That was my first drum machine, around 1987. Even at the time, and with no foreknowledge about drum machines, I thought "bi christ, this sounds bad" but it became a goodbad because me & friends would laugh at it's sound very often and the friends I'm still in contact with from then will still crack a smile if the RX21 is mentioned. Amazing!
The RX11 had many sounds. The RX21 took the worst of those sounds, and made them shorter to save memory. I used it on a bunch of demos I made in 1986, and hearing it still gives me PTSD flashbacks of using it.
Really cool to see the EA-1 getting some love! I just got mine out again after being in the box for a long time, along with some of my other gear. In the past, I just them as external midi modules from a daw (Electribe EA-1, Alesis SR16, Red Sound Darkstar). But now I'm trying to learn them again, but better this time, and trying things out dawless for fun. Keep up the great work!
Hell yeah man! Sounds like fun. I've slowly been moving away from the computer, right now I'm just using it to record all the instruments live in their own channels. My hope is that by the end of the year I won't even be using a computer anymore!
The RX21 was my first drum machine. I bought it new for about $225.00. I still have it! For drums these days, I use mostly software so my only other hardware drum machines are the Volca Beats, the Tomcat, and I got an RX17 a few years ago for about twenty bucks. I like the way you combined the three units - they compliment each other nicely!
Hehe ... I knew this drum machine was crap when my band bought one in the late '80s 'cause it was cheap. But don't knock it, that drum machine got us a gig playing warm-up for Flock of Seagulls (because the venue was so small that only one drum kit would fit on stage and FoS insisted that their drum kit be up and ready for them, and they forbade any warm-up band to use their kit ... result? the guy booking the club only knew of one band that didn't have a drummer; that was us, so we got the gig!). Still ... rubbish machine.
Cool seeing that in action! An old relative gave me a box of old gear and that was one of the units. I was really wondering how that could be useful to me if I already have an Akai MPK but I see that you can make some pretty unique sounds of you get creative. Good stuff man
I have this and mostly don't use it because it doesn't cooperate with midi from my daw (or I'm just dumb). But I LOVE the sounds, if you want 80s af, you got it
Thanks man! That was the Monologue by Korg. It was playing a melody that I wrote on the Electribe thru midi input. I look forward to making videos about both of those here soon.
Well that is interesting. Here I am abroad getting ready to come back to USA and thinking if I should just leave or sell my RX21 to lighten my load. I haven't used it in years and had it for decades.
Basement Archade: You know...the funny thing is that years ago when I was using the RX21 to make home recordings on a little Tascam 4 track, I had musicians remark without being asked first, that the drums sound surprizingly real. Must have been the way I mixed it I guess.
3:21. That delay, is that due to RX21 going through the next device, or are you achieving a delay sound/emulation purely on the RX21? I am just now getting into my RX21 that has been sitting neglected far too long. Your video is inspiring, as is the track you made here. Best!
I think it was a happy accident, I'm not sure how it achieved that. my guess is that since the pads are not velocity sensitive that the drum was just cutting off the next before it could fully play.
@@BasementArcade Thank you for the fast reply!! Very Interesting.... So you think that was _just_ the RX21? and not the other machine involved that you ran it through? As you mention, the RX21 pads are not velocity sensitive, and there are no effects, etc, i.e. an extremely simple drum machine.
@@djnodj Correct, I remember that beat quite well and how pumped I was that that somehow happened. It was made at least 2-3 days before recording this episode and didn't even have a song yet.
@@BasementArcade I can imagine you'd be very happy with that sound! Well now you got me on a mission. I'm only _just_ getting started, but as I progress, I have to try to find similar, some type of delay sound. Should I get anywhere close I'll be sure to share how. If you get any flashbacks on how you made that happen, please let me know!
Q. Are you actually triggering sounds on the tomcat from the Yamaha RX21? AFAIK, its impoverished MIDI out only lets you control the clock of other machines, i.e. play/stop, and not send out individual note info (though it will receive it). Or maybe you know sometihng I didnt know in the 80s!
You're absolutely right. I might have said it wrong in the video. The RX21 is playing one pattern, triggering the Tomcat which has it's own pattern, which is also triggering the volca beats that has it's own pattern. It's a weird set up I know but I dug the sound.
found an rx21 in alley today.. no power supply.. i tried my universal adapter on it, but no go... i will try and find proper power supply, if i can find one reasonably priced... enjoy your vids.. new subby..
@@BasementArcade m.soundcloud.com/marc-raygun/promise , recorded a long time ago on cheap 4 track , also managed to borrow amazing wasp analogue synth to make some weird noises
Yes, Yamaha 80s drum machines are the worst. I don't think I've heard them used in any "radio" songs. I have a PSS keyboard with a drum machine built-in.... those drums sound woody. This layering trick is great. Nice track, too. TW wasn't meant to be mellow but that's what it's best at.
