Linn LM-1

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The LM-1 Drum Computer, manufactured by Linn Electronics, Inc., is the first drum machine to utilize digital samples of acoustic drums. Conceived and designed by Roger Linn, it is also one of the first programmable drum machines. Released in 1980 and originally retailing for $4,999 [1], it is prized by amateur and professional musicians alike for its rarity as well as its characteristic sounds, which can be heard on the recordings of such famous artists as Prince and Gary Numan.

1 History
2 Features
3 Influence
4 Notable artists who have used the Linn LM-1
5 Links

[edit] History

Roger Linn was a semi-professional guitarist in the California area in 1978 when he began to develop the LM-1 as an accompaniment tool for his home studio. He had experimented with many of the preset rhythm boxes which were popular at the time, but was dissatisfied and "wanted a drum machine that did more than play preset samba patterns and didn't sound like crickets." [2] Having learned how to program in BASIC and assembly language, Linn set to work on a computer program which could play user-programmed rhythm patterns, as well as chain them together to form a song.

According to Linn, the first to suggest the idea of digital samples was Steve Porcaro of Toto. For his drum machine, the percussion sounds were played by local Los Angeles session drummer Art Wood. Linn accomplished this with a chip, built into the machine, which converted the digital samples into analogue audio. His first prototype, manufactured around 1979, was a cardboard box which contained the electronic components of the drum machine. Supposedly, Linn brought this prototype to parties and jobs and marketed it to fellow musicians, including Peter Gabriel, the members of Fleetwood Mac, and Stevie Wonder, who bought one of the first units ever produced.

In total, approximately 500 units were built and sold between 1980 and 1983, when the LM-1's successor, the LinnDrum, was released. The first 35 units were assembled in Linn's home, before manufacturing and distribution was taken over by 360 Systems, ran by Bob Easton.

[edit] Features

The LM-1's many features set it apart from other drum machines of the time, most of which could only play a limited selection of preset rhythms. One of the most prominent is its programmability. Although the Linn LM-1 was not the first programmable drum machine (the PAiA Programmable Drum Set was released over a decade earlier), it was the first to gain widespread use among professionals, including Prince on 1999, Gary Numan on Dance and The Human League on Dare!. The LM-1 also introduced a "shuffle" feature, which enabled users to program swing notes into their rhythms. Although this feature has since often been imitated, the "Linn shuffle" has widely been recognized as the best and most natural-sounding, and is present on every device Linn designed, including the Akai MPC series. The LM-1 also included a built-in 13-channel mixer (one channel for each sound) as well as individual output jacks for each drum sound. This enabled Linn's machine to integrate with existing recording equipment in a way that had previously not been possible for a drum machine.

A famous quirk of the LM-1 is their lack of any cymbal sounds. According to Linn, this was because cymbal samples were too long and the memory to store them was too expensive to acquire. However, later models of the LM-1 were expandable with EPROM chips on which cymbal samples could be burned.

There are minimal but notable differrences between the features of the earliest LM-1 built by Linn himself and the LM-1s built by Easton. Unlike the 360 LM-1s, the earliest units had buttons which were engraved with a small symbol of the drum it represented (i.e., the bass drum button had a small engravinvg of a bass drum on it) - however, they lacked some of the features of later LM-1s, including Linn's renowned "shuffle" and expandability with EPROM chips.

[edit] Influence

Because of the Linn LM-1's versatility, it superseded its original purpose as an accompaniment tool and became a fully-fledged rhythm section for many synthpop and progressive acts. Along with the Roland TR-808, which was released around the same time, it is widely credited with legitimatizing drum machines which, with a few notable exceptions, had previously largely been considered toys by most professional, mainstream musicians.

However, in some ways the most important and lasting of the LM-1's various features is its sounds, which remain powerful and characteristic. Linn acknowledged that his lack of audio engineering know-how may have contributed to his drum machine's unique sound - many of the samples contain playback frequencies above the Nyquist frequency which, although it results in aliasing under normal circumstances, contributes much of the "sizzle" to the LM-1's sound. [3]

As of 2006, prices for a used LM-1 hover between $900 and $3,500, depending on its condition.

Linn introduced the successor to his revolutionary machine in 1982. The LM-2, also called the LinnDrum, contained more sounds (including cymbals) as well as more options for tuning and programming sounds. It also retailed for $2,500 less than the original LM-1. Although this helped make electronic drum affordable for the common musician, they are not as revered as the LM-1 and generally can be found on the used market for much less.