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Linn LinnDrum

Not available for use in Recording Studios

On exhibit

Artifact TypeDrum Machine, Electronic

Manufacturer Linn Electronics, Inc.

Manufacturer LocationUSA

Date1982

While the Linn LM-1 revolutionized the role of the drum machine in popular music, in 1982 its cheaper, more commercial cousin, the LinnDrum, helped spread the word to the masses. The machine enjoyed immense success in the 1980s and was used on such songs as A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” George Michael’s “Faith” and Madonna’s “Lucky Star.” The LinnDrum was an update on the LM-1 in many ways: it had a cleaner interface, featured more sounds and with swappable chips, multiplied the number of available samples.

Operation/FunctionThe LinnDrum is very similar in function to its predecessor, the LM-1 Drum Computer. There are fifteen distinct sounds available to the user: bass, snare, side stick, hi hat, hi tom, mid tom, lo tom, ride, crash, cabasa, tambourine, hi conga, lo conga, cowbell, and hand claps, all recorded at a 35 kHz sampling rate and 8-bit depth. A sixteenth sample comes in the form of a metronomic click track. The instrument holds 42 preset rhythms and is capable of storing another 56 user-defined loops, all of which are programmable in real time with any combination of the drum sounds. Also featured are a 16-input stereo mixer and programmable dynamic controls. The front panel of the instrument offers functions for controlling master volume, tempo in either beats per minute or frames per minute, and dynamic control of certain instruments, while the ‘Mixer’ section provides independent volume sliders and rotary pan switches for each of the fifteen drums. The ‘Create Rhythm Pattern/Song’ function is used to record the drumbeats and link them together into a total of 49 distinct songs. The instrument also features the autocorrect quantizing function that was first used in the LM-1, which allows the user to adjust the placement of certain notes in a pattern, either during playback or during recording. Seven of the fifteen drum sounds are individually tunable, either by knobs located on the front panel, or by two control voltage inputs, while the kick, snare, and hi hat sounds can also be enhanced with an accent function. The rear panel of the instrument features fifteen individual outputs for each of the drum sounds, a master stereo output, and the two CV (control voltage) inputs. The instrument is capable of syncing with an external sequencer or synthesizer, as well as with a cassette tape, which can be used to store programmed data. It may also be triggered externally by up to five different sources. A remote foot switch may be used to control the recording functions. This instrument employs EPROM chips for sound storage.Cultural SignificanceToday, the drum machine is a commonplace and highly flexible musical tool that permeates nearly every popular music practice. Of course, there were those during the time of the instrument’s inception – and it should be noted that there are many who still hold this belief today – that opposed the introduction of devices such as the drum machine, contending that its usage would eliminate the need for human performers. Although their fears were not without merit, it is generally regarded today that both the drum machine and the live percussionist offer vastly differing sonic experiences, allowing musicians to choose one or the other – or in some cases, both – based on the style and aesthetic they wish to achieve. Thanks to its use of digital samples of acoustic drum sources and its implementation of a sophisticated programmable structure, devices such as the LinnDrum and its predecessor, the LM-1, also helped shift the public perception of the instrument; prior to 1980, drum machines were, by and large, not regarded as “serious” musical instruments worthy of use by professional musicians. Earlier drum machines were also less desirable because they lacked a certain genuine character on account of employing simulation rather than sampling methods. Despite the instrument employing samples, the drum sounds produced by the instrument were not, of course, completely authentic, suffering certain imperfections in the associated circuitry that gave the samples a unique sonic quality. With their rampant usage in various genres of popular music throughout the 1980s, both the LM-1 and LinnDrum came to define much of the popular music of the decade. Although the LM-1 was regarded as the more sophisticated of the two, the LinnDrum was considerably less expensive and, as a result, sold many more units. In fact, the LinnDrumm sold even more units than both the LM-1 and Linn9000, its successor of 1984, combined. The ‘LinnDrum’ moniker has also stuck, having been applied to later designs such as the LinnDrum Midistudio of 1986, and the LinnDrum II, which became the Tempest in 2011. Today, both sample-based and simulation-based drum machines are widely used, with each offering certain characteristics that cater to a range of varied users.Technological SignificanceThe drum machine has asserted itself as one of the most prevalent forces in modern music, with the usage of particular models even characterizing that which defines certain genres and styles. With each