If you want to upgrade the beat-making workflow in your studio with hardware, should you get a drum machine, or should you get a sampler? After all, they perform similar functions. Drum machines and MPC-style samplers even look the same. So which one is right for you?
What’s a Drum Machine?
Like its name suggests, a drum machine is an electronic device that generates drum and percussion sounds. Drum machines use touch-sensitive pads that you physically play for creating beats and grooves, along with a built-in sequencer for playing the rhythmic composition back. Most drum machines include built-in drum sounds, as well as parameters for modulating and shaping the sounds. Drum machines produce sounds either by using synthesis or by playing back prerecorded samples. Some drum machines replicate a traditional drum set, while others produce synthetic-sounding percussion. You can tap out simple rhythms directly from the device or use its sequencer to program complex beats. Drum machines were a staple in popular music until the early 2000s, when software emulations began to overtake hardware drum machines. That said, drum machines are still used today, especially in electronic and hip-hop music.
History of the Drum Machine
In the early 1930s, Henry Cowell and Léon Theremin (inventor of the Theremin musical instrument) developed the innovative yet hard-to-use Rhythmicon — the unwieldy forerunner of the drum machine. Wurlitzer’s Sideman, the first commercial rhythm-producing product, was released in 1959, much to the chagrin of the 1950s musicians’ union.
A number of other products were produced after that, but the big change came in 1980, with the release of the Linn LM-1 — the first commercially available drum machine to use digitally sampled sounds. The LM-1 boasted revolutionary features for its time, such as swing factors, shuffle, accent, and real-time programming, and was used on hundreds of hit records during the 1980s, including releases from Prince, Michael Jackson, and Devo. Following the success of the LM-1, Oberheim introduced the DMX, which became a staple of the then-nascent hip-hop scene after heavy use by rap pioneers Run-DMC.
Released around the same time as the Linn LM-1 was the Roland TR-808 — one of the earliest programmable drum machines. Unlike the LM-1, which employed authentic-sounding digital samples, the TR-808 produced cheesy analog drum sounds that were anything but realistic. At first, industry professionals turned up their noses, and the TR-808 was deemed a commercial failure. But as hip-hop and electronic music started to emerge from the underground, artists and producers revisited the TR-808’s idiosyncratic sounds. And after the TR-808’s robotic rhythms and thumping bass drum hit the mainstream, it became an unstoppable force, used on more hit records than any other drum machine. Today, the TR-808 is still featured extensively in electronic, dance, and hip-hop music. If you want to experience a hardware TR-808 for yourself, the Roland TR-08 will give you a taste of its unmistakable mojo.
During the home recording boom of the 1990s, drum machines became a mainstay in project studios. Because drums are notoriously difficult to capture effectively in small spaces, low-cost devices such as the Alesis SR-16 were used as substitutes for live drummers on home-recorded demos. This began to change in the 2000s; however, as hardware devices were supplanted by software-based solutions, such as Toontrack’s EZdrummer and FXpansion’s BFD.
What’s a Sampler?
A sampler is an electronic device that records, alters, and plays back digital audio. It employs digital samples of real instruments, snippets of songs, or sound effects to create music — hence its name. A sampler’s sounds are stored in digital memory, enabling them to be accessed instantly, which allows for real-time performance. You can distribute the sounds across a musical keyboard and play them back at various pitches to mimic a range of keyboard-style instruments, including acoustic and electric pianos, organs, and synthesizers. You can map them to electronic drum pads to emulate a drum set or trigger them with the machine’s built-in controls (commonly touch-sensitive pads). What’s more, you can synchronize the device to a sequencer to create complex arrangements, with the machine’s polyphony being your only limitation (many samplers — notably MPC-style ones — include a built-in sequencer). Many samplers boast filters, oscillators, effects, and other synthesizer-like features, enabling you to shape and mold the sounds in a variety of ways. Thanks to software-based samplers, hardware samplers are less popular than they used to be, mostly consigned to hip-hop, dance, and electronic genres.
History of the Sampler
While digital sampling is a relatively young technology, the concept of sampling isn’t new. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, the tape-based Mellotron was all the rage with forward-thinking bands, including the Beatles, King Crimson, and Genesis. The first commercially available digital sampling device was Harry Mendell’s Computer Music Melodian. Released in 1972, this monophonic synth boasted a then-mind-numbing 12-bit A/D and 22kHz sampling rate. The Melodian is showcased impressively on Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants.”
The first digital sampling workstation to gain widespread use was New England Digital Corporation’s Synclavier. Released in 1977, this system was influential with traditional producers and cutting-edge electronic musicians alike. When introduced, it offered 16-bit/100kHz recording and playback. The Synclavier can be heard on countless albums and film scores from that period, including Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms, Genesis’s Invisible Touch, Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration, Michael Jackson’s Bad, and the soundtracks to Clan of the Cave Bear, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Rocky IV. Synclaviers were immensely popular in professional circles, but thanks to their astronomical $200,000 to $500,000 price tag, they were limited to select high-end studios and producers. The first polyphonic digital sampling instrument was the Fairlight CMI — complete with 8-bit/24kHz sampling. Released in 1979, it was a state-of-the-art piece of gear at the time. By 1985, the Fairlight had achieved CD quality at 16-bit/44.1kHz and had gained favor among Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Jean-Michel Jarre, and others. Fairlight CMIs were less expensive than Synclaviers; however, with a cost upward of $25,000, they were still inaccessible to your average musician.
Sampling finally became accessible to the masses in 1981 with the unveiling of E-MU’s Emulator Series. Regarded as the first samplers with a real-world price tag, these floppy disk–based keyboard workstations enabled musicians to sample sounds and play them back as musical notes using a built-in 4-octave, piano-style keyboard. The original Emulator featured 8-bit sampling and was sold in 2-, 4-, and 8-voice models. A cool bit of trivia: serial number 001 was sold to Stevie Wonder, a strong proponent of the instrument. There were numerous successive models of the Emulator, but 1987’s SP-1200 was something special. To this day, it’s revered by hip-hop aficionados for the unmistakably gritty crunch it lends to vinyl samples. The Emulator Series was discontinued in 2002.
In 1985, Roger Linn (the aforementioned LM-1 inventor) partnered with the Akai corporation to create a new series of affordable samplers. The fruit of their labors was the rackmountable S612, which was quickly supplanted by the S900 — a digital sampler with 8-note polyphony and 12-bit/40kHz sound quality. But the real revolution occurred in 1988, with the advent of their MPC — the world’s first series of non-rackmountable digital samplers (and the blueprint for the modern portable sampler). The initial model in this series, the legendary MPC60, changed the way dance music and hip-hop were produced. It was laid out like a drum machine, with 16 velocity-sensitive touch pads, but it did much more than that — it was a complete looping workstation and sequencer. It enabled musicians and producers to load their own samples into it and create all kinds of funky loops and beats. Akai still produces a number of modern MPC models based around the original’s intuitive design, with the addition of contemporary features like DAW and software integration.
So What’s the Difference?
What’s the difference between a drum machine and a sampler? Drum machines include preinstalled drum and percussion sounds, along with a built-in sequencer. Samplers enable you to record and modify your own sounds and may or may not include an onboard sequencer. If you want to create simple drum parts with factory sounds, a drum machine is the right tool for the job. If you want to craft multi-instrument loops with your own sounds, an MPC-style sampler is what you need. Still not sure? Give your Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700. They’ll be happy to give you some expert advice.
