Sequential Circuits Inc. Model 64 Sequencer "The $195.00 Sequencer" ad, Keyboard 1983

Sequential Circuits Inc. Model 64 Sequencer "The $195.00 Sequencer" full page black & white advertisement from page 13 in the November 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Not so long ago a friend came over with his Commodore 64. No, not for music-making, but for a night of Donkey Kong-ing and other retro-gaming. Good times... good times...

I do recall that one of the first MIDI systems I ever saw running was a Model 64 with a Commodore 64. I hardly remember anything about that system except the small dark brick sticking out of the computer with MIDI cords attached. It was cool, and I was definitely hooked as soon as I saw it.

My first computer sequencer was Master Tracks running on an Apple IIe - I had to borrow money from my parents to pay for it. Then, when I finally upgraded to a Mac IIci, I purchased MOTU Performer 3.61 which soon became 3.64.

Then at work I had to learn Twelve Tone System's CakeWalk Dos, and then an early Windows version. Since then, I've never really left CakeWalk and would probably be considered one of those outspoken Sonar users everybody hates to be in a room with. I will admit I also have licenses for ReNoise, Reason (just ordered 7!) and a few other sequencer packages, but I usually end up powering up Sonar for the heavy lifting. 

But lets get back to the Commodore 64. After playing those games that night, I knew I had to find a Commodore 64 of my own to play around on. I waited very patiently for a clean one to make it's way onto eBay Canada, and pounced as soon as one popped up. It came with A TON of software - cartridges and disks - including the way-cool GEO OS with it's graphic user interface. Think early Apple Mac. Just look at that drawing program screen shot if you don't believe me. Look over there   ----->

Alas, there was no MIDI software or hardware included in the box that showed up on my door step. And so I wait... and wait... and wait... for a reasonably-priced Model 64 or similar Commodore 64 sequencer to come my way.

I would even consider the original $195.00 price tag featured in the title of this advertisement a reasonable price to pay for the enjoyment of again seeing a Commodore 64 MIDI system in action. And I'm guessing that if you are musician that already had a Commodore 64 and a Prophet-600 synthesizer, $195.00 probably wasn't going to blow the bank account either.

BTW - not sure if you noticed it, but if you look under the Commodore 64 in the ad photo, what do you see? A Linn LM-1 drum machine! It's not often you see other company's products in an advertisement, but you can probably look at this as one of the earlier pairing of Roger Linn and Dave Smith. A partnership that would bear fruit years later.   :)

The ad-copy provides us with a great glimpse into the early history of one of the major forces behind the development of MIDI - Dave Smith and SCI. Even nine months after the SCI launched the first commercial MIDI synthesizer, the Prophet-600, the whole idea that there was now this one musical standard available called MIDI that *any* manufacturer could build into their products to connect directly to other manufacturer's products was still very alien.

So, what did an early computer-based sequencer get you?

• 4000 note storage, including velocity, pitch bend and modulation amounts
• storage of nine independent polyphonic, real-time sequences of variable length with up to five overdub tracts available per sequence
• song composition: sequences may be linked together to build up to nine different songs of variable length
• auto-correct, transpose, and playback features
• save and load to tape
• select clock pulse, up to eight settings available for optimum drum box interfacing

Not too shabby.

Although a rare beast in 1983, by 1987 the computer-based sequencer was firmly catching on, and a flourish of products had became available. For the Commodore 64 alone there was Moog's Song Producer that used the Moog Manybus MIDI interface, MIDI/8 Plus by Passport that used its own interface, Keyboard Controller Sequencer by Dr. T's Music software that used its own interface, and Studio One by Syntech Corp that used MIDI interfaces produced by Syntech themselves, as well as Dr. T's, Passport, Sequential or Yamaha.

But sequencers weren't the only MIDI programs available. A number of MIDI patch librarians for DX/TX and CZ synths by many of the companies already mentioned above became available by 1987. There was also algorithmic MIDI composers, MIDI echo/arpeggiators, MIDI filters/channel-reassigners, and even a mini-sampler called Sound Sampler by SFX Computer Software Commodore Business Machines Ltd. that included a microphone and 1.2 seconds of sampling.

