle.   Not this one. "Drumtraks". That's it. Says it all. And may be kinda ballsy if they did it on purpose.

But what I know is ballsy is the amount of power this drum machine had under its hood. 13 digitally recorded sounds with programmable pitch and volume. I don't know whys, but I love songs with pitched-down drum sounds. Pitched so far down they get gritty. Hand-claps especially. And SCI has a word for them - gorilla claps. How awesome is that! I'm gonna have to remember that one.

This Drumtraks advertisement appeared in Keyboard Magazine from June through December 1984.  What makes it unique is that it appeared opposite the SCI Six-Trak advertisement that also appeared during the same period. And even better - they were centerfold ads. Two totally separate and independent ads, in the centerfold. Again... ballsy.

So, as you might have guessed, it wasn't by mistake that the Six-Trak and Drumtraks ended up, more often than not, included in the same sentence. They were fraternal twins at the most basic level. Two eggs from the same father (Dave Smith!), fertilized at the beginning of the MIDI era.  Okay, that actually sounded a little creepy. I should have left Dave's name out of it. But the two wooden-sided synths look so good next to each other that they pretty much had to have popped out of SCI's birthing canal one right after the other.

And like many actual twins I knew and grew up with - Karen and Sharon, or Tim and Tom - SCI even kind of gave them similar names. Also like twins, SCI paraded them around the playground that is Keyboard Magazine, whether promoting them together in the same centrefold ad, or side-by-side as a pair of ads in the centrefold space.

So, it makes sense that Keyboard Magazine would wrap the two up into one large Keyboard Report in the May 1984 issue. And for all you 37+ year old ladies out there, yes, that was the issue with Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes on the cover.

The report, written by dashing Dominic Milano, runs about two and a half pages, with a shared introduction before separating into the two reviews - first focusing on the Six-Trak, and then the Drumtraks.  As far as keyboard reports go, all the basics for each piece of gear are covered.  And covered well. But, you won't be surprised to learn that I love this report mostly from reading it from an historical perspective.

For example, at the time this report was written it was still the early days of MIDI, and the introduction of the two-gear report focuses on two advantages of this rather new standard. With the Six-Trak and it's sequencer, and the Drumtraks in mind, it is easy to see why one of those advantages is the universal synchronization between pieces of gear. Dominic notes the "frustration of trying to synchronize" drum machines and sequencers with pre-MIDI 24,48 or 96 pulse sync, and how MIDI, available on these two machines, will simplify this process.

Dominic also touches on one other aspect of MIDI and drum programming that I'll admit was lost on me when I first got into MIDI - velocity sensitivity.  For some reason it took me a while to realize that I could program dynamics on my MIDI drum machines from a velocity-sensitive keyboard.  It saves *a lot* of time.

To understand just how amazing the Six-Trak was for its time, you just have to read Dominic's intro on the instrument, and in particular, its comparison to the higher-cost Oberheim polyphonic synthesizers.

"Instrument makers have long wrestled with the problem of providing players with a way of playing independent musical lines with different timbres. The Oberheim 4- and 8-voice modular polyphonic synthesizers were instruments that gave you that ability, but the problem was, and still is, how to get the instrument to know not to change timbres when you cross voices."

The Six-Trak solved a lot of the issues surrounding this problem, and at a fraction of the price. Sure, the Six-Trak is a much more basic synthesizer in terms of features when compared to Oberheim's delicious beasts, and programming through the Six-Trak's simplified interface is a bit of an annoyance when you are used to tons of knobs and sliders. But we are talking six monophonic synthesizers for $1095.00. Or, as Dominic put it, six monophonic synthesizers that are capable of "producing some pretty sounds" including a "good Micromoog-like bass". And a two-track 800-note sequencer thrown into the mix allows a programmer to get pretty experimental. Sweet.

The  Drumtraks review is even more enlightening to the state of drum machines for the time period. Just read it's short intro and you come to understand some of it's amazing features - features from 1984 that are taken for granted today:

"The search for the better digital drum box goes on and on. This month's entry in the race is from SCI. Their machine offers a few surprises including MIDI and the ability to record and store in memory the various tunings and volume levels of individual drum sounds within each rhythm pattern."

I've pointed out my surprise at the price different between the Six-Trak ($1095) and the DrumTraks ($1295) before. But I just have to say it again - I still find it hard to think of a drum machine with 13 digital sounds as being more expensive than a synthesizer. It boggles my mind. Put them together, and you get quite the package for under $2,500.

