Status Cymbals
A SELECTION OF TOP ANSWERS TO THE CENTURIES-OLD MUSICAL QUESTION, HOW DO YOU GET BY WITHOUT AN ACTUAL DRUMMER?
HARRY CHAMBERLIN’S RHYTHMATE
The inventor developed this machine, meant to accompany organs in family sing-alongs, in his California studio in 1949. The Rhythmate depended on a loop of magnetic tape that contained recordings of a drummer playing 14 different rhythms from which a user could select. Though Chamberlin built just a few, the Rhythmate’s tape-loop technology would prove integral to electric keyboards in the 1960s.
THE WURLITZER SIDEMAN
Released in 1959, the Sideman gave users 12 electronic imitations of popular rhythms on a rotating disc, including tangos, fox trots and waltzes. The machine’s popularity drew criticism from the American Association of Musicians, who feared it would put percussionists out of business.
LEON THEREMIN’S RHYTHMICON
Russian inventor Leon Theremin worked with American composer Henry Cowell to create the first electronic drum machine in 1931. The Rhythmicon let a musician program beats using a keyboard that controlled a series of rotating wheels. Cowell debuted it in 1932 at the New School in Manhattan. One of the few ever built resides at the Smithsonian.
ISMAIL AL-JAZARI’S MECHANICAL BANDS
The 12th-century Anatolian inventor, often considered the father of robotics, devised all manner of automatons, including elaborate clocks. He also created mechanical musical ensembles powered by water, with figurines of musicians: As water flowed through the mechanism, it exerted pressure on the valves of the flutist figurines to create melody, and on the wooden pegs of the drums and cymbals to regulate rhythm. These creations
provided entertainment at royal parties.
LINN LM-1 DRUM COMPUTER
Designed by the American Roger Linn and introduced by his company in 1980, this was the first drum machine to include digitally recorded snippets of real drums. It drives John Mellencamp’s 1982 hit “Jack and Diane,” and Prince used an LM-1 on “When Doves Cry” in 1984.