And that's just for the Commodore 64. Hardware and software for the IBM PC and compatibles, Apple Macintosh (Performer - yay!), Apple II, Atari ST and even the TI 99/4a were also out of the gates and getting into the hands of computer musicians.

Why do I know this? Not because I saw all of these programs in action.  But because a long while back I was lucky enough to be given the 1987 book "The Complete Gudie to MIDI software" by Howard Massey and the staff of PASS (Public Access Synthesizer Studio) in New York. If you are into retro computer MIDI software, definitely search out a copy.

While I'm waiting for a vintage Commodore 64 sequencer (hardware and software) to come my way, I have to say I am quite curious about the more recent MSSIAH MIDI SID hardware/software from 8bitventures.com.  It looks like it could keep me busy while I wait.

Yup. Gonna have to order it.

Right after I'm done with this post.  Which is now.

Yup.  :)

Electronic Drums book with LinnDrum and DMX sound sheet, Amsco Publishing 1985

After my last blog post on the LinnDrum, I received not one, but two emails asking for information about the Electronic Drums book I referenced as an offline resource. Yes, I know - this book is not really an ad. But I think you will agree the addition of the excellent sound sheet in the book almost makes it promotional material for Linn, Oberheim and Simmons. But don't give the machines full credit - the author/musician playing the gear on the sound sheet gets a lot of it.

If you haven't guessed by the opening paragraph, I'm a big fan of the synthesizer and drum machine reference books that came out in the 80's. Books like Synthesizer Technique and Synthesizer Basics that were compiled by the editors of Keyboard Magazine (and part of the Keyboard Synthesizer Library series) are great reads.

Another publisher also capitalizing (in a good way!) on the popularity of electronic gear in the mid-80s was Amsco Publications - and they seem to still be around today! The company released more than a few great books, including The Complete Guide to Synthesizers, Sequencers & Drum Machines by Dean Friendman, and this book - Electronic Drums  - by Frank Vilardi and Steve Tarshis.

And like I said... I *love* these handy little reference guides. Old, yes. But a lot of good information packed into them. 

The book itself is 85 pages, and includes a rockin' two-sided sound sheet. The sub-title of the book pretty much explains what the book is about - "Everything you need to know about electronic drum kits and drum computers".

Yup. 

The author profile at the back of the book provides a bit of background information about the author Frank Vilardi. He's described as a free-lance drummer working in New York City "working in recording studios doing records, films, TV and radio jingles". He was also involved in touring and teaching electronic drum workshops. That's a pretty full plate.

There is no information on the other author, Steve Tarshis, in the book - but luckily more information on both authors are just a few quick Google searches away.  Frank Vilardi's Web site looks to have last been edited around September 2008 and tells me he is still living in New York City and was touring with the Bacon Brothers around that time period.  Albumcredits.com has him listed as working with artists like Kaya, Rod Stewart and Rosanne Cash well into 2011 and 2012. Impressive stuff

Steve Tarshis also has a Web site and includes an also-impressive bio working as a musical director, a musician for several Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals, instructor, lecturer and instructor. Coolest of all is that his news page has him currently listed as the Director of New York area kid's rock camp called Camp Jam at Hofstra University from Summer 2010 to present. "No canoes - lots of rock". Hee hee!

As mentioned above, Frank and Steve have put together a wonderful piece of reference material for the time period - that being before you could find everything you wanted to know about absolutely everything on the Web. As a non-drummer growing up, the first two sections were of most interest and use to me. Although as a young electronic musician I probably should have spent A LOT more time on section three.   :)

I've included a short summary of each section below. 

Section 1 is titled Electronic Drums and provides two-to-five page summaries on the features of a number of electronic drum kits including Simmons SDS 5, Pearl Fightman, Simmons SDS 8, Tama Techstar, Simmons SDS 7, E-Drum by E-mu and Simons SDS-1.

Section 2 is titled Digital Drum Computers and provides summaries on the features of a number of drum machines including LinnDrum, Oberheim DMX and DX, E-mu Drumulator, Roland TR-909, Roland TR-707, Yamaha RX11 and RX15 and finally the Linn 9000.

Section 3, probably of more interest to drummers and those without any drum machine knowledge, is a section called Programming a Song, and the whole second side of the demo sound sheet that comes with the book is devoted to this section.

