Casio RZ-1 - hardware drum machine
Pic: retrosynthads.blogspot.com

Casio RZ-1 (or similar leftfield choices)

Second-hand price: £50-150

Produced: 1986 – 1988

It’s hard to find real vintage drum machine bargains these days but if you’re willing to settle for a few compromises there are still good buys to be had even at the sub-£150 price point. There’s no clear winner here, but there are plenty of good options to explore.

If you’re looking for an analogue machine your options are quite limited but it’s not too difficult to find a Boss DR-110 for anywhere between £50 and £100, which is a steal for a unit (very) loosely related to the early 80s Roland TR units. It’s a seriously limited device in standard form, but it still sounds good and it gets even better when modded to open up its potential (individual outs, drum pitch and decay controls, filters…).

However, if we’re being strict about the budget and ruling out modifications, the real value for money in this price range probably lies in sample-based units. Digital drum machines have a major disadvantage in the 21st century, which is the fact that affordable samplers and sampler plugins have made them all but obsolete over the last couple of decades.

You may well argue that they’re entirely redundant given that you could probably find a set of samples for any given drum machine in just a few seconds on Google. And it’s partly true. You’re not going to get all the sonic benefits of an analogue unit, but the sound itself is only one of the many benefits of hardware drum machines. Hands-on sequencing, being forced to adopt a particular workflow, stretching the boundaries of a machine which can only operate within a clearly defined set of parameters – all these factors make up part of the hardware drum machine experience, and they apply just as much to sample-based machines.

There are plenty of bargains to be had once you restrict your search to digital units. You could get a Yamaha RX or a Roland R-8, flagship models of the late 80s and early 90s which plummeted in value as soon as computers rendered them all-but obsolete. You could go for a ghetto house classic like the Boss DR-660 (as eulogised beautifully by Legowelt here). But if you’re going to go leftfield, why not go all out? If you forced us to pick just one seriously underrated vintage gem in this price range, we’d plump for the Casio RZ-1.

Casio isn’t often taken very seriously as an instrument manufacturer (which is a shame since the CZ series of phase distortion synths is particularly capable). It’s at the bottom end of the market where Casio had the biggest impact. Producers of a certain age will look back fondly at the unassuming SK-1 sampling keyboard, which bundled very basic sampling capabilities into a cheap home keyboard. The RZ-1 applied a similar idea to the drum machine: why shouldn’t a budget model allow users to sample their own sounds?

Given that sampling was still very much in its infancy, the RZ-1’s capabilities can politely be described as modest at best, and its sampling features won’t win any awards for sound quality. There are four pads, each with up to 0.2 seconds sampling time at a fuzzy 20 kHz. Elsewhere, the RZ-1’s built-in sounds have a certain lo-fi charm. The sequencer is reasonably capable and the basic built-in mixer allows patterns to be tweaked and manipulated in real time. The RZ-1 gained a cult following, notably among ghetto house producers, with the RZ’s crunchy samples cropping up on a number of Dance Mania tracks.

The RZ-1 is a forgotten gem. It’s not going to win many awards, but if you’re looking for a new tool to push you different creative paths it’s a great reminder that you don’t need to splash out a fortune to pick up something inspiring.

 

14th January, 2014

Comments

  • Wow no Tempest !
    Great Great Post ! Thanks

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  • Roc – the Tempest’s in there!

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  • SP1200 > SP12

    http://youtu.be/iAZO3XBtUzE

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  • thanks for this. i was looking at the tanzbar but i didnt know how cool the machinedrum was. another one to check out.

    do a feature like this on analog synths! 😉

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  • no oberheim dmx? no dynacord ADD-one?

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  • Jomox xbase 888 is killer once you change the sounds in it

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  • @KV the 1200 has no ROM sounds so it’s definitely a sampler and not a drum machine. I agree it’s better than the Sp12. Both incredible though.

    Attack, please do a Ten Of The Best on samplers. MPCs, SP1200 etc. Keep up the great work!

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  • id replace the 606 with the 808, but then again I haven’t owned either of them :p

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  • IMHO, the video featuring the Machinedrum does not make it justice.
    Some thing like the link below or any demo video from Mr Dataline can provide a deeper idea if its capabilities, just my 2cents…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtxX0VEpMSI

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  • 707 is boys noize go to drum machine. He’s got a super modified one and an orignal

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  • 707 clap isn’t so bad imo!

