ELKA: RHYTHM MACHINE PAGE:
Date = 1976		Country = Italy		Type = Analogue
Drum Voices = 8		Rhythms = 16 (8 Separate Channels)		Rhythm Combining = No
Here we have a European take on the transistor rhythm machine from Italian manufacturers Elka, (known at this time for their range of organs). The "Rhythm Machine" offered 16 rhythms with separate faders for each instrument so you could effectively mix the drum tracks, (or mute those you didn't want). In retrospect, this is a far better way of doing things and has ensured its continued usefulness in today's studio environment
To say this machine is rare is a bit of an understatement. Little is known about this machine and we've only been able to track down one other person on the net who has one...
			This particular rhythm unit came to us from Northern France and the original vendor's sticker is still on the back. Who knows what it was being used for over the last 30 years or so. All I can say is it's unlikely to be one of Jean-Michel Jarre's (but then you never know do you?). So what does it sound like? Well the easiest way to find out is to go and check it out on the preview player at the top of the page.
The available sounds are: Bass Drum, Conga, Bongo 1 (Low), Bongo 2 (High), Claves, Snare Drum, Maracas (that's a Hi-Hat to most of us) and Cymbal. Quite cleverly, in some patterns a conga is used to add variation to the bass drum and/or snare drum to create an additional "combined" sound. It sounds a bit daft in writing but if you hear it you'll see what I mean.
Personally, I doubt if the sounds themselves will have you spinning on your break mat. This is a much more sedate and... well "European" drum machine. It has that type of sound that you remember from the early "spaced out" electronic albums by Jarre, Kraftwerk and Telex. It's a bit "lounge" yeah but its down to you to how you use it. The quality of the rhythm programming is far superior to the Japanese beat boxes of its era and this is something that Elka were very good at, (particularly on their later Sidekick 32 which is also in our collection).
Sadly none of the Elka drum machines allowed you to combine rhythms by pushing down several rhythms at once but thanks to sampling technology, you can now make your own beats in a new way that was never intended on the original unit. Because each rhythm has been separated into single instrument loops, you can now combine the Hi-Hat pattern from "Afro" with the Bass Drum from "Cha-Cha" and the Snare from "Rock". In that respect, the possibilities are practically endless.
Sample Pack Info:
Recycle RX2 Loops:			Single drum hits (WAV):
This sample set contains 88 four bar loops. If you're wondering why there are only 88 (16 beats x 8 sounds = 128 does it not?) the reason is that not all 8 sounds appear in each pattern. We've recorded every possible loop from each beat honest!			As the loops here contain the individual drum sounds already, we thought we'd save ourselves the time and effort involved in providing separate hits as these can easily be extracted from the loops already.
What's so special about these sample packs? Quite simply, there isn't anywhere on the internet or in any commercial sample library where you can get this stuff. We made these samples because nobody else has.
All Dubsounds sample packs are sampled directly from our own drum machines. They are definitely NOT ripped from sample CD's, unlike many you see on Ebay at the moment, (which is a bit sad). All the rhythms are recorded directly into Pro-Tools from the machine's audio output and are not equalised, compressed or effected in any way. We want you to have the closest thing to the real machine as possible but with the added benefits of seamless integration into your VST host. The only thing we have done is to CAREFULLY remove any unwanted electrical noise and hum present in the signal, (if required) and taking extreme care to avoid damaging the delicate percussive transients. These samples were made for our own use first and foremost!
	Elka Rhythm Machine - 88 Multitrack loops - (21Mb download) £ 15.00
Please note:
Before buying; please make sure that you have read the information on the drum sounds intro page