Section 4, the last section, is called Triggering and Sampling and provides just a page or two on the some of the devices that have started to appear for this purpose.

The book also includes a description for both sides of the sound sheet, which I've included below. It was programmed and played by Frank Vilardi except for 4, listed as being programmed by Rick Kerr. Recorded by Rick Kerr at Planet Sound, New York City.

Side 1: 

1. Starts with LinnDrum. Percussion sounds only heat continues throughout.
   Joined by acoustic drums.
   Acoustic drums are dropped out.
   Simmons bass and snare drum that are being triggered from acoustic drums continue.
   Acoustic drums reappear to join Simmons and Linn.
2. Begins with Acoustic drums and triggered Simmons (bass and snare).
   Linn drum is added. The swing or shffle function is being used here to create the reggae feeling.
3. Starts with Linn drum playing a tipical "dance" type of beat.
   The first tom fill is the Linn. All subsequent fills being overdubbed on the Simmons SDS 7. The kits are being changed every two fills to demonstrate some of the sound possibilities. 
4. This example was programmed entirely on DMX, using all factory sounds. there are two separate programs of the drum machine running in sync to each other. This technique, along with some non-standard tunings are studio equipment can be used to create some very interesting effects.

Side 2: This side demostrates the programming of the song demonstrated in the book. Done on Linn Drum.

5. Count off - Program 77, Measures a & b.
6. Intro - Program 11, Measures 1-4.
7. Verse - Program 12, Measures 5-10.
8. End of verse - Program 13, Measures 11 & 12.
9. Chorus - Program 14, Measures 13-18.
10. Seventh bar of chorus - Program 15, Measure 19.
11.  Eighth bar of chorus - Program 16, Measure 20.
12. Bridge - Program 17, Measures 21-25.
13. Fill at end of bridge - Program 18, Measure 26.
14. Entire song.

I've seen a couple of copies of the book pop up on eBay and Amazon used books. If you dig these types of books, definitely pick up a copy if you can find it at a decent price.

And wouldn't you know it... before I posted this, I snatched another nicely priced copy on e-Bay - including the sound sheet!

Thank you Frank and Steve and Amsco for creating this book! Pure awesomeness.

Linn Electronics Inc. "The best sound. The most features. The original." ad, 1983

Linn Electronics Inc. "The best sound. The most features. The original." advertisement from page 41 in the April 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

I have a confession to make. My new interest in the LinnDrum is more than just a passing fancy. I think I may have found one for sale in my little city and am very excited about the potential opportunity to add it to my expanding 80s drum machine wall. I love sampling drum machines (and drum machines that sample!) - either for use by others in their productions, or directly into Sonar or ReNoise for my own use. And usually that includes going through a big stack of hardware effects. Not gonna lie - the idea of  hunting down all those alternative sound chips for the LinnDrum makes me more than a little giddy. Just sayin'...

Linn Electronics stepped up the "complication factor" for Keyboard readers when they replaced their long-running LinnDrum introductory advertisement with this more copy-heavy ad that ran from April - September 1983.

There is really three different messages going on in the ad-copy - in my opinion, two more than there should be.

First, we have the regular LinnDrum sell-job - promotional introductory ad-copy in black.
Second, "features in red are available only on the LinnDum"
And third, a few bullet items labeled "New!" - apparently both software updates and accessories.

When you dig through it all, I think the one real message Linn is trying to get across is finally listed at the end of the ad-copy: "Shop around and compare, then buy the real one - Linn Drum".

In other words - look at our features and compare us to the competition. That would have been much simpler and more effective. No need for colour coding and bold "New!" labels.

Also, I just have to point out that although most "new" features are in red (ie. available only on the LinnDrum), there is one that is black. This seems to indicate that the one black "new" feature was available on other drum machines before the LinnDrum? If true, I'm not sure you want to be promoting that kind of thing, even in a round-a-bout kind of way. But full points to Linn Electronics for honesty.

