Kawai R-50 "The Right Stuff" advertisement, Keyboard 1987

 

Kawai R-50 drum machine "The Right Stuff" full page colour advertisement from page 81 in the December 1987 issue of Keyboard Magazine. 

Although it was in June 1987 that the R-50 started appearing in ads alongside the R-100 (see my last blog post), in November of that same year the R-50 finally got the spotlight to itself. This ad above appeared on and off until early 1988, getting bumped periodically by an ad for Kawai's additive synthesizer the K-5. 

This ad was a big departure from the R-100/R-50 80s themed extravaganza that came before it - with a much more standard title/content/photo layout - and the content efficiently spelling out the features of the R-50, including its polyphony, pitch and pan abilities, on-board effects, pad programmability, Midi out the wazoo, and... my favourite... the alternate sound chips. More on that in a second. 

Although Keyboard never devoted a full review to the R-50, it did make the Updates & Short Takes section of the Magazine in the January 1988 issue. Yes, you heard that right. Although the R-50 began appearing in ads waaaaaay back in June 1987, it would be seven months before any kind of review showed up. 

Wowza is right. 

I do give Jim Aikins credit though - its a nice, small compact review - just like the R-50 itself. We end up with about two columns of content devoted to the machine. 

Jim starts by pointing out that the $495 R-100 is about $300 cheaper than the R-50. I like this, because it lets me know that the R-100 was still on the market at this time. Also, I dig historical retail prices in general.  

Much like my relatives would do when over for Christmas dinner, we first get a lot of chatter about what's missing in the younger sibling compared to its bigger brother (okay, maybe I'm projecting a bit). 

• Buttons not velocity sensitive
• Half the memory
• 50 of the 100 patterns are non-programmable factory rhythms
• Song construction simplified (no repeat loops or tempo changes)
• No punch-in recording and song overdub features
• No DIN sync jacks
• In individual outputs

Geeez... sounding even more like me being compared to my older brother. :) 

But, the R-50 did have a few improvements like those assignable pads I went on about in the last post, some new effects, and some amazing midi tricks including midi triggers. 

And, because I can't, and won't, stop talking about them, Jim also mentions those alternate sound chips. Read what he had to say...

"Two additional plug-in voice chips ($129.00) suggested retail) are compatible between the R-100 and R-50. You have to open up the unit to install the new chips, but we're told that Kawai is planning to market a built-in switcher that will hold all three chips and let you choose whichever one you prefer for the current song.". 

This is the first I've heard that Kawai had planned to market their own switcher for all three chips. I'm my head, I'm thinking this would have been a kit that gets installed at the shop.   

But correct me if I'm wrong - I don't recall this ever on the marketing. And I'm wondering if maybe Kawai decided that rather than market a switcher, they decided to market a new R-50 entirely - the elusive R-50iii - that contained all three chips. 

I just happen to have one of those R-50iii. Time to open 'er up and see how those chips are installed.

Kawai R-100 and R-50 drum machine "Overnight Sensation" ad, Keyboard 1987

Kawai R-100 and R-50 drum machine "Overnight Sensation" full page colour advertisement featuring Jan Hammer and Steve Smith from page 73 in the June 1987 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Wowza. There is so much 80s goodness to unpack in this little rare advertisement. It only ran twice in Keyboard - the June and August issues... but should have had a much longer run, dammit.

First - lets look at those 80s design elements. Have you ever seen anything more 80s? Those pink, blue, yellow and purple colours? That "torn page" design element traveling through the middle of the ad? Even the logo for Kawai's "Electronic Musical Instruments Division" with its lines, Keyboard keys knock-out, and other various chunkiness.  Reminds me of Roland ads running around the same time period (see right). 

11/10 for design. 

Next - 80s endorsements! Steve Smith and Jan Hammer - pure 80s peeps endorsing pure 80s drum machines. Jan Hammer, of course known for Miami Vice (did I mention the 80s!?!?!?) and Steve Smith, known for his work with Vital Information and Journey (80s!!!!!).

The ad copy only solidifies the whole 80s vibe with references to Miami Vice, a keyboard review quote, and the trifecta of 80s brand marketing jargon - the "combination of sound, features and price". 

My head is gonna explode!!!!

Here's the thing though - there is just so much going on in this ad, that the whole reason for its existence almost gets lost - and that's the introduction of the R-50 itself. This little guy came out at under $500, and although it lost a few of its bigger brother's great features like velocity-sensitive pads, less memory and, arguably, the fact that half the patterns are uneditable, it did keep all 24 sounds. 

But more importantly, in my head, the R-50 represents what in my mind was a huge leap forward for drum machines:

The sounds are mappable to any button. 

Look at older drum machines, and you see each button has an instrument label under it. Bass Drum. Snare Drum, Hi Hat, etc. Great when memory cost a lot and there was only a limited number of sounds you could fit in a machine. But memory costs were coming down, and programming was improving. 

Some manufactures would get around this button/sound dilemma by stacking sounds on the limited number of buttons. Like the R-100 - only 8 buttons, but three sounds were assigned to each one. But, hard-coded non-the-less.

The R-50 represents that new era of drum machines that were just labeled Pad 1, Pad 2, etc. Like the Roland R-8 or Korg S3. Suddenly, you could have a wack of sounds onboard, and just assign to different pads as needed. Primitive menu diving.

And this brings up to the other really exciting thing announced in this ad almost as an afterthought:

"Both machines have the same great sound and easy operation. And both accept Kawai's new interchangeable sound chips.". 

Say what now?!?!? 

Yup. And those new sounds rawk even more than the standard ones.

There's a lot more to say about those chips... coming up soonly!

Kawai R-50, Music Technology 1987

Kawai R-50 drum machine from back inside cover of Music Technology magazine November 1987.