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.  :)

Linn Electronics, Inc. LM-1 drum machine ad #3, Keyboard 1981

Linn Electronics, Inc. LM-1 drum machine advertisement #3 from page 52 of Keyboard Magazine July 1981.

Well - I think I'm finished with my Pro-One kick for a while. *Phew*. That last post involved a lot of typing. So, I'm going to keep this one short - hopefully.

This was the last of the three versions of the LM-1 'Real Drum' ads to run in CK. This blue version of the ad followed the gold version, consistently running in CK from June '81 all the way to the March '82 issue.

Besides the color of the ad, there are a few other subtle differences between the gold and blue versions - both dealing with the Linn logo.

First, the early version of the Linn logo that sat in the bottom right of the ad and that I loved so much has changed. I really liked that older version of the logo with the whole note/transistor image next to the Linn name. Someone should ask him to bring that old logo back. Maybe a limited addition retro-version of his AdrenaLinn III. Hey, did that say free shipping to Canada. Whoo whoo!

The second difference between the gold and blue ad (and more importantly) - the photo of the LM-1 is slightly different. A number of buttons seem to have been added or moved, and what I believe to be the volume knob that was originally located on the far left of the front panel of the LM-1 has move to a central location. In its space appears the OLD VERSION OF THE LINN LOGO! Excellent.

Hmmm... two different models, eh? I decided to do a quick Google image search to see exactly what was out there in the wild, and all the photos of peoples' LM-1's that came up in the results featured the newer model with the volume knob in the middle of the machine, but with the NEW logo in the far left corner. Plus, none of the photos in the image search featured the red button either - all were black.

I did manage to find one photo on flickr that featured the older model with the red button. But it featured not two, but three knobs across the top left side. These have to be very early versions of the LM-1. Maybe even prototypes that made it into the wild? I thought I read somewhere that Roger Linn was constantly making small changes to the design - so maybe this is proof of that evolution.

One other thing I noticed while researching - for a while, these LM-1 ads were often sitting opposite Sequential Circuits ads (or on either side of the same page) in Keyboard. In fact, this ad was featured directly opposite the second-last Pro-One advertisement I blogged about (which is what jogged my memory that I needed to finish with the LM-1 ads in the first place).

Could it be that Roger Linn and Dave Smith were like two peas in a pod back then? Kinda like today? Check out Steven Balsamo's photostream on Flickr for some other great photos of SF MusicTech Summit 2010.

I'm a little jelis!

Linn Electronics, Inc. LM-1 drum machine ad #2, Contemporary Keyboard 1981

Linn Electronics, Inc. LM-1 drum machine advertisement #2 from page 27 of Contemporary Keyboard May 1981.

I'm writing this post on World Cup day, and although I haven't been a very loyal fan in the past, I've slowly been getting caught up in the storm because of a few friends wearing orange lately. And since I'm a classic knee-jerk kinda guy, I have to automatically cheer for the opposing team - so... Go Spain!

Game time is in half an hour, so I'm going to keep it short.

Like many of the teams playing in the World Cup, Linn had been slowly gaining momentum with their LM-1 advertisements. To get an idea of what I'm talking about, you only have to compare this second LM-1 advertisement, known by it's creator as 'the gold ad', to Linn's first LM-1 ad I blogged about last week. It ran immediately after its predecessor, from about February to May, 1981.

You see, I'm a big fan of 'iteration'. When my CEO comes to me and says we need to rebuild our Web site, I don't spend three years building a totally different site. Instead, I'm constantly analyzing the current state of the site, looking at what works and what doesn't, making small changes over time. The marketing people hate this because they don't get to write a big news release, build a big new advertising campaign, and write ten pages of speaking notes for our call centre. But, users of our Web site love this because it allows them to stay familiar with the site while I slowly make changes for the better - over time, and with little budget.

You can definitely see that Roger Linn and the ad's designer, Eric Wrobbel, did a similar thing. They took a look at the original ad, discussed what might need a bit of tweaking, and kept the momentum moving forward while maintaining all that LM-1 advertising goodness.

As you can see, here's a couple of those tweaks...

1. Colour! I don't know what the cost difference was between a black+white or a colour ad in 1981, but it was definitely worth it. Unlike the LM-1's first ad, this one pops off the page.

2. The 'Real Drums' tag line also jumps out at you in this ad - it's the first thing you read. As much as I like the funky font used in the black+white version of this ad, the font style, and it's placement behind the photo of the instrument, made it blend in with the rest of the ad and I felt my eyes had to go looking for it.