Anyways - that 'new' bullet in black text caught my eye for another reason:

• "New! 98 rhythm patterns - all programmable in real time with adjustable error correction"

That is double the "49 patterns" originally promoted in the introductory advertisement from May 1982:

• "49 rhythm patterns - all programmable in real time with adjustable error correction"

Because I'm about to hopefully score one, I naturally became curious about what other revisions and updates were added over time to the LinnDrum. With instruments like the Prophet-5 or Arp Oddysey, you can't take two search-steps around the Internet without tripping over specifications on the different versions - increased patch storage, change in internal or external design, etc... everyone and their mother is trying to tell you everything they know.

But I found it extremely difficult to find anything out about changes made to the LinnDrum. According to the Wikipedia page for the LinnDrum, it was manufactured for over four years and sold over 5000 units. Surely the competitive landscape changed enough over time that Linn had to update the thing. But yet, every site I seem to visit has the exact same information.

Using the example above about the change in the number of rhythm patterns available, online references like Vintage Synth Explorer's LinnDrum page seem to always quote the availability of 98 patterns - 56 user patterns and 42 preset patterns that can't be re-recorded). No one ever seems to talk about the 49 patterns that were originally available.

But obviously there must have been updates like the increase in rhythm patterns or the other new feature promoted in this ad (in red) - "New! Digital tempo readout in beats-per-minute, and frames-per-beat".

Even though I'm pouting, I did find some evidence of other updates too - online and offline.

For example - online, I found that Forat.com's LinnDrum page has a LinnDrum Rev 3.1 update available for a respectable $60 as well as a 3.1 Software Manual for download (scroll down to the bottom) dated early 1984 that states "The following describe additional operating capability undocumented in copies of the owner's manual prior to 2/1/84".

It includes a list of five new features:

• Single step programming
• Additional song steps - increased from 99 to 250
• Additional trigger output rates
• Ext sync enhancements
• Song storage formatting  

Offline, I found a reference to LinnDrum updates in the book Electronic Drums by Frank Vilardi and Steve Tarshis published in 1985. It includes a section on "Drum Computers" and includes the LinnDrum (as well as the Linn9000!). It references a recent memory increase:

"Its newly updated memory has a capacity of 5200 events in ninety-eight patterns and forty-nine songs."

Maybe I just wasn't using the right search terms.Or maybe they weren't considered versions? I'm still researching, and will definitely pass on anything I find out. There are a few more Linn ads to go  :)

Before I sign-off - three other features of this ad that caught my eye.

First is that the suggested retail price, found in the introductory ad at $2995 is now gone. And newer references to the price I've found online (and in that Electronic Drums book) has the price at $2495. Obviously the LinnDrum had a price drop somewhere.

Second - Linn Electronics went and changed that final bit of ad-copy again. I first noticed a change between the pre-intro ad and the introductory ad:

Pre-intro ad: "Designed for non-technical musicians"
Intro ad: "Requires no technical knowledge"
And now in this ad: "Simple, musician-oriented operation"

I think we have a winner! Much better.

Third - right at the bottom of the ad is the promo for the free demo record that was also included in the last ad. But this time - it also includes the colour brochure! I included a recording of that sound sheet in my last blog post. And that post also included a link to an eBay auction for the brochure and sound sheet. Check it out if you are interested.

Like I said - I'm still doing my research on this lovely machine. I've just joined the Yahoo LinnDrum group in the hopes of learning more about the machine, and maybe pick up a few tips and tricks to use when*  I get the one I have my eyes on.   (*if)

Yay! Cross fingers!

Linn Electronics LinnDrum "Ultimate Drum Machine" demo record, 1983

 Linn Electronics Inc  LinnDrum "Ultimate Drum Machine" demo record from 1983.

What a nice lookin' rekkid! Actually... what a nice lookin' sound sheet - all floppy and red and stuff.

This two minute and 22 second demo was part 2 of Linn Electronic's 1982/83 LinnDrum advertising campaign titled "The Ultimate Drum Machine". The campaign included an ad of the same title that appeared in Keyboard Magazine (and maybe others - haven't researched that too widely) that ran from May 1982 to March 1983. And in that ad was a promo offer to get a free demo record along with the name of the nearest dealer.

Later, it looks like a brochure was also on offer. Unfortunately, I don't have it. I could get it right now on eBay, along with another copy of the record - but for a hefty $149.99 price tag. That's just too steep for me. It does look gorgeous though.

