Analog Drums for under $250? Meet the Delptronics LDB-1

Believe it or not, what you see above is a programmable analog drum machine for $240.  Based on circuitry from the drum machines of the 80s, the LDB-1 is a small programmable drum machine with hacking capabilities.  While the complete kit doesn't feature individual drum sound edits, it does have user programmable patterns, MIDI and modular capabilities, and if you decide to go cheaper, you can get a 140 dollar kit to build your own case, or add on those extra drum sound edits to push it even further.

If you're on a tight budget, this is absolutely a cool way to go for a drum machine, considering you can play this machine in a variety of ways, either through keyboard, or by mapping each step with the buttons.  Perhaps the only thing is falls short on is individual drum sound edits, but perhaps if this does well enough we'll see a revamped version with more knobs to tinker with.  To find out more or to buy the LDB-1, click here.

Arturia SPARK Vintage Drum Machines Review

Arturia, the softsynth giant who has recently captured the hearts of producers everywhere with the MiniBrute, has also pushed into the territory of drum machines recently with the Spark drum plugin and hardware combination.  They've just come out with a different Spark called Vintage Drum Machines, and I felt it was my duty to check this out for all of you, seeing as how drum machines, especially those of the 80s, are so essential to many producers out there.  If you checked out the press release, you'll know they've got all the classics included-- the Roland 707, 808, 909, the LinnDrum, and lots of other kits.  Now the package of the software comes in at about $99 USD as a download, and $129 as a boxed product.  It's certainly more expensive than samples (which can be found of varying prices and qualities on the net), but is it worth it?  Let's find out.

Arturia drops two new releases: The Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano and the SPARK Vintage Drum Machines Software Instruments

Here's a couple of new releases from Arturia.  I'm actually really intrigued by the SPARK vintage drum machines because vintage drums are among my favorite sounds, just below vintage analog synths.  If you check the list below of the drums included, some really great sounds are there, like the Oberheim DMX (used on New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle") and the Sequential Circuits DrumTraks (a Chromeo favorite).  Of course, the Wurlitzer emulation sounds pretty authentic too...

Arturia announces availability of drum machine software

GRENOBLE, FRANCE: music software and hardware company Arturia is proud to announce availability of its newly-developed SPARK Vintage Drum Machines (Standalone, VST 2.4 & 3 — 32-bit and 64-bit, RTAS and US — 32- and 64-bit) software instrument, placing 30 legendary drum machines at discerning musicians’ rhythmic fingertips!

Nord Drum Synth Revealed

Via Matrixsynth: 


Nord Drum
4 Channel Virtual Analog Drum Synthesizer

"Clavia releases Nord Drum Virtual Analog Drum Synthesizer

The Nord Drum is a revolutionary 4-channel drum synthesizer that is the result of a creative collaboration between Clavia and drum/music technology enthusiasts Bruniusson & Berg. With an amazingly vast sonic palette and an astounding level of playability it is guaranteed to change your perception of what’s possible with synthetic, sample-free percussion.


The Nord Drum lets you create classic retro-futuristic percussion with analog waveforms or use the harmonically complex waveforms together with different colors of noise for results that both sound and respond stunningly organic. The Nord Drum is designed with the performing musician in mind and its extreme dynamic range and super-fast triggering add to the feeling of playing a real instrument.


4 high-sensitivity inputs and MIDI lets you play the Nord Drum with a wide range of Electronic Drum Pads, Acoustic Drum Triggers and MIDI-pads/Sequencers for easy integration into any existing drum-kit or the starting point for something completely new…


The Nord Drum will be shown at the AM&S Nord Booth #6464 at NAMM Show 2012"

I gotta be honest, it's not quite as cool as I was hoping it would be, but it still has potential.  I was hoping for a full on digital version of the Tempest... but apparently not everyone is on to the genius of Dave Smith and Roger Linn.  I'd have to try one before I made a judgement though.  I wish it had some step programming...

The Year of the Drum Machine: Clavia Nord releasing a new drum machine?

