E-mu Drumulator

E-mu Drumulator is a sample-based drum machine by E-mu Systems. Introduced in 1983 at a price of $995 USD, the Drumulator was the first programmable drum machine with built-in samples for under $1,000,[1] resulting in sales of over 10,000 units over two years.[2] The Drumulator was the predecessor of the E-mu SP-12.

The Drumulator utilizes 8-bit samples for 12 sounds, including SSM analog filters. It was widely used in early 1980s in synth-pop and Italo disco productions. In 1984, Digidrums released special EPROMs for the Drumulator, which included the Rock Drums set used on Tears for Fears' hit "Shout" and on "Beastie Groove" for Beastie Boys by Rick Rubin.

Notable users

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"
Keith LeBlanc "Malcolm X: No Sell Out"
Valerie Dore "The Night", "Get Closer"
1984 Camel Stationary Traveller "Vopo's"
Fun Fun "Color My Love"
Howard Jones Human's Lib
Kenny Loggins Footloose "Footloose"
Rockwell Somebody's Watching Me "Somebody's Watching Me"
Carol Jiani "Touch and Go Lover"
1984 Cocteau Twins Treasure[3]
1985 Bad Boys Blue "Hot Girls, Bad Boys"
Game Theory Real Nighttime "She'll Be a Verb"
Lou Reed OST White Nights "My Love is Chemical"
Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
Front 242 No Comment
1986 Nu Shooz "I Can't Wait"
Big Black Atomizer
1987 Big Black Songs About Fucking
Depeche Mode Music for the Masses "Never Let Me Down Again"
1991 Teenage Fanclub Bandwagonesque "Is This Music?"
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"
Ultravox

References

  1. ^ Vail, Mark (1993). Vintage Synthesizers. San Francisco, California, USA: Miller Freeman Book. p. 24. ISBN 0-87930-275-5.
  2. ^ Keeble, Rob. "30 Years Of Emu". Sound On Sound. SOS Publications Group. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  3. ^ Guthrie, Robin. "Equipment Notes". Robin Guthrie (official website). Archived from the original on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2013-07-13.