09

The Creation and Evolution Of Electronic Drums

1 -
By Sander Villers
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Psshhh Tsssss Kouuuhhh Teewww and similar sounds are mimicd by people
who have been asked to remember the 80's drum sounds . When asking
the same question about today's contemporary music
1
people won't know
what to say or mimic ( they will probably even say electronic drums are no
longer used ) . Yet electronic drums are used more now than they were
during the late 70's and 80's . Why and how were they invented ? How do
they work ? Who used them ? And what are their benefits ?
These are ali valid questions which I shall try to answer to the fullest of my
knowledge throughout this essay .
It will become obvious that the name Simmons will be mentioned
regularly. This is because that brand are the pioneers and the most
significant name in this topic . Saying Simmons Electronic Drums were
popular would be an understatement
1
why ?
1
because no other brand
produced the sounds mentioned above as purely
or brought the electronic drums in the market and to the people as elegantly
. This brand is my inspiration to electronic drumming and hence brought
forth th!s topic .
1) History
2) Session Musicians
3) Acoustic 1 Electronical Comparison
4) Basic Buildup of a Drumbrain
5) Timeline
Eprom
MIDI
Intelligent Drumpads
6) Hall Of Fame
7) How does the Drummer play them ?
8 )The 90's
9 ) The Millenium
10 ) My Conclusion
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1 . ) History
Let's go back in time during the 60's . A large majority of musicians
and technicians , especially in the UK needed a new grasp of air after having
endured a highly dominated pop culture runned by The Beatles and The
Shadows ( just to name a few ) and started getting interested in the further
development of electronic instruments. Having the Mellotron ( built in +-
1963) as the pioneer of sampling allowing a new wave of experimentation
and changing popular music , this instrument introduced sampling in its
most primitive form and can be considered as a starting point which led to
an evolution of contemporary music . Its concept is simple yet operation
and mainteance was a roadie's nightmare . In its basics , a Mellotron played
pre-recorded tapes at the touch of a key ( or several keys ) . Ever since the
Mellotron was made public with such notable early clients such as Paul
McCartney and John Lennon into the market , engineers , after having
witnessed the success continued further developing synthesizers ( musical
instruments which create sound through manipulating soundwaves created
by oscillators) . The very first Synthesizer is concidered to be the Hammond
Novachord built in 1939 . Misunderstood by meny as being an Organ , the
Novachord was the very first substractive synthesis synthesizer . It is
capable of simulating a variety of sounds through various filters, circuits,
and an analog vibrato . Having been neglected due to the Second World War
, it was only a few decades later that further developing the Novachord's
principle became interesting . This was done by Robert Moog and his
Signature Synthesizer .
After these milestones were placed , the foundations were set for a
whole new breed of instruments . Being restricted only by electronic
development and intellect , manufacturers and engineers in co-operation
with Record labels understood that a big investment ( affordable at the
time ) would allow this new breed of instruments to create a new breed of
music. So let experimentation begin ! .
Progressive Rock is the name , and what a progression it was . Bands such
as King Crimson , The Moody Blues , Gentle Giant , Yes , Pink Floyd , early
Genesis , UK and other greats emerged in the United Kingdom , while
overseas , one of the most notable acts and by far my favorite , Canada's
Rush.
These are just a few of the bands which where pioneers giving music new
paths and to listeners not only odd form music but new sonor treats .
With ali this having been said , piano's , organs and other members
of that family having been replaced by electronic instruments and guitars
being plugged into more than 8 or 9 synthetic modules ( as done by Robert
Fripp and Adrian Belew of King Crimson ), engineers soon realized they had
overlooked another domain vital to any record at the time , and perhaps a
domain being played by the most expensive , time filling and quite often the
most demanding musicians ..... you guessed it , the long haired , sometimes
too drugged to play time straight drummers !
To people who do not play the instrument , drummers are people who
hit things with sticks . Such simple fundamentals to an observing listener
yet such a characteristic and individual instrument , which , as easy as it
may look , demands a great need of attention and practice in order to create
a style or the most common word ( Groove ) . It is that last word which will
play a major role throughout the essay .
Greats at the time before the 60's were , Buddy Rich , Joe Morello
and Louie Bellson in the big band era ,
while the pop drummers throughout the 60's were The Beatles' Ringo
Starr , Brian Bennett and Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys ,a bit later ,
the rock world started becoming more popular and brought such notable
drummers as Keith Moon from The Who , Ginger Baker from Cream ,
Carmine Appice from Black Sabbath ..... A style where the biggest variety of
drummers could be found , only because becoming another rock drummer
was another pebble in a very vast shallow pond , while trying to become a
notable Jazz drummer can be described as entering a small pond but
perhaps not as shallow. In other words , becoming a jazz legend such as
Max Roach , El vin Jones or Tony Williams was not an ordinary thing ...
This big variety of drummers showed producers at the time that every
drummer had his own sound and groove , and that not every drummer was
suitable for a recording session , either because he was a pain in the
behind , his sound didn't match the record or simply because he didn't follow
time properly enough .
2 . ) Session Musicians
Amongst the most prolific session musicians , The Wrecking Crew
were most known for being a bunch of Los Angeles based session musicians
that would play on literally thousands of tracks , saving time , money and
transportation hassles . These groups of friends were miracle workers but
most important outstanding musicians .
Let us go through the steps of what would be a recording scenario at
the time with a session drummer.
After having been contacted by a producer or interested musicians , the
session drummer wouldn't be given time enough to practice the material
correctly before the recording dates took place . Thats the whole point , a
professional session musician is ' on paper ' supposed to enter the studio
have a read through the given charts and nail the piece of music at a go or
two . Let it be clear that for most types of music this type of perfection was
seldom achieved . Session musicians can also be seen as life-savers , with
that i mean that it wasn't rare that a band had booked their studio weil in
advance , ali the arrangements were made properly , gear had been rented
and already paid for , guest-appearances were scheduled and suddenly out
of the blue , the band's drummer broke a wrist while barbecuing . Or even
worse like Toto's former drummer Jeff Porcaro , passing away from heart
failure after having sprayed insecticides on a hot Californian day .
This is where the session musician kicks in and saves the day .
However , no matter how good a musician can be ( in this topic the
drummer ) , it is always possible that what has been recorded doesn't feel
right . After having set up the drums and microphones , testing different
positions , playing with diffuser panels , lets say in professional situations
this could last a day or even two before everyone is satisfied and in extreme
scenarios it can even out pass 2 days . Next step is recording , a 10 track
album with an average time of 04:00 minutes the track, and 4 takes to nal
each song , with ali the necessary gaps in between and the amount of times
the mixes where listened ( approved disapproved ), the discussions ,
perhaps new alterations of microphone positions e.t.c , it is soon obvious
that time is needed and surely for less big bands and record labels renting
big studios , this is ali much too costly . So why not find something to
simplify life greatly ?
