Alesis 1992 "Alesis Product Line" product catalog

                 

Alesis "Product Line" 7-panel two page colour product catalog from 1992.

So, I uploaded these scans as two long pages, and also segmented them out to higher res scans of different panels depending on content flow. Basically an experiment to see what works best. 

Surprisingly, I've only ever posted one other ad from Alesis - a Christmas ad for the HR-16 and MMT-8. But I was recently intrigued by my own MMT-8 and thought I'd share my little experience. I could have posted a number of earlier marketing promo pieces that feature the grey MMT-8, but I kinda love my black MMT-8 so I specifically dug into the vault and chose this brochure because of it.  Besides the MMT-8, it includes a great summary of Alesis' gear from 1992 - drum machine, mixer, effects and their ADAT. All fantastic gear for a great price at the time.

Anyways, about the MMT-8...

A few days ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw this tweet from Peter Kirn:

So did anyone manage to get a working MMT8 and try out those grooves from Shawn Rudiman? Would love to work on a Sysex dump and - that might lead somewhere else (I can explain :) ) pic.twitter.com/mGssBp3fTB

— peterkirn (@peterkirn) May 26, 2019

Well, there's two things I love in one sentence! The Alesis MMT-8 sequencer and Shawn Rudiman.

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Side note for Rudiman fans: Just found out he's releasing a new EP on Tresor Records. From the page:

"The studio is Rudiman’s vehicle, the weapon and the balm. From synthetic wonders to dark-warehouse drum missives, Autonomic Pilot proves once again Rudiman as a master of his craft. Tresor Records is proud to welcome his new work into the world."

Sweeeeet!

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I jumped over to Peter Kirn's article on the CDM Web site called: "Post Album Techno: 9 years of live sequence data, from Shawn Rudiman". As Peter puts it -

"Shawn has taken the plunge and dumped years of live performance practice from his backups, in an irrationally specific media archaeology experiment for techno nerds." 

And specific it was! Each of the 12 live sets on the album called "Finest Quality, Big Time Data" are from the MMT-8's data tape audio back-ups. That's right. Not the audio. The DATA. I you try to listen to the tracks, it's just that screechy 90's dial-up modem-like sound for four or five minutes.

Brilliant! It's like he posted it just for me.  Okay, not just me - it's also for the eight other people that also purchased the "album" so far.

To me, that's one of the most interesting things about this release by Shawn. He knew when he posted it that it had a very narrow audience and hence was obviously a very limited money-maker. But from a promotional standpoint, it's a fun and interesting exercise aimed directly at us "techno nerds".

And exercise I did!

Unfortunately I had just packed up *all* my studio for a temporary move (over 200 synths, drum machines and sequencers into 250+ feet of 4' wide bubble wrap, 20+ cases and 25 carry-totes) so I had to find that MMT-8 first. Luckily, it only took about half an hour to find it and get it out of its bubble-wrapped sleeve. The power supply was somewhat easier to find since I have a healthy addiction to label makers.

So I plugged it in, and hoped for the best. Sure enough that lovely little screen lit up bright!

It turned on!

Next, I needed to figure out how to restore the audio data. One of the great things about the MMT-8 is its ease of use, and the fact that most of the directions on its use can be found on the flip-up lid on the top of the MMT-8.

flip-up instructions

So, with the instructions on how to restore pattern and song data identified, I dug out an audio cable and plugged one end from the headphone output of my laptop and the other end into the "tape in" port on the back of the MMT-8. I then pulled up the Shawn Rudiman's Bandcamp page, entered the correct key combo on the MMT-8 to start the restore process, and hit play on the Bandcamp page to get the first set of audio data playing.

Nothing.

I tried different volume levels.

Still nothing.

I tried downloading and playing the MP3 file from the computer. Nothing. Uncompressed WAV files. Nothing. Stereo cable. Nothing. Mono cable. Nothing. Mono->Stereo cable. Nothing.

Anger sets in.

Then I had an idea. I pulled up the Bandcamp app on my Android tablet, plugged the audio cable into the headphone jack and hit play.

Boom! The screen on the MMT-8 indicated it was restoring the data.

I had forgotten how fussy tape backups/restores could be. And not just fussy. But time-consuming. And so it was four minutes and fifty-seven seconds later the MMT-8's screen returned to normal and I started looking for parts (what Alesis calls patterns).

00. 01. 02..... 16 - jackpot - "Deep Techno-2"!

Success!

But now for problem #2. All my synths were packed up! What do I connect to the sequencer to see what exactly was restored?

I got an idea.

What if I play each track, one by one, from that first pattern on the MMT-8 while sync'd up and recording into Propellerhead Reason?

And that's exactly what I did:

The great thing about this method is that it created a nice visual reference of the MIDI data and I could get a better idea of what might be a percussive, pad or bass-type track. I then created a new instance of Kong, Thor or any of Reason's other great instruments (or VSTs!) and copied over the midi data from the track. Voila!

It also helped that I contacted Shawn to let him know I had managed to pull in one of his sets and he gave me a few more tips and hints about his workflow. Thank you Shawn!

So now I bet you want to hear something. Well, that's gonna have to wait because I have a few more Alesis brochures to post yet!  :)