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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Whatever Works => Topic started by: Version on January 01, 2007, 04:45:59 PM

Title: Linn Drum
Post by: Version on January 01, 2007, 04:45:59 PM
Does anyone have history with this machine?

How did you use it?

Is this where the drums for a lot of mid to late 80s pop tunes came from? I'm think Bobby Brown, Janet Jackson, stuff like that...

could you sync it?

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rankus on January 01, 2007, 04:48:59 PM
Version wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 13:45



Bobby Brown, Janet Jackson, stuff like that...





... ZZ Top .. EDIT: (WRONG Apparently I am incorrect here.. sorry)

Why, is there one on eBay? (off to check now LOL)
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: compasspnt on January 01, 2007, 06:29:42 PM
rankus wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 16:48


... ZZ Top ..




NOT
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: PaulyD on January 01, 2007, 07:11:25 PM
Version wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 13:45

Does anyone have history with this machine?

How did you use it?

Is this where the drums for a lot of mid to late 80s pop tunes came from? I'm think Bobby Brown, Janet Jackson, stuff like that...

could you sync it?




Although some people were still using Linns if they specifically wanted that sound, by the late 80's I think devices like the Roland R-8 and Akai MPC-60 had become the drum machines/drum samplers of choice. Of course, being a hot product type at the time, Yamaha, Korg, Alesis, Zoom (and probably some others) were all making drum machines by the late 80's and early 90's.

MIDI devices could be synced up to MTR's by striping a track on the MTR with SMPTE time code, which fed a MIDI interface that could read and generate SMPTE and MTC. There were also various translator boxes that could take Wordclock or ADAT timecode and translate them to SMPTE. These were a big deal with early digital recorders so one didn't have to sacrifice a track for SMPTE.

Paul
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rnicklaus on January 01, 2007, 07:51:44 PM
Don't forget the Akai samplers
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Tidewater on January 01, 2007, 08:02:33 PM
I bet zmix never heard a Linn.

s900 forever


M
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: RMoore on January 01, 2007, 08:24:18 PM
 
For the Linn Drum think more - theme music of Miami Vice,

Was kind of outdated by the mid 80's so I think those artists you mention must have had some other drum sounds..

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis step in now,

I seem to recall reading an article about Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis  / Flyte Time and their production style, gear etc - can't remember which mag..

I do vaguely recall that supposedly they'd play the drum machine parts live to tape (MPC 60?) and add live crashes later...(?)
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rankus on January 01, 2007, 08:27:27 PM
compasspnt wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 15:29

rankus wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 16:48


... ZZ Top ..




NOT



Sorry Terry.  I thought it was a Linn on the Eliminator album.... Don't know where I got that from
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: RMoore on January 01, 2007, 08:29:50 PM
Here's a Jimmy Jam interview in Mix,seems familiar so maybe thats what I read B 4...

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_jimmy_jam/

I think the style the poster is interested in is the Jimmy Jam / Terry Lewis sound,


And Babyface prods. (Bobby Brown)..
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: dcollins on January 01, 2007, 08:31:35 PM
rankus wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 17:27


Sorry Terry.  I thought it was a Linn on the Eliminator album.... Don't know where I got that from



Sounded like an Oberheim DMX to me.....

DC
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: organica on January 01, 2007, 08:33:42 PM
I had some experience programming one in the mid 80's

not for that fancy dance stuff
it was for some strand of moody punk/art/"Furs" sorta music
I liked it
this one had no sync

A highly reputable session keyboardist ( unless you don't Steely Dan maybe)
had told me a year or two earlier that he had helped Roger Linn develop the MIDI compatible ones
he also said that they were the first such drum machines enabled with that capacity
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Version on January 01, 2007, 08:39:07 PM
I can't figure out what is so special about them...

They go for hefty sums on ebay sometimes.

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: zmix on January 01, 2007, 08:40:30 PM
Tidewater wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 20:02

I bet zmix never heard a Linn.


I actually had to rent a "Linndrum" (LM-2) once when all the LM-1s were on the road or in disrepair... we cut 3 songs with that rented Linndrum in one day.  If you wanted to tune the "Linndrum" sidestick independently from the snare, you had to put the sidestick chip in another socket (conga or cowbell usually).

