Technical, boys

[Black Biscuit]

Has anyone had experience using the Oberheim DMX drum machine used by the Sisters circa 1984-85?

One of the things that drew me to the Sisters was their drum sounds. Their tom-toms never had any resonance (bouncy-ness) , just a dull thud. And the hi-hats were just a spidery hissing noise.

To me this was characteristic Sisters drumming. Loved it.

Did the DMX have tune-able sounds to get this effect, without the aid of a studio full of gear?

And please note that I am NOT talking about the "Floodland" Sisters era, when the snare drum always sounded like a gun shot!

[Ed Rhombus]

The first one I used was an old Yamaha model probably from mid to late 80s, even then it was a bitch to program.

There are a few emulators of the Oberheim knocking about if you need the samples.

Most drum machines are tune-able. In such as you can alter the pitch of each sample. If it's stereo you can alter that too.

You can go as far as you want with drum machine in terms of this sort of stuff, but you very quickly reach the point where nobody but you is going to notice any improvements or changes you've make by tinkering about with it.

The sisters current rig has all sorts of fancy pants bits and enhancements on the drums, but I'd buggered if I can notice what they do. It just sounds like a normal stereo drum machine to me