Slacquer The WORST. You are crazy. The RX5 is one of the greatest of alltime. Used on tracks like CAMEO WORD UP. MADONNA LA ISLA BONITA. AND PRINCE SIGN O THE TIMES. Its only mistake was it came out in a time when the overhyped and over priced Linndrum had been the flagship. If it had hit the market 3 or 4 years earlier at half the price of the Linndrum it would have been far more popular.
Redhead stepchildren of Yamaha corporation, altough Some People on The Internet say RX5 was used on some hit records. I'm back from making a guitar jam with RX8, after healing wounds will be gladly returning to everyday VSTs. Your jam's pretty neat though, those samples (must be literally whole hundreds of kilobytes of them) fit well with retro electronic stuff.
I never played the RX5 but I want to really bad. I've seen videos of some people doing some KILLER stuff with it. Nothing we can't do today, but there's just something different about it. Feels more authentic. thanks for the kind words.
Sounds like you should have gotten the RX-17. It has the same drum samples as the RX-11, but in the same form factor as the RX-21 (but with no individual outs).
Damn it’s like a who’s who of bad gear on that table! 😆 The worse of every brand… Timber Wolf 😂 😂 EA1 damn bro. You should’ve kept that rx11 I’m trying to find one under 200 and so far not happening.
This is the reason I never got rid of my RX-21. It's such a dry instrument it makes a perfect blank canvas for painting sounds on.
That was my first drum machine, around 1987. Even at the time, and with no foreknowledge about drum machines, I thought "bi christ, this sounds bad" but it became a goodbad because me & friends would laugh at it's sound very often and the friends I'm still in contact with from then will still crack a smile if the RX21 is mentioned.
Amazing!
The RX11 had many sounds. The RX21 took the worst of those sounds, and made them shorter to save memory. I used it on a bunch of demos I made in 1986, and hearing it still gives me PTSD flashbacks of using it.
Lennart Regebro Funny comment!!👍
Really cool to see the EA-1 getting some love! I just got mine out again after being in the box for a long time, along with some of my other gear. In the past, I just them as external midi modules from a daw (Electribe EA-1, Alesis SR16, Red Sound Darkstar). But now I'm trying to learn them again, but better this time, and trying things out dawless for fun. Keep up the great work!
Hell yeah man! Sounds like fun. I've slowly been moving away from the computer, right now I'm just using it to record all the instruments live in their own channels. My hope is that by the end of the year I won't even be using a computer anymore!
ER-1 is amazing, still to this day. Very underrated. Those will fetch $ when they're all 'used up'.
This is exactly what I want and I was about to buy it, just confirmed my decision. Thanks!
The RX21 was my first drum machine. I bought it new for about $225.00. I still have it! For drums these days, I use mostly software so my only other hardware drum machines are the Volca Beats, the Tomcat, and I got an RX17 a few years ago for about twenty bucks. I like the way you combined the three units - they compliment each other nicely!
Youse was ripped off at that price
I really love the hats and clav on the Volca Beats. So I pair those sounds with the kick/snare of other drum machines.
Hehe ... I knew this drum machine was crap when my band bought one in the late '80s 'cause it was cheap. But don't knock it, that drum machine got us a gig playing warm-up for Flock of Seagulls (because the venue was so small that only one drum kit would fit on stage and FoS insisted that their drum kit be up and ready for them, and they forbade any warm-up band to use their kit ... result? the guy booking the club only knew of one band that didn't have a drummer; that was us, so we got the gig!). Still ... rubbish machine.
Cool seeing that in action! An old relative gave me a box of old gear and that was one of the units. I was really wondering how that could be useful to me if I already have an Akai MPK but I see that you can make some pretty unique sounds of you get creative. Good stuff man
This gave me some hope for using my rx21
I have this and mostly don't use it because it doesn't cooperate with midi from my daw (or I'm just dumb). But I LOVE the sounds, if you want 80s af, you got it
I think this drum machine is the future drum machine of electro-punk music.
Yeah midi spec seems limited and I can't get mine to output note data...tho it has been modded so.....?
Very cool! I like the song you made. Glad i found your channel
This was my first digital drum machine. Happy days
Really enjoyed the higher pitch lead's tone and melody.
Thanks man! That was the Monologue by Korg. It was playing a melody that I wrote on the Electribe thru midi input. I look forward to making videos about both of those here soon.
Well that is interesting. Here I am abroad getting ready to come back to USA and thinking if I should just leave or sell my RX21 to lighten my load. I haven't used it in years and had it for decades.
Everything's got value! But I just moved across country and this guy did not come with me... sooooo...
Basement Archade: You know...the funny thing is that years ago when I was using the RX21 to make home recordings on a little Tascam 4 track, I had musicians remark without being asked first, that the drums sound surprizingly real. Must have been the way I mixed it I guess.