The LM-1 (the original machine) had tuning knobs for each sample, and an infinitely looped hi-hat noise sample that was keyed through a long and a short release envelope for the open and closed hi-hat, respectively. this meant that the hi-hat attack never quite sounded the same whenever it was triggered, brilliant stuff!

CZ
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rnicklaus on January 01, 2007, 08:45:01 PM
The first Linn (LM 1?) was big, had no cymbals and the open hat sounded like regen.  

The Linndrum followed.

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Tidewater on January 01, 2007, 08:56:09 PM
zmix wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 20:40



Tidewater wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 20:02

I bet zmix never heard a Linn.


I actually had to rent a "Linndrum" (LM-2) once when all the LM-1s were on the road or in disrepair... we cut 3 songs with that rented Linndrum in one day.  

CZ




What were those songs? It'd be cool to listen back to that day.


M
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: arconaut on January 01, 2007, 11:34:45 PM
I think most of the drums on XTC's "Big Express" album are Linn Drum - which is a pretty different style than Miami Vice or Jam/Lewis. Personally, I prefer the Simmons drums, they had that, uh, hexagonal sound.

Noah
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: strawberrius on January 02, 2007, 12:01:17 AM
arconaut wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 20:34

I think most of the drums on XTC's "Big Express" album are Linn Drum - which is a pretty different style than Miami Vice or Jam/Lewis. Personally, I prefer the Simmons drums, they had that, uh, hexagonal sound.

Noah

nice one.
the best is "train running low on soul coal" that LINNing is insane. that was the only xtc album produced by david lord in bath btw. tons of mellotron on it too. everyone else was using DX7s and xtc was usin the tron!  (which was of course b4 the mellotron resurgence of the late 80s-00s). in other words xtc rule.


Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rjd2 on January 02, 2007, 12:06:59 AM
i believe prince used Linndrum on most of his 80's records. the big jimmy jam/terry lewis drum machine drums of that era had to be either linn,drumulator or dmx, right? i know they arent any of the roland machines. if you are talking new jack swing, they had to be stock sounds of a drum machine. very highly doubt they were akai samplers, as they were released, but sampling individual drum hits was pioneered til later on(by marley marl to my knowledge. so that would be 86-88). i cant recall anyone else doing that until 89 and later.

on a related sidenote, my friend is in possession of the original dmx run-dmc used on all their records up through walk this way. he acquired it from chung king studios, and it was apparently modified. when a tech opened it up to check it out, there was a crack rock INSIDE the machine somehow. you would be amazed at the sum he is going to get for it, due to its history....
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: strawberrius on January 02, 2007, 01:07:51 AM
rjd2 wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 21:06

i believe prince used Linndrum on most of his 80's records. the big jimmy jam/terry lewis drum machine drums of that era had to be either linn,drumulator or dmx, right? i know they arent any of the roland machines



my bet for jam and lewis is: ensoniq mirage (not linn)
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: zmix on January 02, 2007, 01:15:13 AM
strawberrius wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 01:07

my bet for jam and lewis is: ensoniq mirage (not linn)


Sequential Circuits "Tom" + Mirage (played live).
Of course their early days were all TR-808 (duh!!)
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Jim Frazier on January 02, 2007, 07:22:56 AM
I'm pretty sure the Linn Drum Machine was used a lot on the Don Henly albums "Building The Perfect Beast" and the  "End Of The Innocence".

Can anyone confirm that?
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: organica on January 02, 2007, 08:11:26 AM
it seems like a good possibility
the keyboardist that I mentioned earlier played on at least one of those two records

This is a bit OT but he also told me that when they recorded , " All She Wants To Do Is Dance " , that they ran a DX7 through 2 Marshall stacks cranked up as far as they could , using a clavinet type of sound.  
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Tomas Danko on January 02, 2007, 02:43:58 PM
rankus wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 21:48

Version wrote on Mon, 01 January 2007 13:45



Bobby Brown, Janet Jackson, stuff like that...





... ZZ Top .. EDIT: (WRONG Apparently I am incorrect here.. sorry)

Why, is there one on eBay? (off to check now LOL)



Ouch! So early into the new year and you strike down on Mr. Manning like this?  Shocked

The humanity!
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: compasspnt on January 02, 2007, 03:55:33 PM
And it hurts, it really hurts.