Weil yes , it soon became obvious that electronic drums were
available to replace drummers in such scenarios . With the easy settings and
programing , these perfect straight time machines played flawlessly and
assured a tight rhythm section which was very suitable for the commercial
music appearing throughout the 80's . I believe it is thanks to drum
machines that 80's music today can be distinguished so easily . However ,
before reaching the early 80's , electronic drums had already been
prototyped and used in the progrock era . These where Drumbrains which
could be triggered by an electrical impulse . The first models which appeared
can be compared to an analog synthesizer only that , instead of pressing a
key and working with control voltage 1 gate , these analog drumbrains were
triggered by a minimum of SmV to l.SV Max voltages
3.) Acoustic 1 Electronic Comparison
This is a comparison between Acoustic drums and electronic drums .
A list showing how electronic drumbrains were adapted to resemble acoustic
drums as much as possible
- The sound of sticks hitting a plastic drumhead surface gives a short
noise sound ( This is the Click parameter found in most drumbrains )
This produces the simulation of drumsticks hitting different surfaces
from soft calf-skinned skins to heavy 2-ply standard plastic drumheads
and in more extreme experimentation , boosting this click will give
unnatural sharp attack sounds.
- Drumheads on real drums vibrate at a certain pitch depending on how
tight a head has been tuned , this is emulated as the pitch control of a
drumbrain .
- When hitting a drumskin , you will obtain variations of pitch as the
head is being struck to its position of rest , this is the Note bend
parameter.
- The sound of any drum contains noise ( attack noise and the
fundamental followed by its harmonies after-wards , as the drumsound
falls and gently fades away , the pitch and brightness of a drum
follows the descend . This is the Noise parameter and the noise-tone
balance parameter .
- Finally the drumsound dies completely . An acoustic drum can vary
between short or long decay times depending on the drumskin ,
tensioning and dampening factor . This is the Decay feature on an
Drumbrain .
4. ) Basic buildup of a Drumbrain
To demonstrated how a drumbrain is put together , and to able to
explain it's usual features , I shall use ( with much pride ) my Simmons
SDS7 1983 drumbrain . This drumbrain is a 1980's gem and has been used
by many artists throughout the progressive rock and rock domain .
Most notable users include Neil Peart from Rush , Bill Bruford from King
Crimson , Latin percussionists from Brazil's Los Van Van e.t.c ....
This drumbrain was Simmons first Analog and Digital combined drumbrain ,
offering not only an LFO sound source , but the use of Eproms ( a digital
source ) which will be discussed in detail further along this essay .
The SDS7 has been stated to be one of the most influential
drumbrains in history . Not only due to its outstanding performances and
sound used on many hit records , but also thanks to the trouble that most
people had in keeping this machine happy .
Let's start with the front of the SDS7.
Capacitor
slots ( 12
available in
total)
This is how the 5D57 looks like in front ( front panel has been
removed ) . With an option of 12 Module slots , this drumbrain is equipped
with 8 ( having more than 8 is known to bring issues to the drumbrain as
the machine will overheat and eventually cease functioning ) .
Each Module card is installed into a slot which is fixed onto the
drumbrains main board . That mainboard feeds the control panel ( pictured
below) .
The control panel plays the role of the 'brain' in drumbrain .
The parameters found are divided into 4 layers .
- Analog - Filter
- Digital - Noise Generator
-The Ana log section commands the LFO of the drumbrain , allowing the user
to fine-adjust the Pitch , Bend , Modulation and Level .
-The Digital section commands the Eprom using the same parameters .
-The Filter section lets you work on the Filter's frequency , it's bend , it's
Resonance and it's Decay .
-Finally , the noise generator provides WhiteNoise , Click and the total
Modulation speed .
This last aspect works by modulating the VCO by an internai
modulation oscillator wish sweeps the frequency of the VCO either slowly
( e.g. de-tuning and tuning a drum ) or quickly to produce bell and metallic-
like sounds .
The last red button allows you to enter the brain's programing in order to
customize the parameters to your likings .
Ali the available adjustments are displayed on the screen situated
above the Incrementer Rotor ( its function is to choose how much each
element is adjusted ranging from 0 to 255 ) .
Typical Drumbrain issues
Behind this control panel lies the drumbrain's battery providing the
luxury of storing presets which have been saved by the factory or your
persona! favorites . The known problem however is that these batteries are
time sensitive and have an estimated life spam of 5 to 7 years . Once
passed this amount of time ,the battery dies , erasing ali the factory
presets . I bought this drumbrain with a dead battery . And unfortunately
Simmons never kept a list of presets available to users , ( or perhaps they
did ) but after their bankruptcy , no one has bothered bringing the
schematics to public .
Other problems which may occur to drumbrains after having been
submitted to age , are oxidation problems which will inhibit the machine
working properly as moisture ( drummer's sweat ! ) attaches itself to
components and the electrical pathways . It is common job for users to open
up the machine once in a while and dean ali metal strips .
The SDS7 has the reputation of being a very difficult machine to
maintain ( perhaps the most difficult ). Named the Simmons Cabassa after it
was released, the machine proved to be sensitive to shocks which will cause
the module cards to slip out of their sockets just enough to cause reading
errors between the modules and the motherboard .
I have had the rare opportunity of owning the authentic Dave
Simmons 'faxes of despair' sent to ali his technicians around the world to
make modifications for the many SDS7ens which were serviced saon after
their release . Amongst Simmons fans ,the analysis was made that these
faxes marked the beginning of the Sim mons bankruptcy .
" 1 have added one of the several 'fax of despair' pages in the extra folder on this cd "
Signal Flow of the Simmons SDS7
CAAO
PAD SlfS . PUL5
This is the signal flow of an SDS7 Drumbrain .
SDS 1
Bt..ocr.< S/{,NAL Ftow
- " Vcf.fqJe
_"Noise
- .. /A., Si<yool
I have chosen this schematic because it offers a clear image of the
signais flow inside a drumbrain ( let's neglect the Digital Eprom function at
this stage , as it shall be explained in further detail throughout the essay )
As you can see , the voltage emitted by the pad enters through
various steps throughout the drumbrain , feeding 3 bend generators
simultaneously ( 1 of the bends feed the digital side ).
The Analog domain of this drum brain is created by the VCO sourced by the
current once passed the bend generator . This VCO makes the Analog signal
which travels to feed a VCF ( Voltage controlled Filter ) , that filter also being
attached to a bend generator can be tweaked to the users taste . And finally
the common pathway-end, is done by the VCF feeding a Voltage Controlled
Amplifier which is sent to one of the Drumbrain's module ca rd outputs .
A noise source is attached in parallel to offer a luxury of further
experimenting with sounds , this noise generator needs to be amplified
before it reaches the filter , there is no choice of noise , so white noise is the
only form which will be outputted .