Youre sending midi note out from the RX21 to the Tom Cat..i didn't know it could do that (or mine is broken)?
I'm looking at one of these right now. Thanks for the demo. It helped me decide YES.
Wow I thought I had some cheap gear lol. I had a RX-15 which I actually liked sound wise but got rid off it for free as it sort of broke lol.
bought an rx21 today for like £30 this has gave me some inspiration on where I can take it though, thanks for the video man!
That's great! That's a good price for one, have fun with it!
Thanks for the review
There is one of these drum machines local to me available for $49, is it worth it?
amazing review .. really cool sounds straigh out of your set up .. many thanks ,,
Espen Kraft rates the RX-11 very highly.
3:21. That delay, is that due to RX21 going through the next device, or are you achieving a delay sound/emulation purely on the RX21? I am just now getting into my RX21 that has been sitting neglected far too long. Your video is inspiring, as is the track you made here. Best!
I think it was a happy accident, I'm not sure how it achieved that. my guess is that since the pads are not velocity sensitive that the drum was just cutting off the next before it could fully play.
@@BasementArcade Thank you for the fast reply!! Very Interesting.... So you think that was _just_ the RX21? and not the other machine involved that you ran it through? As you mention, the RX21 pads are not velocity sensitive, and there are no effects, etc, i.e. an extremely simple drum machine.
@@djnodj Correct, I remember that beat quite well and how pumped I was that that somehow happened. It was made at least 2-3 days before recording this episode and didn't even have a song yet.
@@BasementArcade I can imagine you'd be very happy with that sound! Well now you got me on a mission. I'm only _just_ getting started, but as I progress, I have to try to find similar, some type of delay sound. Should I get anywhere close I'll be sure to share how. If you get any flashbacks on how you made that happen, please let me know!
Q. Are you actually triggering sounds on the tomcat from the Yamaha RX21? AFAIK, its impoverished MIDI out only lets you control the clock of other machines, i.e. play/stop, and not send out individual note info (though it will receive it). Or maybe you know sometihng I didnt know in the 80s!
You're absolutely right. I might have said it wrong in the video. The RX21 is playing one pattern, triggering the Tomcat which has it's own pattern, which is also triggering the volca beats that has it's own pattern. It's a weird set up I know but I dug the sound.
found an rx21 in alley today.. no power supply.. i tried my universal adapter on it, but no go... i will try and find proper power supply, if i can find one reasonably priced... enjoy your vids.. new subby..
that's hilarious! Also not too surprising.
@@BasementArcade my universal power supply did work.. just had to change polarity.. yes... i think using it with external effects are gonna be fun..
Nice sound!
My first drum machine , its sound forever linked to my weird goth bedroom band
hell yeah! I like the sound of that.
@@BasementArcade m.soundcloud.com/marc-raygun/promise , recorded a long time ago on cheap 4 track , also managed to borrow amazing wasp analogue synth to make some weird noises
Yeah most of their old DM's and Samplers suck... cept maybe the RM1x which I have ;)
Yes, Yamaha 80s drum machines are the worst. I don't think I've heard them used in any "radio" songs. I have a PSS keyboard with a drum machine built-in.... those drums sound woody. This layering trick is great.
Nice track, too. TW wasn't meant to be mellow but that's what it's best at.
Slacquer
The WORST. You are crazy. The RX5 is one of the greatest of alltime. Used on tracks like CAMEO WORD UP. MADONNA LA ISLA BONITA.
AND PRINCE SIGN O THE TIMES. Its only mistake was it came out in a time when the overhyped and over priced Linndrum had been the flagship. If it had hit the market 3 or 4 years earlier at half the price of the Linndrum it would have been far more popular.
Redhead stepchildren of Yamaha corporation, altough Some People on The Internet say RX5 was used on some hit records. I'm back from making a guitar jam with RX8, after healing wounds will be gladly returning to everyday VSTs. Your jam's pretty neat though, those samples (must be literally whole hundreds of kilobytes of them) fit well with retro electronic stuff.
I never played the RX5 but I want to really bad. I've seen videos of some people doing some KILLER stuff with it. Nothing we can't do today, but there's just something different about it. Feels more authentic. thanks for the kind words.
Always like it when someone makes cool music with mostly cheep equipment.
Sounds like you should have gotten the RX-17. It has the same drum samples as the RX-11, but in the same form factor as the RX-21 (but with no individual outs).
My plan is to own them all some day. I even have the 120 which is surprisingly really fun.
regret also equals learning 🌝
good review
Too cool.
Damn it’s like a who’s who of bad gear on that table! 😆 The worse of every brand… Timber Wolf 😂 😂 EA1 damn bro. You should’ve kept that rx11 I’m trying to find one under 200 and so far not happening.
В этом ролике ты рекламировал только себя...Я хотел бы услышать возможности этого аппарата...
shitty sounding drummuchine. But if you know how to work with its sound, you can get it work