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3 models

  • Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm

    The first programmable Roland rhythm machine

    Drum machine · Japan

    The CR-78 kept the preset patterns of a rhythm box but let a player write four of their own and store them, which is the moment the drum machine stopped being an accompaniment appliance. Its soft, woody analogue voices open records by Blondie, Phil Collins, and Ultravox.

  • Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-1

    The preset rhythm box the whole category descends from

    Drum machine · Japan

    Ikutaro Kakehashi's Rhythm Ace played fixed patterns — bossa nova, waltz, march — from transistor circuits, with buttons you could press in combination. It was built to accompany organists, and it is the direct ancestor of everything below: Kakehashi founded Roland four years later.

  • Korg KR-55 Rhythm 55

    Analogue preset rhythms with a warm voice

    Drum machine · Japan

    The KR-55 is a preset box rather than a programmable machine, but its analogue voices are soft and full enough that it is sampled and played straight far more than its category suggests.