E-mu Drumulator

E-mu Drumulator is a sample-based drum machine by E-mu Systems. Introduced in 1983 at a price of $995 USD, the Drumulator was the first programmable drum machine with built-in samples for under $1,000,^[1] resulting in sales of over 10,000 units over two years.^[2] The Drumulator was the predecessor of the E-mu SP-12.

The Drumulator utilizes 8-bit samples for 12 sounds, including SSM analog filters. It was widely used in early 1980s in synth-pop and Italo disco productions. In 1984, Digidrums released special EPROMs for the Drumulator, which included the Rock Drums set used on Tears for Fears' hit "Shout" and on "Beastie Groove" for Beastie Boys by Rick Rubin.

Notable users[edit]

Year	Artist	Album	Songs
1983	Cocteau Twins	Head over Heels	"My Love Paramour"
	Cocteau Twins	Sunburst and Snowblind
	Depeche Mode	Construction Time Again	"Everything Counts", "Love, in Itself"
	Keith LeBlanc		"Malcolm X: No Sell Out"
	Valerie Dore		"The Night", "Get Closer"
1984	Camel	Stationary Traveller	"Vopo's"
	Fun Fun		"Color My Love"
	Howard Jones	Human's Lib
	Kenny Loggins	Footloose	"Footloose"
	Rockwell	Somebody's Watching Me	"Somebody's Watching Me"
	Carol Jiani		"Touch and Go Lover"
1984	Cocteau Twins	Treasure^[3]
1985	Bad Boys Blue		"Hot Girls, Bad Boys"
	Game Theory	Real Nighttime	"She'll Be a Verb"
	Lou Reed	OST White Nights	"My Love is Chemical"
	Tears for Fears	Songs from the Big Chair	"Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
	Front 242	No Comment
1986	Nu Shooz		"I Can't Wait"
1987	Big Black	Songs About Fucking
1987	Depeche Mode	Music for the Masses	"Never Let Me Down Again"
1991	Teenage Fanclub	Bandwagonesque	"Is This Music?"
2001	Liars	They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top	"Mr Your On Fire Mr", "Tumbling Walls Buried Me in the Debris", "We Live NE of Compton"
	Ultravox

References[edit]

^ Vail, Mark (1993). Vintage Synthesizers. San Francisco, California, USA: Miller Freeman Book. p. 24. ISBN 0-87930-275-5.
^ Keeble, Rob. "30 Years Of Emu". Sound On Sound. SOS Publications Group. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
^ Guthrie, Robin. "Equipment Notes". Robin Guthrie (official website). Archived from the original on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2013-07-13.

External links[edit]

[1] Vail, Mark (1993). Vintage Synthesizers. San Francisco, California, USA: Miller Freeman Book. p. 24. ISBN 0-87930-275-5.

[2] Keeble, Rob. "30 Years Of Emu". Sound On Sound. SOS Publications Group. Retrieved 29 March 2021.

[3] Guthrie, Robin. "Equipment Notes". Robin Guthrie (official website). Archived from the original on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2013-07-13.

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