SOUND MASTER: MEMORY RHYTHM - SR-88 SAMPLES PAGE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date = 1981

Country = Japan

Type = Analogue

 

Drum Voices = 4

Rhythms = 16 (Program)

Rhythm Combining = No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was the Sound Master SR-88 Memory Rhythm basically a Boss DR-55 clone or was it the DR-55 that ripped off the SR-88? That's a question that's likely to remain unanswered... Both machines came out of Japan at the same time and are a very similar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SR-88 was a programmable drum machine with the simple step-time, (two buttons note on/note off) entry method. It had six memory locations of 16th note patterns (4/4) with an A & B variation (i.e. 12 patterns) and two 12th note patterns (3/4) making a total of 16 possible stored beats (in other words exactly the same as the DR-55).

 

 

 

Again, (like the DR-55) there were four drum sounds available; kick, snare, hi-hat and cymbal. The sounds were slightly different however. The SR-88 dispensed with the rimshot and provided a cymbal instead which could be used as an open hi-hat. The Cymbal was a separate voice however, and wasn't cut-off by the closed hat when it re-triggered (something worth remembering if you want to re-create authentic patterns from the one-shot samples). The best feature was that the hi-hat was fully programmable, dispensing with the annoying limitations of the DR-55's preset closed hi-hat patterns. Also, (just as on the DR-55) there was a similar synch set-up which provided a regular clock or a programmable pulse through the cymbal channel. Side-by side, it looked as though the SR-88 had overcome a few of the shortcomings of the Dr Rhythm so all that was left was the actual sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sound Master certainly wasn't from the Roland stable in terms of its drum voices. The DR-55 certainly had the advantage in providing a superior, (if a little too snappy) Roland kick but there was not a lot wrong with the SR-88 either (especially for the price). The snare is good and the hat and cymbal sounds are particularly nice. There's actually a trick you can use while sampling this machine. If you go into step programming mode and tap the start button to enter a note for the cymbal you actually get a really long decay of up to 10 seconds which is a classic white noise burst from the early '80s. So there you have it, another curio from days gone by that will sound cool in the right sort of track and keep a few people guessing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sound Master SR-88 Single Hits Pack - 64 sounds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SR-88 RHYTHM PATTERNS: (all patterns are in Recycle RX-2 format)

 

Note: These patterns are those that appear in the owners manual and can be considered as "factory patches". Both A & B rhythm variations are included but, (as intended) variation B was programmed to come in on bar 4 as a fill. Rhythm 6A was rubbish so, (for fun) it was replaced by a John Foxx classic

 

Pattern:

Demo

Pattern:

RX2

 

01. PATTERN 01 [A+B] (Demo)

01. PATTERN 01 [A+B]

02. PATTERN 02 [A+B] (Demo)

02. PATTERN 02 [A+B]

03. PATTERN 03 [A+B] (Demo)

03. PATTERN 03 [A+B]

04. PATTERN 04 [A+B] (Demo)

04. PATTERN 04 [A+B]

05. PATTERN 05 [A+B] (Demo)

05. PATTERN 05 [A+B]

06. PATTERN 06 [A+B] (Demo)

06. PATTERN 06 [A+B]

07. PATTERN 07 [A+B] (Demo)

07. PATTERN 07 [A+B]

08. PATTERN 08 [A+B] (Demo)

08. PATTERN 08 [A+B]

 

Please note: these patterns are a work in progress and many more will be added as time permits.

 

All samples on this site are free for you to use in your music (commercial or amateur) but are NOT to be used on another website/commercial sample library/sample cd/vsti rompler etc... without our prior consent.