I had a great chat with Ian Dixon of #thedigitallifestyle last week. We chatted about loads of exciting drum machine related stuff, and I give a little demo of the legendary Oberheim DX.
Pop over to YouTube, or just watch below!
Drum Machine
BEAT GEMS - my new drum machine book is now live on Kickstarter!
I’m super proud to announce my new book, BEAT GEMS, due to be published in October has gone live on Kickstarter! It’s to be published by Bjooks, who specialise in beautiful books about electronic music instruments. (The earlier Synth Gems Vol. 1 could be considered the ‘partner’ book for Beat Gems!)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bjooks/beat-gems-drum-machines-in-modern-music
It was announced at Superbooth 2026, and reached its funding goal in only five hours! But don’t worry if you haven’t already signed up - there’s plenty of early bird offers still on offer!
The book is a serious and deep dive into the sixty year history of drum machines. Backed up by gorgeous photography that Bjooks are famous for, we tell the story of over sixty crucial, music-changing, innovative and fascinating instruments, plus covering dozens more to support the narrative.
Above is just a small selection of the inspirational artists who used drum machines prominently in their work - and helped shape the sound of modern music.
Drum Machine Podcast for Sound On Sound
I’m proud to share with you all my first podcast episode for Sound On Sound on the history of the drum machine:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/drum-machine-history-podcast
From the earliest pre-transistor efforts to replicate a drum kit to the latest developments, this is a fascinating story of how this electronic instrument category has influenced musical culture and reflected the technological developments of each era.
I cover early analague drum machines, sampling drum mahines, of course the 808 and 909 - and much (much) else.
Best thing is that there are about 50 audio clips inllustrating the sound of key instruments and songs that used them!
Enjoy!