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I think it's pretty clear at this point that the "Linn LM-1" samples I found online are not actually sourced from the Linn LM-1. I don't know what they are, but they're not what they claim to be.

#false advertising #i hate the internet #linn lm1 #drum machine #god fucking dammit #you had one job

The Week of Drum Machines, Day VI: Linn LM-1 Drum Computer

Linn LM-1 Released: 1979 Roger Linn certainly didn't invent the drum machine. However, he did introduce a revolutionary innovation in sequencing. Unlike its predecessors, which used synth noise to generate drum sounds, the LM-1 featured digital samples of acoustic drums. Linn, a guitarist, was reportedly a "frustrated drummer"-- apart from a few basic one-handed beats, he could not play the drums and had no means to back up his guitar playing while playing for himself. He also didn't care much for the sounds made by the available machines of the time, claiming they sounded like "marching crickets". Where most of us would just give up and accept mediocrity, Linn recorded several drum sounds and taught himself machine code and assembly language in order to build a prototype "acoustic" drum machine. He would eventually begin to mass-produce and sell these machines under the Linn Electronics company name as the Linn LM-1 Drum Computer. There are 18 individual drum samples on the LM-1. Unlike other programmable drum machines of the time, there are no individual switches to trigger drum sounds. Instead, the user taps the desired drum keys in time with the metronome. Any sound it heard would snap to the nearest beat, depending on what setting was used. Early models only quantised to 1/16th-beats, but the later design featured 1/8th- to 1/32nd-beats plus support for swing beats. Sequences could only be 4 measures long, but several sequences could be manually chained together to create a longer song. Although Linn's intention was to give studio musicians an idea-box for jamming along, rehearsing, and sketching out ideas, most of the mainstream bands began using the LM-1 to record and tour with. Some studio drummers began feeling threatened by the LM-1 and began offering "programming services" for producers who used them. Some drummers even left their bands because of them (see also, Alan Myers of Devo) Many commentators complained that the LM-1 would ultimately supplant human drummers and sap the life out of modern music. While LM-1s (or at least the samples thereof) are still being used today, there does seem to be a disconnect in genres that use drum sequencing and those that do not. Pop and rap groups, for instance, tend toward drum machines, while rock and metal groups generally prefer human drummers.

Photo credit: javd007, gearslutz.com

#drum machine #roger linn #linn lm1 #1980s music #computers #technology