Synsonics meets Kraftwerk

[@hurricane6014]

We used this on our college project band back in ‘82 and everyone loved it. Minimalism rocks!

[@philipgolding3672]

I had this exact same drum machine in 1982' to create my version of the Durritti Column Legendary LC Album back in the Wellington day!! So many cool memories of basement recordings!!!!

[@BarbieChaite]

hell yeah

[@RobtSc]

I went through at least 2 or 3 of these. Great video.

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Thanks!

[@greggilmore8497]

My first ever Drum Machine 1981

[@waynefoote3781]

I wrote some of my first songs ever with these mattel contraptions! Great fun as a teenager and still fun as led by this example.

[@dirtysolarremix]

Aah,my first ever Drum machine,alongside a Casio VL-Tone for melodies 😎

[@BaddaBigBoom]

My first ever "drum machine!" ...then I got a Boss DR110, which I called The "Drillo", then I got an E-Mu Drumulator ...then there came the age of the DAW :-) Thumbs up fro that trip down the proverbial memory lane.

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Yes mine too! Then a Roland TR-505. Then a Boss 550. Then a Boss 660 all in quick succession - which I still own and use to this day. I have recently sold the Synsonics and the 505 having owned them since 1988. I’m a DAW-free hardware-only person

[@marcoantoniomoreno8385]

Numbers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 🎤🎧🎹

[@cleverhardy5230]

Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht

[@IvanK.2023]

Computer world

[@AleeWallee]

Awesome Work! That's Great Yo! My cousin had one these in 81 and another friend in highschool in 84 I didn't know they could sound that good

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Hah! Thanks and glad you like it. I just eq’d a bit and applied some flanger to the raw output. If you were to split into layers for different parts and run them out separately then you could have huge amounts of control. Many people sample these sounds and resequence and process in a modern production setup. This unit sounds great through heavy compression and at loud volume - the bass sounds are very deep

[@denniscarroll7696]

I had one back in '84

[@lexingtonanderson4282]

I still have mine and it still works!

[@cleverhardy5230]

Add a cowbell to it, and you'd get Planet Rock.

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Needs more cowbell!

[@TeddyLeppard]

Loved this when it first came out.

[@theonecalledvino8165]

I grew up on this machine...This is what I thought the Roland SPD-SX was... Boy was I wrong.

[@retro2409]

I wonder if anyone has implemented a sync trigger or even midi mod to this drum machine the sounds from this are fantastic!

[@quietandpeacefulman]

I’ve never looked into it. I’ve seen inside these and there’s not much to see. May be difficult. It’s a pretty unique instrument as it cuts corners to be affordable! It would be superb if it could just be controlled with simple start synch - no need for full implementation.

[@joshjuanfifarek7382]

Why did anyone stop making these. It was like my first toy as a kid and have two still today

[@quietandpeacefulman]

They were an unusual part-toy/part musical instrument and due to their limitations and unusual workflow are of interest to electronic musicians today. The only missing link is the ability to sync with other instruments - beyond its scope and price point. But I really like the analogue raw sounds it makes and the hihats accent programming is something special and particular to its sound. Sampling instruments and phrases from it is the only way to implement it in a modern setup. I guess something like the Arturia Drumbrute is a modern sonic equivalent or a Nord Drum - or of course any modern drum pad system with the ability to speak to a DAW. Personally I try to avoid DAW workflows and don’t even use the pads on the unit and just enjoy its intrinsic quirks, limitations and ways of working.

[@joshjuanfifarek7382]

It’s definitely the accent feature for the sequence drums that are really the flavor

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Compuuuuuuuterwelllllllt. Denn Zeit ist Geld \o/

[@caseareanjohnson9258]

I use to have one of these back in the day

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Seems a lot of us did!

[@porkbeans4792]

I had this when I was a teen.

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Yes - used to be sold in catalogues in the toy section

[@porkbeans4792]

@@quietandpeacefulman Yep

[@r0nes]

very nice! now I want one

[@BobbyCarburetor]

Stewart Copeland used one of these on the Synchronicity Tour. I beleive he used it for Walking In Your Footsteps and King of Pain.

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Cool. Will look into that ta!

[@sanjaygandhi7962]

How about on "Invisible Sun?"

[@BobbyCarburetor]

@@sanjaygandhi7962 Not sure. I'll have to watch it again. Great song! One of my faves.

[@alexdlarge-yy1ei]

WE CHARGING OUR BATTERY WITH THIS ONE🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🗣️🗣️🔥‼️

[@psychovoices]

my first drum machine

[@miker5233]

I had this in the early nineties when I was a kid this thing sounded like Simmons almost it was pure analog

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Hah yes indeed. I had it in late 80’s and used to enjoy returning from the pub at midnight to a disused old school art studio, switching it on and cranking the volume on a giant amp. It boomed like an 808 when the toms were tuned just right to resonate with the room! The hihats were amazingly organic. Great fun

[@MarkFavro]

Ive got this in my basement.Had it since the 80s but only used as pads for my band. What are the midi plugs on the side that are not labeled midi?