exhibiting its own unique sonic qualities, the device has moved far beyond its initial position as a stand-in for live percussion, and has become its own instrument. The first drum machines included instruments such as the Rhythmicon, from 1932, the Chamberlin Rhythmate, from 1949, and the Wurlitzer Sideman, from 1959. The Rhythmicon was produced by Russian inventor Leon Theremin (1896 – 1993), who is credited with designing one of the first and most unique electronic instruments, the Theremin, which employs an interface that does not require the player to physically touch the instrument. The Rhythmicon, which was theorized and commissioned by American experimental composer Henry Cowell (1897 – 1965), never progressed past the prototyping phase, but allowed the user to produce intricate polyphonic rhythms of up to sixteen voices that are based on the intervallic relationships of the harmonic series, while also incorporating a mechanism that would enable it to interact with live dancers. This instrument is entirely vacuum tube-based and was also occasionally referred to as the Polyrhythmophone. The Rhythmate was designed by Californian inventor Harry Chamberlin, who is credited with designing the first tape-replay samplers and the mechanism later employed in the hugely successful Mellotron series of analog samplers in England in the 1960s. The Rhythmate, which was technically referred to as the model 100, was itself an early tape-replay sampler that contained fourteen independent loops of distinct percussive patterns, derived primarily from an acoustic jazz kit, each prerecorded onto a separate 1/4” magnetic tape. The tape head in the instrument could be moved horizontally, allowing individual tapes to be isolated, or even blended (between adjacent tapes) if desired. Approximately only ten of these instruments were ever produced. The Wurlitzer Sideman, which was first introduced in 1959, was essentially the first commercial drum machine, and was also the first to employ entirely electronic generation via vacuum tubes rather than through sample playback. The Sideman offered the user the option either to select one of twelve preset rhythmic patterns, or to bypass the preset rhythms and manually create original patterns with a series of single-instrument push buttons. The instrument also included a moveable rod connected to a motor, which controlled the triggering of rhythms and individual instrument sounds. Although the Sideman was highly revered by its users, its sophisticated electro-mechanical mechanism proved too advanced for the market, hindering any serious usage of the instrument. Contemporaneous with the Sideman were two other instruments produced by American engineer and inventor of the famed Clavivox, Raymond Scott (1908 – 1994). In 1960, Scott produced the Rhythm Synthesizer, and in 1963, an instrument he referred to as ‘Bandito the Bongo Artist’. These instruments were likely the first drum machines to be used on a commercial recording, namely Scott’s Soothing Sounds for Baby series of 1964. Despite its relatively scant popular usage, the Sideman remained the most successful drum machine on the market until the first transistorized units emerged in the 1960s. Up until 1980, these instruments tended to follow the Sideman’s cue, aiming to synthesize new tones instead of simply replicating already existing tones through tape sampling as the Rhythmate had done several decades prior. Typically this was done by employing basic functions such as white noise generators and sine tone oscillators, and then sculpting and filtering them so as to resemble their acoustic counterparts. The first transistor-based drum machines included instruments such as the Rhythm Prince and Select-a-Rhythm of 1964, both of which were manufactured by Seeburg and Gulbransen, the latter of which was later incorporated into Fender Musical Instruments. In 1967, Ace Electronics, which would later become known as Ace Tone, released the Rhythm Ace, which also employed electronic generation. The founder of Ace Electronics, Ikutaro Kakehashi, later established the Roland Corporation, one of the most successful manufacturers of electronic instruments, including the hugely successful TR-808 and TR-909 – TR being an acronym for ‘transistor rhythm’ – drum machines. Roland introduced one of the first programmable drum machines, the CR-78, in 1978. The LinnDrum’s predecessor, the LM-1, was revolutionary when it was introduced in 1980 in that it did not employ electronic generation as its predecessors had done, but rather, much as Chamberlin had done decades prior, made use of acoustically-derived samples. The main difference, of course, was that Chamberlin recorded his samples onto analog magnetic tape, while Linn converted his samples to digital signals using a very crude analog-to-digital converter. A built-in microprocessor integrated circuit, or chip, served as the instrument’s digital-to-analog converter, taking the digital information embedded in the samples and transferring them back into analog signals that could be sent to an amplifier. Numerous other companies responded to the success of the LM-1 and the LinnDrum, with the release of similar units also employing digital samples, including Oberheim Electronics’ DMX, Sequential Circuits’ Drum-Traks, and E-Mu Systems’ Drumulator. Roland released the TR-808 in 1980, which employed electronic generation of its tones, and the TR-909 in 1983, which employed digital samples; though sounding substantially different from one another, both instruments stand as among the most widely used drum machines in modern music. The LinnDrum incorporated many of the innovative features that were incorporated into the LM-1, including use of digital samples and a programmable structure. While the LM-1 features samples recorded at a mere 28 kHz sampling rate, those of the LinnDrum were recorded at a 35 kHz sampling rate. Although by today’s standards, both sampling rates are considered primitive, a higher sampling rate resulted in somewhat higher quality samples; it should be noted, however, that this difference in sampling rate was perhaps too narrow to make any intelligible difference to the average user. Like the LM-1, the LinnDrum also allowed the user to program their own drumbeats and patterns, which marked a departure from the majority of preceding drum machines, which typically only offered preset rhythms informed by some of the popular dances of the time such as the Samba and Tango. Users could not only program independent patterns, but could also string them together into completed songs, while the instrument’s programmable nature meant that these patterns could be stored and recalled later, even if the instrument had been turned off and then back on again. Such features were still in their infancy in synthesizers, with the first programmable instruments only arriving on the market in the late 1970s. Moreover, the LinnDrum also featured basic editing features, a built-in click track, and functions that allow for storage and sync of preset patterns onto cassette tape. The user could perform and record drumbeats in real time, and control the volume and panning of each of the instrument’s fifteen samples individually. Perhaps the most innovative feature of the LinnDrum, which was first introduced in the LM-1, was its shuffle, or ‘error correct’ function, which allowed the user to shift notes by certain timed intervals (as small as one thirty-second note triplet and as large as one eighth note). This function could be used either to correct timing errors, or to insert a “swing” effect that served to imitate the motions and instabilities of a human performer. This feature was Roger Linn’s trademark of sorts, and was implemented into every subsequent device he designed, including the MPC series he developed for Akai. Several of the samples that are included on the instrument come equipped with dynamic controls, however they are limited in nature, only allowing the user to switch between loud and soft volumes with no variance in between. The LinnDrum was primarily designed to be a low-cost alternative to the LM-1 that would appeal to the commercial market more so than the studio professional. It featured expanded sound samples (the LM-1 only contained twelve samples, and lacked important sounds such as the crash and ride cymbals, which were too long to implement in 1980), as well as a more intuitive interface that enabled greater flexibility in programming. Perhaps the LinnDrum’s greatest drawback was that, unlike the LM-1, it is not capable of individual tuning for each of its samples, but only for the snare, tom, and conga, and hi hat samples. That being said, the LinnDrum also featured five external trigger inputs, and, most usefully, allowed the user to replace the instrument’s chips with new EPROM chips containing more and varied samples. Moreover, while the LM-1 only allowed the user to save up to eight different songs, or chains of drumbeats, the LinnDrum expanded this capacity to 49 songs. The LinnDrum was succeeded by the Linn 9000 in 1984, which featured an impressive multi-track MIDI sequencer. Although the LinnDrum was technically MIDI compatible, it was not a built in feature and would have to be retrofitted in order to function. The Linn 9000 also included touch-sensitive buttons, user sampling, and SMPTE synchronization.Users/PerformersNotable examples of the LinnDrum’s usage in the 1980s include A-Ha’s “Take On Me” of 1985, Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” of 1983, Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” from the Top Gun soundtrack of 1986, Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Time After Time” of 1984, Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round” of 1984, Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” of 1984, Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” of 1986, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” of 1983, George Michael’s “Faith” of 1987, Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F” from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack of 1984, Madonna’s “Lucky Star” of 1983, and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” of 1985. Many users of the LinnDrum and its predecessor, the LM-1, were also owners of the Fairlight CMI (Computer Music Instrument) digital sampler, which was released in 1979, and commonly paired the two instruments in recordings. Perhaps the most famous usage of this combination is in the Miami Vice theme, created by famed film composer Jan Hammer in 1984.

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