Rhythmic Robot release CHAMBERLIN RHYTHMATE – the world's first drum machine!

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Hi guys,

If we've been quiet for a while, it's largely because we've been working hard :D The result of several months of careful work, Rhythmate is now finished – and will be of particular interest to fans of seriously old, crusty bits of musical history. This is both a faithful Kontakt recreation of the world's very first (tape-based) drum machine – the amazing Chamberlin Rhythmate – and an extension of that machine into something far more versatile and interesting...

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Born in the 1950s, the Rhythmate was the first brainchild of Harry Chamberlin, who went on to make the Chamberlin tape-replay keyboard (which in turn was the precursor to the Mellotron). The Rhythmate used looped recordings of real percussion performances, running on 1" tape, to create backing rhythm sections; sliding the tape head across the tracks gave access to different patterns (and, sometimes, mashups of two patterns when the head got lodged halfway). The patterns could be varispeeded up and down to the tempo of your choice, though of course with inevitable pitch-shifting as well; and the whole thing was done up in a tasteful wood veneer 8)

Our Kontakt version does two thing. Firstly, it faithfully recreates the authentic Rhythmate tape loops, complete with varispeed; so if you want the authentic sound of the original, it's here, with all its patterns, in all its glory. You can set two loops going simultaneously (to create the original "tape head lodged between tracks" glitch) and you can filter and adjust the loops to taste. Perhaps more usefully, you can both varispeed and beatslice them, giving you the choice of either matching your track's tempo by shifting the pitch (authentic operation) or by slicing the beats (modern operation)... or a combo of the two. In short, you can lock these patterns to your DAW tempo as perfectly or imperfectly as you wish.

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Secondly, though, we've extended that authentic functionality considerably, by harvesting over 1000 individual drum and percussion hits from within the loops, and mapping these – with multiple round-robins – to the MIDI keyboard. Using these, you can create brand new loops which are nevertheless stamped with the Rhythmate's unique sonic fingerprint (which is, basically, the sound of 70 years of hot oxide). Take a listen here to find out what the Amen Break sounds like coming from the Rhythmate, for example: https://www.rhythmicrobot.com/product/r ... instrument This makes our Rhythmate a fantastic resource if you want the thick, compressed sound of the original tape Rhythmate, but want to harness its sound to your own drum patterns.

Oh, and there's compression, convolved Spring and Lexicon reverbs, additional Hiss and Crackle controls for help glueing your beats together, a full kit-piece Mixer pane with EQ and FX sends, and tons more.

More details and the all-important audio demos are on our website here:

https://www.rhythmicrobot.com/product/r ... instrument

And finally, there is of course a tasty launch offer on the pricing, so you can grab Rhythmate for 20% off the list price – just €20. Given that original machines are going on eBay for around $12,000, we hope this is tempting 8) :hihi:

Enjoy timewarping your tracks back to the 1950s!

Best wishes,

The Professor (and Mongo)
Last edited by the professor on Tue May 21, 2019 8:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Really cool.

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First audio press review has just come in... 9/10 from Computer Music magazine, and "one of Rhythmic Robot's finest curios yet" :D

Worth pointing out that it's still 20% off at the moment, so you can get it on the for €24 not €30 by going here: https://www.rhythmicrobot.com/hot-deals

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the professor wrote: Sat May 25, 2019 11:06 am 9/10 from Computer Music magazine
OMG Really???? :o

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A very interesting drum machine, I thought I knew them all but this one I've never heard of. I like the concept of a tape-based drum machine, kind of a mellotron drum module.

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LaptopMusicianBlog wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:43 am A very interesting drum machine, I thought I knew them all but this one I've never heard of. I like the concept of a tape-based drum machine, kind of a mellotron drum module.
It really is pretty much exactly that! It's kind of weirdly on-trend for such a vintage instrument, given the current love for sampling drum loops from tape instead of direct. The Rhythmate predates that by fifty or sixty years though.. and has the "grunge" element dialled up to 11 :D

– The Professor (and Mongo)

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