Behringer shows the first photos of their forthcoming LinnDrum drum machine clone. They are calling it LmDrum and it looks like it has quite a few extras. LmDrum Behringer says that their first sampling drum machine is shaping up nicely. It’s passed all the audio tests and much of user interface development is complete. It’s a prototype and still a fair while off yet so don’t get too excited. There’s not a whole lot of information available yet but this is based (obviously) on the Linn Electronics LinnDrum designed by Roger Linn in 1982. The sound engine was sample-based using 8-bit samples up to 35kHz and you can hear it on all sorts of records from the 1980s such as Take on my by A-Ha and Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It had a total of 15 sounds and could handle 12 notes polyphony. Each sound had a level fader and, unusually, a vertical slider for pan, and tuning was available on the snare, tom and conga. Behringer LmDrum Checking out the differences on the front panel Behringer has opted for the same style of buttons as on the RD-8 and RD-9 and extended that to the pads that trigger the sounds. They’ve done away with the cassette load/save section (where’s the authenticity!) and added an internal Bank and Preset system. Also from the RD-8/9 comes the Wave Designer and Analog Filter. They’ve kept the tuning, pan and level controls in keeping with the original. The big new feature is the display in the middle which is showing a loaded sample and will presumably offer a certain amount of sample editing. Behringer calls it a “sampling drum machine” and there is an audio input on the back. The back also appears to have outputs for everything. According to the writing on the panel, it handles both 8-bit and 12-bit samples. Behringer LmDrum While there are plenty of modern sample-based drum machines out there I’m not aware of anyone else ever putting forward a LinnDrum clone. Maybe the sounds had their time but then Behringer is betting on the ability to sample to give this machine more than just a nostalgic vibe. What do you think? Let us know in the comments. |