" 1 have added a few short samples of the SDS7 drumbrain , you will hear the difference
between the machine in a cold state and warmer state ( time needed for capacitors to fillup
properly , and the machine's Hum created by the voltage controllers which need a changing
! Il
5 . ) TIME LINE
- 70's ( The innovation begins ) The Drumbrain has been created
MOOG
The very first electrical drumpad was considered to be the Moog Model 1130
Drum Controller released in 1973.
This was an eight inch little tom which was connected to a moog
synthesizer , holding two CV outputs to control volume and pitch .
SYNDRUM
The father of electrical drums is said to be Joe Pollard who was the original
Beach Boys drummer . While there is controversy in this domain , as some
people believe the original Moody Blues drummer ( Graeme Edge ) to be the
very first who experimented the concept at Sussex University with Professor
Brian Groves . Graeme Edge stated :
" We worked up an electronic drum kit, a marvelous idea. 1 had the control panel in front
of me, it's old hat now but we were the first to do it. There were pieces of rubber with silver
paper on the back with a silver coil that moved up and down inside a magnet that produced
a signal, so it was touch sensitive. 1 had 5 snares across the top and then ten tom-toms
and then a whole octave of bass drums underneath my feet"
I believe this may be true that Mr Edge and Professor Graves were the first
to truly experiment this new concept
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however
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it was Syndrum by Joe
Pollard that started the very first commercially available electronic
drumbrain module.
Joe Pollard is the man responsible for having started a market and
heavy manufacturing of models for musicians in 1976 under the name
Pollard Syndrum . The very first model to be brought in public by Pollard
Syndrum was the single drum named 177.
Syndrum 177
This Syndrum 177 was attached to a little panel named the Syndrum 178
which offered the synthesis functions of the drum .
Using a standard Unsymmetrical cable
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connection was made
between the jack on the bottom of the drum and the jack input on the back
of the 178 module. To keep a low impedance for recording or live situations
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the user had to connect the output of the module through a DI ( Direct
Box ) . This will
1
as it does for a guitar
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provide a signal to the mixer to be
recorded and the same signal via an Amplifier ( Live situations ) .
The Syndrum sound module featured a range of knobs and sliders but
had no presets or memory unit. The manual included guides on how to
create a basic selection of sounds. The Syndrum became famous for its
"dooooooom" sound, a long decaying tom-like sound .
This was the very first time musicians could buy a separate Analog
Sound module and a single or set of Pads to be connected in the Module.
The world's very first Analog Drumbrain (1976) the Syndrum Quad
Star Instruments
This is company is responsible for having released the very first ali in one
package
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namely
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the Synare (1
1
2
1
3) . As the name states
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this deviee as
a synthesizer snare in one .
The Synare 1 ( 1976)
SYNARE 1
Four rubber pads connected to a main module with one oscillator producing
pulse and sawtooth waveforms. Including a noise generator, Low Frequency
Oscillator (LFO) with triangle and pulse waveforms, a small mixer and a low-
pass filter with Resonance and Cutoff contrais. It also had an envelope
generator with attack, decay, sustain, and release. Built a little while after
the Syndrum Analog Module .
The Synare 2 (1977)
This was the flagship synare model at the time of its release and retailed for
$1,395. Fully Analog VCO and Noise generator Voltage Controlled Filter
(24db, assignable to LFO and ENV) - Voltage controlled Amplifier (two-stage
envelope generator)- 12 trigger pads .
A big innovation was the introduction of an advanced sequencer with
different patterns for a drumbrain , and the ability to change patterns and
octaves. You could also adjust the speed and the note(s) sounded by the
sequencer.
Synare 3 ( Approx 1977-1978)
Ali the drummer had to do was mount this pad on a snare stand or a cymbal
stand via a clamp and he'd have a little synthesizer next to him with a
rubber pad cover which was trigger sensitive to feed the synthesizer .
This UFO looking deviee offered a great flexibility for drummers and roadies
as its operation was simple and maintenance was rarely needed . This
deviee was known to be able to withstand a thrashing before it would
collapse .
Having the freedom of placing those little synthesizers around a
drumkit gave the drummers a great variety of sounds capable of providing
interesting sounding drum solo's audiences weren't unaccustomed .
The way it works is simple ;
It could run on batteries , had 2 oscillators with no variable waveforms, a
white noise generator, and a sweep function, e.g. up, or down to get that
descending "booooooooooooh" sound used mainly on disco records of the
time. Oscillator 1 was the noise generator with a tune function . While the
amplifier section had volume, attack, and decay contrais ..
70's Innovation Sequencing started with the Synare 2
This was an exciting development realized
to allow people ( engineers , musicians, producers .. ) who didn't play the
drums to create patterns and program drumbrains any way they pleased .
This however wasn't sequencing in its most primitive form
.Drummers in the studio using drumbrains when they were first created in
the mid 70's, had the cunning idea of recording a drumpart by playing the
drumpads attached straight into the mixing table which fed a multitrack at
the time. This way ali electrical impulses where recorded on a multitrack ,
which later played the role of a sequencer, feeding the drumbrain. This
allowed freedom to the engineers in choosing and tweaking sounds which
left the drumbrain as many times as they wish , instead of 'destructively'
recording a drumbrain via its main outputs. This also gave the liberty to
engineers to eut up the recording tape and re-arrange the pattern to their
likings ( to a certain extend ) .
Sequencers at first were used by drummers in order to create
rhythmic loops they could play to in a live situation . Either for a band tour
( filling the space of a percussionist ) or for a drummer's clinic . A great
example of a drummer who used sequencers to play against loops and
interact musically with is Vinnie Colaiuta . Not only did he use them live with
Frank Zappa , he usually brought these systems to Clinics where he'd
program a beat and perform with it and against it .( There is a video clip of
him in action attached on the Cd ) .
At the meantime producers and engineers had creative sessions
themselves imitating the drummer with the sequencer's easy functions .
The picture above is a good example of how a well - built Step sequencer at
the time looked like .
This main panel allows the drummer or engineer to choose different
elements of a drumkit and using the graph in the middle section recreate
1
imitate or innovate new types of beats for the appropriate music . The
element of your choice is chosen on the left panel e.g. Bass
1
Snare e.t.c
while the lower array of buttons lets you build the pattern you wish to create
. There were limitations of course as no machine in those days could fully
representa real drummer . The grid of the panel could only reach 32nd notes
(where 'step' derives it's name) and time was either straight or in triplet
form . The more luxurious models offered a swing butten as wei l .
Users had the luxury of saving patterns that they created inside the
sequencer. Most sequencers had an internai memory of approximately
8Kbytes . The memory is used up as you program patterns and sequences .
A complicated pattern does not necessarily use more memory than a simple
one . Dynamic patterns use more memory in proportion to the number of
dynamics stored in the pattern . Each channel
1
each note on the grid has a
dynamic function which allows the user to play more with a drumpatterns
feel
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making it sound less rigid and robotic . This works by altering the
dynamics of certain elements e.g. having a hihat which maves in dynamics
or a kick drum giving accents in the beat .
