Electro Harmonix DRM 32 (rare/immaculate condition)

This is an immaculate example of the famous and almost extinct, Electro Harmonix DRM 32. You are unlikely to find one in better condition.

The last of the three Electro Harmonix DRM drum machines, the DRM-32 was the top of the range model (and the rarest).

Starting in 1978 with the red DRM-16, it was followed a year later by the blue DRM-15 (which was considerably cheaper due to a new memory chip which meant the machine could sell for half the price by sacrificing only one rhythm) and this one, the green DRM-32 which had (you guessed it), 32 rhythms.

DRM's were preset machines with 8 drum sounds... kick, snare, open & closed hi-hat, conga, wood block, space drum and a kind of cross between a handclap and a finger snap (or someone cracking their knuckles). Each machine had identical sounds and patterns (it was only the number of patterns that varied).

The stand-out sounds were the space-drum (a dooooo dooooo disco tom) and the snap sound. The hi-hats are exceptionally nice and sharp. What is so cool about the DRM though is that it is so ELECTRO and not many people have heard of them. No attempt at realism was made when this thing was dreamed up. This is just pure and simple '70s cheese-fest and the machine is perfect for Kraftwerk-style beats. Another bonus is that many of the sounds have a great deal of "analogue variation" in them (particularly the closed hats and snaps) and no hit sounds the same twice which, (if you use the multi-samples) can really spice up your rhythm tracks.