Dave Collins, you sly keen-eared dog...
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Larrchild on January 02, 2007, 04:27:02 PM
Jim Writes:
Quote:

I'm pretty sure the Linn Drum Machine was used a lot on the Don Henly albums "Building The Perfect Beast" and the "End Of The Innocence".

Can anyone confirm that?



Yes.

Also, think intro to "Billy Jean".
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: arconaut on January 02, 2007, 04:38:42 PM
(Ok, I stink with photoshop)index.php/fa/3957/0/
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Malcolm Boyce on January 02, 2007, 06:25:42 PM
Larrchild wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 17:27

Also, think intro to "Billy Jean".
Think not...

Acoustic drums a-la Ndugu Chancler, by way of Bruce Swedien.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Larrchild on January 02, 2007, 06:27:08 PM
I know. I read all the Bruce stuff on all the forums. Still sounds like a Linn=) lol.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Version on January 02, 2007, 06:54:09 PM
Larrchild wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 15:27

I know. I read all the Bruce stuff on all the forums. Still sounds like a Linn=) lol.


That's ironic. Weren't they trying to get the Linn to sound acoustic?


Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: nob turner on January 02, 2007, 07:05:03 PM
the linndrum did have sync... not midi, it was too early for that, but you could put a clock track down on tape and re-sync to it.  

the 80's prince stuff sounds more like the oberheim dmx to me, with the snare tuned way down.  sure is remniscent of stuff i was doing with it back then, anyhow.  
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: dcollins on January 02, 2007, 07:21:21 PM
compasspnt wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 12:55

And it hurts, it really hurts.


Dave Collins, you sly keen-eared dog...



Because I owned an Oberheim!

DC
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: organica on January 02, 2007, 08:17:18 PM
nob turner wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 19:05

the linndrum did have sync... not midi, it was too early for that, but you could put a clock track down on tape and re-sync to it.  

the 80's prince stuff sounds more like the oberheim dmx to me, with the snare tuned way down.  sure is remniscent of stuff i was doing with it back then, anyhow.  


hi Gary

it could it be that not all of them had sync ( I don't think the one I used did  )  

it did not have midi for sure
but
the first drum machine to have it was a Linn one
or
so I've been told by one of it's developers who was among other things a cutting edge midi guru by the mid 80's....



Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: RMoore on January 03, 2007, 05:03:27 AM
rjd2 wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 06:06

 
on a related sidenote, my friend is in possession of the original dmx run-dmc used on all their records up through walk this way. he acquired it from chung king studios, and it was apparently modified. when a tech opened it up to check it out, there was a crack rock INSIDE the machine somehow. you would be amazed at the sum he is going to get for it, due to its history....


That's pretty wacky about the crack rock - I tried to think of how that could happen & a possible explanation would be using the unit to transport the goods from point A to B..



Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Brian Kehew on January 03, 2007, 05:26:05 AM
Some history - years ago I met Art Wood on a session: he was the guy they sampled for the Linn.

The drum machine construction and sampling-to-microchips were actually done by 360 Systems (a brilliant company still in business). Their keyboard sample-playback machine is STILL a monster I use all the time.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: leonardo valvassori on January 03, 2007, 10:16:11 AM
Didn't like the Linn Drum(mer less)box then.
Still don't like it know.
Drumulator, Emulator, see ya later....

BTW belated Happy 2007 to all of you very generous gentlemen;--I've learned so much from all of you this past year.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rnicklaus on January 03, 2007, 12:01:19 PM
I had a DMX and there was a guy at Oberheim (and I can't remember his name) who would burn eproms of samples I had for the DMX.

At the end of using it, all cards had 4 times the storage as when new as we kept modding them.

Somewhere around the year 2000, I gave the machine, stock parts and mods, to Ben who owns Chalice.

He was way into the "vintage"  synth stuff.  I wanted it out of my garage.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: compasspnt on January 03, 2007, 12:29:30 PM
Still have my (in-house-sample modded) DMX.

It was a far better machine than the Linn ever thought about being.

Was used on many (some well-known) projects.