The memory required is powered by a back-up battery so your
patterns and sequences are stored when the power is turned off . The
batteries are re-charged every time your machine is switched on again and
it was estimated that the life expectancy of a backup battery would consist
of 3 years without having needed being switched on .
Connecting a sequencer to a drumbrain
This was achieved by using unsymmetrical jack to jack 6.35mm cables .
Assuming that the drumbrain bought was of good quality
1
sequencer input
slots were found at the drumbrain's back panel underneath the different
individual module audio outputs . Every module had it's individual sequencer
input. *****The message is sent via the Control Voltage 1 Gate system also
utilized in synthesizers . ***********
Sequencer Output ~ Drumbrain SEQ Input ~ Drumbrain Individual Module
Outputs ~ Mixing table ~ Multitrack Recorder .
Creating Sequences
Sequences are a series of patterns played consecutively . You would
normally arrange sequences to represent choruses , verses , bridges e.t.c.
So that when you compose a song , it's ready to shuffle the verses and
choruses around , as each is represented by a sequence number .
e.g. seql+seq2+seq3+seq2+seq2+seq1 for the entire structure of a song.
The tempo set on the tempo controls of the sequencer is usually a Iso stored
in the sequences . When the sequence is played , it will be played at the
same tempo as set when it was programmed .
ARP 2600 Sequencer
Then the 80's arrived with new functions which marked the future of
new music and innovation in the electrical instrument world.
Early 80's ( The drumbrain steals the show )
Drumbrains in the early 80's started appearing with new innovative
features , such as MIDI and Eprom Sampling functions which we shall
see now.
During the early 80's , Engineers wanted to benefit from the sampling
era which took place and try to incorporate this innovation to drumbrains.
This was considered as the starting point of Analog 1 Digital Drum brains
Drum brains capable of using samples had small chips placed onto the card
modules named Eproms . These Eproms could play acoustically recorded
sounds recorded on 8bit chips ( a Byte chip ) .
1.) Eprom
- Depending on the capacity of the selected Eprom , usually sounds
between 0.4 and 3 seconds could be recorded ( ideal for percussive
synthesis )
- Eprom stands for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.
The memory itself consists of cells of information . These cells are
referred to as a Bit. These Bits can represent a digital 0 = ali bits or a
bit 1 = 255 values . Using Digital 0 and 1
1
waveforms can be
recreated using 255 values = 8 bits Definition .
- The highest definition an Eprom could achieve in its early development
years was the 2716 Eprom .Kin Kbytes has a value of 1
1
024 bits
1
16 x 1
1
024 = 16
1
384 bits Divided by the 8 bit Eprom = 2.048 bytes =
2 Kbytes . This last number expresses the Eprom's Weight
- The number of bytes of information that a Eprom can contain depends
on the size of the silicon chip inside . ( Bigger the chip
1
the more
expensive)
- Read only memory means that the Eprom can only output data
Data will be able to be stored into an already existing Eprom .
- The Eprom's little brother is the Prom ( Programmable Read Only
Memory ) . The Prom was used by most manufacturers to ensure you
wouldn't be able to re-write the Proms bought with your drumbrain .
- Downside of this Eprom system is its weakness against light .
The top's of those (E)prom chips are known to have a little Quartz
window which exposes the silicon layer underneath . If the Chip is
exposed to ultra violet light for a tao long duration ( more than 30
minutes can be enough ) any information stored will be erased
permanently. However once erased
1
the Eprom can be re-
programmed while the Prom dies .
- The rules of sampling come into this domain
1
meaning that whatever sound you wish to record needs a sampling
frequency of at least twice the highest frequency of the source
e.g. a tom peaking 8 kHz will need a sampling frequency of 16kHz
This however means that a 16kHz Eprom is Sampled 16.000 times a
second .
So if the sound recorded lasts longer than 1 second you will need to
increase the size of the Eprom or slow down its sampling rate which
means a loss of bandwidth and quality of sound (loss of data )
How to Store Acoustic Sound on an Eprom
- This is done with the aid of a deviee named the Eprom Burner .
The Burner's function is to play the role of an Analog to Digital
converter
1
to allow analog sound in and store in a digital format
1
only
to be played afterwords again in an analog format .
The same operation as a sampler .
This is how it works
- In the more advanced Eprom Burners
1
RAM is stored in two blacks of
8 Kbytes each to total a 16Kbyte system .
- The length of your sound wave you are interested in recording on your
Eprom plays a vital role ( especially during the early development of
this system ) because long sounds will require the total 16kbyte
capacity( full-rate) while shorter sounds allow you to use an 8 Kbyte
(half-rate) of the Eprom burner , halving the sampling rate . The
interest in using the 8Kbytes lies only in costs . Allowing you to buy
lighter Eproms ( 8Kbits ) costing less than half of the heavier 2716
Eprom( 16Kbits)
- Next step is to select the Sampled sound you wish to record and make
sure the duration of that sample is properly trimmed to avoid needing
extra Eprom space for the remaining blanco sound of your sample .
- Something many users had to be careful with during this 'burning' of
samples on Eproms , was to ensure that the sample had a Level high
enough to mask the machine's noise derived from ali electrical
components , the Signal to Noise Ratio .
The first attempt in trying to control various synthesizers through one
was named USI ( Universal Synthesizer Interface) created in 1981 by Dave
Smith , Chet Wood and Ted Oberheim . This system offered to inter-connect
severa! synthesizer together via V4 Inch phone jacks .
Having feared that this system would allow too many restrictions ,
and cause a decent in synthesizer sales ,the creation of MIDI soon followed (
Musical Instrument Digital Interface ) created in 1983 mainly thanks to the
involvement of the Asian Roland and Yamaha.
MIDI allowed the further development and control of more aspects
between synthesizers and another domain , stage lighting .
Engineers soon tried to incorporate this new innovation to drumbrains.
You would ask yourself why it was necessary after having invented the
sequencer allowing control over a drumbrain ? But MIDI not only offered the
same features as a sequencer , it added the ability of daisy chaining severa!
instruments together playing the same or different keys ( in other words ,
an entire band could be replaced by MIDI ) This is due to the MIDI Language
, its code superimposed to analog equipment , and the ability to trigger gear
between analog and digital deviees .
The Eprom function offered the first steps into the digital domain for
drumbrains , whereas MIDI allowed drumbrains to be completely
manipulated or manipulative .
The early Interfaces created were 8 channeled units designed to
translate audio signais into MIDI code and MIDI signais into triggers to drive
other analog synthesizers . These interfaces were made for drumbrains
which weren't MIDI compatible . They can now control synthesizers or
sequencers and can be used to add such effects as compression of the
drumpad's dynamic range as weil as adding repeat echoes or slap back echo
to the drumbrain and MIDI controlled sounds .
