E-mu drumulator

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E-mu drumulator
Drumulator front.png

Control surface

General
Surname Drumulator
Manufacturer E-mu Systems
Sound generation Digital samples (12-bit)
publication 1983
properties
Polyphonic yes, 8
Keys 4 plastic pads
Interface (noun) MIDI (later models only)

Clock / Cas (“IN” and “OUT”)

Sequencer Yes
Storage spaces 8 songs / 36 patterns
Dimensions (L × W × H) 36 × 34 × 11 cm
Weight 4.5 kg
Drumulator backside.png

Rear and connections

Audio samples

Audio sample 1: Rhythm programmed on the internal sequencer of the drumulator (reverb mixed in)

Audio sample 2: Using the drumulator in a piece of music together with other synthesizers (excerpt)

The E-mu Drumulator is a drum computer made by E-mu Systems . It was first offered for sale in 1983. The introductory price was US $ 995. The manufacturer paid particular attention to being able to offer the drum computer as inexpensively as possible, as similar devices were often very expensive at the time. Due to the low price, the drumulator was used in countless low-cost productions, which made it one of the most famous drum computers of the 1980s .

function

Sound generation

The drumulator offers the possibility to play twelve different drum sounds. These can be controlled via four pads on the device, via the internal sequencer or via external devices. The individual sounds are saved as digital 12-bit samples . With six blue buttons it was possible to assign a sample to each of the four pads. Each of these keys represents two samples. Which of these two samples is assigned depends on whether the machine is in "Drum" or "Percussion" mode. Most samples can be output through separate outputs as well as through a "Mix Out" output. Only a few samples share an output. The drumulator also has an integrated metronome , which is generated independently of the samples by its own chip and can also be output via a separate output.

The following sounds are included as standard on the drum machine:

Drums bass Snare Rim Hi tom Mid Tom Lo Tom
Percussion Clave Cowbell Claps Hi Hat Open Hi Hat Closed Cymbal

Sequencer

With the internal sequencer you can program different rhythms , which are then played automatically by the device. Usually you start with playing in so-called “patterns” or “segments”, which consist of one or more bars and which are repeated over and over again during the piece of music to be accompanied. These segments can then be combined into a “song”. In the sequencer you can also determine the volume and the accentuation of the samples. Additional functions such as automatic correction or adding a swing are also possible. The drumulator offers 36 memory locations for "segments" and eight memory locations for "songs". If you need more storage space, or to create a backup of the stored rhythms, you have the option of digitally saving the programmed rhythms on cassette or tape . The corresponding signal can be input or output via the "Clock / Cas In" and "Clock / Cas Out" sockets. Using the same sockets, it is also possible to synchronize the drumulator with other instruments using "clock sync".

Extensions

Extensions from E-mu Systems

Pad Programmer

E-mu Systems also offered an additional device for the drumulator, with which it was possible not only to call up the drum sounds via the keys of the drum computer, but also to play them using drum sticks like on a real drum kit. This device was marketed under the name "Pad Programmer" and is built into an identical housing as the drumulator. It has four rubber pads that call up and play back the selected samples. With this addition, in contrast to the keys on the drumulator, it is possible to play the sounds with velocity . The pad programmer is connected to the drumulator with four cables. The jacks are labeled Gate A – D on the drumulator. Only the letters are written on the Pad Programmer.

Extensions from other manufacturers

There were also numerous extensions from third-party providers that could be added later. These were mostly offered in the form of additional printed circuit boards or as EPROM memory modules. With these extensions it is possible, for example, to extend the compatibility with other instruments or to replace the preprogrammed samples with others and thus change the sounds of the drum computer.

Digidrums

The manufacturer Digidrums mainly produced EPROMs for the drumulator. They replace the original samples of the drum computer. 15 different sets of sounds were sold. Each of these sets consisted of five EPROMs. The actual samples are stored on four such memory modules. The fifth is a kind of control module that contains information about which sample can be called where.

