Tag Archives: beatboxes

Demo! (first in a series)

A Roland CR-8000, a piano, a shit-tonne of echo, and Phil Collins circa 1980.  Sounds incredibly modern.   Click here or watch below.  I had a CR-8000 alongside my TR-606  for some years; I had it midi sync’d via my MSQ-700.  … Continue reading

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1981: Battle of the ’55s

1981: Korg and Roland both release prosumer drum machines designated 55.  The KORG KR-55 is a non-programmable drum machine with many preset patterns and individual volume controls for each sound.  Regardless of what this advert claims, trust me, this thing … Continue reading

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Univox-branded Synth+Drums

Billy Preston with a Univox Compac-Piano Univox (brief company history here) was a US company that marketed a huge range of musical products in the late 60s and into the early 80s.    Most famous is their ‘Hi-Flier’ electric guitar, aka, … Continue reading

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Electronic Drum Trends of the 1980s

Legendary pop/RnB session drummer Bernard Purdie was apparently the distributor (!) of the MPC line of electronic drums.  Purdie is best know for inventing the distinctive shuffle groove that would later appear in hits such as ‘Rosanna’ by the group … Continue reading

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Keyboard accessories circa mid 70s

The ACOUSTIC Model 500 ‘Keyboard Control Center.’ Never seen this piece before.  The original ACOUSTIC amps from the early 70s are really not-terrible solid-state amps.  We used one back in high school for the Rhodes and it was pretty excellent. … Continue reading

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Star Instruments Synare Electronic Percussion c.1979

Disco-mania.  Behold an early electronic drum meant to compliment your acoustic kit.  The Synare 3.  This caught my eye mainly due to the address of the maker – Stafford Springs, CT.  Any former Star Instruments principals out there in our … Continue reading

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