These Midi interfaces can be used in severa! ways inside a studio ,
where acoustic sounds are required to trigger drum voices from drumbrains
or any other MIDI controlled voicing system .
e.g. Hitting an acoustic tom can act as the trigger of a whole
sequence of notes and drum sounds .
Trigger Processing
This allows the cleanup of messy incoming audio signais and processes
threshold , compression and dynamics to produce clean trigger signais for
the drumbrain or other synthesizers .
Output Processing provides the following :
-The dynamic control of pulse heights and width .
-The routing of channel inputs and channel outputs under a program control.
-Incoming triggers route able to MIDi note and channel to play voices of
other synthesizers
-AIIows Midi to change drumbrain presets throughout a song .
- Provides a vast memory of more than 100 patches internai to the
Interface to recall setups .
This is how the back of a Midi Interface would typically look like .
-Trigger inputs contain XLR 1 Jack Inputs for Audio
-Analog trigger outputs used to trigger the drumbrains of your choice .
-A Stereo socket for dual Foot switch steps backwards or forwards through
the patch sequences of your choice done via a pedal installed as close as
possible to the user .
-The OinS Midi connecter In 1 Out 1 Thru to control midi equipped
synthesizers and recorders .
Midi Interface Threshold
The Threshold is the level to which an incoming audio signal must reach
before it is recognized as a trigger . This level is programmed for each
channel in each process and allows the user to exclude background noise
and unclean signais entries .
Hold-Off
Any threshold that is set intercepts a normal audio signal at more
than one location . Only the first trigger is required to set off the trigger
therefore the remaining triggers bellow the threshold are removed to avoid
unwanted notes being played .To gate out these multiple triggers the user is
allowed to program a 'hold-off' period to suit the audio signal . During this
hold-off , no incoming audio signal will be accepted as the a new trigger.
This hold-off can be programmed individually for each channel in each
process and ranges from 8msec to 4 seconds.
In the scenario above , ali new incoming audio signais are ignored
during the hold-off period , and this is acceptable as long as the audio
signais that you want to use as triggers are spaced out properly to avoid
flams or miss-read off-holds which will create unwanted trigger outcomes .
There lies however a problem in the working of this hold-off system as
it is not capable of telling at what point it should close further incoming
strokes which might be wanted e.g. a snare drum roll which starts with a
first trigger while the remaining roll is less heavy in dynamics .
Take an average snare sound of half a second ( Impact of the stick on
the snare head , the drum resonating , room ambiance due to early
reflections and the resulting reverb ) . The user wou Id set the hold-off time
to half of a second to prevent multi triggering as the snaredrum's snares
were buzzing and the reverb would intercept between the notes played
during a snaredrum roll . How can the interface tell the difference between
the hit lasting half a second and the severa! notes played throughout the
half second du ration snareroll . Let's compare this next feature to the
hysteresis of a gate.
Only that interfaces called it the envelope function .
This envelope is the signal that the interface works on to determine when
the snare has been hit ( initial trigger ) .
!':-..
in this picture you are shawn how the interface reads a soundwave of a
struck snaredrum . The envelope contours the wave entirely .
-------- : : - : : : : : ~ - . _ . . . - - -
However , once a second hit has been made ( less loud than the original
trigger ) , the envelope will show this by changing the smooth decay and
introducing the spike of the second hit .
These extra spikes are considered to be new triggers because the
user has programmed them to be so , this is calculated in a percentage
system . Like a gate's Hysteresis you have control to what extent the hits
played during your hold-off period are attenuated .
100 /o = initial trigger
80/o = less heavy trigger
30/o = soft trigger e.t.c
By setting the percentage of your liking , the hold-off period will adjust and
allow anything above the percentage of your choice .
CON = this means every trigger you wish can be allowed in , whether
you play a note heavily or softly the output remains a trigger of the sa me
output level = neglecting dynamics .
Solution = Dynamic Hold-off
The parameter of the sound that is important in deriving a clean , single
trigger from each hit of the drum is the length of that sound , and this is the
parameter that varies a lot when a drum is stuck with differing amounts of
force . Hit a tom tom hard and the sound needs a longer period of ti me for
the shell to stop resonating or the RT60/30/20 to reach an attenuation of
60/30or 20 dB .
If the drum is struck harder , a longer envelope would be produced
and hence the end of the signal will fall outside the hold-off period that has
been programmed inside the interface which will lead the interface to think
the drum had been struck again .
The solution to long hold-off periods was the introduction of the
dynamic hold off . This will enable you to program a hold off time in
proportion to the incoming signal level . A loud sound will be assigned to a
longer hold-off than a short sound . This means that thresholds can be set
up that are sensitive enough to pick up fast delicate hits on a drum , but not
be overclouded by a loud hit , this will prevent false triggers made by
overlapping envelopes .
Trigger and Midi Messages
After the signal has passed the tests previously mentioned , it would be time
for the interface to decide what it does with the trigger .
Either - generate a dynamic trigger Output signal
- or generate a MIDI note 'on' signal .
The output Trigger signal is a positive pulse which can be used to trigger
synthesizer via their 'gate in ' or ' trigger input ' sockets.
The Midi signal is a stream of data which can tell a Midi equipped synthesizer
which note to play .
Both of these signais are sensitive to dynamics . If the interface
receives a larger trigger , it will generate a larger gate signal and a loud midi
note . If the synthesizer which will receive the message is sensitive to the
varying gate and Midi signais , the sounds they will produce will vary in
function with the dynamic fluctuations sent . This means the musician has
dynamic control .
Compression and Expansion
Compression or expansion is added to the incoming input signal
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The amount of compression or expansion added at the input signal can be
represented by the shape of the curve . The point at which compression or
expansion start to affect the signal can be represented by different shaped
curves. These compression and expansion curves can be applied in exactly
the same way to trigger signais that have been derived by the interface from
acoustic signais.
The amount of compression or expansion can be represented by the
shape of the curve. The point at which compression or expansion starts to
affect the signal can also be represented by different shaped curves. These
compression and expansion curves can be applied in exactly the same way
to trigger signais that have been derived by the interface from acoustic
signais .
Some interfaces provide presets of curves which are imposed onto
the incoming triggers .This will allow you , for example , to make sure a
snare drum trigger sent to a synthesizer which isn't treated to dynamic
curves won't pass the same dynamic messages to the synthesizer(s).
So when the snaredrum is struck normally , the synthesizer outputs a quiet
level , while a heavy snaredrum hit outputs a strong synthesizer output .
These are some of the dynamic curves you can chose out of an
interface presets :
-Positive linear ramp -Exponential2
-Positive ramp with flat top -Negative ramp ( small hit = laud )
-s curve - e.t.c ...