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  • Casio RZ-1 is truly horrible. Worst $25 I ever spent.
    Volca Beats?
    Any MPC should of been on there.

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  • Repeat until fade: an MPC is a sampler, not a drum machine; an MPC is a sampler, not a drum machine; an MPC is a sampler, not a drum machine…

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  • korg volca toy

    yet….
    no oberheim dx/dmx
    no sequential drumtrak
    no sequential tom
    no simmons :-O
    no dynacord add one
    no pearl syncussion
    no LINNDRUM?

    really poor list made by roland fanboy

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  • Too true on the Volca, didnt think as first look but when you get on one its fun as hell!

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  • @Gertie i love lots of the drum machines you mention but i suppose this feature is meant to represent the ideal proportion between money, fun and sound you can get nowadays, and, let’s face it, the best part of roland tr series can match this.

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  • I’d add jomox 999 here as well as linndrum

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  • you are a douche for missing mpc

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  • @won… MPC is a sampler, not a drum machine. Doubled-douched.

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  • “MPC is a sampler”
    What do think a SP12 is? It plays samples……

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  • Bull. If the SP is mentioned here, then the MPC series should have been represented…

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  • Tr 808 is the best

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  • What the hell??? Why isn’t the Linn LM-1 on here? And if you’re gonna add the DRM1, you guys might’ve well put the SDS-V on this list.

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  • Guys complaining about drum machines not being mentioned…..
    MAKE Your own LIST.

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  • Hi guys! Which make of drum machines do you recommend me?

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  • where is the Analog Rytm?????

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  • Why an SP12 and not a SP1200?? Why a Tempest and not a LM1??? Best hardware drum machines in what sense? Poor columnists here…

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  • Wow I like these reviews. I’ve been using drum machines for about 7 years now, and I’m thinking of switching over to a simpler version of one, well at least simpler to use (not simple in functionality). Anyone ever used the BeatBuddy (their site is http://www.mybeatbuddy.com )? It looks pretty cool, but I am not sure if I should get it. I’m really thinking of getting it, can anyone tell me if it’s worth making the switch??

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  • Best drum machine ever: The one that has the sound you want.

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  • RZ-1 is *horrible*. It is so bad, I actually bought one new in like ’83 and played with it for like 2 weeks… it’s timing was sloppy, sounds were dull and I ended up taking it back and getting a TR-505… which was no great DM either, but at least had a snappy kick.

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  • Zoom RT-234? It’s cheap and incredibly flexible.

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  • I agree with dagan,
    I have the orginal Zoom RT-123.
    The button layout is very intuitive – unlike anything else in this review.

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  • The RZ-1 is actually really useful, just not as a main instrument. I find it is best used being run by another box to cut sounds in as accents and fill. As a main or only piece, it’s really going to let a lot of folks down, it’s all about the faders and the outputs, one per instrument, give you all manner of processing options to takes it’s admittedly cheesy sound to a level far beyond it’s capabilities.
    Now for the “why not this…” part, Electribes, personally I would replace the Volca with them, but that’s me.

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  • Where is the Sonic Potions LXR???

    Amazing drum machine for the price.

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  • lol how the hell you put aSP12 and no MPC. this is bullshit preference based article

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  • nice to see the Tanzbar and MDS-1 in there…
    but I NEVER see a list like this include any of the Zoom RT-series, which had a kind of sequencing that has yet to be re-created in any other machine.
    Their “Groove Play” mode allowed you to play multiple patterns (of arbitrary length/meter) simultaneously… with velocity and time-alignment control by pads… somewhat a hardware pre-cursor to Ableton clip launching…

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  • Don,t forget the sounds u hear r fatten up with a analogue filter (white box on top) a Niio Iotine ?. Only whant to say the sounds r more thin without the filter.

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  • I mean the dsi ?

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  • I think they missed the awesome Anolog Rytm by Elektron. This thing is a real killer.

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  • I don’t think the Analog Rytm had been released when this article was written had it? Same with the Roland tr-8 which probably would have made the list too if it had been available at the time

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  • For me Elektron Analog Rytm far ahead!

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