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Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession - Limited Edition by Dave Tompkins (Foreword), Joe Mansfield (7-Mar-2014) Hardcover
Author Joe Mansfield selected 75 drum machines from his collection of 150 and had them impeccably photographed. He then documented their related collateral, including original packaging and advertising and wrote piquant essays about the machines' history, original release, and subsequent usage (often totally"off-label"). Starting with Wurlitzer's Side Man, originally released in 1959, Mansfield proceeds to document some of the most prominent andwell known drum machines like the Roland TR-808 alongside lesser known and yet-to-be discovered gems such as the Band Master Powerhouse, ending the lesson with the Sequential Circuits' Studio 440 unit, released in 1987. The incredible design of the machines themselves is thoughtfully augmented by a great layout and interviews with early adopters of the technology Schooly D, Davy DMX, and Marshall Jefferson. For a final punch, the epilogue features a section called "Beat Boxes and their hits."
- GenresMusicNonfiction
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 5, 2015
This is an amazing, one of a kind book. One of those treasures you imagined once but never thought its existence was possible. If it wasn't for Goodreads, i would have never found this book!
The great thing about this huge letter-size hard-cover book is its size, which makes the quality of the photos really shine. These drum machines all look amazing, beautiful objects you want to play with. Some of them are ridiculous .... A 8-track operated drum machine, really? Another one looks like a portable heater. It probably was, also, a heater.
Each one gets at least 2 pages, except the "stars" (808, 909, Linn, DMX, etc) who get 4-6 pages. The author even mentions some songs where these were featured. It's really a work of love. And so since I was listening to them as I was reading here's a playlist... It's chronological from 1975 to 1996, which is where the book stops. (Actually it's mostly focused on the 80s and earlier.)
The great thing about this huge letter-size hard-cover book is its size, which makes the quality of the photos really shine. These drum machines all look amazing, beautiful objects you want to play with. Some of them are ridiculous .... A 8-track operated drum machine, really? Another one looks like a portable heater. It probably was, also, a heater.
Each one gets at least 2 pages, except the "stars" (808, 909, Linn, DMX, etc) who get 4-6 pages. The author even mentions some songs where these were featured. It's really a work of love. And so since I was listening to them as I was reading here's a playlist... It's chronological from 1975 to 1996, which is where the book stops. (Actually it's mostly focused on the 80s and earlier.)
April 23, 2014
Really only for the drum machine-obsessed. If you fit into that category, though, this is the book for you.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews