“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 has 32
rhythms.”
“DRMs were preset machines with eight drum sounds: kick,
snare, open and closed hi-hat, conga, wood block, space drum and a
kind of cross between a hand clap 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 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.”
