Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-1 VINTAGE drum machine demo video

This is a demo video for a 1967 era Ace Tone (basically Roland before they called themselves Roland) Rhythm Ace FR-1. This video features direct recording (D.I.) as well as a voice-over by myself. The unit itself is electronically quiet, but you will hear my laptop's fan noise in the video that got into my voice-over mic. This was the world's first transistorized drum machine and this one is in very-good condition. I will be selling it by either ebay or some vintage synth website.

[DrTune]

The "Cha Cha" at 1:53 was used on the Gorillaz track "Last Living Souls" (slightly slower)

[jaggass]

You can see where the CR-78 got its roots from.

[jaggass]

Robin Gibb used this on Saved By The Bell. That was the first mainstream song to use a drum machine.

[TimBoykinGuitar]

Thanks for this demo. Really sounds great.

[JohnBeegPapaGardener]

The album Journey by Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come was the first album to use a drum machine on all tracks instead of a live drummer. They used the British version of the FR-1, the Bentley Rhythm Ace. Well worth a listen. One of the best psychedelic rock albums ever IMO.

[Goreface]

Wow... already in the 60s it sounded just like the tr606

[SONGSTICKS]

Excellent !
Good ol bit of vintage music history. Feed it through some reverb and filter effects and that could be well useable :0)

[geraldhartley]

Thumbs up if you came here from the EM story on Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi.

[Hexspa]

Does 'fully transistor' mean solid state? I have it that the Keio MP5 was solid state and released in 1966, a year earlier than this.

[leotrimd]

This drum machine is from 1967. But there is not such a big sound diference to the drum machines from the late 1970's.

I wonder why the typical 1980's music hasn't begun in the mid 70's or even earlier. What were the reasons? Was it too expensive to invest more to push the development of synthesizers and drum machines? Were the people not ready for strongly electronic pop music? Has disco music slowed down the development of electonic music devices, because it often used non-electronical instruments like strings, horns...?

[thesmiler]

1:00 sounds like Julee Cruise - Falling

[superhavi]

0:46 Look mommy, I can play "In The Air Tonight" with no hands.

[lavishdeluna]

Why does it drive me so crazy that you can only mute some of the instrument types? I don't even own the thing, and I'm offended, haha. It's capable of a deceptive amount of sounds, though!

[MinimalWave]

drummachines nowadays dont have this punch..

[Saurosapius]

could you hook this up to a pc? I like this thing alot, thanks for $haring

[silentgd]

psssst..it's pronounced "beh-geeen"

[carkenny]

Ahh, the begining of "rap crap".