There is one small potential problem. According to the code on my record - 830122s it looks like this record was probably pressed on January 22, 1983. That date is well after the actual date that the ad and promo offer started. So, either they did more than one pressing (do you "press" a sound sheet?!?!) of the same demo OR could it be that the demo was changed during the promo offer.

Looking around the Web quickly I couldn't find any other examples of the demo - so can't be certain. But, I'm pretty sure it would have been another pressing of the same music demo. Just a hunch.

I've uploaded a copy of the demo to SoundCloud. Now, please remember - this is one of those flexible sound sheets - so the quality is about the same as my mom would find on one of my 45s of Mighty Mouse when I was a kid. (hint: a little scratched up). But, it does provide a nice window into Linn's expectations of use of the drum machine by musicians.



I'm actually quite impressed by the number "listens" my other SoundCloud demos have received. It was kind of an experiment to get me to start using SoundCloud.

The first recording I uploaded was about nine months ago for a blog post on ARP's proportional pitch control demo soundsheet :



 And then about a month later, I uploaded a two-sided demo record for ARP's "Family of Synthesizers" for a blog post:




I'm really digging SoundCloud's HTML5 option. I'm still hoping to update my Advertising Timelines to HTML5 so they can be viewed on the iPod and iPad. 

And yes - this was my blatantly cheap attempt to drum up (pun intended) even more "listens". :D

Linn Electronics Inc. LinnDrum "Ultimate Drum Machine" ad, Keyboard 1982

Linn Electronics Inc. LinnDrum "Ultimate Drum Machine" advertisement from page 27 in the May 1982 issue of Keyboard magazine.

I'm on a bit of a vacation. From life. And so far its going swimmingly well. But, that also means the word count is probably going to fall a little short for the next few posts while I enjoy life with a chainsaw and a beer. What...? Huh...? Put the what down...? Can't hear you...!

For some reason, when I recently saw an auction for a LinnDrum, this ad was one of the few LinnDrum ads that I could visualize without looking back through magazines. I'm sure that's partly because it ran for a relatively long period of time in Keyboard during a very influential period in my life - almost a year starting in May 1982 and ending in March 1983.

The first LinnDrum advertisement appeared a month earlier was a bit of a teaser. It was only black and white, and the photo of the instrument was small and grainy. But I was drawn to the simplicity of that original ad then, and am still drawn to it now.

If you read through that original ad, you would know it was really just a precursor to this ad. A warning shot across the bow - to readers and other companies in the drum machine game.

"Coming next month from the inventors of the digital drum machine"

And true to their words... the following month... BAM!

What a difference a month makes! Readers set their eyes on this full-colour beauty with its lovely photo of a shiny new LinnDrum all up-close and personal. Wood grain sides and all. So close-up that readers could even make out the control labels on the instrument. Yum.

If you click on the link above to compare the two ads - you may have noticed Linn did a little... er... a lot of recycling of the ad-copy. Almost all of it. Even the exact same bolded ad-copy was still highlighted... but instead of bolding, they underlined the really juicy bits. Don't try clicking on them. They aren't hyperlinks.  :D

But Linn did change that last little bit of wording at the end. Did you catch it?

Pre-intro ad: "Designed for non-technical musicians"
This intro ad: "Requires no technical knowledge"

That first line could have been taken two ways. Sure, "non-technical" as in easy to use by musicians that don't know anything about drum machines and other electronics/technical devices. Or, "non-technical" as in the drum machine is made for musicians that don't have the technical abilities with the instrument they currently play. Unintentional, for sure - but that line could totally be taken the wrong way! Oops!   :)

Good switch-up, Linn!

It's also good to see that the suggested retail price didn't change within that one month - still $2995.

There is one other bit of new info at the end of the ad-copy. Free demo record!

I love free.

And I love demo records.

But that's enough for now. Time to get back to beer drinking and chainsawing.

Linn Electronics, Inc. LinnDrum, Keyboard 1982

Linn Electronics, Inc. LinnDrum advertisement from page 13 of Keyboard Magazine April 1982.

