Black Box

I have  finally  been able to purchase a long envied bit of kit at a price which I can afford.  A couple of years back  David Mcreary  introduced me to  the M-Audio  Black Box which they had created in partnership with Roger Linn ( the guru of drum machines see  below).

I have borrowed it ever since and grown to love it - for its sounds and for how it  works so wonderfully simply. It offers a  USB computer interface, drum machine and  guitar effects processor including some superb amp modelling in a really tough case just a bit bigger than a video cassette - and we are talking quality.

I have compared the Fender modelling with the real thing and think that there are the most convincing that I have come across - which saves me lugging my Twin Reverb or my favourite Princess 65 around the place.

The best bit is how the guitar effects snyc automatically to the drum beats - like Live 5 in a box. So I now have my own and can begin fill the 100 memory slots with some of sounds I have created over the past 12 months - and David can reclaim his machine. Details and price etc here. Thanks to David for the loans and your patience.

I can remember going into Livingstone Studios in the 80s and seeing and then using a Linn LM2 which was the first real drum machine with acoustic/sampled sounds - it cost a fortune - see details and write-up below.

Roger               Linn changed the way we all work today.... fact!

            

There had been               drum machines before and there had even been programable drum machines               in the form of the Roland CR78 and the TR808. However, where these               drum machines used synthesised and 'artificial' sounds, Roger Linn               pioneered by being the first to provide sampled acoustic sounds               of a 'real' drum kit that could be programmed and sequenced into               quite authentic sounding rhythm tracks.

            

His first offering,               the LM1 was outrageously expensive but captured the imagination               of many cutting edge musos of the time. People like Peter Gabriel,               Human League, Ultravox and many others. But it was the 'Linn Drum',               the LM2 that was to be more commercially successful.

            

It featured               15 sounds... yes... a staggering 15!!! ... that included kick, snare,               sidestick, hi-hats, toms and so on and the LM2 also offered crash               and ride cymbals as a result of increased memory capacity at lower               cost. Of course, nothing amazing by today's standards but at the               time, the Linn Drum was nothing short of revolutionary and almost               single-handedly, Roger Linn changed the way we construct and create               music.

            

Despite its               high price, the Linn Drum became the rhythmic backdrop for the '80s

Comments

[Tom]

Sorry the extension formatting has gone beserk and I can't change it without lossing the text!