Yeah , had one in early 86 when I was 16 after having my 48k for about 3 years. Loved it. Had no money fro music kit really apart from a basic yamaha psr of the time so had to borrow a mates tape to tape cassette where I would record the drums from this , then go over again with a bass and again with every patch , yes I know I looked longily at 4 or 8 tracks but they were like 10 times out of my pocket money. Ended up with about 3 tracks from Human League Dare album recreated in my way, lol. Good times.
You're right about the sound, the original makers used the LinnDrum to sample from. It was the 80s so the bitrate went way down but they contacted Linn who let them use it without much hassle - pretty generous, or maybe it was before the music industry's lawyers caught up with the implications? The reason it sounds so good is that it was literally the hardware of a drum machine, the internal piezo speaker hardware wasn't used - that only had the ability to swap the polarity of the speaker ie 1-bit software-controlled music. I heard this in a podcast somewhere, I wanna say the Retro Hour but can't find it now! Good video.
@@balorprice yeah! Don’t expect this sound from the internal speaker. But I must say that it was really generous of LinnDrum. Perhaps they didn’t see a real competitor in the speccy? 😝
I made a simple box of drum sounds using circuits from electronic mags of the time and plugged my Spectrum into via the printer port - a bit of a bodge but it worked. I had to write a simple sequencer which was featured on ST Mag. All great fun - thank you for the memory. I didn't realise this was available at the time - amazing! Cheers Dave
I had one in the 80s. There were extra kits on cassette tape. I had Electro and African aswell as the original. I used it with an 4 track recorder. I'd forgotten how life was like without a mouse! Before this I had external drums triggered by the spectrum using my own software. I also remember a sound sampler which was like a low fi Fairlight.
Maybe a little too rudimentary for todays standard but still impressive considering it's the ZX Spectrum although it's not the Spectrum itself containing the samples... :)
It is a little know fact, that there was actual SAMPLER program for 48K spectrum, which could sample short fragments of audio thru tape in, and you can then play them. I don't remember it's name, but it was Polish made and had a hifi stereo at it's loading screen.
@@synthfellow Yeah, I used it in early 90s. It can capture in awful quality, but still usable sounds, the total time for 48k spectrum was 8 seconds or something like that, and you can had up to 8 samples. It was standalone machine code, so it even came with sample BASIC program, where you can play samples in needed sequence and create your arpeggios or drum loops.
Great vid - I had one of these and used it quite a lot for recording using my Tascam Portastudio in 1986 - It was indeed a very good package for its time. I'll dig out one of the old recordings and post a link in these comments :)
The band i was in used this back in the 80s - and one time stupidly used it for a live gig. Previous band unplugged the strip board the speccy was plugged into we were frantically reloading everything just mins before we had to go on stage. Never again - tapes only until we could afford a standalone machine. Still got the hardware and have a Next just need to find those old tapes.
@@synthfellow Yes it has the rear edge connector and supports legacy speccy hardware. I still have the program cassettes in the original box - just not sure what happened to my backup tapes of drum patters/songs.
Our solution to the "unplugged by other bands" problem was to record the drums onto backing tracks playing on our PortaStudio - People still unplugged the thing, but at least it didn't crash and need reloading etc. A lady unplugged the lead by accident during one gig, whilst coming out of the toilet - That included the PA and all instruments. Life in the 80s... 😃
Wow, I’m learning so much today! I had no idea the SpecDrum came with hardware, or that Spectaculator supports it, awesome! I’m in bed, about to go to sleep, but now that’s not going to happen until I know what hardware was in the SpecDrum expansion! Awesome video as always, thanks!
My very first home computer was a ZX81, with 1K memory. Later expanded with a whopping 16K. A year or so later I got my Sinclair Spectrum. A very tiny printer, and a Micro Drive. With a 'PC Privé Project' on my work I bought my first 'real' PC, a 486. Later a Acer laptop with Windows 3.11, then a HP Brio with W'95. That version made me go away from MS. In 2002 I bought my first Apple, the beautiful G4 iMac. Then two other iMac. The last iMac I used 9 years. Since it came out I have a M1 MacMini. I do video editing with FCP and make music with GarageBand. I forgot to mention that in the meantime a got (for free) an Atari 1040ST with an external harddisk of 20MB!!! With that machine I discovered the world of MIDI with a hacked version of Cubase. It crashed now and them. Nice so see that you could play samples with the Spectrum.
Thank you for your story! Yes It Is some kind of wonder to be able to play samples with Spectrum but then again... It needs peripherals to be able to do It but ... who cares?! :)
Interesting. It actually sounds usuable, the mute groups make sense, and it appears you can make some decent drum tracks with it. Minus the missing accents/dynamics. Oh and loading the drum track from tape is a disadvantage, of course.
@@synthfellow I saw a price tag of about 30 pounds. That's indeed an alternative. And you could sync it, according to wikipedia. That's really something.
Yes you can sync it to a DAW for example. They are quite rare on trading sites.. here in Sweden anyway. I have seen one some six months ago but didnt buy it.
