Up there with our favourite beat boxes - this thing has it all: sounds, rhythms, Krautrock heritage, and now with added Unipulse midi!
Up there with our favourite beat boxes – this thing has it all: sounds, rhythms, Krautrock heritage, and now with added Unipulse midi!
This requires the completion of service work (the usual extensive recapping on these) before it ships. Shipping estimate is 20 working days.
Dating from c1969, the Elka Drummer One is an Italian-made machine used by many seminal Krautrock bands in the late sixties and early seventies – Harmonia, Cluster, Roedelius, Kraftwerk etc – it was badged as Echolette in Germany.
Rarity and pedigree are one thing, but what really floored us is the sound and how playable the Elka Drummer One is. The drums are gloriously woody and cymbals/hats pleasingly analogue; very classy and distinct from those found in more common beatboxes. Add in some tape delay and a touch of spring reverb and you could be in a battered VW camper driving along a monochrome autobahn from Düsseldorf to Forst. As soon as we heard our first Drummer One, we knew it was staying in the studio – see demos below. Happily, this one is now available with the excellent Unipulse upgrade – allowing you to sync and trigger via midi.
Programmable drum machines were a long way off in 1969, but the Elka features rotary volume pots that allow swift creation of varied rhythms on the fly simply by dialling in/out the individual drum sounds. Naturally, you can engage more than one rhythm at once by pressing the selector buttons down together, creating more complex polyrhythms.
Serviced including recapping. It has also had Tubbutec Unipulse midi added – note that we will tidy up the rather rudimentary woodworking on the rear before it ships.
Good overall. One plastic corner has cracked and been glued, and it has some scuffs and wear. We will do some work to tidy up the repair and mods that have been done – tidying the hole that has been cut, adding stickers instead of handwritten labelling…). See photos for more information on cosmetic condition.
Switchable voltage for use anywhere in the world - it will be set up ready for you to use before we ship.
For sales in UK/EU, this item is on the margin scheme for second hand goods. VAT-free sales are not possible for this item.
Demos of another Elka Drummer One we had through:
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