3. The name of the actual LM-1 is moved from its awkward position to the right of the photo into the much-improved tag-line - "The LM-1 Drum Computer - a new breed of rhythm machine'. Much better than the old tag-line - "Here's the most amazing rhythm machine ever!". Everrrrrrrrrr! :o)

4. The best part of this advertisement is the introduction of an early version of the Linn logo. If you are a regular reader, you know I'm a big fan of logos like those of Oberheim and Aries, and I have to say that Linn's logo can sit proudly within this esteemed tattoo-worthy group. Especially noteworthy is the symbol sitting to the left of the 'Linn' name, effortlessly merging both the musical and technical aspects of the company.

Eric Wrobbel, the creator of the ad including the logo, includes a bit of history about Roger Linn and the evolution of the logo on his Web site:

"The symbol used ahead of the Linn name was an amalgam of a musical whole note with the technical symbol for a transistor inside of it. To the rest of the world it just looked like an “O.” Roger quickly tired of being called Mr. O’Linn and we changed it..."

Brilliant commentary! Gotta love the backstory. I know I do.

Linn Electronics, Inc. LM-1 drum machine, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Linn Electronics, Inc. LM-1 drum machine advertisement from page 34 of Contemporary Keyboard December 1980.

As alluded to in my last blog post on keytars (Casio AZ-1 advertisement), there are certain pieces of gear that make me think of summer, and in particular, summers in the 1980s. Well, the LM-1 definitely falls into that category, probably because hearing those sounds in songs from such bands as A-ha, Berlin, and Ultravox take me straight back to that decade.

This is probably the earliest LM-1 advertisement to be found in CK. It only ran once or twice in black and white before a new slightly different colour version of the advertisement came out that included a different 'Real Drums' font, the addition of an early Linn logo, and some changes to ad-copy formatting/placement.

Often when I first start an advertisement blog post, I will scribble down a few points about the advertisement on paper to get the brain juices flowing, and then do a bit of Googling to get some background research and ideas. I tell you this for a reason that will be come clear in just a moment.

My initial scribbles for this advertisement included these three points:

• No logo - booo!
• That's one crazy 'Real Drums' font
• Interesting contrast to have the 'real drums' text behind a decidedly non-real drum (ie: a drum machine)

Then, when I started my Google searches, I quickly came upon Eric Wrobbel's Web site. Eric is a designer and author with a huge fascination for vintage radios and televisions. He's written a wack of books on early transistor radios from Sony, Standard, and Crown, as well as on toy walkie-talkies and toy crystal radios. The designs of these products are vintage-ly awesome, down-right inspiring, and best of all, many of the model names sound suspiciously like our favorite analogue synthesizers and drum machines. Names like the TR-55 and SR-F21. Click on the links above to see a few pages from his books that include photos.

But, back to the point.

You see, Eric was also the guy who designed THIS LM-1 advertisement back in 1980. And he designed other gear ads for companies such as 360 Systems, Akai, and Mitsubishi as well. He includes many of his ads in the 'Art' section of his Web site, complete with juicy commentary.

Here's what he has written for this LM-1 advertisement, and I've highlighted a part of it in bold:

"This unassuming little layout got the job done extremely well. And it did no harm, as many first-time ads do to new companies who naïvely publish silly, amateurish work and then spend years digging out from under the damage.

This was the very first ad for the Linn LM-1 Drum Computer. Roger Linn and I thought that the phrase “Real Drums” juxtaposed with a picture of something that looked decidedly unlike real drums would make for a provocative headline. Ad copy goes on to explain the LM-1 actually does play real drums, digital recordings stored in computer memory.

If you go back to my third little scribble, you will see that I also had initially pointed out the contrast between the title copy (Real Drums) and the image of the drum machine.

What is it that they say about great minds thinking alike... I kid. I kid. I don't make this comparison to try and come off as some kind of genius. Exactly the opposite.

The thing is, when I'm commenting on many of these ads, I'm doing it blind a lot of the time. I can make certain assumptions about why the creator of an ad might have used certain ad-copy or design elements in a certain way. But really, a lot of the time it's just an educated guess. Your interpretation may be totally different. I suppose that's what's cool about advertising art.

And that's why I really appreciate having someone like Eric Wrobbel take the time to document the ideas and processes that were involved in the creation of his ads. I find the best part of blogging is digging up the backstory - and sometimes the assumptions that you make turn out to be totally wrong.

Like when I tracked down Marco Alpert and the history behind Emu's 'Arthur C. Clarke' advertisement. Who new it would be such a simple explanation. But it was the journey that made it interesting.

It makes me appreciate these ads so much more. :o)