Regards.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: zmix on January 03, 2007, 01:01:29 PM
Terry,
You are understandably the one guy who would say that. I always felt the two tom outputs were a limitation, but naturally it was simply made for your 'cardinal points' pan assignments.

What made you prefer it to the Linn?

Virtual Oberheim DX:

http://www.keyboardmuseum.com/d_machines/dx.html

"Oberheim System" demo:
http://www.keyboardmuseum.com/soundsheet/oberdemo1.html

LinnDrum demo:

http://www.keyboardmuseum.com/soundsheet/linndemo1.html
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Ross Hogarth on January 03, 2007, 01:25:41 PM
My linn 9000 is sitting at Forats in need of repair that I refuse to pay any more money for
I gave up on it years ago
I babied this machine for almost 20 years and just could not anymore
It actually is a piece of history if one even cares
It was/is the "Boys of Summer" Linn 9000
I used to work a bunch with Danny Kortchmar, who produced Henley for years.
This is the machine that all those songs were programmed on.
He sold me his/the Boy of Summer Linn 9000 and replaced his with an Akai
I used the 9000 on tons of records for years and was happy with it's groove and feel but hated its software and hardware limitations
I tried to replace it when the Atari 1040st came out with what was Hybrid Arts software
but the Linn always felt better feel wise
I was using the original Linn with Giorgio Moroder on many records until the 9000 came out
So if anyone wants to put between $500-$1000 for a piece of history let me know
I'll hook you up with my machine and you can pay Forat not me
since it is basically in his Graveyard

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rnicklaus on January 03, 2007, 01:36:58 PM
Thanks for the link

The Aphex demo is a great listen - I am going to Ebay to get one today!

http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/soundsheet/aphex1.html

I was hoping to find the Emulator II demo I mixed for them when it was released.  Orchestra and Nature piece.  But not there.

Great site.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: compasspnt on January 03, 2007, 02:34:29 PM
zmix wrote on Wed, 03 January 2007 13:01

Terry,
You are understandably the one guy who would say that. I always felt the two tom outputs were a limitation, but naturally it was simply made for your 'cardinal points' pan assignments.

What made you prefer it to the Linn?



When the Linn very first came out, there was a big buzz about it.  I wanted to try something different in ROCK, but of course there were no drum machines allowed in rock music.  But I had a band with a severely limited drummer, and no way to employ a session guy to play (the whole sordid, incredibly amazing, circus-like-atmospheric story will come out someday...whenever I get the bravado to release it!)  My only option was a mass illusion (within the "Production team", not to the public...well maybe there as well, in a way), which I created in part, in strange little baby steps, with machines.

I tried the Linn, and was severely disappointed in the sounds.  They mostly had REVERB or other processing on them.  I spoke in person with Roger about getting something that I felt worked better for me (that is, sounds more like they came off the mic, with which I would be able to apply my OWN processing), but Roger had a real attitude about it.  He thought the sounds were just right the way they were. I knew they were not.

So I moved on to the Oberheim, which did indeed have "flatter" sounds, sounds I could work with better.  Even then I did many things to "improve" these sounds, including my own samples, and layering of other sounds on unneeded voices (replacing perc or other with extra snares, etc.)

As for the toms, who needs more than two?  I can't believe anyone really does.  Two is often one too many, and occasionally two too many, anyway.  Plus, I would actually play real toms, as well as rides and crashes, and I had a strange method for implementing the hi hat.

Anyway, I never got over Roger's attitude, and never liked the Linn because of that.  Although  years later I did have to admit that he did a good job on the MPC-3000, and I got one of those (also still have and occasionally use that).

So there.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: zmix on January 03, 2007, 04:33:30 PM
Right on, Terry.

Why support dickheads? I know people who refuse to use Summit or ADL gear for the same reasons.

The first run of the Linndrum had such a highly scooped EQ on the kick drum that it went "Dit-uhh", as though there were a bandpassed slapback on it . So many complained that they issued another kick sample. Horrible to be an engineer at the mercy of a manufacturer.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: RMoore on January 03, 2007, 05:07:35 PM
compasspnt wrote on Wed, 03 January 2007 20:34

 
Anyway, I never got over Roger's attitude, and never liked the Linn because of that.  Although  years later I did have to admit that he did a good job on the MPC-3000, and I got one of those (also still have and occasionally use that).

