Elektron Machinedrum - Manual (Page 10)

THE STORY OF THE MACHINEDRUM
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THE STORY OF THE MACHINEDRUM
The Machinedrum is a music instrument that presents new methods for music synthesis
and creation. It also traces its heritage to classic drum machines.
The drum machine concept is more than 30 years old. Around the same time that Bob
Moog released his first commercial synthesizer for keyboard players, the first consumer
drum machines were also made available. Although primitive in design with only pre-pro-
grammed patterns to offer, they laid the foundation for a new area of electronically aided
music and sound creation.
What followed has formed a good part of the percussive basis for modern music. The drum
machines from Roland (the TR-series), Linn and Simmons are legendary and highly
regarded for their individual synthetic sound. The analogue drum machines were actually
advanced synthesizers, specially designed for creating a specific percussive sound. Today
respect is gained not by recreating the sound of an acoustic drum, but by adding to the
tonal palette of percussion. The method of “grid programming” has also offered a creative
approach to forming rhythms.
Percussion synthesis was a neglected area for many years. With the Machinedrum, we
have incorporated the best ideas from the classic drum machines, using specially designed
“machines” for many types of percussion, combined with new rhythm composing possibili-
ties, to make it a state of the art drum synthesizer and sequencer.
For sample enabled versions of the Machinedrum, those with a UW acronym, where “UW”
is short for “UserWave”, inspiration was drawn from the 12-bit samplers of the 1980’s, for
example the EMU SP-1200. The sound from these instruments were often very character-
istic and had a punch and grit that can be hard to obtain today. Combining samples with the
ease of use and flexibility that the Machinedrum environment offers will vastly expand the
sound shaping possibilities.
The Machinedrum UW versions also make it possible to explore new sonic territories as
they contain real time sampling features. All this makes a Machinedrum UW an ideal com-
panion for both forward-thinking DJ’s and beat composers looking for a unique sound.
MACHINEDRUM MAIN FEATURES
The Machinedrum is built from three parts - the percussion synthesizer, the effect system
and the percussion sequencer.
The synthesizer holds 16 drum generating synthesizers - machines - simultaneously. Each
of the machines is designed for creating a specific drum sound, such as bass drum or
claves, from a set of parameters. A range of special machines are also available. The UW
versions add the sample handling ROM and RAM machines.
The effect system consists of the TRACK EFFECT system and the STEREO MASTER
EFFECT System. The TRACK EFFECT system supplies various effects tied to each audio
track. These effects can be used tightly together with the machines to form the sound. The
STEREO MASTER EFFECT system consists of a delay, a reverb, an EQ and a dynamics
compressor. These effects operate on the mixed main output signal.
The percussion sequencer offers full control over the machines and the Track Effects.