-Exponential1
3.)Intelligent Drumpads ( started in 1988)
Created in the Mid to Late 80's , this was the next step for future
drumbrains and their pads .
Engineers felt some of the aspects of the instrument were overlooked
in during the revolution of the late 80's . The tonal change when striking the
center and edge of a drumhead
1
or the depth of expression available by
varying the power of each stroke to the drum hadnlt been achieved by any
manufacturer yet .
Simmons Drums where the pioneers in creating the future of
drumbrains and pads . They marketed the SDX and stated it to be
1
the
definitive percussion system
1
and they were right . This new monster of a
drumbrain was in fact a big sampler and sequencer.
- Zone intelligent pads
- 16 Full-bandwidth Voices
- 16bit with a 44.1kHz sampling rate ( CD Quality )
- 8 Mb of internai memory
- 20 Mb Internai Harddrive memory ( optional )
" I have added a video fragment of a solo performed by Bill Bruford during a ABWH
tour in 1988 . This is a good example of what the SDX was capable of and how it achieved a
cult status as one of the very best drumbrains of the 80's . ( please refer to the folder on
the cd ) ."
Their patented Zone Intelligent Pads were actually pads comprising 9
different samples each
1
meaning the pad had 9 different triggers
1
each
triggering a different sample throughout the different zones on the pad .
e.g. hitting the center of the pad will give you the most depth of the drum
while nearing the edge will create a more high pitched tone as you would
obtain on a real drum when approaching the metal rim and tighter surface
of the drumskin .
The SDX was in fact a stand-alone computer containing several
interfaces such as MIDI
1
SCSI for external harddrive usage and SMPTE for
synchronizing with video and audio equipment .
The main problem of this SDX Module was its sensitivity to many
factors . As you can imagine
1
in those days finding something more fragile
than a big computer was hard to find . It was very sensitive to heavy
vibrations ( when placing the SDX too close to speakers ) . The SDX was
everything but water proof and with it came a genius little tool .
That tool was an internai shock sensor to indicate if the module had suffered
too greatly from vibrations e.g. having been dropped too roughly or if you
were unlucky
1
sim ply by having coped with too many vibrations ..
And once that sensor was activated
1
Simmons Dealerships had to inform
the customer that their warranty had elapsed due to miss-treatment .
Simmons SDX Module ( 1988)
This innovation in drumming history by Simmons sadly holds a more dark
side for the company . These units were extremely limited due to their priee
tags.
In 1988 when they were first released
1
an SDX Module without
internai harddrive and with 5 pads could reach 9 to 10.000 dollars .
It has been thought that the production of the SDX
1
and due to their limited
number
1
was a final attempt by Simmons to escape from financial troubles
they had been facing due to strong competition and mass production of
other brands delivering cheaper drumbrains .
6.) Hall Of Fame
The models previously described are ali worthy of being in the hall of
fame
1
yet since I have already spoken about them
1
we will continue with
further models that marked their presence throughout the early 80's until
the early 90's .
Linn Electronics LM-1 Drumcomputer (1980)
This was the very first drumbrain to incorporate the Eprom chip
system explained earlier . Digital samples of acoustic drums were attached
to analog cards. Designed by Roger Linn and brought to the market with a
priee tag of 5000 dollars . This machine was featured on many musicians
wish list including Depeche Mode
1
Jean-Michel Jarre
1
Kraftwerk e.t.c ....
According to Roger Linn
1
the first persan who brought up the idea of
using digital samples was by Toto's Steve Porcarco .
Being the beginning of the 80's
1
and with the invention of these
drummachines
1
session drummers truthfully feared they would be put out
of business . So instead
1
session drummers bought the drumbrain and
offered services as programers to studios .
The very first single featuring the LM-1 that reached number 1 in the
UK pop chart was on the Humans League song ' Don't You Want Me ' 1981.
Oberheim DMX (1981)
If ever someones asks you why those early Hiphop beats sit so weil
1
then this is their answer . The Oberheim DMX is considered to be the
grandfather of ali Hiphop beats . Having been built soon after the release of
the Linn Drum LM-1
1
this was Ted's attempt in profiting off the LM-1
success .
With the priee tag having been brought down strategically
1
this was serious
competition for the LM-1 .
The DMX aswell
1
offered real drum-recorded samples as Eprom
sources and with the ability of easily 'humanizing' the grooves and adding
swing
1
this was a simple and ideal tool for the beginning scenes of Hiphop.
Another unique feature that Oberheim featured with the DMX was the ability
to use his own pre-MIDI version ( Oberheim Parallel Bus ) system to connect
severa! Oberheim instruments to sync together and follow the DMX's tempo
settings throughout its sequences and songs .
New Order's hit Blue Monday released in 1982 is a good example of
the DMX in action .
Simmons SDSS(V) (1981)
This is without a doubt the most famous
1
most recorded
1
most
featured and just simply the most 80's Drumbrain .
It is with the SDSS or named SDSV
1
that Simmons became the leaders in
analog drumbrains . The build up of this brain can be compared to the SDS7
1 only that this machine is purely Analog ( Eprom-less ) .
Its popularity was founded by the musicians who used them and the album
they featured on
1
with a palmares so long it would take another essay sorne
names included are
1
Vinnie Colaiuta with Frank Zappa
1
Depeche mode
1
Saga
1
Talk Talk
1
Tears For Fears
1
Cozy Powell
1
Neil Peart with Rush
1
Bill
Bruford with Yes and King Crimson
1
Roger Taylor with Queen
1
Chester
Thompson with Genesis and one of the most famous customers being Rick
Allen from Def Leppard .
After having lost an arm due to a car accident
1
Simmons were the
first offering their full support in trying to make a setup as comfortable as
possible
1
including numerous foot triggers to compensate what his hand
would have done otherwise .
The SDSS was a Iso one of the first Drumbrains to offer a Hihat
Module card
1
which like real hihats
1
had the possibility of opening and
closing using a Pedal . This pedal had a separate input at the back of the
module and modulated the Hihat card . But it was soon obvious
1
that even
though drummers loved these new inventions and sounds
1
the Cymbal
section failed seriously . It felt wrong
1
it sounded wrong and it looked wrong
1
Simmons were the only to have attempted creating a pad that was cymbal
looking
Needless to say that this was an attempt in trying to imitate real drums to a
too large extent . No drummer used this and instead
1
incorporated real
cymbals with electronic drums . These Hihat 1 Cymbal pads however as you
can imagine
1
have become true collector items and sell for big bucks on the
internet .
Roland TR 909 (1984)
Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog
1
partially sample-
based drummachine built by Roland in 1984.
It featured 48 kinds of Rhythms Patterns and the availability of
programing 4 rhythms tracks in one bank .
Each sound source contains A level
1
Decay and Tune control .
The user had the choice in triggering this deviee either by MIDI or
he/she cou Id create the sequences by choosing the element of choice which
needed to be programmed .
