Rhythm Machines: The rise and fall of the presets

The 'Rhythm Machines' series of books is a never-before attempted full history of the drum machine, published over three colour-printed volumes. Author Alex Graham spent several years of research tracing the history of the drum machine from its early creation as a mechanical musicial accompaniment device in the late-1950s through to its increasing use in the transistor age of the 1960s and 1970s, onto what can be considered the definitive period of the drum machine - the 1980s, and beyond that decade to an initial decline in use in the 1990s and subsequent resurrection in the 21st century.Rhythm Machines (Volume 1) documents the rise and fall of the preset pattern rhythm units (now known as drum machines) that first emerged in the mid to late 1960s, and that were manufactured and sold in large numbers until the emergence of programmable drum machines in the early 1980s hastened their demise . Nearly three hundred units are detailed here, with two hundred pages packed with both colour and monochrome photographs of these highly collectable rhythm units. From Ace Tone, Eko, Elka, Farfisa, Gulbransen, Kay, Kawai, Korg (Keio), Maestro, Seeburg, Roland to Yamaha and many other brands, the book has detailed information on practically all the units released by not only those well-known companies but also from the more obscure instrument manufacturers. Other published releases in the series are Rhythm Machines 2 (The 1980s Drum Machines), and Rhythm Machines 3 (From Decline to Retro Design - Drum Machines 1990-2019).The RHYTHM MACHINES set of books is the definitive pictorial and informative reference guide for owners and collectors of rhythm boxes and drum machines. Read more