Never heard about that. I think the SpecDrum was an extra soundchip (different than AY) connected to the computer. What chip was this? Did it use samples or synthesis?
I have a Specdrum Unit. Had it since the 80's and I guess it was my first Drum Machine. I loved it at the time, but have lost the main software if anyone has a copy anywhere? Would love to hear those sounds again
There’s a bit of volume difference; some steps play louder than others, any idea what could be causing it? Some compression going on somewhere in the chain?
i own one these days, but sampled it from the emulator anyway. there is a YT video of them talking to cheetah marketing and sampling etc. the c64 micro rythmn on c64 and atari were better and only £1.99 .
@synthfellow oh yeah....any notable users........with a spectrum + you should not need the cartridge....there's a 3 channel chip on spectrums when they started making them with a decent keyboard.........the correct pokes....and that application should work
Most people aren't going to source out a ZX Spectrum and probably will opt to use an emulator, or even a Mister running ZX Spectrum Next core. Think about it, you would have a way easier time using an emulator with something like Jack in Linux to sync with a DAW then trying to midi sync the whole thing on real hardware. It's how you apply it. I still think this is a cool idea regardless.
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For the sum of a cup of coffee I'd love your support! xoxoxo /Martin "Synthfellow"
I remember borrowing a friends spectrum just to make drum tracks with this. it was awesome.
I bet it was and still is 😀
Yeah , had one in early 86 when I was 16 after having my 48k for about 3 years. Loved it. Had no money fro music kit really apart from a basic yamaha psr of the time so had to borrow a mates tape to tape cassette where I would record the drums from this , then go over again with a bass and again with every patch , yes I know I looked longily at 4 or 8 tracks but they were like 10 times out of my pocket money. Ended up with about 3 tracks from Human League Dare album recreated in my way, lol. Good times.
A mate of mine had the SpecDrum hardware/software setup. We made so many tracks using it !
I thought this was going to be: Step 1 - sell Spectrum, Step 2 - buy drum machine.
Haha well if it weren’t for the SpecDrum it might have been like that.
It's illegal. Or at least unethical.
@@drcherepanov what is?
You're right about the sound, the original makers used the LinnDrum to sample from. It was the 80s so the bitrate went way down but they contacted Linn who let them use it without much hassle - pretty generous, or maybe it was before the music industry's lawyers caught up with the implications?
The reason it sounds so good is that it was literally the hardware of a drum machine, the internal piezo speaker hardware wasn't used - that only had the ability to swap the polarity of the speaker ie 1-bit software-controlled music.
I heard this in a podcast somewhere, I wanna say the Retro Hour but can't find it now! Good video.
@@balorprice yeah! Don’t expect this sound from the internal speaker. But I must say that it was really generous of LinnDrum. Perhaps they didn’t see a real competitor in the speccy? 😝
I made a simple box of drum sounds using circuits from electronic mags of the time and plugged my Spectrum into via the printer port - a bit of a bodge but it worked. I had to write a simple sequencer which was featured on ST Mag. All great fun - thank you for the memory. I didn't realise this was available at the time - amazing! Cheers Dave
Thank you for your story! :)
I had one in the 80s. There were extra kits on cassette tape. I had Electro and African aswell as the original. I used it with an 4 track recorder. I'd forgotten how life was like without a mouse! Before this I had external drums triggered by the spectrum using my own software. I also remember a sound sampler which was like a low fi Fairlight.
It's an alternative drum machine, I like it.
Maybe a little too rudimentary for todays standard but still impressive considering it's the ZX Spectrum although it's not the Spectrum itself containing the samples... :)
It is a little know fact, that there was actual SAMPLER program for 48K spectrum, which could sample short fragments of audio thru tape in, and you can then play them. I don't remember it's name, but it was Polish made and had a hifi stereo at it's loading screen.
Ooh I didn’t know that. Looks like a thing to investigate. :)
@@synthfellow Yeah, I used it in early 90s. It can capture in awful quality, but still usable sounds, the total time for 48k spectrum was 8 seconds or something like that, and you can had up to 8 samples. It was standalone machine code, so it even came with sample BASIC program, where you can play samples in needed sequence and create your arpeggios or drum loops.
Oh wow that's cool that the emulator has the hardware built in, very cool!
I thought so too! And surprised at the same time 😝
Great vid - I had one of these and used it quite a lot for recording using my Tascam Portastudio in 1986 - It was indeed a very good package for its time. I'll dig out one of the old recordings and post a link in these comments :)
😀
This is crazy, it sounds amazing. I've listened to songs with drums that don't sound this good!
What a lovely drum program. I still used Roland drum machines in the 80's.
@@PaulaBean isn’t it? 😃
@@synthfellow Yeah, I still use my Roland TR-505.
The band i was in used this back in the 80s - and one time stupidly used it for a live gig. Previous band unplugged the strip board the speccy was plugged into we were frantically reloading everything just mins before we had to go on stage. Never again - tapes only until we could afford a standalone machine.
Still got the hardware and have a Next just need to find those old tapes.
@@SamLowryDZ-015 does Next have the port for it? The tzx files are out there.
@@synthfellow Yes it has the rear edge connector and supports legacy speccy hardware.