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Those plugs are for a proprietary kick drum pedal input I believe. They’re not midi unfortunately

[@TheLowDee]

Planet rock !!! Party people

[@herbertwells6097]

Wow, I had one back in the 80s

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Seems from the comments many here did!

[@gelsonluizraolinocoelho1570]

Simplesmente 💯 sacional valeuuuuuuuu

[@Hansepans68]

Computerworld...

[@josmo506]

UNO DOS TRES CUATRO

[@bettymarie1]

Hey, that's far out!

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bethbitz]

Do you have the original power supply? I have one of these and it won't turn on, i think a problem with batteries but i don't have power supply and trying to figure out what to buy

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Yes I do (or did - don’t own this unit now). I usually get my power supplies from myVolts. I think this is 9V with a mini jack connector. You’d need to check

[@scottloesch6808]

I'm having trouble finding the correct AC adaptor. Any chance you could help?

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Hi! I have sold this unit now. As I remember I may have picked up a power supply from MyVolts. Hope this helps

[@bettymarie1]

An Alesis HR-16 drum machine adapter works on mine. I own the gray one, 1982 .. So wicked sounding!!! Possibly early model Synsonics Drums Pro Model 5350

[@Studio-62]

I purchased a multi AC adapter and it had the correct polarity and voltage, which is printed on the unit somewhere.

[@AndrewTSq]

@@bettymarie1 I had trouble finding replacement PSU's for my Alesis Midiverb 2 & 4, and 3630.. they all use some wierd AC / AC instead of DC adapter. Is it the same for HR16?

[@dpalaoro]

Now you just need a H910 to process it. 😂

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Hah. Yes cool I’ll rob a bank and go get one today! This drum machine has a wild frequency range with deepest sub bass in detuned tom and white noise of snare and hats and little else in between. Boom hiss. To make it work in a mix would involve quite a bit of EQ wrangling. It’s a mad challenge to try to lay down separate takes for parts when there’s no synch - got to push that start button at the right time. But then you have separate stems and can process and trim and compress and generally get under control

[@dpalaoro]

@@quietandpeacefulman glad you are making it happen! Syncing, yeah, gotta do it manually! But that can be cool too.

[@ronaldrebulanan7327]

That's Vintage drum machine still sound like new

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Yes it’s pretty cool. Some eq and compression and it can work in a mix. Pity not syncable in any way either midi or din sync or whatever and clock can be funky but modern workflows easily overcome this. Or of course just improvise over the top like me!

[@Poder108]

My one sounds are different?? How you get that snare there?

[@quietandpeacefulman]

I think I cranked the swept eq on the mixer a bit to tease out more harmonics in high end. But I also applied a mild phaser/flanger effect to it through a Quadraverb (not post)

[@隠怒人]

EUROPE Express computer world👍

[@Sha-pn3ky]

Ништяк

[@fabioluisdesouzaleandro5486]

😎👍👍

[@onewave8662]

I have that machine machine

[@psychovoices]

sears sale that in the 80

[@iosifkalpaktsoglou2045]

Can it play a sequence by itself or did you use a looper? Thank you

[@quietandpeacefulman]

The Synsonics drums have a sequencer - that’s what I do here - build a pattern up live. I record it. Then when done I press stop then press play to play it back. I can improvise over the top with other drum hits. The strings are played live by my out of sight right hand on a Yamaha SY85. All done in 1 take. No looper involved! I do put the entire drum machine part through some external effects (phaser flanger) and eq on my mixer but that’s all. Hope that’s useful

[@iosifkalpaktsoglou2045]

@@quietandpeacefulman very useful...thinking of getting one for 150 Australian dollars

[@quietandpeacefulman]

I really like the analogue sounds and the sequencer is fun and weird. These units have no means of sync so you’d need to sample created parts if you wanted to doing anything in a DAW and make it fit in a mix. But I enjoy just running with it and seeing what happens. Sounds great through a compressor at high volume!

[@iosifkalpaktsoglou2045]

@quietandpeacefulman I always sync by ear so this gadget should be perfect for me

[@Protoxy]

Goood

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Thanks!

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

Ich ni san shi

[@AntoineVanGeyseghem]

:o

[@illegalquantity]

Pity this bass drum is not really good. (it needs a shorter one) The synth would have been better with a bit longer reverb (or release in adsr). Pretty good otherwise.

[@quietandpeacefulman]

All true. However I work with what is at hand. I literally put this demo together to help in the sale of this drum machine - I don’t own it any more! Each instrument has its interesting properties - the way hihats open and close on this was amazing and very organic.

[@kgbinfo]

Not zappy enough

[@quietandpeacefulman]

Heh. Apologies. I will try harder to perfectly emulate detailed Kraftwerk production using an ancient drum machine and playing live