The Six-Trak and Drumtraks just sound good when sync'd together. Some people may want to punch me in the neck for saying this, but connecting the two pieces of gear together creates a similar synergy that I also feel when I connect my X0X gear together and hit the play button.

Yup. I said it.  :)

Sequential Circuits Inc. Six-trak "Lets your multi-talents shine through" ad, Keyboard 1984

Sequential Circuits Inc. Six-trak synthesizer "Lets your multi-talents shine through" full-page colour advertisement from page 54 in the June 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

It's the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada and I've run away to the family farm to hide out. Because I can't lug all my gear with me, its a wonderful opportunity to spend some time focusing on one or two pieces of software. So this time I just brought the studio laptop, the RME Babyface audio interface, and Reason. Just upgraded from 6.5 to 7 and although I've been noodling with Reason for a number of years, its been good to get a chance to really dig-in deep. The last time I did this sort of thing, I brought out my first-generation netbook with Ubuntu and ReNoise. And a whole lot of sample CDs. Just to push the limits of that small system. Good times... good times... I recommend trying this out for yourself - seclusion and a laptop (oh... and a half-bottle of wine.   :)

But, I did take some time out of my Reason-a-thon to get a blog post done. Here we have SCI's next phase in the promotion of their Six-Trak synthesizer. The company had spent the previous few months promoting the synth as part of the "Traks" system  - but the synth was in need of some good solo ad time. It deserves it.

This new advertisement ran considerably longer than the previous two-page centerfold ad - from June to December 1984, without missing an issue. That's a considerable feat, especially considering that SCI had a number of other instruments to promote at the time as well - Prophet 600, T8, etc...

Sequential Circuits could have taken the easy way out and reused the ad-copy from the original two-pager (it was great ad-copy!), but instead decided to shrink it all down considerably to make room for that one big honking photo with the ad-copy above it.  And for good reason - it was promoting the best (and most obvious) thing about the synth - six individual synths! Yummy.

The big text above the photo that focuses on the instrument tracks is almost too big. But I don't care because that diagram is worth a thousand words, and lets the rest of the ad-copy focus on the other three reasons to buy a Six-Trak - Sequencer, Arpeggiator, and Stack Mode.  They even include a small photo of the front panel buttons. Awesome. And adorable.

Interestingly, even though SCI does mention the other two products in what was originally referred to in the previous 2-page centerfold ad as the "Traks Music System", only one gets mentioned by name - the Drumtraks. The Model 64 cartridge is only referenced as expansion software. I'm beginning to think the 'Traks" system's day is pretty much done.

Oddly, although it is the Model 64 that gets the shaft in this advertisement, a few months before, the Six-Trak Spec Sheet promo gave the shaft to the DrumTraks, with just simple mention, while giving the Model 64 a few lines of its own promo space. The Model 64 got its own Spec Sheet a month or two previously, but I guess it still makes sense to push it a bit in this Spec Sheet since it does offer program storage and increased sequencer storage.

But don't you worry - the focus is on the specs of the synthesizer though - and deservedly so. Just typing out this Spec Sheet makes me wish I brought my Six-Trak with me to the farm - now that Reason 7 finally includes external MIDI support, the Six-Trak would have been the perfect multi-timbral with to use it with  :)

"SCI synthesizer. The Six-Trak is a multi-timbral polyphonic synthesizer that allows you to play six completely different instrument sounds at one time, either by layering up to six sounds on one key or by addressing those sounds with the on-board multi-track sequencer. Sequencer functions include record, playback, programmable playback speed, programmable track volume changes, variable resolution error-correction, track duplication, and over 800-note storage capacity. You can also combine live playing and multi-track sequencing. The synthesizer section of the instrument provides six voices, each with its own VCO and VCF. There are also three ADSRs per voice, for controlling oscillator frequency, filter cutoff frequency, and amplifier gain. Up to 100 programs can be stored in memory. Parameter values are edited with a single knob, parameter number and value being indicated by LED readout. Pitch and modulation wheels are supplied. The unit is also MIDI-equipped and can be linked to SCI's Model 64 MIDI sequencer and Drumtraks programmable drum machine. The Model 64 sequencer offers increased sequencer storage (4,000 notes), program storage on cassette or disk, sequence transposition, alternate keyboard modes, and forthcoming music display and editing functions. Sequential Circuits, 3051 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95134."

Poor Drumtraks - the most expensive of them all - and yet just the briefest of mentions.

It deserves some me-time as well. And it will get it in the next blog post!