The TR-909
1
being the TR-808's little brother
1
offered a new work method
and a new sound source which was used in extend for the electronic music
world . Most known for featuring on dance tracks
1
this machine quickly
gained the status of dance and trance drum pattern pioneer .
Today these TR drummachines by Roland are highly sought after by
dj's and producers and can be found occasionally on the internet at heavy
priees ! . That's what happens when gear is considered to have become cult
and legendary .
When Akai released their 5612 ( the first MIDI Sampler) , electric drum
manufacturers felt obliged to incorporate the same features and profit from
a new market which opened .
This is how Dynacord Germany entered the market , with their Add
One drum brain , offering 12 Bit resolution samples with a sampling rate
reaching a staggering 50kHz which was unseen before .There was the
possibility of halving the sampling rate to 25kHz , certain fans of the Add
One have written reviews stating the 'core ' of the drumbrain was heavier at
25kHz , and hence preferred lowering their sampling rate for a guttier
sound.
Other features include tigger buttons on the main panel to allow rapid
programing . This Add One drumbrain was a good attempt by Dynacord to
compete among other manufacturers . Due to it's heavy pricetag , Dynacord
, much like many manufacturers at the time tried to reach as many users as
possible and therefore created the Add Two . The Add two reached a few
homes , but being largely inferior to most competition , the machine was
soon halted from production .
7 . ) How does the drummer play them ?
With the exception of the bassdrum , ali of the drum pads are usually
the sa me . They conta in a piezo-electric captor placed in the center of the
drum pad which outputs a voltage after contact has been made by the
drumstick or bassdrum pedal . The level of this voltage is dependent upon
how much the piezo-electric captor transducer moves ( the force of the
stroke ) .
Usually the tom and snare pads are identical while the bassdrum pad
is larger and has a mounting plate at the base for a pedal and a mounting
bracket on either side for stabilizer feet .
I have removed the back cover of a Simmons SDS9
bassdrum pad to show how simplistic these futuristic looking pads actually
function . The bassdrum pedal impact allow the middle plate to move
freely .This movement is captured by the Piezo conductor which sends the
current to the trigger output of the bassdrum pad . This system is identical
to ali drum pads . And even today many electronic drumpads haven't
evolved significantly .
sdrum
sockets
These pads came in ali kinds of shapes and colors depending on their
manufacturer . From the round Syndrum to the hexagonal drums made by
Tama ( imitating Simmons ) or the triangular Roland pads .
Sorne of the very first prototyped pads were made by moog and
Drumset pioneers Premier . This was a simple little wooden construction
holding a dull plastic head . While Simmons' first pads
1
which came with
their SDSV(S) where hexagonal of shape
1
the striking surfaced brought
problems to the drummers . Having been made from a point of view that
they were supposed to last for decades
1
Simmons created the striking shells
from a polymer plastic a Iso used in Police riot shields ! ! . This not only
brought problems when mixing electronic pads with acoustic drums during a
recording
1
due to the microphones picking up the sharp attack frequencies
of the plastic being in contact with a heavy stick
1
but more importantly they
were extremely unhealthy for wrists . My first pad set was an SDSV(S) and I
can assure after having played them 15 minutes
1
I knew I had the get rid of
them .
Let it be clear that ali the companies put together couldn't compete
with Simmons' drum pads . They were the first company to bring forth the
hexagonal design ( inspired by a bee's nest honey storage form)
1
they
chose the perfect timing
1
the perfect artists to promote the design and the
perfect advertising . Still found for sale on Ebay nowadays are old Simmons
advertisements showing the kits setup underneath spot lights or in dark
corners with a moon-like gleam reflecting off the surfaces and giving the
drummers of the 80's a look into the future .
8 . )
The 90's (Drumbrains, exit stage left .. . )
Ah yes
1
there is a time for everything
1
and unfortunately for Analog drum
programing and sound creation fans
1
the 90's brought their popularity down
dreadfully .
This is mainly due to a few factors I have researched . First one being
the start of Generation X or also named ( The MTV generation )
1
a youth
interested in expressing their political thoughts through music ( the entry of
a new musical genre named Grunge ) mainly brought popular by Nirvana in
Seattle and other smaller bands such as Kuyss that profited off Nirvana's
success allowing them to create a style which shared similar aspects
1
named Stonerrock . These styles were a blend of metal and psychedelic rock
of the late 60's early 70's . No need in LFO's there then ...
The second culpable was Akai's MPC ( MIDI Production Center) which
1
thanks to further developments in the MIDI domain
1
allowed much more
flexibility and better sequencing functions proven to be highly respected in
the Hiphop community . Ironically
1
one of the most important names in
Analog Drumbrains
1
Roger Linn
1
turned out to be one of the persans
responsible for having brought Analog drumming down. As it was Mr Linn in
cooperation with the Japanese Akai company that created the first MPC
around 1988 .
Ofcourse
1
developments in the digital domain
1
bringing grooveboxes
underneath the spotlight
1
and the growing success of more electronically
flavoured music play vital roles in the decent of these Drumbrains .
The entire Pop industry changed
1
having had a rock tinted 70's and
80's
1
the masses became more interested in listening to electronic music .
With the shooting popularity of House and Hiphop
1
european artists
influenced by those movements and the Disco style which seemed invincible
at the time
1
started creating the Dance 1 Techno and later
1
trance genres .
With ali these new styles appearing thanks to the melting pot of the 80's
decade
1
new styles deliberately neglected drumbrains due to what they did
for the 80's.
Throughout the 90's
1
real drummers started being used more on
recordings on the Alternative 1 grunge rock side of the decade
1
while the
electronic side remained with MPC's
1
samplers
1
or
1
and this is where the
90's became innovating in the digital world
1
the apparition of DAWs ( Digital
Audio Workstations . The very first DAWs were infact made in the early
80's
1
examples being the Fairlight CMI or the Synclavier
1
but those system
didn't offer playback functions and the manipulation of audio files .
Its during the late 80's that Apple Macintosh and Atari ST systems
began having enough power to handle editing functions for Digital audio .
When in 1994 a Californian company named ose produced the first 4 track
editing and recording digital application named DECK which ran on a
hardware system named Digidesign was brought public
1
studios witnessed
the ease of this new approach to recording and editing
1
and concidered to
switch to the Digidesign DAW named Protools . Only a few years later in
1996
1
The german company Steinberg released Cubase VST which was the
first Software application that allowed simultaneous recording of up to 32
tracks of digital audio on an Apple Macintosh without the need of hardware
attached to work as DSP ( digital signal processing ) .
1.) Some Advantages which come with DAWs
What struck most with DAWs were their ease of use . Being software
1
this
allowed users to work on small workstations without the need of racks filled
with hardware gear . The Computer's mouse and keyboard made editing
music notation and audio files on the sequencer faster and less time-
consuming ( time being money ! ) .