So there.



Interesting anecdotes - how ironic that Linn hit a home run years later with the MPC 60 / MPC 3000, where a large portion of its greatness is due to the users being able create, load and use their own sounds / samples..


compasspnt wrote on Wed, 03 January 2007 20:34

 Plus, I would actually play real toms, as well as rides and crashes,


That seems the insurmountable Achilles heel with any drum programming - fills and crashes are robot city due each note having the exact same velocity & decay, as opposed to the myriad array of variation and dynamics with a human drummer / live part,

I've been able to cop a reasonable counterfeit 'live' feel with fills on the MPC 3000 at times, but it really only works with minimal single Charlie Watts style tom hits in the fills or else the cat is out of the bag..

BTW top marks go to original Sugar Hill session drummer Keith Leblanc for being the human drum machine on those early rap hits like 'The Message' and a champion on the Linn..



Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Kurt Foster on January 03, 2007, 05:57:30 PM
In the mid 80's I did a 45 for my band at a studio where they had a Linn. We used it on that recording and I thought (and still do) that it sounded pretty good when programed correctly.

The machine we used had FSK sync (no song pointer) so you had to start at the beginning of the song every time.

I am pretty sure that McCartney used one on the record that had "Ballroom Dancing" and "Ebony and Ivory" on it. That record was one of the first I remember that used a Linn and Digital recording.


Good luck with your endeavors,

Kurt
_________________________

"We are all travelers in this world --
From the sweet grass to the packing house--
Birth till Death--We travel between the eternity's--"

                   ~ Alan Geoffrion ~

Kurt Foster; FORMER SF BAY AREA STUDIO RAT;
Credits I'm most proud of include:
Recording, producing, mixing, playing;
Brownie McGhees final record,
Recording & mixing; several records for
cult following guitarist Kenny “Blue" Ray,
Recording & mixing; Jackie Payne
(of the Johnny Otis Band),
Mobil recording; Nik Turners "Space Ritual"
with Nik Turner & individual members of Hawkwind
at The Great American Music Hall, S.F. CA;
Recording & mixing projects with session players;
Polo Jones (of Michael Jackson,Peter Gabriel,
Whitney Houston) individual members of The Doobie
Brothers,Tower of Power, Huey Lewis and The News
and The Tubes.
   
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: RKrizman on January 03, 2007, 07:55:43 PM
I still have my Linndrum up on a shelf somewhere.  Now I'm curious to get it out and see if it really sounds so bad.  At the time it was totally the nuts.  The first ones sold for about 4k, but nothing else would do what they did.  I swear I just about wore the buttons off mine.  You could drive yourself crazy trying to get it to sound like a real kit, or you could just get into what it liked to do, like on "Boys of Summer" or "Love is a Battlefield".  What a blast.  I seem to recall that it synched to a 60 hz tone.

Make no mistake, by making this kind of control available to the average Joe, a revolution was launched (that we're still suffering from).

-R
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: strawberrius on January 03, 2007, 08:07:11 PM
i still think it was prince that did the coolest most innovative stuff with it. mostly printing it to tape thru boss gtr pedals like on "the beautiful ones" or "when doves cry".

zmix - please tell us a little more about how he printed these sounds?
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rnicklaus on January 03, 2007, 10:12:46 PM
RKrizman wrote on Wed, 03 January 2007 16:55

I still have my Linndrum up on a shelf somewhere.  Now I'm curious to get it out and see if it really sounds so bad.  At the time it was totally the nuts.  The first ones sold for about 4k, but nothing else would do what they did.  -R


It was expensive to get into a Linndrum or DMX when they were new.  I think I paid in the mid 3's for mine.  And that was early '80's dollars.

Gear, in many cases, is sooo much cheaper today.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: arconaut on January 04, 2007, 08:48:18 AM
rjd2 wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 06:06

 
on a related sidenote, my friend is in possession of the original dmx run-dmc used on all their records up through walk this way. he acquired it from chung king studios, and it was apparently modified. when a tech opened it up to check it out, there was a crack rock INSIDE the machine somehow. you would be amazed at the sum he is going to get for it, due to its history....


