Drumulator Owners Manual
E-mu System, Inc. 1981 Enhanced by The Emulator Archive Page 4 of 27
Drumulator Overview
The Drumulator is a rhythm/drum machine
that features twelve digitally recorded drum
sounds stored on computer chips, and
extensive solid-state recording capabilities.
You may record up to 36 individual rhythm
patterns (called
segments),
and then
combine these segments in just about any
order imaginable to create up to 8
songs.
When composing/recording a segment
(which can be up to 99 measures long!), a
metronome click indicates the tempo, and
a light shows the beginning of the
segment. To record, say, the bass drum
part of a rhythm, you listen to the metro-
nome and play the bass drum wherever
you want it to occur in the segment. The
Drumulator then remembers where you
wanted the bass drum, and can even
correct for timing inaccuracies. You may
record up to four drum sounds at any one
time; you may then stop recording, change
over to four new drum sounds, resume
recording, and continue “overdubbing”
these new drums for up to 12 drum parts.
You can edit the part as you go along
(erase some sounds, add others, erase
only certain beats of certain sounds, and
so on), alter the dynamics of each drum,
and vary the overall mix of the drums.
You may play segments individually or
combine them into songs. To create a
song, you tell the machine which segments
you want to use, the order you want them
in, and any repeats, which might occur in
the song. If you want to edit the song, no
problem: you can insert new segments,
delete old ones, add repeats, change
tempos in the middle of a song, or even
jump automatically to a different song after
the first one has finished playing.
The Drumulator lets you create virtually
any time signature you want, includes built
-in battery backup which stores the
segments and songs for up to five years
(or, transfer this data over to cassette for
permanent storage), provides long and
short “beep” messages to confirm your
instructions and advise you of the
Drumulator’s status, and is compatible with
any device that can drive other drum units
— and even some devices which can’t
drive other drum units.
There’s more, too . . . and as you might
expect, this all takes some time to learn.
So, settle in with this manual, and explore
the Drumulator’s many possibilities.
