| A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument | | | | drum sound would be made using sine waves or other |
| designed to imitate the sound of drums and other | | | | basic waveforms. This meant that the resulting sound |
| percussion instruments. These machines are very | | | | may not be very close to that of the real instrument. |
| useful instruments for a wide variety of musical | | | | There are specific percussion sound modules that can |
| genres, not just purely electronic music. They are also | | | | be generated by pickups, trigger pads, or through MIDI. |
| an urgent necessity when session drummers are not | | | | Most of these special machines can also be controlled |
| available. | | | | via MIDI. Drum machines can be programmed in real |
| Drum Machines offers a choice selection of classic, | | | | time where the user specifies the precise moment in |
| meticulously sampled to faithfully reproduce the original | | | | time on which a note will sound. The controls usually |
| sounds. They can be easily tweaked with cleverly | | | | includes tempo, start and stop, volume control of |
| mapped controls, allowing users to experiment with the | | | | individual sounds, keys to generate individual drum |
| inner workings of the instrument and adjust to taste. | | | | sounds, and storage locations for a number of |
| A brief history | | | | different rhythms. |
| The first commercially available rhythm machines were | | | | Digital sampling of drum machines |
| included in organs in the late 1960s, and were intended | | | | The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer was the first machine |
| to accompany the organist. The first largely successful | | | | of this kind to use digital samples. It was released in the |
| drum machine was the Rhythm Ace. It was produced | | | | year 1980. Many of the drum sounds on the LM-1 |
| by a company called Ace Tone which was later | | | | were composed of two chips that were generated at |
| named Roland. Early drum machines were often | | | | the same time and each voice was individually tunable |
| referred to as rhythm machines. | | | | with individual outputs. But since there was a limitation |
| In 1960 Raymond Scott constructed Rhythm | | | | of memory a crash cymbal sound was not available. |
| Synthesizer and in 1963 a drum machine called Bandito | | | | Conclusion |
| the Bongo Artist. Most of these modern machines are | | | | Drum machines are the widely used by the pop and |
| sequencers with a sample playback or synthesizer | | | | rock musicians. Though it is rarely used in a classical |
| component that specializes in the reproduction of drum | | | | concert, the demand for an expert drummer who can |
| timbres as well as the sound of other traditional | | | | program their machines perfectly has almost become |
| percussion instruments. | | | | an imperative for the artists. These drums can be |
| Synthesis of drum sounds | | | | programmed to store different beats in its memory. |
| The early machines used analog sound synthesis | | | | Many modern machines are capable of producing |
| rather than digital sampling in order to generate their | | | | unique sounds and it also allows the artist to compose |
| sounds. A snare drum sound would normally be | | | | unique drum beats and store them as well. |
| created using a burst of white noise whereas a bass | | | | |