The following sets were sold among others:

  • Electronic drums
  • Latin percussion
  • African / Misc. Percussion
  • Rock drums
  • Jazz drums
  • Sound effects
  • Latin drums
  • Alternative drums
  • All percussion

Some of these sets were also sold for other drum machines. Due to the different storage conditions of the instruments, however, there were small differences in the sound of the sets. The samples contained on the expansion modules come from different sources. Some were recorded by Digidrums themselves, others were sampled from pieces of music (e.g. "Rock Drums # 1" from the song When the Levee Breaks by the band Led Zeppelin ) or taken over from existing instruments with a larger memory capacity (e.g. " Latin Percussion “from a floppy disk of the E-mu Emulator II ).

JL Cooper

The manufacturer JL Cooper produced additional printed circuit boards that could be retrofitted into the drumulator. One of these extensions made it possible to retrofit older models that did not yet have a MIDI interface. The most famous extension was the "Drumulator 3 Kit Board". This was plugged onto the internal motherboard of the drumulator, where the EPROMs with the stored samples are usually located. On the expansion board you had the option of using three different EPROM kits. This made it much easier to switch between the different samples, since the EPROMs no longer had to be exchanged, but the desired kit could be selected using a switch.

Use in pieces of music (selection)

The Drumulator was mainly in the 1980s years in pop music , as well as accompaniment music used for movies, radio plays, etc.. Today it is rarely used because most music producers use VST plugins to generate sound . Nevertheless, its sound can still be heard in newer pieces of music, as there are corresponding plugins which try to imitate the sound of this drum computer.

year Artist album Songs
1983 Cocteau Twins Head over heels My love paramour
Cocteau Twins Sunburst and Snowblind
Depeche Mode Construction Time Again Everything Counts , Love, in Itself
Karel Svoboda EAST Tao Tao
Keith LeBlanc Malcolm X: No Sell Out
The Twins A wild romance A wild romance
Valerie Dore The Night , Get Closer
1984 Fun fun Color My Love
Front 242 No comment
Howard Jones Human's Lib
Kenny loggins EAST Footloose Footloose
Models JR Robot JR Robot
Nemesy I want to dance I want to dance
Rockwell Somebody's Watching Me Somebody's Watching Me
Carol Jiani Touch and Go Lover
Cocteau Twins Treasure *
1985 Bad Boys Blue Hot girls, bad boys
Detlef Oels Various European radio games (including Drei ??? , TKKG , Fünf Freunde g) Background music
EAV money or life Ba-Ba bank robbery *, Fata Morgana , hot nights in Palermo , kiss the hand, Mr. jailer *, Prince Charming **
Game theory Real nighttime She'll Be a Verb
Lou Reed EAST White Nights My love is chemical
Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair Shout *
1986 Jean-Michel Jarre Date
Nu Shooz I can't wait
1987 Big Black Songs About Fucking
Christian Bruhn EAST Alice in Wonderland
Depeche Mode Music for the masses Never Let Me Down Again
Gerd Bessler Under the flying violin Flyin 'on the wave
2001 Liars They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top Mr Your On Fire Mr , Tumbling Walls Buried Me in the Debris , We Live NE of Compton

* Digidrums Rock Drums # 1
** Digidrums Electronic Drums # 1

Software versions

More often, sound sets for samplers and software synthesizers based on samples of the drumulator were offered. VST versions are also available.

Web links

Commons : E-mu Drumulator  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ E-MU Systems - Product History. Retrieved January 2, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Drumulator Owner's Manual. (PDF) E-mu Systems, Inc., 1981, accessed on January 2, 2018 (English).
  3. ^ Drumulator - Pad Programmer Operating Manual. (PDF) (No longer available online.) E-mu Systems, 1983, archived from the original on May 13, 2013 ; accessed on January 2, 2018 .
  4. ^ Frank D. Cook: Pro Tools 101: An Introduction to Pro Tools 11 . Ed .: Cengage Learning. August 27, 2013.
  5. ↑ Drumulator 3 Kit Board Installation Manual. (PDF) (No longer available online.) JLCooper Electronics, archived from the original on January 3, 2018 ; accessed on January 2, 2017 .
  6. ^ UVI Emulation II - Virtual Vintage Sampler Instrument. Retrieved January 2, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Test: UVI Emulation II, UVI Drumulation, software clones of EMU Emulator II and Drumulator. In: AMAZONA.de. June 2, 2012, accessed on July 22, 2020 (German).
  8. ↑ Emu Drumulator Free sample pack. Synth Planet, 2010, accessed July 22, 2020 .