The priee of these systems have an important role to play aswell .
Hardware
1
being built into keyboard or samplers cause the priee to raise
1
( electronic aspect costs
1
quality of the components
1
time needed in
assembling e.t.c) while a software program is creating and edited by a few
technicians and put on cd .
The next aspect would be the upgrade factor of software .
Having the ability to improve your sound
1
the power of your pc or mac
1
interface cards e.t.c .. With hardware
1
this is only possible (for some
companies ) by improving the RAM or harddrive memory of a unit
1
this
however would be the harddrive machine's limit as nothing extra would be
able to be installed .
2.) 90's Electronic Drums
With the success of MIDI
1
sampling and the popularity of DAWs rising.
And with the (pop) masses taste in music changing dramatically
1
Electronic
drumming took on another aspect . Instead of manufacturers trying to sell
electronic drums as a replacement for acoustic kits
1
and creating a major
influence on records using unique sounds
1
the 90's electronical drums
created
1
tried to mimic acoustic drum as much as possible .
This was the new objective
1
make drums for musicians which can be
played
1
feeling as authentic as possible . A new market had opened
1
not for
the performing professional drummers but for the amateurs and the semi
professionals allowing the chance to practice playing the drums in highly
stacked apartment blocks without having the neighbours bang your walls .
Some names which competed with each other striving the new
market were
1
Pintech
1
Ddrum
1
Yamaha and the most successful 1 Roland .
One of the first Roland Pro Kits (+-1996)
Acoustic Drum Triggers
Having been invented in the Mid 80's
1
it was only during the 90's
that this new method of playing and triggering sounds appeared .
Little triggers ( the most famous being by Ddrum ) were placed on top of
acoustic drumshells and attached to the ri ms of the drum . This was typically
used in the Metal and Hardrock world
1
as drums had to sound unnaturally
large and full . This system permits the sending of triggers each ti me an
acoustic drumhead was hit . That acoustic drumsound recorded by
microphones was then mixed in parallel with the sound created by the
triggers
1
often feeding a sampler with heavily processed samples .
In the more extreme cases of metal
1
the drums weren't even
recorded by microphones in live situations ( expect of the cymbals) . This
provided only the use of samples
1
interesting for metal drummers as the big
problem in that domain was the maintenance of heavy double bassdrum
parts which had to sound even in strokes to provide power ( a technique
mastered by few drummers ) . So now the bassdrums triggered bassdrum
samples which were programmed at a constant dynamic level ( no matter
how hard you strike the pedal ) . This would provide the machine gun-like
doublebass parts .
to
act
9 . ) The Millenium (2000 onwards .. )
Once passed the Millenium 1 not much had changed for drumbrain and
electronic drumkit manufacturers
1
as the goal was to create electronic
drums that could reach the authenticity of real drums as close as possible .
But at the mean time 1 in the minds of producers run by the record
labels 1 the changing pop music field forced to find solutions where budgets
could get eut much more significantly as during the previous decade .
couldn't get sold as easily due to pirating availability coming from the
d1g1tal world and the evolving internet facilities . With those conciderable
lasses 1 and the time is money philosophy that led and unfortunately still
leads the pop industry
1
record labels were in search of artists and producers
that could record an album in less than half the time needed throughout the
80's . Of course the digital world enables this luxury
1
however this also
means less time is spent in perfecting sound recording .
Due to the reliability of software emerging to a higher degree 1 the
new philosophy was ( we'll deal with sound later ) . In other words , calculus
and digital plugins were and still are the engineer's best friend. Most of
those plugins are being made by brands and manufacturers that created
legendary analog gear in the past , and to ensure their name and legacy
continues , they participate in the digital domain . Examples being Lexicon
wlt h brand n w Reverb Plugins and most of the
Audio software emulating the old or other dynamiC tools
of the past ... ( Limiters , Expanders e.t.c ) .
Let's use the 'Time is Money' concept for the next paragraph of this
essay .
- Producers are sent on a hunt by their representing record labels in
search of new talent .
_ Suddenly a Producer has heard of a fellow engineer that there's a
phenomenal singer with a demo of a poprock inspired song that has
had a demo recording .
_ The producer will contact the musician , and out demo was
made using a sequencer and sorne bad soundmg MIDI f1les
representing the instruments . . ..
_ Instead of finding the best possible sess1on mus1e1ans ( done
throughout ali previous decades ) the Producer , er of th_e
record label , will have to find the cheapest and t1me solut1on
_ This is where the DAW comes in action and instead of usmg the m?st
popular recording and editing program ( ) most by
Macintosh will be used for its more user fnendly approach m creatmg
music. . .
_ Now , with the use of any major software program 1 mus1e1an
excluding the singer can be replaced by pre-recorded
samples .This has gone to such an extreme that even Nat1ve
Instruments have managed to created Abbey Road 60s Drums
featuring 2 highly prestigious drumkits from the 60's 1 a REDD.17
valve recording desk
1
a Studer J37 4-track recorder and the authentic
microphones used at the time such as the STC 4033 or the AKG D 20
for kickdrums
1
the Neumann KM57 for snares and the AKG D 19 for
tom applications . And ali these samples having been recorded at
Abbery Road
- Having plugins that simulate sorne of the worlds finest recording
booths and rooms with plenty of preset choices
1
add one of those in
the mix and your new project could be made in less than a week
instead of the months it took throughout previous decades .
- Not only does the record label save money due to not having had to
hire session musicians
1
they save on the big studios for good
acoustics and perhaps on renting equipment e.t.c ...
This is how most of the pop and rock artists of our time bring out several
singles and sometimes albums every year . So coming back to the very first
paragraph of the essay
1
I do believe
1
Electronic drums are being used more
today than ever before .
This can be interpreted in meny ways by different people .
There will be people who find this time-winning easy solution a blessing 1
while other people
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sorne musicians and music fans recognize the
programmed drums and feel it alienates the instrument to the rest of the
track or album .
Of course there are benefits to this new way of thin king and the
technological advancements which have been realized . Any musician
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professional or not
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has the luxury of being able to be as creative as they
can be without having to pay literally thousands of dollars
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euros e.t.c on
equipment.
A drummer today like myself can record in a small room through
microphones
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a simple Analog to Digital using a converter entering a laptop
and into a sequencer
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where audio can be treated properly to my likings or
that of the band I have recorded for .
This digital freedom and simplicity
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whether it would be downloading
music illegally or doing studio work independently
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provides cheaper ways
for people to act creative
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to the ex penses of expensive studios ....
Like much in life
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there is a balance
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a ying and yang . While
thousands of people now have this new liberty of working with music 1 the
former big shots that have ruled in supremacy paying ridiculous costs to
sorne artists face the consequences .
10.) My Conclusion
The 80's musical scene in a nutshell in my opinion
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means
synthesizers and drummers being replaced by machines . I believe partly