Clavia Nord released this teaser image for NAMM coming up, which shows off a new piece of gear that looks alot like our friend Dave Smith's Tempest.  Could this be a lower cost drum machine?  Is Nord taking a stab at DSI?  More importantly, will it be a standard drum machine type, or some sort of machine playable with sticks, as one of their other images hints at?  I hope it's a standard drum machine-- not all of us can afford fancy Tempests, and Nord would certainly be cheaper if it were digital.

news/images via MATRIXSYNTH

Master Drum Pad Playing

I've always wondered how performers get really good at the drum pads.  They're kind of unusual as they don't really equate to any other instrument so easily... a bit like keyboards meets drumming for your fingers.  I found this excellent video through Reddit that I thought I'd share.  Try it out on your new drum machine gifts!  Perfect for anyone who got a Tempest recently...

Dave Smith Interview: We talk Tempest with a synth legend

As some of you may have noticed, I recently changed the header of the site to a certain familiar font-- that of Dave Smith Instrument's logo.  It's commemorating the release of the new Tempest, DSI's brand new analog/digital hybrid drum machine.  I'd been trying to score an interview with Dave for a couple months now, but he's been quite busy at work on his newest classic.  Finally, that interview is up today.

To call Dave an audio electronic engineer who owns is own company just doesn't quite cut it.  He's very much a legend in the world of synthesizers.  If you don't know why, you'd have to try hard to not find his influence.  Dave started Sequential Circuits back in the mid-70s, a music company.  They created the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer, the Prophet-5, in 1977.  Prophet-5s are still highly sought after today and is arguably the greatest synthesizer ever made.  In addition to that and other great products made by SCI, Dave helped create MIDI, the universal music standard we all use for our keyboards-- he even coined the term.  Sequential Circuits was eventually bought out and Dave had stints at other companies making digital products, only to return to his roots more recently with Dave Smith Instruments, who've also remade his classic Prophet-5 as the Prophet '08, in addition to other new classics like the Evolver and Mopho.

I can't help but feel lucky to get a chance to chat with such a legendary name in electronic music.  I sit here with my Mopho Keyboard and my Tetra just within reach, two of DSI's recent creations, which I love to play.  The Tempest marks a huge moment for many synthusiasts as it's a truly rare breed-- drum machines aren't as popular, let alone an analog and digital hybrid.  While I haven't tried a Tempest yet and there aren't many (if any) reviews out yet, early impressions say Dave has once again set the bar incredibly high for competitors with a new classic.  Check out what Dave has to say on Roger Linn and the Tempest below.

The DSI Tempest is almost here...

All you lovers of drum beats and Analog/ Digital combos can rejoice that the much sought after Dave Smith Instruments Tempest is almost here!

The release date of this soon to be legend has been clicked back a few times, but it looks as though we've just about made it-- I've most recently heard it should be just about ready in another week.  If you haven't heard about this thing, be prepared to be talking about it for the next twenty years-- this is just about as classic as it's going to get.  Dave Smith, who helped pioneer polyphony in synths and created the Prophet 5 and Pro One, teamed up with Roger Linn, who created the LinnDrum and other classic drum machines.  Mixing these two together is a recipe for awesome, as they're both incredible innovators in music technology.  Great drum machines seem to be dying down, and analog drum sounds are becoming even rarer, but the Tempest is going to change all that.  Not only does it feature analog oscillators and the warm Curtis filter found in the other DSI products, but it also includes 2 digital oscillators per voice as well.  Not only that, but it also has samples of Roger Linn's older drum machine creations.  This represents such an important step in music tech because of the beautiful marriage of analog and digital sounds, which compliment each other so nicely, as we could see in the DSI Evolver and PolyEvolver.  This is pretty much the perfect piece of equipment if you're looking for a high end drum machine of today-- but enough gushing, watch the video below.

Hopefully we'll see this thing shipping in another week or so-- I'm sure the last little bits are just tiny software issues ironing out and are worth the wait.  After this, who knows what's next for DSI?  They have synths in pretty much every price bracket... perhaps we'll see a keyboard version of Tetra, or something even grander...