My obsession with Oberheim and 'The System' family of products is getting a little too intense even for me, so I thought I would throw out this introductory LinnDrum ad to try and get my mind off of Oberheim for a bit.

I mentioned this ad in my previous Oberheim DMX blog post, when I mentioned that I was more drawn to this ad's stark black & white simplicity in comparison to that DMX ad's off-balanced design. And what simplicity it is. I've included as much of the scanned page as possible in order to show just how much white space there actually was. It also gives you an idea of just how small that black and white photo image of the LinnDrum is.

This ad only seems to have ran once, which makes sense if a reader actually took the time to read to the bottom of the page where it says, "Coming next month...". This was obviously the pre-introductory ad to turn Keyboard readers' appetites up a notch before the real advertisement came out in the next issue of Keyboard.

That "Coming next month..." bit is a great little piece of reference info, providing us with the exact month of the release of the LinnDrum. And that list price of $2995 is also a nice reference nugget.

Directly below that date information is LinnDrum's not-so-secret weapon - "...from the inventors of the digital drum machine". To me, that would have given the company *a lot* of cred back in 1982.

But most interesting to me is the spattering of text that Linn decided to bold throughout the main body of the ad-copy. From a historical perspective, I think those pieces of highlighted text really provide us with a look back at what technical developments Linn was focusing on since the release of their first drum machine, the LM-1. And I would guess most of those tech developments would have been driven by what the competition was doing. In particular, how Linn seemed to be playing a bit of catch-up with the competition- the Oberheim DMX drum machine, released a year or two earlier.

In fact, this competition was still in play years later, and was quite apparent in music shop demo rooms, on stage, and in the studio. Heck, even the opening sentence for the DMX section of the book "Electronic Drums", by Frank Vilardi with Steve Tarshis (1985) mentions it.

That opening line simply states:

"The DMX shares with the LinnDrum the position of most popular drum computer."

Doesn't get any clearer than that. :o)

So, I decided to take a closer look at that bold text from the ad. From the ad-copy:

• "Studio quality digital recordings of real drums - crash and ride cymbals, bass, snare...":
  
  The LinnDrum's predecessor, the LM-1, didn't have crash and ride cymbals. So, when the DMX came out with both of these sounds, the LinnDrum had to include them to stay competitive. According to other LinnDrum advertising literature, the LinnDrum apparently had "exclusive circuitry [to] permit long sustain time and extended high frequency response" needed for sounds like the crash and ride.
  
  
• "...three toms..."
  
  According to the ad literature, the LM-1 had two toms, so the LinnDrum's three was a definite improvement. In comparison, the DMX apparently had one single tom sample but at six separate pitches (separated into Tom 1 and Tom 2). Confusing or what? I'll have to dig deeper into this one at some point.
  

• "Stereo mixer with volume and pan sliders..."
  
  Panning was available right on the front panel of the machine for each instrument. Nice and convenient. And quite unique from what I can gather. And as far as I know, the DMX didn't offer panning at all.
  

• "Drums may be externally triggered by drum synthesizer, pads or any audio source"
  
  Again, I don't think the LM-1 had this feature. But the DMX offered trigger and control voltage inputs. Looks like Linn was definitely playing catch-up.
  

• "Drum sounds are user-changable"
  
  I've never opened up a LinnDrum, but apparently you can swap the chips out really easily just by opening up the face of the machine. The chips on the DMX, on the other hand, are a little bit harder to change. They are located on cards that have to be removed in order to swap out chips.

So, those bolded words really do tell us a lot about what features were real selling points at the time, and how Linn was positioning the machine against the competition.

Trying to decide which one of these machines to purchase in 1982 would have been a tough choice for me. The sheer beauty of Oberheim's family of products is hard to resist. But I'm also a sucker for knobs, dials, switches and sliders. And the LinnDrum has plenty. If I had to make a choice on just what I know right now, I think I would have leaned more towards purchasing the LinnDrum.

But, I'll have to do a bit of sound auditioning before making any final conclusions on that one. So, the next question is... do I "go big" and check eBay, or stay on the cheap and look for samples?

*checks wallet*

Samples it is... :o)

Linn LinnDrum, Keyboard 1984

Linn Electronics LinnDrum from page 51 of Keyboard magazine December 1984.