I was watching a TV documentary on synths and drum machines. They displayed the LinnDrum which I recall was the first high end machine to use digital samples. I thought they sounded great at the time. After watching these Youtube's, I still think it sounds better than any rhythm section on any arranger keyboard on the market today.

Anyone had any experience with them back in the old days?

Mark



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Times have really changed, I don't know much about these Linndrum units as we only used live drummers in the band but as technology prgressed I always used Roland drum machines years back and still partial to the Roland sound today,.. .....

https://www.rolandcorp.com.au/blog/roland-drum-machine-chronicle-1964-2016

Went solo with a drum machine after my longtime drummer moved and I couldn't find a suitable replacement. I think I remembr the Korg 55 analog being the first ( now a sought after collectors item ) Then the digital Roland CR1000, then a Roland CR80. Used midi to my main keyboard control the volume and pedals for start stop /fills. You could really squeeze a lot out of thise preset machines and I had a lot of fun playing that way.
Couldn't afford a Linn and I always felt the pregrammable ones were more for recording then live use. Then came Arrangers - don't get me started $$$$
Still miss the simplier times.

In 1972 I was the first to bring a Rhythm Ace to my B3 organ solo job. It was a posh 5 star restaurant in South Florida where I played 6 nights a week. I had it at home with my B3, so thought I would try it. It surprised a lot of people in a good way until one night this drunk came up on the stage. He disapproved of my innovation in a very loud way until he attracted the attention of "The Don", and I don't mean "The Donald". He was my boss and the owner, weighing about 350 and 6 feet 4". We called him The Don because the restaurant was a "family affair(Mafia). At any rate, he came up on the stage and unceremoniously escorted out the door, among cheers from the patrons.

Good old days

The UK "Hit Factory" Stock, Aitken, and Waterman almost always used a Linn drum machine credited as "A.Linn" in the list of musicians.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/355901-A-Linn

I was in high school when all those hits were coming out on the Linn and TR 808, and I absolutely hated them! The reason being, is I am a drummer, and in those days I was putting in hours and hours of practice, hoping to become a professional studio drummer. I felt threaten that I wouldn't be able to work as a drummer due to those damn machines.

I remember this really hot popular girl in high school that invited to her father company's Christmas party. She said she wanted me to go with her because her dad hired a live band to play and she knew I was a musician so she thought I'd enjoy it. We arrived at the party, the dance floor was packed. I looked at the band stand and there's a sax player, keyboard and guitar player playing along to a drum machine. I got so pissed, I told the girl that I could not stay. Now I'm embarrassed for being so closed minded, and especially for missing out on what could of been fun evening with the girl. This was probably around the time I read in Modern Drummer magazine, the great big band drummer, Mel Lewis saying that he wanted to blow up the Linn Drum factory up for putting so many drummers out of work!

I saw how popular those sterile drum tracks were so I decided "if I couldn't beat them, I'd join them" I went out and got a Yamaha drum machine and learned how to program it really well. I got to do lots of
studio demos. I just learned it was another tool, times were changing and some times you have to roll with it or get left behind. I realized that programmed drum tracks were just a different popular style. There will always be a demand for great live drummers. Nothing beats the real thing!

Really?

I felt the same way about DJ's but like it or not times change. I still don't really like DJing but I "rolled with it"
Seems to be a demand for Bass players here. Not so much for drummers or keyboards.

I meant the quality of sound.....thick as a brick. Today's synths have snare drums that sound like somebody snapping their fingers and cymbals and high-hats sounding like bacon frying in a pan. I'll go as far as to say my original Maestro Rhythm King had more punch to it even.

If you guys want to return to the drum machine days... instead of using an arranger as your drum player..... you must have the wrong keyboard..

I went thru the drum machine period. . had all of them.. Preferred Roland primarily (they were considered the best), I also liked a select few Yamahas and a couple Alesis ..

Back then.. they did the job, also had to carry 2 or 3 keyboards (one for bass).

Do I ever want to go back.... no way... I was so glad the G800 came out... Flexible all in one keyboard..

Even today, I use Roland G70 and E-A7 as drum machine and play left hand bass.. The drums can not be beat and you can taylor the drums the way you want... With 4 variations and 6 fills... No drum machine can match it..

Anyone that plays Ketron or Roland will agree with me..

One of favorite Drum Machines!!!
Before 4 years I made a audio style on Audya with LinDrum samples (from Kontakt 5)...
Here is the demo...
https://soundcloud.com/sokratis-1974/i-j...emos-and-styles

Roger Linn is still very much involved in music electronics.Here is a great interview talking about how he got into creating the Linn drum machine. He actually was a guitarist.

I just want to say that was awesome!

Thank you very much dear friend!!!!

well done mate..
I really enjoyed it especially the bass line!! thanx

Sokratis ... very nicely done ... thank you for sharing ...

Thank you very much dear friends!!!

I'm curious about something. I used to know MIDI inside and out, but forgot just about all of it.

Can you MIDI an arranger keyboard to a drum machine and synchronize each instrument. i.e. turn off the volume on the keyboard andwhen the snare plays in the arranger pattern can it activate the snare in the drum machine. Same with cymbals, bass drum, etc?

I know the drum track gets transmitted on a certain channel. Can you tweak the drum map on both instruments to coincide with each other?

I ask because they have a Linndrum in a "used musical instruments" store around here. I'm thinking it just might be an improvement over these PA3x sounds that I'm not happy with.

Yes you can. But the LinnDrum was pre-MIDI. Though you can add a MIDI mod to it like http://www.forat.com/drummachines/midimod.htm so need to factor that cost in as well.

You can download new drum kits, some of them free. There are many options to improve the drums on Korg.
The PA4X drums are improved over the 3X, so I haven't found it necessary to try to change them further. I changed kits on several styles on the 3X when I had one. All you do is open the Volume page, touch the drum icon twice, and select and audition some of the other kits to see if they sound better on the particular style. You can then save the changes to the Style, using the drop-down menu, or save to a Songbook entry. The Korgs retain both the changed version and the original version if you save to the Style.
There are also new sets included with the OS update.
I also stumbled on some new bass sounds that are very usable.
P.S. I just noticed Socrates has posted a free kit feature the Linn Drums sounds. You can download that and see if you still like them!
Thanks Soc-Man!