Sequential Circuits Inc. Model 610 Six-Trak, Model 400 Drumtraks and Model 64 "Your Personal Orchestra" ad, Keyboard 1984

Sequential Circuits Inc. Model 610 Six-Trak, Model 400 Drumtraks and Model 64 sequencer "Your Personal Orchestra" 2-page full colour advertisement from pages 50 and 51 in the February 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

The Sequential Six-Trak (with a hyphen) and DrumTraks (without a hyphen) are both pieces of kit that played a huge role in the early music I was creating in the 90s. By that time, their prices had plummeted to all-time lows and could be found in pawn shops and on the used instruments shelves in my local synth shop. And I snatched up both as soon as I came across them.

I was already familiar with multi-timbral instruments thanks to my Casio CZ5000 and Yamaha TX81Z, but it was that purchase of my Six-Trak that really helped me learn subtractive synthesis. Even through that wee little programming display panel it was relatively easy to come up with deep bleepy analogue sounds. 

This two-page centerfold ad received a four-month run from February to May 1984. And was totally worth every inch of ad-space. Sequential Circuits was really pushing the "Traks Music System" during this time period, a system "tailored to fit your specific music needs one step at a time as you can afford it".

The layout of the ad itself is a feat of ingenious design - even with two pages to work with, the designer had to fit a wack of ad-copy around two feature-sized instruments as well as two smaller images. All while keeping the font size large enough for old people like myself from putting on their reading glasses.  The ad-copy for the Model 64 gets a little lost from the photo of the computer and interface, but I can live with that.

As good as the layout is, the ad-copy is even better. From the introductory questions that would be right at home coming out of a fast-talking host of a two-minute television gadget commercial, through the flow of text covering each piece of gear, the reader can actually take away a fair bit of information.

In particular, I love the section on the Six-Trak - the name drop of the more famous Prophet synthesizers right at the beginning, as well as the focus on it's features such as the sequencer, arpeggiator and stack mode (my favorite mode!).

But what I absolutely love best best best, is the fact they included retail prices. And with that, the fact that the Drumtraks drum machine was actually $200 more expensive than the Six-trak synthesizer. $1,295.00 compared to $1,095.00. A great example of the price musicians paid for "digitally recorded real drums" in 1984. Ouch. 

The Model 64 sequencer, which I blogged about early last week in it's featured ad, had already ended its ad-run by the time this ad appeared, but the little sequencer box got a bit of an extra push because it also got a Spec Sheet promo in this February issue. It's really interesting to look at from an historical perspective to see just how much we take sequencing technology for granted now. Back then, the tech was so new that this Spec Sheet promo became a lot longer just so it could all be explained properly. Truly amazing.

"SCI MIDI sequencer. the Model 64 MIDI sequencer is a cartridge that plugs into the memory expansion port of a Commodore 64 personal computer, taking advantage of that system's portability, memory capacity, cassette or disk storage, and video interface. The unit records whatever is played by storing the MIDI information sent from any MIDI-equipped instrument compatible with the rev 1.0 MIDI spec. Up to 400 notes can be recorded. The unit also stores velocity, pitch-bend, and modulation information if the synthesizer is so equipped. For playback, the sequencer sends MIDI information back to the synthesizer either as recorded in real-time or as auto-corrected for subtle timing errors. The playback tempo can be varied by using either the internal clock or an external clock from some device like a drum machine. The sequencer memory can be allocated to 8 independent variable-length sequences, each of which can have 5 tracks for over-dubbing. These are 8 timing error-correct values. Lowest resolution is a quarter note; highest is a sixty-fourth-note. A sequence can be transposed over a 6-octave range. A library of songs can be built by chaining sequences together and storing them on disk or cassette. The unit can be operated with or without a video monitor. LEDs on the cartridge identify up to four sequences and indicate record, play, overdub, and storage functions. Price is $195.00 for the cartridge and manual. Sequential Circuits, 3051 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95134."

Best thing I learned from this spec sheet - that you could actually use the sequencer WITHOUT a video monitor. I'm not too sure how easy that would have been - but just the fact that Keyboard made the point of including that in the Spec Sheet is bonkers-crazy cool!

I'll leave you with a cool video of the Model 64 sequencer controlling Moog's Animoog synth. Nice. 

Sequential Circuits Orgy, Keyboard 1984

Sequential Circuits orgy - Prophet-T8, Six-Trak, Prophet-600, and Drumtraks on page 31 of Keyboard magazine December 1984.

Sequential Circuits Drumtraks, Keyboard 1984

Sequential Circuits Drumtraks drum machine from page 55 of Keyboard magazine December 1984.