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The DMX is a programmable digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s.
The Oberheim DMX was the second digital drum machine ever to be sold as a commercial product, following the Linn LM-1 Drum Computer in 1980. Its popularity among musicians of the era contributed to the sound and evolution of 1980s new wave,
Immediately following the success of the Linn LM-1, other manufacturers began to develop and release drum machines intended to compete with the LM-1's ease of programmability and realistic sound quality. The DMX featured sampled sounds of real drums, as well as individual tuning controls for each drum voice and a swing function. In addition, it boasted several humanizing elements such as rolls, flams, and timing variations that were meant to mimic those of real drummers.
The DMX features 24 individual drum sounds derived from 11 original samples and allows for a maximum 8-voice polyphony; one voice per card. It also featured eight separate outputs for individual processing, and allowed up to 100 sequences and 50 songs. One of the distinguishing features of the DMX is that it allowed integration with Oberheim's proprietary interfacing system (the Oberheim Parallel Buss) that pre-dated
Introduced in 1983, the Oberheim DX was a slightly stripped-down version of the DMX, available at a list price of US$1,395. The look and feel of the machine was similar to that of the DMX, but it only featured 18 sounds instead of 24; allowed for 6-sound polyphony instead of 8; had a 4-digit, 7-segment display instead of a 16-character alphanumeric display; and had fake plastic wood instead of walnut. Fortunately, DX maintained the DMX feature of use of removable/replaceable voice cards on EPROMs. The DXa model added MIDI support from the factory. Like the DMX, the DX was popular among early hip hop artists. It was also extensively used in dancehall reggae.
The DX was later extended with an optional bolt-on "Stretch" expansion, which added four new voices plus some additional features.
The DMX is a programmable digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s.
The Oberheim DMX was the second digital drum machine ever to be sold as a commercial product, following the Linn LM-1 Drum Computer in 1980. Its popularity among musicians of the era contributed to the sound and evolution of 1980s new wave, synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
and hip hop music.
Background
Immediately following the success of the Linn LM-1, other manufacturers began to develop and release drum machines intended to compete with the LM-1's ease of programmability and realistic sound quality. The DMX featured sampled sounds of real drums, as well as individual tuning controls for each drum voice and a swing function. In addition, it boasted several humanizing elements such as rolls, flams, and timing variations that were meant to mimic those of real drummers.
The DMX features 24 individual drum sounds derived from 11 original samples and allows for a maximum 8-voice polyphony; one voice per card. It also featured eight separate outputs for individual processing, and allowed up to 100 sequences and 50 songs. One of the distinguishing features of the DMX is that it allowed integration with Oberheim's proprietary interfacing system (the Oberheim Parallel Buss) that pre-dated MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...
and allowed Oberheim equipment to be synchronized with the machine. Later models included factory-fitted MIDI ports and third-party companies also manufactured MIDI interfaces for the DMX.
Drum and percussion samples are stored in EPROM chips placed on removable voice cards. The data format is 8-bit PCM
Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the amp ...
using μ-law companding, increasing sound resolution to approximately 12 bits in the analog domain (a design technique also employed by other early drum machines, including products by Linn Electronics, E-mu Systems
E-mu Systems was a software synthesizer, audio interface, MIDI interface, and MIDI keyboard manufacturer. Founded in 1971 as a synthesizer maker, E-mu was a pioneer in samplers, sample-based drum machines and low-cost digital sampling m ...
and Sequential Circuits
Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer; it became a market leader and industry standard, use ...
).
The DMX's punchy and realistic drum sound made it attractive towards many artists and producers involved in the fledgling hip-hop scene and it is featured on many of the genre's early landmark recordings. It is in continuous use in dancehall reggae music. Artists that have used the DMX include New Order on their 1983 single " Blue Monday" and The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Poli ...
on " Every Breath You Take" (kick drum only). Several artists derive their names from the drum computer, including DMX Krew, DMX
Earl Simmons (December 18, 1970 – April 9, 2021), known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper and actor. He began rapping in the early 1990s and released his debut album ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' in 1998, to both critical acclaim ...
and Davy DMX.
Oberheim DX
Introduced in 1983, the Oberheim DX was a slightly stripped-down version of the DMX, available at a list price of US$1,395. The look and feel of the machine was similar to that of the DMX, but it only featured 18 sounds instead of 24; allowed for 6-sound polyphony instead of 8; had a 4-digit, 7-segment display instead of a 16-character alphanumeric display; and had fake plastic wood instead of walnut. Fortunately, DX maintained the DMX feature of use of removable/replaceable voice cards on EPROMs. The DXa model added MIDI support from the factory. Like the DMX, the DX was popular among early hip hop artists. It was also extensively used in dancehall reggae.
The DX was later extended with an optional bolt-on "Stretch" expansion, which added four new voices plus some additional features.
References