Just to be nebbish... according to a little birdie I know (who worked on those records) the first album was a DX and they switched to the DMX for the King of Rock album (2nd album). But I don't think that diminishes the coolness of your story.

Noah

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rjd2 on January 04, 2007, 09:22:43 AM
the dx/dmx thing is entirely possible. you know how those things go. my friend who is in possession of it is not a musician, so the story could be bogus, it could be a dx he's calling a dmx, who knows. his boss is apparently willing to fork over 4k for it because of its history-crazy huh?

so ross...... you worked with georgio moroder? wow. you know there's a lot of people that see him the way rock dudes see george martin right? id love to hear any anecdotes on him.

anybody got one of the vox rhythm machines?. the one that sounds like video game drums? those are so badass.....

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: CHANCE on January 04, 2007, 10:57:18 AM
I think I might have one. Is it about 12" in diameter, with 3 pots and  PSU input jack on the side? It looks like it could be mounted on a drum kit.
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: zmix on January 04, 2007, 02:19:20 PM
strawberrius wrote on Wed, 03 January 2007 20:07

i still think it was prince that did the coolest most innovative stuff with it. mostly printing it to tape thru boss gtr pedals like on "the beautiful ones" or "when doves cry".
zmix - please tell us a little more about how he printed these sounds?



Alright, Straw B... I'll fess up.

Like Hendrix and his Strat, Prince found his voice in one particular machine, the Linn LM-1. It was his most recognizable sound throughout the 1980s. He had several LM-1s, I saw at least 5. They had modifications, such as a Cymbal sample accessed by a mini toggle on the front. There were also trigger inputs on the units he took on tour.

We only used 4 tracks to record his Linn.

Due to some early tape transport issue damaging some tapes, the Claps were always on track one. Kick was on two, Snare on three, and 4 was always the Linn Mix output, usually through a string of stompboxes. These were always printed as is. No 'dry' signal was ever recorded. On songs like 'Hot Thing' (Sign of the times) the 'bass' is actually a Linn LM-1 tom through a Boss Octaver and Overdrive pedal. There were tuning issues, so "Forever in my life" , which used the same sound, added the Boss Vibrato pedal to obscure them.

By the time 'Lovesexy' was born, a Dynacord ADD-One drum module was added for kick and snare samples.

These sounds were triggered from the direct audio outputs of the Linn.

We rented an LM-2 (Linndrum) from Total Music Systems for one weekend between "Batman" and "Grafitti Bridge" because the LM-1s were all on the road and the one in the studio had developed a buzz.

We tracked just three songs with it. If you listen closely you can hear the Linndrum Kick on several cuts, especially "Elephants and Flowers". I was never given proper credit on those (accurate credits always a problem on Prince records). But I've got signed work orders, MF! Twisted Evil

-CZ

Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: Jeff Goodman on January 04, 2007, 04:45:29 PM
OK, Here's what I've been told by a musician friend that grew up in Minn. and worked a considerable amount with Prince up until a few years ago.

Prince still uses the original Linn 1. His have all been modded to have individual trigger outputs so that any drum machine/sampler/sound can be triggered. He feels that that the first Linns somehow have a certain funky groove to them that was "corrected" by Roger in subsequent models as an improvement. Prince didn't like the improved...I guess the only way to term it would be 'feel'. He wasn't able to get the other drum machines to groove the way he wants them to (or is used to). There was also a sync mod done, but I am not clear about what was done, or to what effect (gen smpte? chase smpte?, midi?). I'll ask when I speak to my friend again probably in the next few days and post back whatever info I get, if anyone is interested, that is.

Jeff
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: compasspnt on January 05, 2007, 09:19:29 AM
Is that why the music is as good as ever?
Title: Re: Linn Drum
Post by: rjd2 on January 05, 2007, 09:28:15 AM
chance, let me know if you do have one. ive only seen pictures, i never knew someone who had one, but they look rectangular. not totally unlike any of the other rhythm machines of the era, ala korg/maestro/etc.

i would love to have one, as a very classic record was made with one, and i loved the drum sound on it. maybe...you.....sell??? Very Happy