I still have the program cassettes in the original box - just not sure what happened to my backup tapes of drum patters/songs.
Our solution to the "unplugged by other bands" problem was to record the drums onto backing tracks playing on our PortaStudio - People still unplugged the thing, but at least it didn't crash and need reloading etc. A lady unplugged the lead by accident during one gig, whilst coming out of the toilet - That included the PA and all instruments. Life in the 80s... 😃
Wow, I’m learning so much today! I had no idea the SpecDrum came with hardware, or that Spectaculator supports it, awesome! I’m in bed, about to go to sleep, but now that’s not going to happen until I know what hardware was in the SpecDrum expansion! Awesome video as always, thanks!
Sorry to keep you awake. Check the link in the comments and watch the BBC Micro episode :).
My very first home computer was a ZX81, with 1K memory. Later expanded with a whopping 16K. A year or so later I got my Sinclair Spectrum. A very tiny printer, and a Micro Drive. With a 'PC Privé Project' on my work I bought my first 'real' PC, a 486. Later a Acer laptop with Windows 3.11, then a HP Brio with W'95. That version made me go away from MS. In 2002 I bought my first Apple, the beautiful G4 iMac. Then two other iMac. The last iMac I used 9 years. Since it came out I have a M1 MacMini. I do video editing with FCP and make music with GarageBand. I forgot to mention that in the meantime a got (for free) an Atari 1040ST with an external harddisk of 20MB!!! With that machine I discovered the world of MIDI with a hacked version of Cubase. It crashed now and them. Nice so see that you could play samples with the Spectrum.
Thank you for your story! Yes It Is some kind of wonder to be able to play samples with Spectrum but then again... It needs peripherals to be able to do It but ... who cares?! :)
@@synthfellow It's a great difference with what I can do now with GarageBand on my iPad or even iPhone! 45 years of development!
Ohhh what?!? My first computer was a Tandy MC-10 which I think is very similar - I didn't know it could do this! I knew I should have kept it.
😊it is a fun gadget and at the time a very affordable drum machine but as I said.. nothing I’d use in a daily production.
Interesting. It actually sounds usuable, the mute groups make sense, and it appears you can make some decent drum tracks with it. Minus the missing accents/dynamics. Oh and loading the drum track from tape is a disadvantage, of course.
It is definitely useful and at the time it was released It was pretty unique and an inexpensive way to get great drum sounds.
@@synthfellow I saw a price tag of about 30 pounds. That's indeed an alternative. And you could sync it, according to wikipedia. That's really something.
Yes you can sync it to a DAW for example. They are quite rare on trading sites.. here in Sweden anyway. I have seen one some six months ago but didnt buy it.
Love it!!
Never heard about that. I think the SpecDrum was an extra soundchip (different than AY) connected to the computer. What chip was this? Did it use samples or synthesis?
As far as I know It uses samples. And yes It was an extra peripheral you connected to the computer.
I have a Specdrum Unit. Had it since the 80's and I guess it was my first Drum Machine. I loved it at the time, but have lost the main software if anyone has a copy anywhere? Would love to hear those sounds again
They are out there and you can let your phone act as a tape player ;)
Used by Aphex Twin he has a zx spectrum midi sampler too.
Ah didn’t know that.
Ah? Didn’t know that.
Would love to know what hardware it used. Did it have 3 DACs or something else?
@@NotMarkKnopfler I don’t know 🤷. Maybe someone else in the comments?
Lol it sounds like something OMD would use
There are people that makes software for the Speccy nowadats
I know 😊
I follow the retro and vintage gaming too. Love 8-bit guy, Adrian’s digital basement and all the other retro channels.
There’s a bit of volume difference; some steps play louder than others, any idea what could be causing it? Some compression going on somewhere in the chain?
No compression but the Spectaculator did some strange things when I recorded the video.
i own one these days, but sampled it from the emulator anyway. there is a YT video of them talking to cheetah marketing and sampling etc. the c64 micro rythmn on c64 and atari were better and only £1.99 .
@@fogvarious2478 There’s a link to the BBC show in the comments.
th-cam.com/video/RVLOeINDN-Q/w-d-xo.htmlsi=mE8zv4qs5K3_RUjz
You r a wind up.........its not a zx spectrum....its a intel powered pc running windows with spectaculator......
@@Mr.1.i I don’t say you didn’t watch the video but If you did watch the video this is exactly what I say.
@@synthfellow loading a drum sequencer on spectaculator
@@Mr.1.i I’m glad you understand. Now let’s talk about the fact that SpecDrum was and Is a thing.
@synthfellow oh yeah....any notable users........with a spectrum + you should not need the cartridge....there's a 3 channel chip on spectrums when they started making them with a decent keyboard.........the correct pokes....and that application should work
Most people aren't going to source out a ZX Spectrum and probably will opt to use an emulator, or even a Mister running ZX Spectrum Next core.
Think about it, you would have a way easier time using an emulator with something like Jack in Linux to sync with a DAW then trying to midi sync the whole thing on real hardware.
It's how you apply it.
I still think this is a cool idea regardless.